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Art Beat

Daytime Dazzle

By Christina Waters

For those who can't get too much eye candy, and especially those who still mourn the much-loved Sash Mill repertory theater, there's the Nickelodeon's "Weekend Matinee Classics," the latest brainchild of Nick cinemeister Jim Schwenterley. Reinventing the genre of art film programming--a field he helped perfect for former Nick owners Bill and Nancy Raney--Schwenterley basically said "what the hell" and decided to run some early matinees. As much to satisfy his own oddball movie cravings as to help fill the Nick before first-run films begin to roll in, Schwenterley began the new weekend matinee series in November.

The weekend mini-series was intended "to mine the possibilities of the Big Screen," says Nancy Raney, who still puts in a few hours working at the Nick each week. "We've been looking for new Dolby prints and anything in Cinemascope." You'll be able to see Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Jan. 13-14, the Wizard of Oz on Jan. 20-21, The Guns of Navarone on Feb. 3-4 and The Great Escape on Feb. 10-11.

But Nick ad rep Morris Peel has a different theory about the matinees. "I think Jim misses doing the Sash Mill programming," Peel says, "so he pretty much created this series for himself--it's fun, different, interesting and all over the map." Sort of like Schwenterley himself. Who knows how long this will last--so get your $4.50 ready and call 426-7500 for exact times.

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