CinEvent in Columbus, June 2-5

Why go all the way down to Columbus for a movie convention and expo? Isn't this the CLEVELAND movie blog? Shouldn't Columbus get a movie-blog website of its own?

Well, let's face it. The Republican National Convention is coming to Cleveland next month to determine the nominee for president, and while City Hall is putting a brave face on things, let's just assume for sake of argument that Cleveland is about to be destroyed. Completely. Riots, disorder, protests, dogs and cats living together, all our worst nightmares. You've seen those photos of Stalingrad after the Soviets beat back the Germans? Cleveland will end up being kind of like that.

So it would behoove local residents to get used to going to other cities for their movie conventions, is all we're saying, in case Cleveland is just a pile of smoldering ruins.

There's a second reason, of course. Going downstate to the 50th annual CinEvent Classic Film Convention is simply worth it.

Oriented to the greats and the unsung curios of Hollywood's golden age (sorry, THE FORCE AWAKENS doesn't count), CinEvent is the state's oldest and best established movie-nostalgia expo, and unlike other "cons" it's less focused on celebrity guests (although a few VIP authors and actors do show up) than on memorabilia and relics of a cherished bygone era in film. 

An affair to remember: CinEvent in Columbus, May 22-25

[CinEvent takes place Friday May 22nd through Monday May 25th at the Renaissance Downtown Columbus Hotel.]

Event preview by Charles Cassady, Jr. 

Before it became more or less identified with summer-blockbuster kickoffs and superhero sequels, Memorial Day Weekend was actually about memorializing the fallen - remember?

And this Memorial Day we would like you to remember a certain Steve Haynes, who died in April at the age of 68.

Haynes, a film super-fan, was one of the co-founders of Ohio's oldest movie expo, CinEvent in Columbus. A Memorial Day weekend tradition, CinEvent happens this year in its 47th edition. Expect many tributes to Haynes during the three-day festival.

CinEvent returns/revives vintage movies in Columbus, May 22-25

Event preview by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Ever since LeBron James left, the only significant thing about Cleveland, we can all agree, is that it is somewhat geographically convenient for visiting the thriving state capital of Columbus, Ohio, only a few hours down south by freeway.

And the only significant thing about Columbus, we can all agree (aside from being the corporate headquarters of Big Lots! Shoutout to one of my former employers which whom I parted amicably) is that the city has been – for 46 years now – the home of CinEvent, one of the top movie-nostalgia expos and markets in the nation.

An Ohio Memorial Day tradition and the state’s oldest movie expo, CinEvent enables one to participate in one of the region’s biggest auctions of classic movie posters and lobby cards, or browse at more than 170 tables of dealer tables full of movie merchandise, trading in everything from autographed star portraits to animation cels to soundtrack vinyl and CDs to rare tie-in paperbacks to ephemera, to the ultimate movie collectibles - movies.

The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T (May 24th at CinEvent)

[THE 5,000 FINGERS OF DR. T screens at Friday May 24th at 4:00 pm at CinEvent in Columbus.]


Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

I once applied to work at one of the few video-rental chains not yet bankrupt. You'd think being a video-rental clerk would suit me well, with my somewhat detailed cinematic knowledge. But I overheard some of the young Gen-X guys already working there chatting excitedly about the recent digitally animated HORTON HEARS A WHO, you know, the one with the voice of Jim Carrey. Wanting to show off my knowledge of inventory, I started informing the young managers about how, in the 1950s, Dr. Seuss himself conceived a live-action picture, 100 per cent original, Columbia Pictures - and how it's largely been forgotten since; they ought to stock it, maybe have it next to HORTON as a cool retro-option. O my brothers, they looked at me as though I'd been speaking a strange and unpleasant foreign language, then went back to their business. I knew there and then I'd lost the job opportunity.

CinEvent brings retro-film appreciation to Columbus, May 24-27

[CinEvent takes place Friday May 24 th through Monday May 27 th at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Columbus, OH.]

Event preview by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Ever since LeBron James left, the most significant thing about Cleveland has been…uh…er…I can’t really think of anything at the moment. Anyone up for a Memorial Day weekend road trip?

And if anyone still has money to buy gasoline (which leaves me out), the prime destination this weekend ought to be an Ohio Memorial Day tradition, CinEvent. This has been an annual Columbus movie expo for 45 years now, taking place in 2013 at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Columbus.

For those of you, I think the word is “grownups,” who actually knew that THE GREAT GATSBY was derived from an F. Scott Fitzerald novel, not a superhero comic, CinEvent is more for you than a lot of weekend nostalgia expos. This one is lovingly oriented toward the classics of Hollywood’s golden age (sorry, HANGOVER 3 doesn’t count – and neither will HANGOVER 4 or 5), the silent and the early talkies, plus “late” entries going up to the 1950s and 60s. Fittingly, CinEvent is the state’s oldest and movie expo.

CinEvent in Columbus, May 25-28, 2012

Event preview by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Memorial Day is, of course, a holiday weekend set aside by the nation to honor those who perished violently on blood-drenched battlefields of a world gone maaaaaaaad! What better milieu, among the grief for the losses and terrible waste of human lives…to contemplate the movie industry?
 

And an Ohio Memorial Day tradition to do so is CinEvent, an annual Columbus tradition for 44 years now, taking place in 2012 at the Ramada Plaza Hotel in Columbus.
 

Oriented toward the classics of Hollywood’s golden age (sorry, BATTLESHIP doesn’t count), CinEvent is the state’s oldest and best established movie-nostalgia expo, and unlike other “cons” it’s less focused on celebrity guests than on memorabilia and relics. At CinEvent one can browse at more than 170 tables of dealer tables full of movie merchandise. Everything from autographed star portraits to animation cels to rare tie-in paperbacks to eminently affordable old posters and lobby cards. Then there are the ultimate movie collectibles - movies. I'm not talking VHS or digital discs (there will be those as well), but actual 8mm, 16mm and 35mm reels of celluloid film, tons of it.