I would love nothing more than to begin this column with the phrase “Spring has Sprung,” both to satisfy my affinity for phallic humor and to declare that the future holds nothing but sunny days and designer shades. However, amidst this schizophrenic late-March weather, I suppose the best I can do is say that “Spring is Spring-ing,” which is neither provocative nor powerful. This in-between-seasons time isn’t all confu¬sion and cold-catching, though: it’s also a chance to peruse and celebrate the film series calendar of this year – a lineup so magical, you’d swear the Easter bunny himself came early to drop it in your Wesbox.
Triumphs abound this quarter. For one, the entire board is cel¬ebrating the long-awaited arrival of “Blade Runner” to the film series, a movie that has been pined for by generations of boarders and series-goers alike. Personally, I’m anxiously awaiting “High Planes Drifter,” which I haven’t gotten my fix of since viewing it in Sheriff Slotkin’s leg¬endary Westerns class (RIP FILM307). I know many are honing their Liam Neeson impersonations for the inevitable post-“Taken” quote-fest, and others are counting down to “Drunken Angel” by lighting one hundred candles to celebrate Kurosawa’s centennial B-Day (you know who you are, Pete Binswanger.) However, the crowning jewel of the quarter is most likely the Independent Filmmaker Speaker Series, which showcases an orgasmic list of contemporary auteurs and their films. The series will bring alums Sam Fleischer, Miguel Arteta, and Sadia Shephard back to Wes, as well as acclaimed director Courtney Hunt and the Academy Award-Nominated director of “Juno” and “Thank You For Smoking,” Jason Reitman (!!!). Please take this mo¬ment, and the next few, to let all the awesomeness soak in. When you’re done, here’s a preview of the killer flicks on the horizon:

BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS
2009. USA. Dir: Werner Herzog. With Nicolas Cage. 122 min.
TONIGHT, 3/26 8 p.m. $5
Everyone’s favorite German-accented, nature-centric director, Herzog, teams with everyone’s favorite where-has-your-career-gone star, Cage, in what has been hyped as one of the most outlandish mov¬ies in recent memory. Having claimed he’s never seen the original 1992 Abel Ferrara/Harvey Keitel film, Werner helms a wild movie full of sex, drugs, and plenty of iguanas.

BLADE RUNNER
1982. USA. Dir: Ridley Scott. With Harrison Ford. 117 min.
Saturday, 3/27 8 p.m. FREE
Obtaining a print of this film is a rare feat, but thanks to the sci¬ence fiction and religion mini-series this quarter, we have achieved the impossible. Scott’s sci-fi classic will transport you into a fully-realized netherworld, as riveting and fascinating as any modern-day CGI-laden fare. Ford plays Rick Deckard, a man of the eponymous profession, whose mission it is to ‘terminate’ non-human impostors before it’s too late – think Han Solo on a bad acid trip. The dark elements of noir, the fantastical imagery of sci-fi, and the intensity of action are masterfully blended together into two hours of unforgettable cinema. Come, or risk survival when the robots take over.

THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE
1972. France/Spain. Dir: Luis Buñuel. With Fernando Rey. 102 min.
Wednesday, 3/31 8 p.m. $5
The man who brought you the mind-bending surrealist classic “Un Chien Andalou,” who also happens to be one of the most cel¬ebrated directors of the twentieth century, delivers a similarly-surreal satire of aristocratic life. Recipient of the 1972 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, (succeeded of course in 1973 by a per¬sonal favorite, Truffaut’s “Day For Night”), Buñuel’s film chronicles a group of upper-classers who struggle to dine together – and that’s about as conventional as it gets. Slide your chair up to the Goldsmith, there’s room for everyone.

WAH DO DEM
Thursday, 4/1 8 p.m. FREE
2009. USA. Dir: Sam Fleischner & Ben Chace. With Sean Bones. 76 min.
Recent WesFilm alums are hard at work on projects of all kinds; hipster-music-video-darling director Ray Tintori ’06 is in pre-pro¬duction on his debut feature, EP-ed by Spike Jonze, and a Cardinal Collective led by Benh Zeitlin ’04 is hard at work in N’awlins on their own indie film. Sam Fleischner ’05, however, is already on the fast track to success; his “Wah Do Dem” took the 2009 L.A. Film Festival by storm, garnering top honors, and wow-ing audiences and critics. The film tells the story of Max, a twentysomething Brooklynite, and his existential quest on a cruise liner headed to Jamaica. Please join us in welcoming Sam back home, and help us kick off the almighty 2010 Independent Film Speaker Series in style.