The SoDak Animation Festival is scheduled for October 17-21 this year. Find full information on the festival at their website.
Friday, February 17, 2012
SoDak Animation Festival awarded National Endowment for the Arts grant
Congratulations to the SoDak Animation Festival in Brookings for being awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Here's a link to the full story.
The SoDak Animation Festival is scheduled for October 17-21 this year. Find full information on the festival at their website.
The SoDak Animation Festival is scheduled for October 17-21 this year. Find full information on the festival at their website.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
'Head of State' features Mount Rushmore
Not one of my favorite films, but one that featured Mount Rushmore National Memorial is 2003's "Head of State" starring Chris Rock and Bernie Mac.
Following an unlikely black candidate for president on the campaign trail, the movie opens with some great aerial footage of Mount Rushmore and a singer and dancers in front of the mountain.
More info and the trailer are available at IMDB.com. Rushmore appears at about 1:28 into the trailer. The full movie is currently available on YouTube.
Following an unlikely black candidate for president on the campaign trail, the movie opens with some great aerial footage of Mount Rushmore and a singer and dancers in front of the mountain.
More info and the trailer are available at IMDB.com. Rushmore appears at about 1:28 into the trailer. The full movie is currently available on YouTube.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Are more drive-in theaters in South Dakota's future?
South Dakota still has five operating drive-in movie theaters, but if plans go well there will be several more in the next few years.
According to news reports, a two-screen theater at Hermosa on the east edge of the Black Hills is underway, but has been slowed by some permits, etc. Wild Water West theme park on the west edge of Sioux Falls plans to build a 700-car drive-in. A one-or-two-screen theater is proposed for the town of Tea south of Sioux Falls.
It will be interesting to see if these all come to fruition and if there is a resurgence in the nostalgic open-air theater experience.
Here's the existing Winner Drive-In.
According to news reports, a two-screen theater at Hermosa on the east edge of the Black Hills is underway, but has been slowed by some permits, etc. Wild Water West theme park on the west edge of Sioux Falls plans to build a 700-car drive-in. A one-or-two-screen theater is proposed for the town of Tea south of Sioux Falls.
It will be interesting to see if these all come to fruition and if there is a resurgence in the nostalgic open-air theater experience.
Here's the existing Winner Drive-In.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Pierre Capitol Journal covers South Dakota film industry
Thanks to Michael Neary and the Pierre Capitol Journal for including me and Cinema South Dakota in a recent story about the film industry in South Dakota.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
"Tomahawk" pretty good for it's time period
I've been watching for the 1951 film "Tomahawk" to be released on DVD and now that it's out, I'm impressed. Sure, it takes several Hollywood liberties with historical fact, but this is a fairly entertaining story for its time period.
The first words we hear are "This is the territory of Wyoming," although those of us who recognize the scenery know it was filmed in South Dakota. Beginning with obvious Badlands landscape and moving on to the Black Hills, several of the scenes are easy to identify.
Van Heflin plays mountain man Jim Bridger and Yvonne De Carlo plays a traveling wagon show singer. De Carlo is most well-known for her role as Lilly Munster in the classic TV series "The Munsters."
As I posted earlier, the team at Fort Hays Chuckwagon Supper and "Dances With Wolves" Movie Set has researched the location of the fort in "Tomahawk" and found that those scenes were filmed just down the hill from them near the present day Reptile Gardens. Dan Seibersma from the South Dakota State Library tells me that "newspaper accounts from the time mention that the filming was done 'south of Rapid City on the Acker Ranch near Spring Creek.' Additional filming was done on 'a small area on the western edge of the Badlands six miles south of Scenic.' Eighteen Rapid City residents had speaking parts in the movie ('for which they were paid a minimum of $55 per day') and others served as stand-ins for such actors as Jack Okie and Susan Cabot."
It's also pretty certain that the fort is the same one appearing in the 1952 film "Battles of Chief Pontiac" as seen here.
I posted earlier about "Battles of Chief Pontiac" here at Cinema South Dakota.
Further tying "Tomahawk" to another movie made in the area is this teepee that appears in the 1955 film "Chief Crazy Horse." Compare this photo with the one in my last post.
It would be interesting to know how this teepee came to be in both movies and where it was between its appearance in 1951's "Tomahawk" and the 1955 "Chief Crazy Horse." Taking a wild guess, I'd say it was probably on display at some tourist attraction.
