As the sun set on the Sunken Gardens this past Sunday night, August 31st, the projector whirred into action. The enormous blow-up screen was illuminated and so began the UCAB’s popular event: Screen on the Green. “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” and “Iron Man” were the two feature films.
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” is the fourth story in the Indiana Jones saga, first made popular in the 1980s when the first three movies of the story were released. Harrison Ford reprised his role as Indiana Jones, the adventure-seeking History professor. The film features a quest for the mythical crystal skull.
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” grossed $25 million its opening day, making it the second most successful movie of summer 2008. Iron Man followed as the third most successful film of the summer and had the fourth biggest opening for a superhero movie of all time.
“Iron Man” was another comic book turned feature film from Marvel Comics. The hero of the film, multimillionaire and unexpected superhero, Tony Stark, was played by Robert Downey Jr. He was joined by Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard as Stark’s allies. The plot focuses on Stark’s change from an apathetic character to a hero who takes charge.
Past Marvel Comic hits have included Spiderman, X-Men, and The Incredible Hulk, another summer release. “Iron Man,” the more popular of the two, ranks with amongst the most successful comic book movie adaptations. A sequel is already planned with the original cast already signed on.
However, Screen on the Green has always been just as much about the social event as the movies themselves. Becky Mitsch (’12) said, “I liked the idea of having a huge screen in the Sunken Gardens and I looked forward to seeing Iron Man because I heard it was a good movie.”
Screen on the Green represents only one of the many activities planned by UCAB. In the past, UCAB has planned concerts, talks, movie screenings, programs and this year has been no exception. UCAB committees have already executed events such as, CU at the SC, Screen on the Green, and Tom Deluca, the annul hypnotist. All are annual and among the best attended of all beginning-of-the-year events. Rebecca Barat (’12) attended CU at the SC and commented, “I really enjoyed [it], especially the game show portion of the night.”
September’s upcoming events also include the Fridays-at-Five concert series, Homebrew, Late Nite Kickoff, and An Evening with Gideon Yago. Francesca Chilcote (’11) said, “I heard some buzz about Anthony Rapp [from Rent] coming to campus, so I am looking forward to hearing him speak.”
With the recent renaming of the University Center, UCAB, decided to seize this opportunity to reinvent itself, as UCAB derives its first initials from the UC. Rumors that spread across campus that UCAB will be changing its name to SCAB in honor of the Sadler Center have been squashed by UCAB director of Public Relations, Tom Milteer (’09). Milteer stated at the UCAB retreat, “We will not be changing our name to SCAB. However, we are going to go through the process of renaming and re-branding the organization this semester for a launch next semester.”
Whatever the organization is eventually called, Screen on the Green remains just one of the high-quality, far-reaching events planned for the upcoming year.