About a year ago, writer-director Jon Mancinetti, a graduate of the
Columbus College of Art and Design, moved back home to Cleveland. He
had done a film at school, but he wanted to make another and figured
Cleveland was the right place to do it. “I wanted to go all out on
something new,” he says. “I wanted to make something big and huge and
insane.” He approached his brother Jeff, a Cleveland Institute of Art
grad, and started making Never Escape, a film
about a young man who’s trying to find redemption in a post-apocalyptic
world that he describes as Twilight Zone-meets-Fight
Club. Mancinetti says the movie, which premiered in September at
the Cedar Lee Theatre and shows again at midnight, Saturday, December
12, at the Capitol Theatre (1390 W. 65th St., 216.651.7295, clevelandcinemas.com), is “science
fiction in the tradition of 28 Days Later or Children of
Men.” “I thought if I’m going to put so much time and effort into
it, the story has to be good,” says the 25-year-old Mancinetti. “I
really focused on that. It’s low budget, but I don’t want people to
know that when they watch it. The goal is to see it and think it’s a
mediocre independent-film budget, which is at least $100,000. If they
think I spent that on the film, I’ve met my goal.” Before the Capitol
screening, there will be a pre-party at the Happy Dog Saloon (5800
Detroit Ave.) starting at 9 p.m. Admission is free with your $6 ticket
to the film.

For more information, go to neverescapethemovie.com.

While It’s a Wonderful Life and A Christmas Story show
ad nauseam during the holiday season, 1951’s The Lemon Drop
Kid is all but forgotten. The Cedar Lee Theatre (2163 Lee
Rd., 216.321.5411, clevelandcinemas.com) is trying to
change that. It plans to screen a restored version of the film, which
stars Bob Hope as a racetrack bookie who has a run-in with a gangster,
at 2 p.m. Saturday, December 12, and 7 p.m. Sunday, December 13.
Admission is $5 or two nonperishable food items. Proceeds will benefit
the Heights Emergency Food Center program.

A Christian holiday film that claims to address “real issues” and
“real tragedy,” the locally produced Miracle has
its premiere at 6 p.m. Sunday, December 13, at the Cathedral of Life
(5375 Jaycox Rd., North Ridgeville, 440.327.7444, thecathedraloflife.com). It’s
free.

jniesel@clevescene.com

This article appears in Dec 9-15, 2009.

Jeff has been covering the Cleveland music scene for more than 25 years now. On a regular basis, he tries to talk to whatever big acts are coming through town. And if you're in a local band that he needs to hear, email him at jniesel@clevescene.com.