It might be lowbrow humor at its lowest, but it gets laughs. Why? Unfortunately the cast and crew can’t say. You just have to have an open mind … and open nostrils.

“I love fart jokes and I think that everyone should,” said Charlie Schulman, who wrote the show’s book. “It’s one of those things in life that makes people laugh, but I don’t know why.”

More flatulent sound effects fill the air of the Manhattan dinner theater where the show opened last week than at a Whoopee cushion factory.

“You could be at a funeral, and if somebody farts, people will laugh,” said Steven Scott, a standup comedian who produces every gassy sound in “The Fartiste” with his mouth. “There’s just something funny about it.”

So far, the show has received good reviews. Link

(Image credit: Carol Rosegg)

The folks at Old Murder House Theater have created some great productions that are more akin to B movies than live theater. Their newest live play is a performance of the science fiction 1980’s “classic” Robocop. Check out the video at the link.

Darren Aronofsky no longer needs to remake the Paul Verhoeven masterpiece, RoboCop, a movie so entrenched in our collective subconscious that its dystopian future may have influenced the downfall of the Detroit more than the collapse of the auto industry. Instead, we can all be satisfied with this strange monster: a live production based on the film RoboCop, with sets made entirely from cardboard.

Link

The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema enforces old-fashioned theater etiquette. They have two rules: no talking during a movie, and no phone usage. After a woman was ejected from the theater for texting during a film, she left an angry voice mail. The theater promptly turned her message into a public service announcement. In discussions at the Drafthouse site, Roger Ebert’s blog, SlashFilm, reddit, Fark, and Metafilter, most commenters applaud the theater for enforcing silence during films. Link (video at the site contains unedited NSFW language)

Charlie took his sister Ginny to the movies. What Charlie knew, but Ginny didn’t, was that Ginny’s boyfriend Matt had bought a slot during the previews. And we have her reaction on video during the whole thing. -via reddit

In this Japanese theater production, a sword fight breaks out between our hero, portrayed by Taichi Saotome {wiki}, and the shadows that lurk around us. Creativity, special effects, and precision choreography come together to make something special. -via The Daily What

For Bollywood fans, Indian fare like samosas (potato-stuffed pastries), chaat (fried dough with potato, bread or chickpeas and tangy spices with yogurt garnish) and vada (a spiced potato sandwich) are the movie snacks of choice. Psst: You can also get them at cinemas in the U.S., like Columbia Park Stadium 12 in North Bergen, New Jersey.

Read about ten types of international treats at Woman’s Day. Link -via the Presurfer

Even for Buenos Aires, the Ateneo Grand Splendid is a big name for a business. From the looks of it, this bookstore is both grand AND splendid! Yes, it was built as a theater, in 1919. The conversion to a bookstore in 2000 was done with care to preserve the grandeur of the original theater. See more pictures at 91 Days. Link -Thanks, Juergen!

A Klingon Christmas play? Yes! After a run in St. Paul, A Klingon Christmas Carol is on the marquee at the Greenhouse Theater in Chicago until December 19th. Scrooge, the ghosts, and even Tiny Tim are there, albeit underneath Klingon makeup. The play, produced by the theater company Commedia Beauregard, is presented entirely in the Klingon language. See more pictures and watch a promotional video at Kuriositas. Link

Turns out, every Wednesday from 5 to 6 p.m., these three friends put on a new skit atop the four-story parking garage for the Brown Line passengers who pass by.

On this particular Wednesday, the actors were indeed performing an original skit about Frankenstein and a mad scientist.

“Look at me, look me in the eyes Frankenstein,” said the actor playing the mad scientist, during a performance. (Of course, no one on the el could hear the words, but the actors’ actions pretty much explained the scene.)

“Argh, argh, argh!” said Frankenstein.

The three actors go by the name of CTA Theater, and they’ve been performing for riders for six months, every single week, just to make people happy. Riders who catch their show say they love the performances, no matter how short. Link -Thanks, Jeff!

