Last Friday night in the Cinefiles HQ, things were heating up. Literally. Our servers were firing on all cylinders to handle the sudden influx of last-minute entries to the Cinefiles Superfan Search 2017®: countless hopefuls trying to earn the title, and its reward, an elegant dinner in town with yours truly. But those heart-warming messages were also pushing our electronic core to its melting point. Joseph, Jonah, and everyone’s favorite Big Red Bird (the Cardinal) handed off buckets of water to drench the exhausted servers, while the Cardinal’s seven chicks, arrayed in a circle around the central node, flapped their fourteen wings to generate a cooling gust. None of it was enough. When Bill Gates called begging us to end the Search® before the Internet “goes bazookas,” Joseph and Jonah took a long look into one another’s eyes and flipped the breaker.
For months, racked with insomnia, late at night in the HQ, we had been discussing with each other the recurring vision that haunted us any time we dipped out of consciousness. In our communal dream, we were greeted by the Cinefiles Superfan®, their features familiar, yet obscured, as if shrouded in a silver mist. As the servers stilled for the first time in years, their steady hum replaced by our deep breaths, the silver mist of our dreams lifted, and the features that were before obscured now crystallized in front of us. We had been each other’s Superfans® the whole time. Without a word, we grabbed our coats and rushed to Main Street to take part in a little d.i.t. (dinner in town).
Slurping down Shirley Temples across from each other in our booth, we recounted all of the stories that proved again and again why we had always been each other’s Superfans®. We talked about the time when Joseph had the flu so Jonah turned up at his bedside with a bowl of soup and a warm laptop garnished with a fresh word doc. We remembered the Saturday night when Joseph just couldn’t wait for morning to share his blurb for “Yi Yi,” so he hurried over to pitch rocks at Jonah’s window trying to get a peek at his friend’s face and ahold of his ears. We’ll never forget cackling over an Indian buffet in the Daniel Family Commons as we created the Cinefiles Digital Gmail account before rushing through a storm to go to a Saturday night showing of “An Autumn Afternoon” at the Goldsmith. We wept as we tallied the hours spent in Espwesso cranking out innovative column after column–each one not only informing our readers about what was playing at the Film Series, but also giving them something to chew on while we cooked up the next weekly serving of inside scoops, skewed perspectives, and shocking cinematic trivia.
With d.i.t. safely in our stomachs, we made our way back to campus, full of gratitude. We want to thank our editors at The Argus for continually putting up with our schemes. We want to thank the rest of the Film Board, especially our advisor Marc Longenecker and his ever broiling Thermos® of vegetarian chili—a beacon in the night guiding us home to the Reid Cinema Archives. We want to thank our readers for keeping us company for these past two years.
This is it. Jonah and Joseph are going away now.
We told you last week that we’ll be giving the keys to our account to the next generation of the Cinefiles, but we want to let you know that we’re keeping a spare set. Any time you’re feeling lonely, feel free to drop us a line at cinefilesdigital@gmail.com. (Chances are we’ll be lonely too.) If it’s addressed to us, you can be certain that we’ll get it.
And now, here’s what’s playing this week at the Goldsmith:
3 IDIOTS
Wednesday, March 1. 8 p.m. Free.
Two best buds recall their college heydays and go on a search for their estranged compatriot, who taught them the virtue of thinking for themselves. Among the most popular and highly grossing Bollywood movies of all time, “3 Idiots” has it all, from touching romance to one of the biggest musical numbers in the Eastern Hemisphere.
HARMONIA
Thursday, March 2. 8 p.m. Free.
The friendship between two members of the Jerusalem Philharmonic is tested when Hagar offers to have a child for Sarah and her husband Abraham, the orchestra’s conductor. With invigorating music, this reimagining of a biblical story emphasizes the relationship between the women who both feel responsible for the gifted pianist born from Hagar’s offer.
LA LA LAND
Friday, March 3. 8 p.m. $5.
An aspiring actress and a struggling jazz pianist meet, fall in love, and pursue their dreams, all to the tune of a musical orchestration. Inspired by just as much by Old Hollywood pizazz as he is by French New Wave charm, Chazelle (Whiplash) offers his take on what makes or breaks the artistic spirit in Los Angeles.
CRIES AND WHISPERS
Saturday, March 4. 8 p.m. Free.
Bergman’s work dwells at the meeting of extremes: light and dark, passion and numbness, life and death. Those extremes reach dizzying heights in a claustrophobic chamber drama where two women visit their terminally ill sister and her faithful maid. Nuanced performances are matched by bold cinematography iconic for its use of the color red.
Comments are closed