ATLRetro

Monday August 22

The innovative black-and-white films of Jim Jarmusch were one of the inspirations for TAKEN IN, South Carolina filmmaker Chris White‘s indie feature about an estranged father and daughter set at the kitschy Pedro’s South of the Border resort, which screens tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Plaza Theatre. White and other crew members will be on hand for a Q&A. Read his own musings about the many Retro influences on this movie in his guest blog post here.

 

 

Artists and photographers, get a sneak peek and craft your images at the unusual set of the stage production of bestselling author Neil Gaiman‘s SNOW, GLASS, APPLES on a special Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School field trip to the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market tonight. The show starts Wed. but you can read a preview here from director/playwright Lisa Stock, who is also co-hostess of Dr. Sketchy’s Atlanta. From 3 PM on, savor tropical sounds and libations, as well as a Polynesian dinner during Mai Tai Monday at Smith’s Olde Bar. Northside Tavern hosts its weekly Blues Jam.

Tuesday August 23

Grab your horn and head to Twain’s in Decatur for a Joe Gransden jazz jam session starting at 9 PM. Crosstown All Stars play Southern rock and blues at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack. Notorious DJ Romeo Cologne spins ‘70s funk and disco at 10 High in Virginia-Highland. Catch Tues. Retro in the Metro nights at Midtown’s Deadwood Saloon, featuring video mixes of ’80s, ’90s and 2Ks hits.

Wednesday  August 24

Carrie Anne Hunt as the Snow White Princess in Lisa Stock's play of Neil Gaiman's SNOW, GLASS, APPLES, which opens Aug. 24.

 

SNOW, GLASS, APPLES, an immersive stage production based on bestselling author Neil Gaiman‘s dark vampiric retelling of SNOW WHITE, starts tonight at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market. Read our Really Retro interview with playwright/ director Lisa Stock here. Get ready to rumba, cha-cha and jitterbug at the weekly Swing Night at Graveyard Tavern. Frankie’s Blues Missionbring the blues to Fat Matt’s Rib Shackand Danny “Mudcat” Dudeck blues it down at Northside Tavern respectively. Dance to ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s hits during Retro in the Metro Wednesdays presented by Godiva Vodka, at Pub 71 in Brookhaven.

Thursday  August 25

Experience a silent classic as if you saw it back in the 1920s at Atlanta’s own movie palace, the Fabulous Fox tonight. Organist Clark Wilson plays the soundtrack of THE MARK OF ZORRO (1920), starring vintage heart-throb Douglas Fairbanks, on the Mighty Mo. The film rolls at 7:30 p.m., but be sure to come a half-hour early for sing-a-long and cartoon, or at 5:30 p.m. for a wine tasting. For a completely different kind of classic cinema experience, catch what our contributing blogger Dean Treadway calls “The greatest car chase movie in history,” the original GONE IN 60 SECONDS (1974) in a rare 35 mm print screening at GSU’s Cinefest. Read Dean’s full Retro Review here. Go Retro-Polynesian to Tongo Hiti’s luxurious live lounge sounds, as well as trippy takes on iconic pop songs, every Thurs. night at TraderVic’s. Party ‘70s style with DJ Romeo Cologne at Aurum Lounge. Breeze Kings & Chickenshack bring on the blues respectively at Northside Tavern and Fat Matt’s Rib Shack.

Friday, August 26

All-female Elvis tribute band The Pelvis Breastlies, Japanese-monster-inspired garage group Gargantua, hard rockers Ledfoot Messiah and whiskey-fueled rock rebels The Six Shot Revival make for a sizzling pop culture-fueled Friday night at the Star Bar. It’s the popular Tango Night at Callanwolde. Come at 8 p.m. for lessons with Tango Rio, or at 9 p.m., just for a dance party in the vintage mansion.  The Breeze Kings bring on the blues at Fernbank Museum of Natural History’s Martinis and IMAX. The Rockaholics play blues, classic rock and soul at Fat Matt’s. Whiskey Belt honky-tonks it up at Hottie Hawg’s. CineProv! trips up THE RUNNING MAN, the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner based on a Stephen King novel, at Relapse Theatre.

GSU’s Cinefest celebrates its 20th anniversary with special screenings of two ’90s cult classics with plenty of Retro spirit, PULP FICTION and TRAINSPOTTING. Friday showtimes are 6:30 p.m. and 9:15 p.m. respectively. Watch for Retro Reviews by contributing blogger Dean Treadway soon.

Whiskey Belt.

Saturday August 27

Get outdoors and enjoy live music, vendors, Corks and Forks – A Fine Food and Wine Event, a 5K run and kids’ activities in one of Atlanta’s oldest parks during the 9th Annual Grant Park Summer Shade Festival. Sat. band highlights include one-of-a-kind ’60s/’70s/’80s AOR tribute band AM Gold at 7 p.m. and one of our favorite local country duos Whiskey Belt at 5:30 p.m.

