The first Saturday in May

[ivy62]

I will be in Lexington on the 23-28 of April, is there anyway to find out which theaters and times the movie might be playing?

[Laurierace]

OPENS FRIDAY, APRIL 18th
Austin - Dobie
Berkeley - Shattuck
Boston - Kendall Square
Chicago - Century
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky - Florence Cinemas
Cleveland - Cedar Lee
Columbus (IN) - Yes Cinema
Denver - Chez Artist
Detroit - Maple Art
Indianapolis - Keystone Cinema
Lexington (KY) - Kentucky Theatre
Los Angeles - Sunset Laemmle
Louisville (KY) - Cinema De Lux 20: Stonybrook
Minneapolis - Lagoon
NYC - Cinema Village
Philadelphia - Ritz at the Bourse
St. Louis - Plaza Frontenac
San Diego - Hillcrest
San Francisco - Opera Plaza
Washington, DC - E Street

OPENS THURSDAY, APRIL 24th
Saratoga Springs (NY) - Saratoga Film Forum

OPENS FRIDAY, APRIL 25th
Milwaukee - Downer
Muskegon (MI) - Harbor Theatre
Atlanta - Midtown Arts
Seattle - Varsity

[Glimmerglass]

I will be in Lexington on the 23-28 of April, is there anyway to find out which theaters and times the movie might be playing?

As cited on the Top 10 movie thread ....

http://www.thefirstsaturdayinmay.com/2008/03/11/opening-in-a-city-near-you/

In Lexington it is only playing at the "Kentucky Theater": http://www.kentuckytheater.com/

[After the Finish Line]

I saw this at a private screening during the Del Mar race meet last summer with one of the Hennegan brothers. I highly recommend it!

Dawn Mellen, President
After the Finish Line™
San Diego, CA
www.afterthefinishline.org
dawn@afterthefinish-line.org

[RedMare01]

I saw it this past weekend at the Louisville premier. Excellent movie! Dale Romans and family are funny as heck, and Barbaro had more than one person crying. Definitely recommend seeing.

Caitlin

[rami]

haven't watched it yet but i'll check my calendar when i'll be free and do so! thanks for the schedules!:)

[miss_critic]

Who is this guy???
movie review: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/movies/18firs.html?ref=movies


I was planning on going to Philly to watch this tonight but my dog is sick, so of course I am staying home. They said it is only running until Thursday. Anybody know if it is coming out on dvd soon or playing again? I am bummed out about missing it but my baby comes first.

[SarahSC]

I saw the movie yesterday here in LA and really liked it. One of the Hennegan brothers answered questions after the movie. I believe he said they were preselling the DVD starting on May 1st and will start shipping it out 3 weeks later.

I'd definitely recommend going to see the film. Its relatively fast paced so even if you aren't a big racehorse fan you won't get bored. Which is helpful if you are going to drag a non-horsey person with you to see it. :)

[QHJockee]

Dale Romans and family are funny as heck,




Of course they are funny.... when your wife is literally half your size, your young son is a fixture at the backside poker nights (and wins....) and you look like dale, all together provides a good laugh!

if anyone saw Gene Simmons' Family Jewels episodes where they went to the Derby last year there is a pretty funny interaction between Gene and Dale's son involving Gene picking up road apples!@

[Glimmerglass]

Who is this guy???
movie review: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/movies/18firs.html?ref=movies

Actually a she - Manohla Dargis (wikipedai) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manohla_Dargis) who is not well liked and is a former LA Times movie critic too. I think her review was so off the mark and elitist if not (as someone else cited on the NYT site) more of an op-ed piece against horse racing. The Times should get smacked hard for such a bad review.

My wife and I are going to see the movie Sunday eve :)

[JER]

Actually a she - Manohla Dargis (wikipedai) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manohla_Dargis) who is not well liked and is a former LA Times movie critic too. I think her review was so off the mark and elitist if not (as someone else cited on the NYT site) more of an op-ed piece against horse racing. The Times should get smacked hard for such a bad review.

Her reviews are generally dreary, humorless affairs. I much prefer A.O. Scott.

