It’s a natural. The El Paso Community Foundation’s Plaza Classic Film Festival and the El Paso Chihuahuas, two of El Paso’s most popular attractions, are teaming up again to show a baseball movie on the HD scoreboard at Southwest University Park, home of the Chihuahuas.
The 1984 baseball classic “The Natural,” starring Robert Redford as baseball “natural” Roy Hobbs, will be shown at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 5 at the stadium. It’s a warm up for the Plaza Classic Film Festival, which steps up to the plate for its eighth year Aug. 6- 16. It is generously supported by Price’s Creameries.
General admission tickets are $6, available by calling the El Paso Community Foundation at 915-533-4020 and online at plazaclassic. Tickets also will be available at the Southwest University Park box offices the night of the movie.
This marks the second straight year the Plaza Classic Film Festival and the Chihuahuas have teamed up to show a movie on the scoreboard. Last year’s “Field of Dreams” drew a crowd of 1,000 people.
“The Plaza Classic was founded with the idea of showcasing the best El Paso and Downtown have to offer,” said Eric Pearson, President and CEO of the El Paso Community Foundation, which produces the Plaza Classic Film Festival. “Southwest University Park is a really fun place to watch a movie, and it is a venue that is uniquely El Paso.”
“We are proud to once again open the doors of Southwest University Park for this community-oriented event with the Plaza Classic Film Festival. It will be a great night for families to share a classic movie together in the finest minor league baseball park in the country,” said Brad Taylor, General Manager of the El Paso Chihuahuas.
The El Paso Chihuahuas are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres and members of the Pacific Coast League (PCL). Since the gates opened at Southwest University Park in 2014, the Chihuahuas have registered more than 850,000 fans while entertaining guests of all ages. The Chihuahuas are more than baseball, opening their doors to major events, while engaging in various community efforts, including school- based curriculums and volunteer initiatives.
Academy Award winner Louise Fletcher, who played the evil Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” will be among the headliners for this year’s Plaza Classic Film Festival.
She will appear with “Cuckoo’s Nest,” Milos Forman’s 1975 classic, at 7 p.m. Friday, August 7 in the Plaza Theatre.
Fletcher won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of the nurse who battles Jack Nicholson and the rest of the patients in a mental institution.
Tickets are $10 at the box office, Ticketmaster, plazaclassic.com and 800-745-3000.
In addition, Fletcher will appear with director Robert Altman’s 1974 cult hit “Thieves Like Us,” her first credited movie role, at 1 p.m. Saturday, August 8 in the Plaza Theatre.
Tickets are $6 at the box office, Ticketmaster and plazaclassic.com.
She also will sign autographs at 4 p.m. Saturday, August 8 in the El Paso Community Foundation’s Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon. Admission is free, but there will be a charge for autographs.
Additionally, Miss Fletcher will headline a private reception for Festival Pass holders.
The Alabama-born actress’ career started in the late 1950s on TV shows such as “Maverick” and “Playhouse 90,” before taking time off to raise her two sons. She made the transition to movies with “Thieves Like Us,” and followed “Cuckoo’s Nest” with a string of movies before returning to TV, most notably as Winn Adami on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.”
El Paso native Yvette Yates will return to the Plaza Classic Film Festival, where she debuted in 2014.
Yvette will appear with the new comedy horror movie “Bloodsucking Bastards” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, August 7 at the Philanthropy Theatre.
Tickets are $4 at the box office, Ticketmaster and plazaclassic.com.
Yvette was here last year with “In the Blood.” Since then, she appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson’s late 2014 release “Inherent Vice.”
She will take questions from the audience after the “Bloodsucking Bastards” screening, which is sponsored by SoBellas Home Services.
The ghoulish office spoof, written by Los Angeles comedy troupe Dr. God, debuted at this year’s Slamdance Film Festival and will be released commercially on September 4.
Plaza Classic Film Festival tickets are on sale now at the Plaza Theatre box office, Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, plazaclassic.com and 800-745-3000.
Festival passes are $200 and include admission to all ticketed events, an express lane and more. A limited number of Film Club passes, for teenagers 14 to 18, are $100. They are available at 915- 533-4020 and plazaclassic.com.
“Laverne & Shirley” star Cindy Williams was a stage and movie actress before TV superstardom came her way.
