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Kevin Spacey Not Welcome in Philadelphia, It Turns Out

So much for his big movie premiere. Plus, the return of Jerry Blavat's Memories in Margate.

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Kevin Spacey, who just had the Philadelphia Film Society cancel a screening of his new movie Peter Five Eight, in a 2023 photo

Kevin Spacey, who just had the Philadelphia Film Society cancel a screening of his new movie Peter Five Eight, in a 2023 photo (Getty Images)

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Kevin Spacey Not Welcome in Philadelphia, It Turns Out

We thought it was a bit peculiar when, last week, we saw that the Philadelphia Film Society was presenting the premiere of the new Kevin Spacey movie Peter Five Eight.  The event would also include an appearance by Spacey. Not that the Philadelphia Film Society isn’t allowed to do that, of course. But the Philadelphia Film Society is a nonprofit arts organization. It relies on lots and lots of funding and cooperation to exist. And Spacey has had a certain stench lingering around him ever since several men accused him of sexual misconduct in 2017.

Hell, Netflix booted Spacey from its mega-hit show House of Cards, scrambling to make a last season without him. Ridley Scott had to reshoot a movie with Christopher Plummer playing the role that Scott had already shot Spacey in. This project, canceled. That project, canceled. In short, Kevin Spacey was canceled.

Spacey has steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2022, one of those men sued Spacey for $40 million. He alleged that Spacey had molested him when he was a teenager. But a jury sided with Spacey. Then, last year, a jury in London acquitted him in a sexual assault case. And yet eyebrows go up whenever one mentions the name Kevin Spacey. So due to optics and this and that, definitely an odd choice for the Philadelphia Film Society to make.

But it turns out the Philadelphia Film Society wasn’t presenting the premiere of Peter Five Eight. The organization makes part of its money from rentals. The company behind Peter Five Eight rented a Philadelphia Film Society facility for the screening. And, well, the Philadelphia Film Society has now canceled said screening. The head of the organization told the Inquirer the screening was supposed to be private and not open to the public — and it also wasn’t supposed to be billed as a “premiere.”

Oh well. Peter Five Eight is scheduled for release this Friday. I’m just not sure where you’ll be able to see it. No local showtimes.

In a bit of Philadelphia-Kevin Spacey trivia, the actor was very much welcome here back on July 4, 2001. That’s when Philadelphia hosted a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence on the 225th anniversary of its adoption. The readers included Mel Gibson, Morgan Freeman, Kathy Bates, Michael Douglas, Whoopi Goldberg and, yes, Kevin Spacey.

Local Talent

Jerry Blavat died last year. And a lot of folks were wondering what would happen to his legendary Memories club in Margate. We now have our answer: Memories will reopen on Memorial Day Weekend under the helm of Teddy Sourias. (He’s the guy behind such Philly bars as BRU Craft & Wurst, U-Bahn and Finn McCool’s Ale House. Oh, and that nauseating Christmas-themed bar Tinsel.) No word on whether they’ll have a life-size statue of Blavat for you to take selfies with.

By the Numbers

75,000: Comic books donated to Penn’s Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts. There’s definitely a joke to be made here about Penn being in need of some comic relief.

$60 million: What the American Bible Institute spent to build a Bible-focused museum in Philadelphia. It’s shutting down after less than three years. I’m told this came as quite the revelation to the many staffers losing their jobs.

51%: Portion of people applying to become a Philadelphia police officer who now pass the new physical fitness test after police lowered the standards for just what physical fitness is. Previously, about 36 percent of people passed the test. I just can’t get the image of Andy Sipowicz out of my mind.

From the Fun-Run-Hon Sports Desk …

We got your weekend roundup right here! The Sixers hosted the Hornets on Saturday and began with Tyrese Maxey, Nic Batum, Mo Bamba, Kyle Lowry and Kelly Oubre Jr. on the floor. It was Joel Embiid’s 30th birthday, and he was in the house and got a cupcake!

A strong start, and the Sixers led 27-24 at the end of the first. They stretched that out to 53-47 at halftime, but the Hornets got within one with five minutes to go in the third. Eh, we were back up by eight to start the fourth, led by …

Oops — don’t relax yet! Charlotte took a one-point lead with 8:30 left in the frame, Bamba got hit with a T, and then, in uncharacteristic fashion (we kid, we kid), the Sixers finished strong in what turned into a comfy 109-98 victory. Tonight, the Heat come to visit us, with a 7:30 tip.

