Some things last forever, friends. Other things are gone before you even realize it. That said, it is with great displeasure that I announce that there are only two more weekends of the Film Series and then school’s out for winter. It is sad, I’m aware of that. But the remaining movies we’re showing are really great. Without exception, dig? Obviously, people have lots of work in the days ahead, what with finals and stuff, but if there’s a time to go the series, it is NOW, peeps. NOW! Because the only shit playing in movie theaters over winter break will be Oscar-bait. Oscar-bait sucks. And, in the immortal words of professor Jeanine Basinger, “This is not a good year for movies.” Well, I hope that “The Life Aquatic” disproves that.
Over Thanksgiving break, I held true to my movie-watching promise despite being away from my family. I had Thanksgiving dinner for lunch, saw “Alexander,” which was rather trippy, had Thanksgiving dinner and then gathered for a communal movie viewing with others who were on campus working on theses. It was rather delightful. But now Thanksgiving seems but a fleeting memory. We are looking forward, counting the days… I mean, shucks, it’s December already.
Indeed, things are wrapping up, like little tiny presents. One more week of classes. Final exams are around the corner. The weather is slightly worsening. My thoughts and the thoughts of many seem scattered. Like the sentences in this paragraph. And over winter break we can collect them, or re-collect them, if you’ve ever had them collected in the first place.
Over breaks, when I’m collecting myself, I like to be alone with my movies and let them renew me. There’s this book that Peter Bogdanovich came out with called “Movie of the Week.” In it, Bogdanovich recommends a classic film for each week of the year; 52 movies plus other recommendations if you’ve seen, or can’t find, the recommended title. It would be awesome to do it next year, just to set aside, say, every Thursday, to watch Bogdanovich’s movie of the week. That would be a New Year’s resolution that I would feel good about.
Movies can make you feel good. I usually gravitate towards the darker or the more offbeat, as opposed to “feel good” movies. But the bottom line is that movies CAN make you feel. They can make you feel whatever. Feel something. If you need movies, or music, or literature, or dance, or basketball, or whisky, or another person or anything to allow you to feel, then that’s just dandy in my book. I’m not really a holiday type of guy, but during the holiday season, the way I kick shit in a festive manner is just by watching lots of movies. That’s how I celebrate life. Stay tuned next week for my semester wrap-up.
THIS WEEKEND IN THE CFA CINEMA:
Gus van Sant is the dude who directed “Good Will Hunting,” “My Own Private Idaho” and “Drugstore Cowboy.” Good stuff. He also directed “Gerry,” one of the most boring movies I’ve ever seen (“lyrical” doesn’t always mean interesting); a shot for shot remake of “Psycho” which sucked all the goodness from the original and left us with lameness and Vince Vaughn masturbating; and “Finding Forrester,” which tried to capitalize on the “Good Will Hunting” model and featured the classic Sean Connery line, “You’re the man now, dog.” Not good stuff. His new film, “Elephant,” deals uncompromisingly with Columbine and recent youth violence by documenting a fictional school shooting. So where does his latest directorial effort stand? It depends on who you ask. I found it oddly compelling. It’s a quiet film, filled with meandering characters and long silences. It is serene at times and nauseating at other times. It’s filled with naturalistic performances from a bunch of unknown young actors and they pull it off remarkably well. The film is closest in style to “Gerry,” which I found painful to watch. Its experimental presentation rendered it self-indulgent. This film is painful to watch because we know what’s coming. And the film works because it builds an impending sense of doom on top of an assumed serenity. It’s not an uplifting film in any sense, but it looks beautiful, it’s short and it is a return to form for a director whose work has been varied over the years. It is certainly worth your 81 minutes.
“Elephant.” CFA Cinema, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 3 and 4, 7:30 & 10 p.m. $4.
For free in the Science Center:
Whoa! The FREE movies showing this weekend are awesome! So good! Okay: Friday night is “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” directed by the recently deceased bosom king, Russ Meyer. This movie is a psychedelic orgy of complete brilliance, the definitive cult film. It is fun, loud, aggressive and cut at a pace that would make Eisenstein blush. Well, okay, it’s the nudity that would make him blush. The editing would make him cheer. But he’d be confused because 1970 would seem very alien to him. So maybe he wouldn’t cheer. He’d nod appreciatively, but he’d be taken aback. Regardless, if you don’t see this movie in your lifetime, at a certain point, you will die. But everybody dies, so…. You’ll die unhappy? No, you can be happy without seeing this movie. But if you don’t see this movie, somebody somewhere might die unhappy, so… the burden’s on you.
Saturday is John Ford’s awesomefest “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” starring not only John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, but Edmond O’Brien, Andy Devine, John Carradine, Strother Martin, Woody Strode, Vera Miles and the eternal badmutha, Lee Marvin. Hot damn, fans of Richard Slotkin, take note: This is one of the sweetest Westerns ever! I mean, John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. Who would have ever thought it possible? Well, John Ford, I guess.
“Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” Science Center, Friday, Dec. 3, 7:30 & 10 p.m.
“The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” Science Center, Saturday, Dec. 4, 7:30 & 10 p.m.
And next Wednesday at 8 p.m. in the CFA Cinema:
“The Battle of Algiers,” in 35mm.
In the Center For Film Studies, Screening Room 100:
“Scott Snibbe – Body, Space, and Cinema,” Friday, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.
“Hotel Rwanda,” Friday, Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m. Presented by Amnesty International.
“Zatoichi and the Doom Man (Zatoichi Sakate-Giri),” Monday, Dec. 6, 7:30 p.m. Presented free as part of the Asian Film Festival.
“Hero,” Tuesday, Dec. 7, 7:30 pm. Asian Film Festival.
“It’s A Wonderful Life,” Saturday, Dec. 11, 7:30 p.m.
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