STAFF PICK / events
Saturday, 7 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Annual shindig features Pom Pom Queens of Bat N’ Rouge fame, Rutabaga Queens, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Dell’Arte, Shea Freelove, the Eye Rockestra, live and silent auction and is hosted by Bob Ornelas. Bring a donation for Food for People. $15/$25 a pair. www.arcatatheater.com. 822-1220.
theater
Friday, Saturday, 8 p.m. Ferndale Repertory Theatre, 447 Main Street. John Osborne’s sharply funny, fiercely honest exploration of political disillusionment and basic human yearning. Directed by John Heckel. $15/$13 students and seniors. ferndale-rep.org. 800-838-3006.
STAFF PICK / music
Thursday, 9 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Cosmic auditory scientist blows your mind. R/D and Noah D open. $15. arcatatheater.com. 822-1220.
etc.
Wednesday, 6-8 p.m. Access Humboldt Community Media Center, Eureka High School, Eureka. Two-hour workshop offers insight on how to create different moods with light, including using backgrounds, understanding color temperature, and using different gear to create different effects. With cinematographer Landy Hardy. $20. www.accesshumboldt.net. 476-1798.
What:
Blazing Saddles (1974), directed by Mel Brooks and featuring all you can eat Texas chili, screens Sunday, December 27, at 6 p.m. at Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St in Arcata. Box office opens 30 minutes prior to screening and costs $5 for the movie or $13 for movie and chili.
Never give a saga an even break!
Blazing Saddles (1974) is a satirical Western comedy film directed by Mel Brooks. Starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, it was written by Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Norman Steinberg, and Al Uger, and was based on Bergman’s story and draft. The movie was nominated for three Academy Awards, and is considered one of the great American comedies, coming in at number six on AFI’s 100 Years… 100 Laughs list. The Ultimate Western Spoof. A town where everyone seems to be named Johnson is in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, Hedley Lemar, a politically connected nasty person, sends in his henchmen to make the town unlivable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the Governor. Hedley convinces him to send the town the first Black sheriff in the west. Bart is a sophisticated urbanite who will have some difficulty winning over the townspeople.
Brooks appears in multiple supporting roles, including Governor Le Petomane and a Yiddish-speaking Indian Chief. Slim Pickens, Alex Karras, David Huddleston, and Brooks regulars Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, and Harvey Korman are also featured. Musician Count Basie has a cameo as himself. The film exposes the racism obscured by myth-making Hollywood accounts of the American West, but in a highly satirical way; the racist slur “nigger” is heard 17 times in Blazing Saddles, while the film’s hero is black.
Roger Ebert called the film a “crazed grabbag of a movie that does everything to keep us laughing except hit us over the head with a rubber chicken. Mostly, it succeeds. It’s an audience picture; it doesn’t have a lot of classy polish and its structure is a total mess. But of course! What does that matter while Alex Karras is knocking a horse cold with a right cross to the jaw?”
When/where:
| Dates | |
| Time | 6 p.m. |
| Phone | 707-822-1220 |
| Venue | Arcata Theatre Lounge |
| Cost | $5.00 |
| Web site |
STAFF PICK / events, theater, music, dance, art, Comedy, sports, spoken word, lecture, etc. / 9 p.m. Arcata Playhouse, 1251 Ninth St. Presenting a vaudevillian showcase of the county’s finest dancers, musicians, circus performers. Night ends with a dance party led by Arcata’s Small Axe Ensemble. Benefit for Six Rivers Planned Parenthood’s Spare Change. $7. E-mail humboldtvarietyville@yahoo.com. 408-515-2801.
