Art event choices

Looking for something a little more cultural to do than throw spaghetti on the wall? Why not check out one of the ongoing art shows in the area.

• The “View Point” photography show runs through June 30 at the Great Frame Up, 1646 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Wesley Chapel. Call (813) 949-8832.

• “Following the Footsteps of Van Gogh,” works by local artist Terry Klaaren, during regular hours through September at the The 'Arc’ Gallery in the lobby of the Museum of Science and Industry, 4801 E Fowler Ave. Call (813) 987-6315.

• The Spring 2009 Art Exhibition from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday at the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Ave. The exhibition features work by artists with disabilities.

• What do museums do behind closed doors? Find out at Museum at Work exhibit from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through July 17 at the Contemporary Arts Musuem at USF, 4202 E Fowler Ave. See the process for photographing and documenting the collection with Peter Foe, curator of the collection. E-mail pfoe@arts.usf.edu

• The Sixty Minutes exhibit is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through July 2 in the West Gallery at the Contemporary Art Museum. Sixty Minutes is a single channel video program designed to highlight and explore artists' practice and influences. It is conceived to expose the diversity and complexity of artists' process and provide an inspiring critical space to research, analyze and debate contexts for practice.

Free movie screening at USF aims to draw attention to human rights

Crossing Korean Movie Trailer - More amazing videos are a click away

Movie with a message
A free public screening of Crossing, about human-rights abuses in North Korea, is tonight (April 15) at the University of South Florida. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; the film starts at 7:30 p.m. engagethecurrent.org.

Meet the dog star from "Marley & Me"

Meet Rudy of "Marley & Me" from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday (Feb. 14) at Muvico Starlight 20, 18002 Highwaoods Preserve Parkway. The event features pet adoptions, giveaways and more. Call (813) 744-5660 or visit hillsboroughcounty.org/animalservices.

See screening of Darius Goes West

See the documentary about Darius Weems, a Georgia teen with Duchenne muscular dystrophy who journeys to Los Angeles, at 7 p.m. today (Dec. 10) in the USF Health auditorium, 4202 E Fowler Ave. After the film, Darius and friends will appear live for a Q&A. There is no charge for the event. Call (813) 335-6484.

Grove 16 Cinema to open next week

WESLEY CHAPEL -- Film buffs can see a movie on the big screen in Wesley Chapel for the first time Sept. 26 when Cobb Theatres opens its 16-screen multiplex and Cinebistro.

The theater features stadium seating, family restrooms and a full service restaurant. Those ages 21 and older who make reservations can watch a film in the balcony with plush leather seats and get food and alcoholic beverages served right to the chairs.

The opening follows a grand opening program on Thursday by invitation only that includes a ribbon cutting, tours and lunch at the Cinebistro.

-- Lisa Buie, Times staff writer

A mom's-eye view

Wesley Chapel's Grove 16 theater gets two thumbs up from a mom for its family approach to restrooms.

"Cinebistro" set to open in Wesley Chapel

The movie posters are up, with titles that include Ghost Town and How to Lose Friends & Alienate People.

But executives for the Grove 16 theater and its much touted Cinebistro restaurant and bar doubt those movie titles will be omens when central Pasco’s first movie house has its grand opening mid-September.

“On a good day this is adult Disneyland,” said Alan Lake, a veteran executive chef overseeing the startup of the Pasco theater at the Grove shopping center at County Road 54 and Interstate 75. Lake’s Web site lists such A-list celebrities as Bono and the Edge, George Harrison, Julian Lennon, Tina Turner and Bruce Springsteen as among those who have eaten his cuisine.

Lake and Cobb executives gave media tours of the 86,000 square foot theater, which boasts 16 screens of varying sizes, including four that are about 60 feet wide by 30 feet high.
“About three stories tall,” said Jeremy Welman, chief operating officer for Cobb Theatres.

The theaters also feature Dolby 7.1 sound, which is a step higher than what most cinemas now offer, he said. It also offers seats four inches wider than the industry standard.

But the big draw is expected to be the Cinebistro, a restaurant that features a full gourmet menu and bar. The restaurant, which also offers a kids’ menu, is accessible to all moviegoers as well as the public.

Patrons ages 21 and older who want to combine a meal with the movie can pay about $5 more for a plush leather seat in the theater’s upper level, called the loge. Loge seating allows them to buy food and drinks, including beer, wine and cocktails, all served to them before the film begins.

“There won’t be any nachos and squeeze cheese up here,” joked Welman.

Letter from Wesley Chapel

After reading about Faith Baptist Church's objection to Cobb Theater's sale of alcohol once the complex opens at the Grove, I decided to determine the mileage between the two sites.

I live six-tenths of a mile from the church, and I've noticed how it has benefited from the construction around it. It shares a three-way stop sign with travelers coming from different directions on Oakley Boulevard. When I passed by recently at 1:10 p.m., I saw four cars and a school bus in the lot. Never have I seen the kind of traffic that would warrant a three-way stop sign.

Theater drinking decision delayed

One after another, members of Wesley Chapel's Faith Baptist Church came before the Pasco County Commission on Tuesday to object to Cobb Theatre's proposal to serve alcoholic beverages at its new $7-million multiplex in the Grove at Wesley Chapel mall.

But County Commissioner Ted Schrader didn't have a problem with it.

"I understand the church's concern, but this is not a convenience store," he said. "Alcohol will be consumed on the premises. There is a multitude of obstacles" between the church and cinema.

Other commissioners also signaled support for the movie theater, perhaps with limits on the time and type of alcohol that could be served. But they postponed a decision Tuesday, opting to give Cobb more time to work on a compromise with the church.

A challenge to drinking at the movies

Cobb Theatres: The group touts a concept it calls “cinebistro loge,” where patrons 21 and older could be served alcohol and food at their seats.

A much touted attraction for Cobb Theatres' new $7-million multiplex in Wesley Chapel — in which theatergoers could have alcoholic beverages brought to their seats — is in danger because the cinema is built 173 feet too close to a church.

Cobb calls its concept the "cinebistro loge." A first in Pasco, it would place 350 leatherclad "premium seats" in special sections on the upper auditoriums in six of its 16 theaters.

Patrons ages 21 or older could order alcohol, food and beverages brought to those seats. The 3,000-seat multiplex is now under under construction as part of the Grove at Wesley Chapel mall.

But a local church, Faith Baptist, sits 827 feet to the west of the Cobb has asked county commissioners to waive the rule at a hearing on Tuesday. Faith Baptist wants the commission to say no.