SonicsGate: Go See This Movie

by Ben Golliver on Feb 19, 2010 2:05 PM PST in Page 2

If you haven't yet heard about or seen SonicsGate: Requiem for a Team, it is a spectacular, independently-produced, full-length documentary about the move of the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City. Everything is there: the local politics, the fan rallies, the history of the organization, and a great local soundtrack. An absolute must-see for any NBA fan and, specifically, any fan of a smaller-market franchise.

SonicsGate was originally released online at sonicsgate.org and received rave reviews from around the blogosphere. This weekend, the movie is making its debut in Portland at the Beer and Movie Fest. The movie will be screened at the Bagdad Theatre in SE Portland at 7:15PM Saturday night. Tickets are just $3.

Director Adam Brown emailed last night to encourage Blazers fans to check it out and to say...

We're all about Northwest basketball and hopefully renewing the I-5 Rivalry here soon. Blazers fans have shown a lot of support for the Save Our Sonics cause...

Go Blazers! Great pickup with Camby BTW.

Here's a video clip of Comcast Sports NorthWest's Ian Furness interviewing Producer Jason Reid about the movie before a recent Blazers game in the Rose Garden.

Click through to read a press release about the movie screening.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

"Sonicsgate" selected to screen at Beer And Movie Fest in Portland
Independent Seattle documentary continues strong grassroots run

February 15, 2010 - SEATTLE, Wash - "Sonicsgate: Requiem For A Team," the critically acclaimed documentary chronicling the true story of the Seattle SuperSonics' tragic demise, has been selected for the Beer And Movie Fest (BAM) in Portland, Oregon.

"Sonicsgate" will screen at the Bagdad Theater & Pub (3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd.) on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 7:15 P.M. Tickets are $3 apiece and available at the Bagdad Theater Box Office.

BAM is a two-week, four-venue, 50-film screening festival in Portland from Feb. 10 - 26 showcasing the best Northwest brews alongside notable independent and mainstream films.

View additional information at www.bamfestpdx.com.

"Sonicsgate" director Jason Reid said he expects a packed house at Bagdad, as the Northwest community unites to celebrate the Sonics' rich history and learn why the team ultimately left town.

"As our I-5 rivals, TrailBlazers fans have been among the most supportive people in our fight for the Sonics," Reid said. "All those battles between Seattle and Portland going back so many years - from Walton and Sikma to Drexler and Payton - it's a cultural centerpiece that was stolen from the Northwest, and we have to get it back."

The Sonicsgate crew will be in Portland handing out flyers at the Rose Garden Feb. 19 before the Blazers game and the BAM screening on Feb. 20.

-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter

Tweet Comment 18 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Spoiler alert

Seattle loses their team at the end, their band keeps playing and they get a new team called the Ravens.

Give me #52

by undutchable on Feb 19, 2010 2:15 PM PST reply actions

Dude why'd you have to spoil it?!?!

by thetsaiguy on Feb 19, 2010 2:21 PM PST up reply actions

Seattle

has to be at or very near the top of the list as far as any further NBA expansions…
but I have no clue how or when something like that even has a possibility of happening.

we can still win........

by RastaMonsta on Feb 19, 2010 2:24 PM PST reply actions

GREAT MOVIE

As a die hard blazer fan with several die-hard sonic fans friends from school, this movie almost made me tear up, and im not that kind of person. cant imagine what i’d be like if we lost the blazers. unfortunately i had to see through my friends what that would be like, and let’s prey that never happens. great great movie though.

I will never look at david stern the same way again after this movie. the way he sells our seattle for a few bucks is sickening. I’ve contemplated bringing anti-david stern signs to blazer games, but dont want to get kicked out.

by dbartha on Feb 19, 2010 2:27 PM PST reply actions

It's actually a pretty good movie. Way better than the recent one about the Blazers' history.

Hit it. Yes he did. Ohhhh yeah.

by Badalona Baddie on Feb 19, 2010 2:41 PM PST reply actions

Sucks for Seattle

Gettin Durant only to have him move to OKC

by playamademex on Feb 19, 2010 3:33 PM PST reply actions

I live really close to the bagdad theatre so I'm going to go to the screening tomorrow.

by BRoyInThe4th on Feb 19, 2010 3:51 PM PST reply actions

Really really well done documentery, pretty emotional.

by jordanneale on Feb 19, 2010 4:39 PM PST reply actions

I dont know what would be a worse thing to have happen...

Drafting Bowie before Jordan and to watch him bring home championship after championship.

To possibly draft a possible Jordanesqe player only to have your team stolen and moved to another city.

Either way, bad mojo for us in the North West. I still think we should pool our resources and let us use Squatch for a while… bye Blaze.

"OK, it's going to rain tomorrow. And there is going to be a Greenpeace meeting and hippies are going to be protesting" ~ The Buffet of Goodness on Portland

by Blazer on Feb 19, 2010 5:14 PM PST reply actions

Agreed on the Squatch moove, too cool to waste.

Re-sign Travis Outlaw !

by Berkeley on Feb 19, 2010 5:34 PM PST up reply actions

i heard squatch was the one who

taught all the other mascots how to dunk off of trampolines

Juwan Howard, drafted June 29th, 1994. Netscape first released November 14th, 1994

by kengriffey on Feb 19, 2010 6:41 PM PST up reply actions

I don't live too far away from Seattle

Where I live, the people who aren’t Blazer or Laker fans want nothing to do with the NBA because the Sonics were taken away.

by WaveOcean on Feb 19, 2010 6:48 PM PST reply actions

I also live close by

And will be in attendance. Very interested to check it out.

by Rockys' on Feb 19, 2010 7:30 PM PST via mobile reply actions

I also live close by

And will be in attendance. Very interested to check it out.

by Rockys' on Feb 19, 2010 7:30 PM PST via mobile reply actions

Very well done small-budget film!

I started watching at 11 something last night out of curiosity. I had to be up at 5:30, but the movie was so well done that I watched it straight through.

I feel bad for the city of Seattle, but I still think there’s fault all the way around for what happened. Obviously Bennet’s only intention was to move the team, but any NBA team, the Sonics or a new franchise won’t be able to make money in the Key Arena. If they can bend over backwards for the Mariners and the Seahawks, I find their staunch unwillingness to budge for the Sonics a little more than hard to comprehend.

The people that kept yelling about public subsidies for sports teams, were they screaming about Safeco field?

"She turned me into a newt!
A newt?
...I got better."

by Seijeff on Feb 20, 2010 8:59 AM PST reply actions

I am from Washington and I agree that there is blame all around (how the hell do you agree to give them our championship and records). However, I can understand to a certain extent why the public didn’t want to fund a third new stadium in 10 years. This whole mess makes my hatred for that jackass David Stern just that much stronger. Little weasel bitch wouldn’t answer simple questions. Just completely dismissed them.

by Merickel on Feb 20, 2010 12:05 PM PST via mobile up reply actions