How’d the Phillies Do?

Friday’s starter, Cristopher Sánchez, gave up four runs in the first three innings, and a two-run Phils flurry in the ninth wasn’t enough to close the gap. Final: Astros 5, Phils 3. In Saturday’s game, they wound up tied, 3-3, with the Marlins after nine. Tie baseball games still confuse us. Hot-hot Whit Merrifield had two hits and two RBIs in that one. It was another tie, 5-5 this time, on Sunday vs. the Blue Jays. Zack Wheeler went four innings and gave up one run on three hits and a walk; Jordan Luplow homered for us. There’s a doubleheader on the books for today, against the Pirates and the Yankees, both at 1:05.

Any Doop News?

Just the first regular-season Union match on Saturday night, against Austin FC in Austin. Daniel Gazdag scored 14 minutes in on a PK awarded for a handball, and we held that 1-0 lead going into the half. But Austin’s Diego Rubio tied it up with a header in the 55th minute — followed by Joe Gallagher scoring another one two minutes later. Damn. Woo-hoo, though — Mikail Uhre tied it at 64 minutes! Jack Elliott got slapped with a yellow card five minutes later, giving Austin a free kick just outside the box, but it sailed 20 feet over the goal. Damion Lowe picked up a yellow in the 86th, also not far outside the box, though he was as much fouled against as fouling, IMHO. No worries; Philly got the ball back and drove down, though not for a score. Seven minutes of stoppage were added, and then three on top of that, a little shoving match, and a game that ended right there: a 2-2 tie.

And in College Hoops?

Eleven-seeded Temple’s second-round Atlantic 10 tournament game vs. third-seeded UNC Charlotte Friday night got started an hour late, which wasn’t such a bad thing, since they’d played (and won) on Thursday night. Despite the extra rest, their start was super-slow — 2-for-17, in fact. But Charlotte wasn’t exactly sparkling, either; the first half had them ahead 22-17 in a real snooze cruise. In the second half, it was all Jordan Riley for the Owls; he tied it at 25 five minutes in, and before long, they went ahead, 32-27. And they kept that lead, though the final minutes got hairy, in what the announcer termed Temple’s “improbable run” and a 58-54 win!

That brought them to the semifinal on Saturday against two-seed Florida Atlantic, also, confusingly, the Owls, where they finished the first half trailing 32-25, with part of the harm courtesy of a last-second crappy foul call. They tied it up at 46 five minutes into the second half, then got on the seesaw, with our Owls showing poise and patience and playing good D. With eight minutes to go, they were up by seven, but their Owls pulled within three with four left, then tied it a minute later. Some good rebounding and a timely Hysier Miller three got our bench even more excited.

Then it was a matter of running the clock out to hold the five-point lead, but a Riley foul on a three-point FAU attempt, followed by a tie-up on Temple’s inbound pass, made it harrowing as they clung to a one-point lead. Temple’s ball, but could they get the ball inbounds? They did, and Shane Dezonie nailed two foul shots for the three-point lead, but FAU hit two foul shots, so still only one away. Dezonie, at the foul line, missed two shots, but FLU couldn’t make the layup, and our Owls moved on!

Holy cannoli, what a game. In the championship round on Sunday, the Owls were off to their usual slow start, this time against the University of Alabama Birmingham, a team that beat them by 28 points a week earlier — the game, in fact, that got the point-shaving kerfuffle going. They hung in there through most of the first, but UAB had a run late in the half and led at the break 43-27. Miller had 16 points. After that, though, it was pretty much all Blazers, though the Owls got as close as 12 points with three minutes to go. So no Cinderella comeback, just an 85-69 loss. Still, what a great tournament you gave us, Owls — hoot!

Also on Saturday, ninth-seeded St. Joe’s staged a first-half comeback against the five-seed VCU Rams to lead 25-23 at the break, but with 40 seconds left in the game, they were behind again, 63-60. Would the miracle run continue? Nah — the Hawks lost, 66-60. Still, another great, fun run. Thanks!

The Flyers also played.

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