Well folks, we are over halfway through our first calendar, and man, what a Film Series this one has been so far. I hope everyone has had a chance to experience the Goldsmith Family Cinema in all of its profound glory, and I hope your life has been bettered and/or ruined by some of the cinematic experiences that we have all shared together. I know at least one newbie has gotten his panties in a wad about the projection quality of some of the films, so I would like to briefly address that subject: Films break. Deal with it. It is almost always NO ONE’S fault in particular. As I have previously pointed out, this is by far the BEST college film series in the country, so show some respect and learn some freakin’ patience! Good, glad we got that out of the way. Now, sit back and enjoy these epic cinematic opportunities that may never present themselves to you ever again. This week is killer.
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
2008. USA. Dir: Steven Spielberg. With Harrison Ford, Shia LaBeouf. 132 min.
Friday, Oct. 3, $5
Ok, so when you heard about this sequel that is like, twenty years too late, you were like, “What the fuck, isn’t Harrison Ford like 70 years old?” Well, he is, and this movie still kicks ass. If you ever have George Lucas and Steven Spielberg working on the same flick, you can bet your ass it’s not going to be “The Island” or “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.” In fact, this is a fucking awesome movie that absolutely MUST be experienced in the big screen. And there really isn’t a better theater in, like, the entire Northeast upon which to see such an epic action film.
MOROCCO
1930. USA. Dir: Josef von Sternberg. With Gary Cooper, Marlene Dietrich.
92 min.
Saturday, Oct. 4, FREE!
This is one of Sara’o Bery’s all time favorite films, a film he described to me (and I am paraphrasing here) as “a manly Marlene Dietrich seducing Gary Cooper, that stud, in a hot, steamy desert. What more could you ask for?” Seriously, what more could you ask for? Von Sternberg’s early classic is a follow up to his sensational “The Blue Angel” and again features the sultry Dietrich. Except in this role, she barely spoke English so she sounded out each line phonetically—yet, was still nominated for an Academy Award. Oh yeah, and there is some hot girl on girl action—in 1930!
PARANOID PARK
2007. USA. Dir: Gus Van Sant. With Gabe Nevins, Daniel Liu. 85 min.
Wednesday, Oct. 8, $5
A young skate rat in Oregon is disillusioned by his family, confused about girls and longing to be accepted by the thrashers at the local skatepark. Basically, this film is “The Keenan Mitchell Life Story.” Van Sant is the contemporary auteur behind such modern classics as “My Own Private Idaho,” “Elephant,” and “Last Days.” In “Paranoid Park,” he sticks to what he knows—the Great Pacific Northwest. Set amongst the most famous skate spot in the country, Portland’s Burnside, this film was critically acclaimed yet still managed to disappear from theaters after, like, two weeks. So come out and be a part of the only audience to view this film in a cinema for probably the next 15 years—at least.
THE WAR ROOM
1993. USA. Dir: Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker. With James Carville,
George Stephanopoulus. Documentary. 95 min.
Thursday, Oct. 9, Free!
There really is NO film like this one on the entire Film Series. D.A. Pennebaker is most famous for his music documentaries such as “Don’t Look Back” and “Monterey Pop,” but he actually played an instrumental role in the development of the modern documentary—the Direct Cinema/Cinéma vérité style. His other passion is politics. This film documents Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign in great detail and on a seriously personal level. What better time than now to show this film—on the eve of one of the most important elections in our country’s history? It is a seldom-screened film and a rare opportunity to look deep inside the American campaign trail…and it features such Clinton sex scandals stars as Gennifer Flowers.