KSPS spices up movie-going on Saturday nights
Above: Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci star in "Julie and Julia."
One of the joys of movie-watching comes from seeing classic films. It's always better when those opportunities occur in a theater, as when "Movies 101" hosted a screening of "A Hard Day's Night" at the Bing Crosby Theater last August.
But some of us take those opportunities wherever they're available. Ever since the early 1980s, when movies started being made available for home viewing — first on VHS, then laser disc and, finally, DVD — more and more of us have seen classic film in the comfort of our own homes. And now that streaming is available, either through cable or satellite TV companies or through services such as Netflix or Hulu, watching movies at home has become ever easier.
My wife and I recently binge-watched the Netflix series "House of Cards," and we just finished the HBO six-episode series "The Jinx."
But back to classic film. Since 1985, one way many Spokane-area movie fans have watched the movie greats of past years has been through Spokane Public Television's "Saturday Night Cinema." First hosted by former station manager Bill Stanley, the program now boasts three presenters: Jackie Brown, Shaun Higgins and Ryan Tucker. (Full disclosure: Higgins for many years was one of my bosses at The Spokesman-Review.)
The trio not only presents a variety of films — recent showings include musicals such as "An American in Paris" and "The Music Man" along with such film-noir selections as "The Big Sleep" and "The Maltese Falcon" — but they offer critical assessments of the respective night's showing. Upcoming shows include Brown opining Friday on the 2009 film "Julie and Julia," Higgins and Tucker tackling two religious flicks, respectively 1961's "Barabbas" (April 4) and 1947's "Black Narcissus" (April 11).
"Saturday Night Cinema" airs on KSPS channel 7 at 8 p.m. For information about online viewing, click here.