V.A.M.P. it up at the Vintage Apparel Marketplace, a vendors showcase organized by Pony Up! Vintage from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Scott Lowden Photography Studio in Poncey-Highland. Good Food Truck will provide tasty vittles, and Sweet Darlin’ Photography will take vintage photos. Watch for a Shop Around preview with co-hostess Jacqueline Stringham later this week.

H.P. Lovecraft meets Boris Karloff in DIE, MONSTER, DIE (1965), this month’s Silver Scream Spookshow creature feature at the Plaza Theatre. OK, it’s light on the Lovecraft but this mad scientist tale of a radioactive meteorite that mutates plant and animal life is fiendish fun and a cult classic. Plus it’s preceded by 30 minutes by another of Ghost Host with the Most Professor Morte‘s horror-ifically humorous pre-shows. Be there or be scared. Kids under 12 get in free to the 1 p.m. matinee (adults only $7) or stay up late for the 10 p.m. adult show. Tune back later this week for our Retro Review by long-time Fangoria writer Philip Nutman. Also screening today is a rare 35 mm print of 1970 horror cult classic EQUINOX at 3 p.m. at Cinefest.

You don’t have to wait till Drive Invasion next weekend to party with that event’s most notorious cocktail-hounds. Trailer Vic’s Beach Party promises a tiki hut, rug-cutting good time at The Earl with multiple musical acts spanning a variety of Retro-groovy sounds, including rock to the max from The Booze, Goth-Rockabilly Troubadour sounds from Dan Sartain, local garage favorites Ghost Bikini, all-star Astro-chimp superstars The Disasternauts, surf sounds from Grinder Nova, Os Ossos playing next to a pool with actual beach sand in the parking lot behind, and more. Oh yeah, there’ll be cocktails. Pool opens at 2 p.m., bands start at 3 p.m.

Mudcat plays Northside Tavern.  Cazanovas bring Chicago style blues to Hottie Hawg’s BBQ. And of course, DJ Romeo Cologne transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours.

Sunday August 28

Another great silent movie FLESH AND THE DEVIL (1926), starring Greta Garbo in her first American screen appearance, plays at the Earl Smith Strand Theatre. While not as big and ornate as the Fox, the Strand, built in 1935, nevertheless is another stunning art deco venue to see a classic film with its own Mighty Allen Theatre Organ and Ron Carter providing the score live. In fact, for preserving a 1920s tradition, Ron is this week’s Kool Kat. 

The 9th Annual Grant Park Summer Shade Festival continues with Ghost Riders Car Club hitting the festival stage at 2 p.m. Read ATLRetro’s Feb. Kool Kat with Spike Fullerton here. Lots of other great local bands, so be sure to check the Website for the complete schedule. Whiskey Belt plays blues “dunch” between 1-4 PM at The Earl. Watch for his interview soon. Kevn Kinney, of Drivin n Cryin, plays a solo gig at Park Tavern.  Tony Bryant reps four generations of Georgia blues at Fat Matt’s.

Ongoing

RADCLIFFE BAILEY: MEMORY AS MEDICINE, the most comprehensive exhibition of the Atlanta artist’s works to date, runs through Sept. 11 at the High Museum of Art. Read more about the artist and this powerful exhibition in this Kool Kat.

JOHN MARIN’S WATERCOLORS: A MEDIUM FOR MODERNISM, a companion exhibit also at the High this summer through Sept. 11, surveys the work of the man named America’s number one artist in a 1948 LOOK magazine survey. While his name is not a household one today, this exhibition reminds us of his important place in the modernist movement and why watercolors became such a powerful instrument for avante-garde art in the hands of him and other artists in the Stieglitz Circle,including Georgia O’Keefe.

The Museum of Design Atlanta (MODA)‘s current exhibit WaterDream: The Evolution of Bathroom Design, runs through Sept. 24 in the dynamic new Midtown space. Displays take visitors through a four-part journey into the bathroom from the birth of minimalist aesthetics in 20th century design to current concepts.

Get a rare chance to view original manuscript pages from the  last four chapters of ATLANTA’S BOOK: THE LOST GONE WITH THE WIND MANUSCRIPT at the Atlanta History Center. The exhibit runs through Sept. 5 and is part of a series of activities celebrating the 75th anniversary of the publication of the international bestseller and also includes foreign and first edition copies, the desk Margaret Mitchell used while writing it and select images.

Tune back in on Friday for Weekend Update. If you know of a cool happening that we’ve missed, send suggestions to ATLRetro@gmail.com.