We hope you’ve enjoyed the calendars we’ve designed throughout this academic year, and we think we’ve made substantial strides in showcasing the works of diverse individuals from around the world. We can always do more of course, and inclusivity is something that motivates us. We are already bouncing up and down with glee at the thought of picking next year’s films for you! We’re particularly excited to hear what YOU want to see, so keep submitting your film suggestions to us through the boxes posted around campus (including ones in Usdan and the film building).

This may be the last week of the Film Series, but there are many more film-related campus events on the horizon, so keep your eyes peeled. Especially make sure to pencil in the senior film thesis presentations coming up, including the screenings of the digital and 16 mm production theses, and the screenplay and critical film thesis presentations, all of which are coming up very soon.

 

“Bad Genius”

2017. Thailand. Dir: Nattawut Poonpiriya. With Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying. 130 min.

Wednesday, May 2. 8 p.m. Free.

A heist thriller with a teen twist, “Bad Genius” broke award records, launched careers for its stars, and entertained sundry audiences across the globe. It was a real knockout of 2017, but, like international films, it got lost in the sea of new Hollywood releases that dominate the box office and monopolize the conversation here in the United States. Well, no need for tears because we’re giving you the chance to see it now! Join Lynn and her friends as they attempt to pull off an elaborate cheating scheme that takes them from their own secondary school in Thailand to Australia and back. Hey, school is hard, and if a little sleuthing and scheming can make it that much easier to excel, who are we to judge? Come enjoy this well-conceived and sharply executed thriller and marvel at the smarts of these troublesome kids and their captain of misadventure director Nattawut Poonpiriya.

 

“Withnail & I”

1987. UK. Dir: Bruce Robinson. With Richard E. Grant. 107 min.

Thursday, May 3rd. 8 p.m. Free.

Come to the series on Thursday for one of Britain’s biggest cult classics. “Withnail and I,” based loosely on the director’s life in the 1960s, follows two unemployed actors seeking a break from their aimless lives in Camden. The alcoholically inclined pair decides to take an idyllic country holiday, but their trip does not go quite as smoothly as expected. Rife with emotion, laughs, and quotable one-liners, you won’t want to miss your chance to enjoy this film on the big screen.

 

“Legally Blonde”

2001. USA. Dir: Robert Luketic. With Reese Witherspoon. 96 min.

Friday, May 4th. 8 p.m. $5.

After being dumped by her blue-blood boyfriend, Warner Huntington III, sorority sister Elle Woods thinks she’s hatched the perfect plan to win him back: She’ll follow him to law school. With determination, savvy, and an impeccable wardrobe, Elle arrives at Harvard ready to show Warner that she’s just the kind of serious girl he needs. Though things don’t exactly go according to plan, it soon becomes clear that there’s far more to Elle than her golden hair and penchant for wearing pink in this delightful comedy about seeing past the blonde to what’s inside.

 

“Vertigo”

1955. USA. Dir: Alfred Hitchcock. With James Stewart, Kim Novak. 128 min.

Saturday, May 5. 8 p.m. Free.

What a treat we have for you this Saturday with this masterpiece of the noir genre. Come see “Vertigo,” a psychological thriller directed by giant of the silver screen, none other than the master of suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. In this perennial classic, James Stewart plays Scottie, a police detective forced into early retirement because an incident that occurred on the job sparks acrophobia and extreme vertigo. Scottie is hired shortly after as a PI to investigate a woman named Madeline, played by Kim Novak, who has been behaving rather peculiarly. Revel in the mastery, embrace the mystery, and witness the first-ever use of a dolly zoom in cinema on this closing night of the 2017-2018 Wesleyan Film Series!

 

Beatrix Herriott O’Gorman and Julia Levine can be reached at bherriottogo@wesleyan.edu and jjlevine@wesleyan.edu.