There are several exciting battle scenes in "Tomahawk," but they aren't the most realistic ever filmed. I just have to show off the state of special effects in early '50s movies. These two men have been fighting in a small pond when a young Sioux warrior shoots the one with arrow, or I should say shoots the box hidden under his shirt.
"Tomahawk" is available at www.amazon.com.
The first words we hear are "This is the territory of Wyoming," although those of us who recognize the scenery know it was filmed in South Dakota. Beginning with obvious Badlands landscape and moving on to the Black Hills, several of the scenes are easy to identify.
Van Heflin plays mountain man Jim Bridger and Yvonne De Carlo plays a traveling wagon show singer. De Carlo is most well-known for her role as Lilly Munster in the classic TV series "The Munsters."As I posted earlier, the team at Fort Hays Chuckwagon Supper and "Dances With Wolves" Movie Set has researched the location of the fort in "Tomahawk" and found that those scenes were filmed just down the hill from them near the present day Reptile Gardens. Dan Seibersma from the South Dakota State Library tells me that "newspaper accounts from the time mention that the filming was done 'south of Rapid City on the Acker Ranch near Spring Creek.' Additional filming was done on 'a small area on the western edge of the Badlands six miles south of Scenic.' Eighteen Rapid City residents had speaking parts in the movie ('for which they were paid a minimum of $55 per day') and others served as stand-ins for such actors as Jack Okie and Susan Cabot."
It's also pretty certain that the fort is the same one appearing in the 1952 film "Battles of Chief Pontiac" as seen here.
I posted earlier about "Battles of Chief Pontiac" here at Cinema South Dakota.Further tying "Tomahawk" to another movie made in the area is this teepee that appears in the 1955 film "Chief Crazy Horse." Compare this photo with the one in my last post.
It would be interesting to know how this teepee came to be in both movies and where it was between its appearance in 1951's "Tomahawk" and the 1955 "Chief Crazy Horse." Taking a wild guess, I'd say it was probably on display at some tourist attraction.There are several exciting battle scenes in "Tomahawk," but they aren't the most realistic ever filmed. I just have to show off the state of special effects in early '50s movies. These two men have been fighting in a small pond when a young Sioux warrior shoots the one with arrow, or I should say shoots the box hidden under his shirt.
"Tomahawk" is available at www.amazon.com.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Chief Crazy Horse not the most accurate film
In 1955 Universal International Pictures released "Chief Crazy Horse," which supposedly depicts the life of the famed Lakota warrior. It was filmed in South Dakota's Black Hills and Badlands.
Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where Hollywood played loose and fast with the facts. Scriptwriting aside, casting and costuming leave a lot to be desired in the accuracy department. Victor Mature plays the title role. His Italian ancestry and some heavy makeup apparently made him perfect for the character and entitled to wear a ridiculous set of red painted feathers on his forehead.
I wasn't around in the 1800s, but I'm fairly confident no Native American of the time period wore a warbonnet quite like "Chief Purple Plumes" here.
The fort in the film is almost certainly the same one that sat in Custer State Park for years and can be seen in a brief clip in "How the West Was Won."
In another case of different movies sharing the same sets and props, this very tepee with it's rainbows and bull buffalo painted over the doorway is also seen in the 1951 film "Tomahawk," which will be featured in my next post.
I also find it odd that the poster above mentions the battle of the Little Bighorn, but in the movie the battle is represented by an image of clouds with battle sounds. Apparently budget concerns may not have allowed recreating the battle itself.
"Chief Crazy Horse" is available for viewing at NetFlix.
Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where Hollywood played loose and fast with the facts. Scriptwriting aside, casting and costuming leave a lot to be desired in the accuracy department. Victor Mature plays the title role. His Italian ancestry and some heavy makeup apparently made him perfect for the character and entitled to wear a ridiculous set of red painted feathers on his forehead.
I wasn't around in the 1800s, but I'm fairly confident no Native American of the time period wore a warbonnet quite like "Chief Purple Plumes" here.
The fort in the film is almost certainly the same one that sat in Custer State Park for years and can be seen in a brief clip in "How the West Was Won."
In another case of different movies sharing the same sets and props, this very tepee with it's rainbows and bull buffalo painted over the doorway is also seen in the 1951 film "Tomahawk," which will be featured in my next post.
I also find it odd that the poster above mentions the battle of the Little Bighorn, but in the movie the battle is represented by an image of clouds with battle sounds. Apparently budget concerns may not have allowed recreating the battle itself."Chief Crazy Horse" is available for viewing at NetFlix.
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