Chen Xiaomei claims she was unreasonably treated by the cinema’s owners and the distributors of the film she went to see, because she was not warned there would be 20 minutes of adverts prior to the screening of the main feature. She is demanding a full refund (35 yuan), an extra 35 yuan in compensation for emotional damages and a written apology, reports the Xinhua agency.

In addition, Xiaomei is calling for the Polybona International cinema in the northern city of Xian to publish the length of advertisements on its website, in the lobby or on its customer hotline. In total, they should be less than five minutes, she says.

The film was Aftershock, a big hit in China. Chen’s lawsuit has been accepted by the People’s Court in Xian. Link
-via Arbroath

The most beautiful theaters in the world are captured in photographs by David Laventi in a series called Opera. Link -via Holy Kaw!

Image Credit: Flickr user bound_4_freedom

I miss going to the drive-in, a movie experience unlike any other yet a quickly disappearing icon of early American car culture. The differences between going to a drive-in and a regular theater are numerous. I remember looking around at other screens when the movie I was watching grew slow, the obligatory repeat visits to the concession stand, even sneaking in via the trunk to save a few bucks.

When real estate became too valuable, these operations were forced out for development, and they just started vanishing. Even improving the audio experience -by replacing those awkward, often broken speakers with a signal beamed to the local AM/FM band- hasn’t stopped the extinction. Even the film world is somewhat devoid of scenes involving one, but there are a handful that I can think of.

Heat

Warner Bros.

The Centinela Drive-In in Los Angeles was already closed up when Michael Mann filmed this scene for Heat there. The rows of small inclines, placed there so patrons could angle their cars up for premium viewing experience, make for some exciting driving as the characters react to a violent double-cross. The land is now a middle class development. More Heat filming locations at the link, and nine more examples after the jump.

Back to the Future III

In order to send Marty back this time, Doc sets up at a drive-in movie theater with a decidedly western theme. How appropriate. As the DeLorean accelerates to 88mph, it’s headed right for a wall mural featuring a tribe of Old West Indians riding fiercely on horseback. After he jumps, Marty is instantly surrounded by the same thing, only it’s real this time. How clever!

Blue Thunder

In this Roy Scheider/Malcolm McDowell helicopter thriller, there’s one scene where Scheider’s girlfriend has to retrieve evidence left in a dumpster at an L.A. drive-in (probably not the same one as Heat).

The Outsiders

Zoetrope Films

Drive-in theaters weren’t strictly a park-and-view experience. Many, especially in the 1960s, included playgrounds, patio dining, and a bandstand type seating area for pedestrian moviegoers – or greasers who sneak in under the fence, like in Francis Ford Coppola’s classic.

Twister

In 1985, the Spotlight 88 drive-in theater in Pennsylvania was destroyed when an F3 tornado ripped through it. Afterwards, before it closed and became a flea market, the management changed the marquis sign to say “Now Playing: Gone with the Wind.” In Jan de Bont’s 1996 action movie, a twister of similar magnitude surprises a late night screening by chewing right through a screen showing The Shining. As a somewhat ham-handed tribute, de Bont has the screen and funnel meld together just as Jack Nicholson delivers his “Here’s Johnny!” line.

Grease

In the Broadway production of Grease, the scene is the same, but the song Danny Zuko sings is actually called “Alone at the Drive In.” It’s a more bebop-ey, era-accurate song than “Sandy” could ever hope to be, but updating is nothing new. Also, nice inclusion of the animated snack bar ads. Everyone loves it when the hot dog jumps into the bun.

Targets

via The Internet Movie Car Database

This gruesome gem was director Peter Bogdanovich’s first movie, edited by Jaws‘ Verna Fields, and starred Boris Karloff in a kind of self-reflective role. He plays a former monster movie actor whose style is outdated; the people need scarier monsters now. Then some other character* decides to go on a shooting spree, at one point shooting people from behind the drive-in movie screen they’re all staring at. Whoa, deep.

