Chandler theater lures actor Crispin Glover

An art house icon and one of Hollywood’s strangest actors is headed to Chandler this weekend.

Chandler theater lures actor Crispin Glover

Chandler Cinemas owners hope venue catches on

Actor Crispin Glover, one of the oddest and unrestrained thespians of his generation, will make three appearances at the Chandler Cinemas, 2140 N. Arizona Ave. Glover will screen his award-winning film, What Is It? followed by a question and answer session at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 9, Saturday May 10 and Sunday May 11. Admission is $18 per person.

"He (Glover) is an interesting character and surprisingly accessible," said Matthew Yenkala, co-owner of the Chandler Cinemas. "We were able to secure him directly through his MySpace page as opposed to going through bookers."

Yenkala said that Glover promoted the film in Tucson last year and his appearance was wildly successful.

"It amazed me that none of the theaters here in town have done this, but that’s where we fill a void in the marketplace," Yenkala said. "We’re also doing this because it’s great publicity."

Glover, best known as George McFly in Back to the Future, is famous for his oddball characters on screen and his strange behavior off screen. In 1987 Glover, dressed in a wig and platform shoes, delivered a high kick at the head of David Letterman on the set of Late Night With David Letterman. The actor who is credited with starting the grunge movement celebrates his birthday twice a year, collects antique medical equipment and included his phone number on his first album, Big Problem Does Not Equal The Solution. The Solution = LET IT BE.

A 1989 Film Comment article wrote of Glover, "He’s the only actor who makes this world without Andy Kaufman an interesting place in which to watch."

Then again, Glover is only living up to his name, or in his case, middle name. Glover’s father Bruce, also an actor, appropriately listed "Hellion" as his son’s middle name on his birth certificate.

Glover’s unabashed freakishness, creepy roles and mesmerizing performances are like watching a car accident unfold – you can’t take your eyes off him when he appears on the screen. His turn as a half-baked, high-strung stoner in The River’s Edge, his uncanny imitation of Andy Warhol in The Doors and a creepy mortician in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape? have endeared him to movie lovers and inspired numerous

fan clubs and Web sites over the years.

Glover’s first effort as a director will not disappoint fans of his offbeat sensibilities and eccentric taste.

What Is It? features a cast largely comprised of actors with Down syndrome. Or as Glover describes it, "The adventures of a young man whose principal interests are snails, salt, a pipe and how to get home as tormented by a hubristic racist inner psyche."

The actor-turned-auteur said the industry’s lack of countercultural films is what motivates him.

"There’s a healthiness to having something that some people are taken aback by a little, because what that means is that there’s a discussion going on," Glover said."And when there’s nothing that’s being taken aback, nobody’s surprised, nobody’s being tested or challenged, then there’s no learning process going on, and it makes for a stupefied culture and I think that’s happening."

For more information, call (480) 821-1605 or visit www.myspace.com/chandlercinemas.