If you like your men chalk-white and sharp-toothed, the next entry in the Coca-Cola Summer Film Festival is right up your alley, or coffin, as the case may be.
Prince of darkness Johnny Depp arrives as vampire Barnabas Collins in Dark Shadows, just in time for Friday the 13th. It’s a Tim Burton production, so expect humor with your ghoul. Depp breathes 21st-century life into Collins, the latter-day Rip Van Winkle we first met in the 1960s soap opera.
Dark Shadows screens at 7:30 p.m. July 13 at the Fox Theatre. A party, with a DJ revisiting the 1970s, follows. It you come dressed for the decade, you can compete for a Fox prize pack and a $100 gift card to any Fifth Group Restaurants.
The Coca-Cola summer film fest is an Atlanta tradition. Each screening is preceded by Larry Douglas Embury on the Mighty Mo organ, a sing-along and a classic cartoon. It’s a great way to beat the mind-dulling summer heat and spend a few hours in the air-conditioned, popcorn-scented cool.
The 2012 series, like its predecessors, is a mix of classics and blockbusters. Casablanca, The Godfather, What to Expect When You’re Expecting and the Sing-Along Sound of Music have come and gone, but there is plenty of fun still to be had. Here’s the rest of the lineup:
Saturday Morning Cartoons. 10 a.m. Saturday, July 14. Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and their Looney Tunes pals drop in for the kiddos. All tickets are $5.
The Avengers. 7:30 p.m. July 14. Six superheroes — Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the Hulk, plus 3-D wizardry — all for the price of one ticket.
The Princess Bride. 6:30 p.m. Sunday, July 15. A 25th anniversary special. “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” Mandy Patinkin’s famous line is but one of many quotable moments from this 1987 comedy adventure directed by Rob Reiner and chosen for the series by the Fox Theatre’s Facebook fans. It’s a classic fairy tale with swordplay, giants, an evil prince, a beautiful princess and romance (as read by a kindly grandfather). The cast includes Andre the Giant, Fred Savage, Robin Wright, Peter Falk, Carol Kane and Billy Crystal. Trivia note: Reiner left the set during Crystal’s scenes because he would laugh so hard he’d feel sick.
Deliverance. 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 20. Hear the dueling banjos? Jon Voight and Burt Reynolds go downriver and into deep water in this 1972 thriller about a multiday canoe trip that becomes more dangerous with every pull of the oar. Ned Beatty and Ronny Cox co-star. The movie was nominated for three Oscars, including best picture, but won none. The movie was one of the first contemporary flicks shot in Georgia — in and around the Chattooga River, Clayton, Lake Tallulah Falls, Rabun Gap and Tallulah Gorge. It used to embarrass the state. Now the Rabun County city of Clayton celebrates it during the annual Chattooga River Festival, happening June 22-24 this year. Trivia note: To minimize costs, the production wasn’t insured — and the actors did their own stunts. Reynolds, at one point, broke his tailbone. Ouch.
Blockbuster TBA. Friday, Aug. 24. The series wraps with a movie that, more likely than not, will rock you.
Single tickets for the series — $10 adults, $5 age 12 and under, unless noted— are on sale as of 10 a.m. May 22 at the Fox box office, foxatltix.com, 1.855.ATL.TIXX (1.855.285.8499) and all Ticket Alternative locations. Special $5 parking will be available in select Lanier lots. For details, visit foxtheatre,org. The Fox is at 660 Peachtree St. N.E.
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Kathy Janich, Encore Atlanta’s managing editor, has been seeing, covering or working in the performing arts for most of her life. Please email: kathy@atlantametropub.com.
