The Cinema 150
by bohn007 | created - 30 Apr 2012 | updated - 1 month ago | PublicIn chronological order, movies I saw at the Cinema 150 Theater, in Little Rock, Arkansas. The unique domed movie theater was a landmark in Little Rock, for nearly 40 years. It had a 70-foot 120-degree curved screen, and seated 740 people in semi-round tiers. I saw many good movies there, and have some very fond memories of them, and the theater, itself. It was closed in 2003, and demolished in 2015. A very sad day for Little Rockians of my generation.
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1. Ben-Hur (1959)
G | 212 min | Adventure, Drama
After a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend in 1st-century Jerusalem, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge.
Director: William Wyler | Stars: Charlton Heston, Jack Hawkins, Stephen Boyd, Haya Harareet
Votes: 253,685 | Gross: $74.70M
Saw it when it was re-released for it's 10-year anniversary, in 1969. The chariot race, on that huge, curved screen was absolutely awesome!
2. Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
G | 144 min | Action, Drama, History
The story of the 1941 Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor, and the series of preceding American blunders that aggravated its effectiveness.
Directors: Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, Toshio Masuda, Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Martin Balsam, Sô Yamamura, Jason Robards, Joseph Cotten
Votes: 37,217 | Gross: $29.55M
I was 15, and my brother was 9, in 1970, when we saw this accurate account of the Pearl Harbor attack.
3. Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
PG | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Thriller
A diamond smuggling investigation leads James Bond to Las Vegas where he uncovers an evil plot involving a rich business tycoon.
Director: Guy Hamilton | Stars: Sean Connery, Jill St. John, Charles Gray, Lana Wood
Votes: 114,163 | Gross: $43.82M
Saw what was to become my favorite James Bond movie, at The Cinema, on the day after Christmas, in 1971
4. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
PG | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A group of passengers must embark on a harrowing struggle for survival after a rogue wave capsizes their cruise ship at sea.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons
Votes: 49,241 | Gross: $84.56M
With the combined talents of 5 Academy Award winners, this one is my favorite disaster movie of all, and it was terrific, at The Cinema.
5. What's Up, Doc? (1972)
G | 94 min | Comedy, Romance
The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.
Director: Peter Bogdanovich | Stars: Barbra Streisand, Ryan O'Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars
Votes: 27,056 | Gross: $10.47M
Saw this one with my first real girlfriend, on a double date with my cousin and his girlfriend.
6. The Towering Inferno (1974)
PG | 165 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway
Votes: 48,265 | Gross: $116.00M
Irwin Allen's All-Star disaster flick.
7. The Longest Yard (1974)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A sadistic warden asks a former pro quarterback, now serving time in his prison, to put together a team of inmates to take on (and get pummeled by) the guards.
Director: Robert Aldrich | Stars: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter, Michael Conrad
Votes: 21,432 | Gross: $7.13M
One of the best football movies ever made.
8. The Turning Point (1977)
PG | 119 min | Drama, Music, Romance
When her daughter joins a ballet company, a former dancer is forced to confront her long-ago decision to give up the stage to have a family.
Director: Herbert Ross | Stars: Anne Bancroft, Shirley MacLaine, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Tom Skerritt
Votes: 5,182 | Gross: $33.60M
Multiple Oscar-nominated movie about ballet. Saw this one during the 'arty' phase of my movie-going career.
9. A Bridge Too Far (1977)
PG | 175 min | Drama, History, War
Operation Market Garden, September 1944: The Allies attempt to capture several strategically important bridges in the Netherlands in the hope of breaking the German lines.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Sean Connery, Ryan O'Neal, Michael Caine, Laurence Olivier
Votes: 61,547 | Gross: $50.80M
Not all that great, but it was fun to see all those different stars together in one movie.
10. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Roy Neary, an Indiana electric lineman, finds his quiet and ordinary daily life turned upside down after a close encounter with a UFO, spurring him to an obsessed cross-country quest for answers as a momentous event approaches.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon
Votes: 216,910 | Gross: $132.09M
Spielberg's masterpiece. Best SciFi movie ever made!
11. Capricorn One (1977)
PG | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
When the first manned flight to Mars is deemed unsafe and scrubbed on the launch pad, anxious authorities must scramble to save face and retain their funding - and so an unthinkable plot to fake the mission is hatched.
Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Elliott Gould, James Brolin, Brenda Vaccaro, Sam Waterston
Votes: 24,734
Peter Hyams' exciting story about a faked mission to Mars, and it's attempted cover-up.
12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)
PG | 113 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
A small-town band hits it big, but it must battle a nefarious plot in the music industry.
Director: Michael Schultz | Stars: Peter Frampton, Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb
Votes: 6,988 | Gross: $20.38M
Another musical I could've done without seeing. See my list of 'The Worst Movies I've Ever Seen'.
13. Up in Smoke (1978)
R | 86 min | Comedy, Music
Two stoners unknowingly smuggle a van - made entirely of marijuana - from Mexico to L.A., with incompetent Sgt. Stedenko on their trail.
Directors: Lou Adler, Tommy Chong | Stars: Cheech Marin, Tommy Chong, Strother Martin, Edie Adams
Votes: 40,913 | Gross: $44.36M
Cheech and Chong's hilarious movie debut.
14. Superman (1978)
PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando
Votes: 187,555 | Gross: $134.22M
Saw it twice, on that huge screen.
15. All That Jazz (1979)
R | 123 min | Drama, Music, Musical
Director/choreographer Bob Fosse tells his own life story as he details the sordid career of Joe Gideon, a womanizing, drug-using dancer.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking, Leland Palmer
Votes: 35,397 | Gross: $37.82M
Not even sure, now, why I went to see this one at all. I'm not that crazy about musicals.
