Indianapolis Museum of Art Blog

The second annual American Idol-style Summer Nights Film Poll is back. This is your chance to tell us what you want to see on the big screen! Last year you voted, we listened, and you watched movies under the stars at the IMA: This is Spinal Tap, Glory, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Mummy, The Big Lebowski, Strangers on a Train, Devil in a Blue Dress, Dr. Strangelove, Sholay and Ghostbusters.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Summer Nights 2008

Now it’s time to mark your calendars for season #34 of Summer Nights, June 5-August 28. As one of the few art museums in the country with an amphitheater, the IMA offers a unique movie-going experience. All you need is a blanket, some friends and a picnic basket full of goodies. And, by popular demand, another special midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show is in the works.

VOTE NOW! Below are four categories of films. Vote for your favorite film in each of the categories as often as you like. Polls close at noon on February 25, and results, including the full Summer Nights schedule, will be announced in March on the IMA Blog.

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So, there are a lot of people out there in the world telling you to vote these days. Voting is important, many argue it is a civic responsibility. I am writing today in support of that point of view. But not in that other big race. This one is pretty local.

A couple weeks ago, Daniel gave you a prompt to submit ideas for a new IMA Blog t-shirt slogan. We had a couple dozen contributors, many of which are IMA employees. So before you get all worked up about the unfairness of our contest, we decided to go ahead and be the good guys and give every person who submitted a comment(by April 15th) a free t-shirt with the winning slogan.

That being said, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try harder next time. I mean, c’mon, 3 out of 5 of the best slogans were submitted by IMA employees, and 2 of them were mine! To be fair, we might have chosen some of the other submissions if we could have reconciled the concerns surrounding them. An IMA favorite was “Lose 30 pounds in 30 days,” submitted by Ben, but we figured there was no truth in that advertising. Another fan favorite mentioned some names in a certain CEO’s title. We feared this might leave those outside the IMA circle clueless and that we might have some explaining to do if we selected that one.

I expect that you are reading this post and thinking, “My submission was SO much better than what they picked!” and that is okay. You can disagree, but we just want you to know that we took this assignment really seriously, and had an hour-long meeting to argue about which slogans should be selected as finalists. So, without further ado, please have at it. Vote for your favorite slogan and we’ll make a t-shirt with the winning phrase.

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The poll closes on May 5. You can only vote once (sorry, but it is the only fair way!).

We’ll be in touch soon to collect info to distribute free shirts.

On Friday, June 6, the IMA will start its 33rd season of the Summer Nights Film Series. For more than 3 decades the IMA’s outdoor film series has been a fan favorite. Every Friday night from June through August, crowds have brought picnic blankets and coolers and filled the IMA’s outdoor terrace to see classic movies like Casablanca and The Wizard of Oz, modern hits like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and The Princess Bride, and offbeat cult films like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Shaft.

The tradition continues in 2008 with one twist. This summer we want your help in choosing the films. 3 of the 13 films screened for Summer Nights will be selected based on an audience vote.* That’s right, we’re doing this American Idol style, and we need your help…

Below are four categories of films with 5 choices each. Vote for your favorite film in each of the categories. Vote once, vote daily, vote hourly, it’s up to you. In the IMA’s version of American Idol, not only do you get to vote, but you also get to be Simon, Paula or Randy (but not William Hung). Feeling like you can diss it Simon Cowell style? Leave a response to this blog entry. Tell us what film you voted for and why. (If you need to learn more about the films listed below, I suggest visiting my favorite online film resource imdb.com.)

Oh, and to make this even more official, the polls will close at midnight eastern standard time on February 8. You’ve got 10 days to make your voice heard.

America, the choice is yours! Liffick out.

VOTING IS NOW CLOSED. RESULTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AT THE END OF FEBRUARY. STAY TUNED!

*Licensing fees and restrictions may prohibit certain selections from being screened. However, the IMA will do all that is possible to secure and show all winning films.