*Thanks for the correction, vertigo2712!

Jesus’ Son

Another fairly unknown movie that gets a lot of repeat viewings at this household. Billy Crudup, Samantha Morton, Jack Black, Denis Leary, Holly Hunter, Dennis Hopper. How’s that for a “Who’s in it?” Anyway, great cast and a life-affirming journey. In one crazy scene, after Crudup and Black have ingested some sort of hallucinogen, they come across an old drive-in, weeds growing tall and just the posts left where the speakers used to hang. Crudup’s character thinks he’s walking through a graveyard, then beholds his love up on the giant screen. And someone’s feet is playing an organ. It’s weird. Cool, but really strange.

Herbie Fully Loaded

Yeah, well that’s what I’ve heard.

Christine

Columbia Pictures

It was wise of John Carpenter to alter the scene in the book where Leigh almost chokes to death on a hamburger, and place it at a drive-in instead of outside of a fast food place. It just feels more natural to have a car like that 1958 Plymouth Fury at a drive-in theater. Right? And instead of a hitchhiker, we just get someone who was in the next car over to save her, at Arnie’s expense.

So are there any I missed? Sound off in the comments.

Wiki

“Food remains and seeds indicate that the preferred snacks were oysters, crabs, mussels, periwinkles and cockles. Walnuts, hazelnuts, plums, cherries, peaches, dried raisins and figs were also popular…”

The distribution of food remains over the site suggested that there was a class divide in the consumption of snacks. [Museum of London archaeologist Julian] Bowsher explained that remains found underneath the gallery seating suggested that the wealthier classes munched on crabs and sturgeon, as well as imported treats like peaches and dried figs. Meanwhile, oyster shells were found scattered all over the yard area, where commoners stood.

“At that time, oysters were indeed the staple diet of the poor,” Bowsher said.

Link.  Image credit: Museum of London Archaeology

Open air theaters are usually associated with the cultures of ancient Rome and Greece but the tradition is still going strong in the windswept but beautiful landscape of Cornwall in the United Kingdom. Although it resembles an ancient artifact, the Minack Theater is less than a hundred years old! It is made of solid stone and perched directly over the sea, so it will probably see Shakespearean productions for centuries to come.

Link

(image credit: Flickr user Fimb)

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.

Photo: Futurestar Entertainment Group

Mask Changing (or Face Changing) is an ancient Chinese tradition in theater, used to indicate a character’s shift in mood and demeanor.  Accompanied by fan flourishes and other methods of obscuring the actor’s face, masks are changed with lightning speed.  He Hongqing is considered one of the best.  Check out the video at BBC.

Link

Oobject captures the majesty and opulence that once defined theater archiecture, and the sadness of their current emptiness in this gallery of urban decay photography. The theater pictured here is in Hellingly Asylum, Sussex.

Theaters are a relic of the past. Don’t believe me? Look at drive-in movie theaters and the shakespearean stage. They simply don’t exist in modern America anymore, save for a relic or three buried in a small town somewhere. This list pays tribute to the thespians and films of the past century, to their writers and directors and to the actors who made them happen.

Link

(image credit: Flickr user Howzey)

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by vveneziani.

Police said Cialella told the man’s family to be quiet, then threw popcorn at the man’s son. The victim, whom television reports identified as Woffard Lomax, told police that Cialella was walking toward his family when he stood up and was shot.

Detectives called to the United Artists Riverview Stadium theater in South Philadelphia found Cialella carrying the weapon, a .380-caliber handgun, in his waistband, police said.

Lt. Frank Vanore called the incident “scary that it gets to that level of violence from being too noisy during a movie.”

The 31-year-old victim was released from the hospital and had no comment. Cialella faces six charges, including attempted murder. Link -Thanks, Geekazoid!

(image credit: Philadelphia Police Department)