16. The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)
PG | 113 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A supersonic airborne disaster. In order to survive a flight headed for the Moscow Olympics, passengers of the Concorde must endure aerial acrobatics to dodge missiles and survive a device that decompresses the plane.
Director: David Lowell Rich | Stars: Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, George Kennedy
Votes: 6,955 | Gross: $13.00M
Another one on my list of 'The Worst Movies I've Ever Seen'. But, I saw it at 'The Cinema'.
17. Alien (1979)
R | 117 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
The crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform after investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright
Votes: 950,921 | Gross: $78.90M
Another awesome SciFi flick. Saw this one twice at The Cinema.
18. 1941 (1979)
PG | 118 min | Action, Comedy, War
Hysterical Californians prepare for a Japanese invasion in the days after Pearl Harbor.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Treat Williams, Nancy Allen
Votes: 36,273 | Gross: $31.76M
Thought this one was great, when I first saw it at The Cinema, in December of 1979. But, my opinion of it has changed, vastly, since then.
19. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
PG | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
After the Rebel Alliance are overpowered by the Empire, Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi training with Yoda, while his friends are pursued across the galaxy by Darth Vader and bounty hunter Boba Fett.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams
Votes: 1,379,971 | Gross: $290.48M
The 2nd to be made, but the 5th in the series. Saw it at The Cinema in the summer of 1980.
20. Atlantic City (1980)
R | 104 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
In a corrupt city, a small-time gangster and the estranged wife of a pot dealer find themselves thrown together in an escapade of love, money, drugs and danger.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Susan Sarandon, Kate Reid, Michel Piccoli
Votes: 18,300
Good movie with the great Burt Lancaster.
21. Nine to Five (1980)
PG | 109 min | Comedy
Three female employees of a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot find a way to turn the tables on him.
Director: Colin Higgins | Stars: Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton, Dabney Coleman
Votes: 39,427 | Gross: $103.29M
Dynamite combination of Fonda, Tomlin, and Parton.
22. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
PG | 115 min | Action, Adventure
In 1936, archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis can obtain its awesome powers.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies
Votes: 1,037,002 | Gross: $248.16M
Saw this one 4 times, with 3 different women.
23. Reds (1981)
PG | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
A radical American journalist becomes involved with the Communist revolution in Russia, and hopes to bring its spirit and idealism to the United States.
Director: Warren Beatty | Stars: Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Edward Herrmann, Jerzy Kosinski
Votes: 24,719 | Gross: $40.38M
Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and the Academy Award-winning performance of Maureen Stapleton.
24. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
PG | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.
Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan
Votes: 129,232 | Gross: $78.91M
The 2nd best of the Star Trek movie series.
25. Tootsie (1982)
PG | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Michael Dorsey, an unsuccessful actor, disguises himself as a woman in order to get a role on a trashy hospital soap.
Director: Sydney Pollack | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman
Votes: 114,686 | Gross: $177.20M
Dustin Hoffman's Oscar-nominated performance.
26. WarGames (1983)
PG | 114 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A young man finds a back door into a military central computer in which reality is confused with game-playing, possibly starting World War III.
Director: John Badham | Stars: Matthew Broderick, Ally Sheedy, John Wood, Dabney Coleman
Votes: 110,763 | Gross: $79.57M
Good movie, made even better on that big, curved screen.
27. The Right Stuff (1983)
PG | 193 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The U.S. space program's development from the breaking of the sound barrier to selection of the Mercury 7 astronauts, from a group of test pilots with a more seat-of-the-pants approach than the program's more cautious engineers preferred.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid
Votes: 65,352 | Gross: $21.50M
Phil Kaufman's magnificent story of the beginnings of our space program.
28. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)
PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure
In 1935, Indiana Jones is tasked by Indian villagers with reclaiming a rock stolen from them by a secret cult beneath the catacombs of an ancient palace.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Harrison Ford, Kate Capshaw, Ke Huy Quan, Amrish Puri
Votes: 535,355 | Gross: $179.87M
Got there late, and had to sit in the very front row. But, it was still great.
29. Platoon (1986)
R | 120 min | Drama, War
Chris Taylor, a neophyte recruit in Vietnam, finds himself caught in a battle of wills between two sergeants, one good and the other evil. A shrewd examination of the brutality of war and the duality of man in conflict.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe, Keith David
Votes: 439,583 | Gross: $138.53M
Best movie about the Vietnam war, ever made. Oscar-winner for Best Picture, that year.
30. Fatal Attraction (1987)
R | 119 min | Drama, Thriller
A married man's one-night stand comes back to haunt him when that lover begins to stalk him and his family.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer, Ellen Latzen
Votes: 97,112 | Gross: $156.65M
The Adrian Lyne thriller with Michael Douglas and Glenn Close.
31. Bat*21 (1988)
R | 105 min | Drama, War
During the Vietnam War, Colonel Hambleton's aircraft is shot down over enemy territory and a frantic rescue operation ensues.
Director: Peter Markle | Stars: Gene Hackman, Danny Glover, Jerry Reed, David Marshall Grant
Votes: 9,585 | Gross: $3.97M
Exciting and true Vietnam story, starring Gene Hackman and Danny Glover.
32. The Dead Pool (1988)
R | 91 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan must stop a sick secret contest to murder various San Francisco celebrities, with himself being one of the targets.
Director: Buddy Van Horn | Stars: Clint Eastwood, Liam Neeson, Patricia Clarkson, Evan C. Kim
Votes: 48,970 | Gross: $37.90M
Clint Eastwood as Inspector Harry Callahan in the 5th and last 'Dirty Harry' outing.
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