‘Play the Game’ at Manteo’s Pioneer Theatre

Outer Banks local Andy Griffith is starring in an independent romantic comedy called “Play The Game,” which opens this Friday August 28th at the Pioneer Theatre in Manteo for a limited engagement.

The film was made specifically for boomers and seniors, but appeals to audiences of all ages. It is about a young “ladies’ man” who teaches his dating tricks to his lonely, widowed grandfather. But when Grandpa Joe becomes the Don Juan of the nursing home, he has a lesson for his grandson.

Director of ECU Archaeology Labs to talk on pirate myths vs. reality

How do romanticized stories of piracy in movies compare with the harsh realities of a buccaneer’s violent, blood-thirsty lifestyle? The answers may surprise you. Dr. Ewen’s examination of historical documents and the archaeological record suggests that maybe Hollywood hasn’t gotten it all wrong.

The program A Pirate’s Life for Me? will take place on Saturday, June 27, at 2 p.m. at the N.C. Museum of History.

Dead Girl Walking at OBX Hospital

The documentary film “Dead Girl Walking” will be screened on Thursday, March 26th, at the OBX Cancer Resource Center at the Outer Banks Hospital, co-sponsored by the Dare County Arts Council.

There will be two screenings: 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.; no charge.

A question-and-answer session with the film’s subject, Marcy Brenner, will be held after the screening. Here’s a snippet of the song that inspired to Ray Schmitt to make the movie.

For more information, contact Betse Kelly, OBX Cancer Resource Center at 449-7350 or Dare County Arts Council at 473-5558.

Coming to a DVD-player near you

It’s Nicholas Sparks’ beachy hankyfest Nights in Rodanthe, which, of course, was actually (partly) filmed in Rodanthe!

‘Dead Girl Walking’ wins Amazing Grace award in Toronto

Ray Schmitt’s film about Marcy Brenner’s battle with breast cancer has won the Amazing Grace award and a featured screening slot at Breast Fest Film Festival in Toronto, Canada.

Marcy’s new website, www.deadgirlwalking.net, features the song, the film, the memoir and the music of Marcy Brenner, Lou Castro and company. Find news, updates, watching and listening samples and a community forum page, designed to open discussions about being truly alive, dealing with uncertainty and fear, illness and positive growth, self-image and community.

Sexy senior romcom picks up second Audience Award for Best Feature

Play the Game, which took home the award for Audience Favorite Feature at the 2008 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival in November, has added another trophy to its coffers, winning the Audience Favorite Feature Award at the 2008 Santa Fe Film Festival. The movie is the first for writer/director Marc Fienberg, and stars Andy Griffith (The Andy Griffith Show, Matlock, Waitress), Paul Campbell (Battlestar Galactica), Marla Sokoloff (The Practice), Liz Sheridan (Seinfeld) and Doris Roberts (Everybody Loves Raymond).

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‘The Guardian,’ filmed in Elizabeth City, on cable Sunday

Andrew Davis’ The Guardian, starring Kevin Kostner and Ashton Kutcher and shot in Elizabeth City in 2006, will air on TNT this Sunday at 8:00 and 10:30 p.m.

A high school swim champion with a troubled past enrolls in the U.S. Coast Guard’s A School, where legendary rescue swimmer Ben Randall teaches him some hard lessons about loss, love, and self-sacrifice (IMDb.com).

Brenner film best at Breast Fest?

The film Dead Girl Walking, about Marcy Brenner’s experience with breast cancer, is a favorite at Ontario’s Breast Fest film festival.

You can help: through the magic of the Internet, you can watch the festival films online and vote for your three favorites (favourites in Canada); the winner will receive the Amazing Grace award for Best Short Film.

How would Andy Vote? Part two

In an update to my post What would Andy do? Who would he vote for, it seems Opie has discovered that Sheriff Andy will cast his vote for Obama!

Sheriff Andy’s spendin’ too much time with them Democrats on the Outer Banks!

Dorothy Papadakos scores, and scores with, ‘Phantom of the Opera’

BY PETER HUMMERS | In the earliest days of movies, before there was a way to embed sound, silent films would play at local theaters, accompanied by a musician, usually at a piano, but in the grandest theaters, at the house organ, which sometimes rivalled that of the church or cathedral down the street.

Sometimes musical scores were supplied by the film distributors; sometimes they were actually followed. More often the accompaniment was improvised by the organist, whose impromptu score was polished by repeated viewings of the movie.