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Fool’s vs. Code
Late last week, we got wind that Fool’s Foundation has been temporarily shut down as a music/movie venue. Aargh! We’re hoping its only temporary. If not, it would be a loss for Sacramento’s urban core and the cultural/arts scene here. Maybe there’s a phoenix in this somewhere… let’s hope so.

Where to Show Radiant City?
In the meantime, this little fiasco presented a bit of a dilemma regarding where to show Radiant City, since the group who has helped us bring this movie to Sacramento, Movies on a Big Screen, was using Fool’s Foundation as a permanent venue. Robert from Shiny Object and I put our heads together and, in the midst of exploring possibilities, I threw out the suggestion that we take the Lounge area in our office and do the screening here. He came out and looked at the space, determined it was as big as the space at Fool’s and Voila!, we’re now showing the only Sacramento screening of this documentary at our digs on 20th and H. It’ll be a bit more DYI than typical screenings at Fool’s, where the audio/visual is already pre-wired, but the point is that the show will go on.

And the point is that Sprawl needs some impassioned, action-oriented arch-enemies with real solutions if its going to be stopped… I’m beginning to sound a bit like a comic book, aren’t I… must be the Sprawl monster animation idea coming back to haunt me.

Here’s a shot of The Lounge, where we’ll be doing the showing. The furniture in the back will be gone and we’ll have about 100 fold-up chairs for seating.

Fun, huh!

Post-Film Discussion
Of course, the whole point of films like this is to stir up some dialogue, so, towards that end, we’ve invited Graham Brownstein, Executive Director of ECOS, to join us on stage panel/Q&A-style to help us digest the implications of the film for Sacramento and process what we all can be doing to make our city a better place to live. We’re also talking with a few other eco-urbanists about joining the panel to make it even more interesting.

But Wait, There’s More!!
As a way of helping the momentum of Movies on a Big Screen during this transition as they scramble to find a new venue, we’re putting the show on for free. We like the idea of cramming a bunch of people into our retro-fitted brick warehouse space to watch a film that decries the impact of sprawl on our lives in a somewhat tongue-in-cheek manner.

Here’s a bit of verbiage about the film from Shiny-Object.

Gary Burns, Canada’s king of surreal comedy, joins journalist Jim Brown on an outing to the suburbs. Venturing into territory both familiar and foreign, they turn the documentary genre inside out, crafting a vivid account of life in The Late Suburban Age.

Urban sprawl is eating the planet. Across the continent the landscape is being leveled - blasted clean of distinctive features and overlaid with zombie monoculture. Politicians call it growth. Developers call it business. The Moss family call it home.

While Evan Moss zones out in commuter traffic, Ann boils over in her dream kitchen and the kids play sinister games amidst the fresh foundations of monster houses.

A chorus of cultural prophets provide insight on the spectacle. James Howard Kunstler, author of “The Geography of Nowhere,” rails against the brutalizing aesthetic of strip malls. Philosopher Joseph Heath fears the soul-eating suburbs but admits they offer good value for money. And urban planner Beverly Sandalack dares to ask, Why can’t we walk anywhere anymore?

Burns and Brown rummage through a toybox of cultural references, from Jane Jacobs to “The Sopranos,” to create a provocative reflection on why we live the way we do. Riffing off sitcoms and reality TV, they play fast and loose with a range of cinematic devices to consider what happens when cities get sick and mutate.

If you haven’t watched the trailers yet, you can see them here. I can’t wait to get my hands on the advance copy.

Date/Time/Location/Cost
August 24th
Doors open at 7pm: first come, first chance at the good seats…
New Location: 1941 H Street (corner of 20th and H, side entrance)… walk/ride if you can.
Cost: Free!

Jason