Cineastes of the Valley owe a big debt of gratitude to movie house mogul Dan Harkins. Not just for the 15 local theaters he and his family have opened, but for one he closed: Centerpoint 11 in downtown Tempe.In 2008, Harkins shuttered the cinema and eventually sold it to the Downtown Tempe Community, a merchant-funded association. It was renovated, rechristened as Madcap (or Mill Avenue District Community Arts Project), and re-envisioned as a facility for live entertainment and music, as well as movies. Now all it needed was someone to help book some flicks.
Enter Andrea Beesley-Brown (a.k.a. the Midnite Movie Mamacita). The renowned film geek and organizer of repertory movie nights was hired to do just that when MadCap debuted in June 2009. Beesley-Brown began bringing in some real celluloid gems, including Enzo Castellari's 1978 The Inglorious Bastards on opening night. A wide variety of cult classics (UHF, Evil Dead II), indie flicks (Marvin's Room), foreign films (Marina of the Zabbaleen), and cinematic stinkers (Birdemic, The Room) has since screened for the delight of audiences. And to think it all happened because of Dan. Thanks, man.
Do you guys ever research or fact check anything? Your history of MADCAP is almost completely wrong. Harkins didn't sell anything. He never owned the property. He also gutted the place on the way out. The folks at MADCAP have taken the shell of a theater and done something amazing with it on their own. Next time, try to google madcap theaters and you might learn something.
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