She will appear with one of those movies, George Lucas’ 1973 blockbuster “American Graffiti,” at this year’s Plaza Classic Film Festival. It will be at 7 p.m. Friday, August 14 in the Plaza Theatre.
Tickets are $10 at the box office, Ticketmaster, plazaclassic.com and 800-745-3000.
Miss Williams also will sign copies of her new memoir, “Shirley, I Jest!,” at noon Saturday, August 15 in the El Paso Community Foundation’s Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon. Admission is free, but book purchase is required. Books will be available for sale at the signing.
Williams, who grew up in Texas, played Shirley Feeney on TV’s “Laverne & Shirley” for seven seasons. Before its 1976 launch, she made her first movie in Socorro, N.M., and worked on three others with top directors from old and new Hollywood — “Travels With My Aunt” (George Cukor), “The Conversation” (Francis Ford Coppola) and “American Graffiti” (Lucas). She also appeared in the Jack Nicholson-directed “Drive, He Said.”
She also has an active theater career, and recently appeared at the Spencer Theatre in Alto, N.M., near Ruidoso, with a touring production of “Nunsense Boulevard: The Nunset Hollywood Bowl Show.”
A total of 36 locally made or connected film projects have been selected for this year’s Local Flavor series. Seventy projects were submitted for what has become the area’s largest showcase for local filmmakers, and an important part of the Plaza Classic Film Festival, which returns for its eighth year August 5-16.
Here’s a rundown of this year’s Local Flavor programs, which are generously sponsored by the Texas Film Commission.
The Good, The Bad, The Indie, Vol. 11 7:30 p.m. Friday, August 7 The Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon FREE
• Machos Para Quiero (Carlos Tejeda) • Somewhere (Lloyd Blunk) • End of ASARCO (Mac Snodgrass) • Creative Kids (Rayell Abad) • De Lunes a Viernes (Oscar Moreno) • ABOMIBLE (Isaac Marquez) • Empapado (Jesus Genaro Limon) • Un Derecho de Nacimiento (Tito Arenal) • No Habla (Johanna Lopez) • Drag (Christian Hanna) • Ed Patrykus (Cameron Scott) • Sole Man (Samantha Contreras) • Spherical (Mindy Calvillo) • Z-Town (Thomas Kwiat) • Unwrapped: Guillen vs Vela (Roman G. Robles) • The Zombie National Guard (Clyde James Aragon) • Autistic Thoughts (Dimitri Sein) • BULL** (David Melendez) • Insubordinate Claus (Victor Maestas)
Filmmakers will be in attendance.
Shorts 1 7:30 p.m. Saturday, August 8 The Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon FREE
• Princess (Ross Marks) • Odessa (Grace Santos, Doug Johnson, Sean Turrell, Andrew Shebay) • Sunrise (Diego Rico) • While You Were in a Coma (Zach Passero) • Tempered (Robert Robles & J.J. Nunez) • Para Ellos (Christian Contreras & Victoria De La Torre)
Filmmakers will be in attendance.
TRUTH Sci-fi/horror (PRC Productions) 9:30 p.m. Saturday, August 8 Philanthropy Theatre $4
Do You Dream in Color? (pictured) Documentary (Regina Saldivar, producer) 3:30 p.m. Sunday, August 9 Philanthropy Theatre $4
Shorts 2 7:30 p.m. Friday, August 14 The Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon FREE
• Fluff (Ross Marks) • 100 Miles To Lordsburg (Brad Littlefield) • Aero / Aero Origins (Arturo Vargas) • Incandescent (Gabriel Bravo) • Borderline (Elida Portillo) • Land of the Home-Free (Diego Davila/ Perla Chaparro) • Penny (Luis Ruiz) • An Awkward First Date (Holly Packard Cobb)
Filmmakers will be in attendance.
Brooklyn Unemployed Comedy/drama (James Arrabito, director) 7:30 p.m. Saturday, August 15 The Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon FREE
Plaza Classic Film Camp Winners Projects by students aged 9-13 2 p.m. Sunday, August 16 The Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon FREE
Ghostlight 48 HR. Film Slam Winners 3:30 p.m. Sunday, August 16 The Foundation Room, 333 N. Oregon FREE
