The Burning

It speaks to the strength of The Burning’s reputation among cult-film fans that what’s most memorable about the 1981 slasher is not that it was written by the Weinstein brothers, nor that it represents early appearances of the likes of Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens. It’s that its Cropsy is just a damned good villain.

05/24/2013 | Comments 0

Dexter: The Seventh Season

There's no way to discuss the seventh and penultimate season of Showtime's hit Dexter without acknowledging how the previous year ended. Therefore, if you haven't finished the sixth season, stop reading now. You've got work to do.

05/21/2013 | Comments 0

Nightfall

As Simon Lam gets older, he gets better. The veteran actor has appeared in such in seminal HK action films of the 1990s as Once Upon a Time in China (opposite Jet Li) and Bullet in the Head (directed by John Woo); in the aughts, he graced audience and critical favorites Election and Ip Man.

05/20/2013 | Comments 0

Grand Duel

Lee Van Cleef enjoyed a secondary career in Italy cranking out spaghetti Westerns, with little regard to quality. However, 1972’s Grand Duel — aka The Big Showdown — is deserving of its Grand label. No wonder Quentin Tarantino borrowed its sweeping theme song by Luis Bacalov for Kill Bill; you'll recognize it in two notes.

05/20/2013 | Comments 0

The Last Stand

Early in The Last Stand, the small-town sheriff played by Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "It's my day off. Should be a quiet weekend." That's the new way of saying, "I've got one week to retirement," because it signals — with flashing neon and everything — that life is going to royally upend those plans.

05/17/2013 | Comments 0

The Freemasons, Knights Templar and Scottish Rite are subjects of a documentary being shot in part in Guthrie.

March 29th, 2012

Freemasonry is the world’s largest and oldest fraternity, which some believe dates as far back as the construction of King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. It is based off the belief that every man is responsible for making the world a better place.

Johnny Royal joined the society six years ago, and is now a Master Mason and officer at the Elysian Lodge 418 in Los Angeles.

The idea of making a documentary on the world of Freemasonry came to him last May. This week, he and his crew will be in Guthrie shooting for the film, The Royal Art. One location is the Guthrie Scottish Rite.

“I wanted to create a documentary that showed the philosophy and symbolism of Freemasonry all together,” said Royal, who serves as director and co-writer and co-producer.

In order to gain approval for the project, he had to fly to Washington, D.C. to meet with the Supreme Council of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite to explain his intention. The council not only granted him approval, but guidance with topics.

The Guthrie Scottish Rite holds a biannual event where they perform all 33 degrees of the Scottish Rite in three days. Although these ceremonies are kept secret and, therefore, unfilmable, Royal will be interviewing Freemasons while in Guthrie.

“Masonry is important and one of the oldest cultures in the world. To gather the intellectual philosophies of it can be really transforming,” said Royal. “Part of the context conveyed with the film is brotherly love and the pursuit of truth.”

The Royal Art is scheduled for release in summer 2013. For more information, visit facebook.com/TheRoyalArtMovie.