The Anaconda Ancient Order of Hibernians and Knights of Columbus are sponsoring a free matinee on Saturday, December 23rd at 1 p.m. in the Washoe Theater of Anaconda. The movie is Everyone’s Hero (rated G.) Members of the AOH and KC are inviting one and all to come and enjoy the movie. Merry Christmas!

Marx and I had been trying to make it to the Covellite Theatre all season, and we finally made it on the last weekend. I’m glad we didn’t just decide we were too busy and decide not to go.

The current show, Hidden in the Hill is an interesting story and well-told.

“Hidden in the Hill” is a full length suspensful drama that deals with a couple of Butte’s most well known ghost stories.

A collection of ghostly happenings and haunts that take place in Uptown Butte. Find out what’s behind all of the historic buildings and hidden under the mines.

One thing that was interesting about the way the show was run that was the live acting was interspersed with pre-filmed bits, which allowed the action to take place at a variety of places in Uptown Butte–the BSB Courthouse, the Dumas Brothel, and the BSB Archives.

According to their website, it’s a pretty unique set-up:

The 17′ x 11′ projection screen and the band stand allow the Buttenik Ensemble to combine short films and live performances, creating a genre of live theatre that isn’t offered anywhere else in Montana.

It certainly makes the action more involved, and allowed the viewer to understand more clearly what was going on. It is also very apparent that a lot of hard work went into putting the whole thing together so that the transitions between the live acting and the video stuff went smoothly.

It’s pretty clear that the entire thing is one heck of a lot of work and the show is definately worth seeing. It will only run twice more before the season ends (Saturday and Sunday nights at 8 p.m.) but if you’ve been contemplating it, I recommend seeing the show.

I also had not been in the building and I was quite impressed at what they have accomplished with what was once just a shell of a building. Between the downstairs, where the box office and the Dead Cat Cafe are located, and the theater upstairs–the building is interesting and well-apportioned.

The only point of contention I’d have is that it was not a very busy night, and we were given specific seat numbers to sit in, but none of the seats are labeled so we were walking around in the dark, disturbing other people looking for our seats. In the end it didn’t matter, because we just sat down somewhere (in the wrong row) and watched the show. Had we sat in our assigned seats, the entire audience would have been crowded into the first few rows, but this way we were able to spread out and have some buffer zones from others.

I don’t know how it works out on their busier nights with a packed house though. When we went to the Virginia City Players earlier this summer, the cast members act as ushers and show you to your seats. I think that’s an excellent way to bridge the gap between the public and the cast, and it helps folks find their seats.

Overall, I’d highly recommend seeing anything the Butteniks do. If you can’t catch them this season, line up next year when they open for their third season.

Alright, I finally got time to sit down at my computer after these hectic couple days.

Don’t Come Knocking made its Butte premiere last night at the Mother Lode Theater. The movie is about a western movie star named Howard Spence (Sam Shepard) who leaves his movie shoot unexpectedly due to problems with the law. For refuge, he calls his mom (Eva Marie Saint), who he hasn’t seen or spoken to in over 30 years, looking for a place to stay. Being the mom she is, she agrees to hide him for as long as needed.

During Howard’s stay, his mom tells him that a girl who he met while shooting a movie in Montana a few years back recently contacted her with some interesting news. Howard impregnated her. He decides to head up to Butte, Montana to try and get in contact with his one-night-stand, Doreen (Jessica Lange), and his son, Earl (Gabriel Mann).

I won’t tell you what happens in case you haven’t seen the movie yet. You’ll definately have to purchase it once it is released.

The movie features quite a few Butte landmarks (such as the M&M, the Finlen Hotel, the Irish Times, and many more). The movie’s cinematography is awesome. However, the plot does have its weak points for sure. I was also unhappy with the language use in the movie, as that made it rated “R” so the youngans can’t enjoy it.

Altogether, it was a good start for Butte’s potential movie career. Any Butte resident should see it for themselves and form their own opinion.

Despite touch-and-go reviews from the critics, the movie will especially resonate with Butte residents. It’s easy to pan a film when you have no connection to Butte or to small-town-life in general. The big city critics were especially harsh. See all of the critic’s quotes at RottenTomato.com’s Don’t Come Knocking page. Noted critic Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs-down, while his partner Richard Roeper gave it a thumbs up and said it was a good film despite its obvious flaws.

Special thanks to Bresnan Communications and Starz Entertainment Group for making the premiere possible.

P.S. – Thanks Delaney for covering for me last night! I was truely exhausted. :O)

Marx was way too tired after all the excitement of the DCK Butte premiere last night to write anything. Don’t worry, his review is coming. Just delayed a little…..

Stay Tuned….