The biggest classroom on campus is back in business as the Goldsmith Family Cinema proudly opens its doors for another year at the Film Series. We’re excited to see new faces in the audience and we’re equally excited to announce that Wednesdays are now FREE! If changes like these seem overwhelming, rest assured the same old Cinefiles are here to guide you through each week’s offerings. Here are some tips that loyal readers and newcomers alike should study if they want to have a shot at being named a Cinefiles Superfan® 2017.
Step #1:
Check your mailbox if you haven’t already! As you read this, there’s a freshly baked Film Series Calendar just waiting to be unfolded and pinned to the wall of your dorm. We at the Cinefiles HQ like to call this the Film Series Cheat Sheet. Dates, descriptions, run-times…you’ll find everything you need to get the most out of the four weekly silver screen dreams we’ve got lined up for you.
Step #2:
Read our column! Every week, we’ll be giving you the full scoop on what’s really happening behind those soundproof Goldsmith doors. Readers expecting little more than witty and engaging plot synopses will be thrilled to discover a wellspring of humor, heart, and shocking behind-the-scenes trivia that you won’t find elsewhere.
Step #3:
Write in! That’s right. Those of you who are new to campus missed last year’s big leap onto the information superhighway with our unveiling of Cinefiles Digital®, but it’s not too late to hop on your keyboard and surf the web with us. Our email is cinefilesdigital@gmail.com and we’ll be standing by 24/7 to receive your comments, concerns, and responses to one or all of our weekly prompts and questions. See you in the cloud!
Chungking Express
Wednesday, September 7. 8pm. Free.
Since the late ’80s, Wong Kar-wai has been reinvigorating cinema with an audiovisual and emotional energy unlike anything that was seen before it. “Chungking Express” is a perfect entry into Wong’s frenetic interior jungle of loneliness, beauty, and bursting hearts. Sit spellbound as Cop 223 contemplates love and time with canned pineapple and lean in as secret love is stirred between Cop 663 and snack bar worker Faye, iconically portrayed by pop megastar Faye Wong. If you’re anything like me, “Chungking Express” will send you reeling as soon as the opening sequence, and will leave you that way forever after.
Dheepan
Thursday, September 8. 8pm. Free.
Our “European Immigration” series begins with “Dheepan,” a film that had international and stateside critics alike buzzing with admiration. With exceptional urgency, see how master director Audiard (“A Prophet”) gives migrants “a name, a shape… a violence of their own.”
Jurassic Park
Friday, September 9. 8pm. $5.
The gate opens before you. A T-Rex roars in the distance. Welcome to Jurassic Park. Now run.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Saturday, September 10. 8pm. Free.
Best friends Dorothy Shaw and Lorelei Lee (Jane Russell and Marilyn Monroe) embark on a European cruise, unknowingly tailed by a detective hired by the wealthy father of Lee’s fiancé, who suspects her of being a gold digger. Hawks’ adaptation of a popular stage musical—itself adapted from a 1925 novel by Anita Loos—is a perfect vehicle for showcasing the versatile talents of its stars and their prolific director. Advertised as the “Most Glamorous Musical of Our Age,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” boasts opulent musical numbers featuring songs with lyrics as witty as the rapid-fire repartee that defines a screwball comedy.