I’d like to take this opportunity to remind you that the film series is a democracy. That’s right; once a year, we condescend to seek the people’s input through an opaque, procedurally sloppy voting system! What I’m getting at is that we’ll be sorting through whatever you managed to stuff into our suggestion boxes this weekend, so if you have any last-minute thoughts, complaints, or demands, e-mail us or post on our profanity-laced Facebook page.
In the coming week we bring you two meditations on urban paranoia, a Thai Western, and an Italian masterpiece. In addition, we just found out that on Monday we’ll be hosting a free sneak preview of Wesleyan-grad Mike White’s “Year of the Dog,” starring Molly Shannon. Let the pre-frosh movie induced excitement begin!
Little Children
USA, Dir: Todd Field, 2006
Friday April 20, 8 p.m. $4
Apparently, a recent Wesleyan trend is mass engagement to the lovely Kate Winslet. Every time I mention her I immediately hear, “I’m going to marry her.” And, while I unfortunately will not be marrying her, I still wear out the pause button on my remote control and mess up the tracking on my double VHS cassette copy of “Titanic.” Kate’s newest film, “Little Children,” is one of the unfortunately overlooked yet outstanding films from this past year. Todd Field, the director of the quietly sad and deeply disturbing “In the Bedroom,” places a satirical and upsetting mirror up against suburban society in “Little Children.” Check it out for the excellent performance from Jackie Earle Haley as a recently released convicted pedophile.
Les Bonnes Femmes
France/Italy, Dir: Claude Chabrol, 1960
Saturday, Apr. 21, 8 p.m. Free!
Our poster calls this a “romantic vision of Paris,” but “sociopathic” might be a more accurate descriptor. Chabrol’s uncanny social commentary follows three vain, gullible shop girls and the men who harass them. This is the dark side of the New Wave; one scene in a seedy topless strip club perfectly balances the arousing and the grotesque. In Chabrol’s own words: “I wanted to make a film about stupid people that was very vulgar and deeply stupid.”
SNEAK PREVIEW: Year of the Dog
USA, Dir: White, 2007
Monday, April 23, 8 p.m. Free!
White wrote “The Good Girl” and “School of Rock,” and appeared, memorably, as Kim Kelly’s brain-dead, couch-ridden brother in that one episode of “Freaks and Geeks.” “Year of the Dog” is his debut as a director, and it has received pretty impressive reviews. Remember: because it’s a sneak preview, you can’t bring in cell phones. Also, the entertainment police will be patrolling the theater with night vision goggles, to deprive you of your right to upload stolen content onto YouTube. Sorry, but freedom isn’t free.
Tears of the Black Tiger
Thailand, Dir: Wisit Sasanatieng, 2000
Wednesday, Apr. 25, 8 p.m. Free!
I’m going to take my promotional duties seriously and advise you to perform a Google image search on this movie. It looks… awesome. Like John Woo meets Bollywood meets Kenneth Agner awesome. And if you think that kind of pretentious namedropping is never justified, check out the film’s Wikipedia page, which is a postmodern clusterfuck of references to everyone from Godard to Ennio Moricone to Elizabeth Taylor. Why we didn’t show this on 4/20, I cannot say, but if you only come to one Wednesday screening this semester, make it “Tears of the Black Tiger.”
Voyage to Italy
Italy, Dir: Roberto Rossellini, 1954
Thursday, April 26, 8 p.m. Free!
One of the most artistically productive romances in film history was the marriage of Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini. In 1950 their extramarital affair was such a scandal that Bergman was denounced on the floor of the United States Senate, and she and Rossellini went into virtual exile in Italy. Their Italian period brought many beautiful things into the world: “Voyage to Italy” is one of them, their daughter Isabella Rossellini is another. Set with a lovely Mediterranean backdrop, Rossellini takes this picture to step away from the social struggle of his signature neo realism, and explores the trials of dwindling love.
Leave a Reply