(But at least she's not Vincent Canby, sleeping through movies and then cribbing notes from early drafts of the script.)

However, I was surprised by the total negativity of her review. I'm very interested to hear what you thought of the movie, Glimmer.

[summerhorse]

I will get the DVD but if it comes here I'll def. MAKE myself go to the theatre and see it. RACEHORSES on the big screen and no Gimmeabreak moments? A must see! 8-D

[DLee]

Saw it last night, it was great. :yes:

[Barnfairy]

Hubby and I made the trek down to Kendall Square last night for the movie, and we're glad we did.

It was very well done and truly captures the essence of the race. I enjoyed the diversity of the trainers that were featured.

Am I the only one who found Jake Romans' behavior disturbing? Sorry, I don't find it cute or funny at all to see a boy that young flaunting the wad of cash he won playing the ponies & poker, or looking forward to celebrating a Derby win with an "$800 bottle of wine."

OMG Carson Kressley. I literally laughed out loud at his comments.

The events that unfolded regarding Barbaro and the Preakness were handled tastefully and without taking too much focus away from the other horses.

[Glimmerglass]

Her reviews are generally dreary, humorless affairs. I much prefer A.O. Scott. However, I was surprised by the total negativity of her review. I'm very interested to hear what you thought of the movie, Glimmer.

Went to see it Sunday and I'd say all total about 40 - 50 folks were in the seats which isn't bad for a 5 pm showing. The film editor spoke before the film thanking everyone for showing up and she reiterated that a portion of our tickets went towards equine research (grayson) and hoped if we enjoyed it to tell our friends.

The theater run will end Thursday evening if the box-office draw ins't potent enough to extend it for longer. This is a somewhat artsy venue with other smaller draw films so I suspect its revenue might surpass a few others. Scant buzz in Chicago about the film although the Tribune gave it a decent mention.

Anyhow - as for the movie I enjoyed it. Loved it? Nah I won't go that far.

I suspect that I knew a bit more about the film in advance as well as the names of all the horses and folks behind them then people most watching the movie at our theater. Still it didn't take anything away from my experience in seeing the insides of it all. Nor did the lack of that knowledge handicap anyone in the movie from laughing at certain scenes.

I do recall very clearly things like Achillies of Troy bombing in that last chance race [I wagered on him and watched that race at a nearby fairly upscale OTB], mispronunciations of Jazil and Barbaro being common, Brother Derek being all the rage, plus items not shown like Lawyer Ron's owner drowning [and oddly never cited in the movie] well before even April for example.

A movie more often then not lies in the editing and you do have to cull some things. The cuts they made by and large worked. Although I will say after the airing of "the Derby" I wasn't terribly clear where they were going with the volume of Barbaro coverage. I understand that what became of him ties to the journey of the horses covered to some degree. Althought it just seemed a bit tacked on just to satisfy the interests of some.

If the goal was to say - hey what became of these five horses I'd frankly see more upside in showing that Lawyer Ron ran as a 4-yr old and impressively broke the Saratoga track record in 2007 vs. making too much a deal about Nicanor someday hitting the track. Then again that is just me.

The length at 90-minutes is about right and the music while there as needed isn't brought in to somehow pump up the action. Other films may need it to reinforce a soft moment, an emotional scene, or make a thrill more thrilling - not here.

I thought the behind the scenes storyline was good and you saw somewhat what it means to these guys to have even a contender - let alone a favorite for the Derby. It doesn't get too hung up on other race track elements. For example never cited is the post-positions (and how Barbaro had one of the lowest yielding sports to break from) or that the morning favorite was Brother Derek yet that shifted by the day of with wagering to become at the break Illinois Derby winner, Sweetnorthernsaint.

Go see it, if you can, as any horse action is better on the big screen.

I will say that Frank Amonte Jr. does precious little to discourage a certain image of NY racing being what it is!

[Glimmerglass]

On a side note - Brother Derek returned to racing this past weekend in a 1-mi allowance race (taking 2nd) after a 14 1/2 month absense.