Valentine’s Day Weekend
This Valentine’s Day weekend, we’re partnering up with Tenth Intervention for a screening of THE UNKNOWN, a story of love, deceit, and murder, with a live score! This romance-turned-horror silent film allows you to both celebrate and sneer at the holiday, so we welcome the dedicated Valentine’s believers, as well as the anti-Valentine-ers, to join us for the perfect date night.
In addition, Videology will once again celebrate the most commercial of holidays, with the most un-commercial of movies: Hal Ashby’s 1971 classic, HAROLD, AND MAUDE…
Remember when you were young and all you wanted to do with your days was scare pretty ladies with borderline psychotic displays of suicidal theatrics and hang out at some graveyards with your 79-year-old girlfriend? Well, what better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than reliving your wild teenage youth with the most romantic movie of the last century, HAROLD AND MAUDE? Because we all wish our life had a soundtrack by Cat Stevens.
Each ticket comes with a gourmet chocolate-covered strawberry and a glass of chilled Prosecco!
The 89th Annual Academy Awards!
Manchester By The Sea, Moonlight, or La La Land? Natalie Portman, Isabelle Huppert, or Emma Stone? Denzel Washington or Casey Affleck? Join us on February 26 as we find out the winners of these and other races. We’ll have the broadcast (including Red Carpet coverage!) on all of our screens as we revisit the best that the movies had to offer in 2016.
Conscientious Projections Presents THE OTHER SIDE
For those of us who have never been to rural America or the Deep South, the election of President-elect Donald Trump is still a shock. Roberto Minervini’s THE OTHER SIDE offers an opportunity to acquaint ourselves with the other segment of the electorate, from the drug-addled, jobless communities of a once-thriving rural town in the east of Texas, to the “second amendment folks” in Northern Louisiana, who run military drills to prepare for the “impending” United Nations occupation. But despite the racism on display and the disinformation the subjects have internalized, Minervini nevertheless finds humanity and dignity in people who have seen jobs disappear overseas, wages stagnate, and family gets sick.
We will be joined by Bhaskar Sunkara, the founding editor of Jacobin Magazine and author of The ABCs of Socialism, who will lead a discussion about populism, the transformation of labor in recent years and decades, and the Trump phenomenon.
Proceeds will be donated to the Right To The City Alliance, which works “to halt the displacement of low-income people, people of color, marginalized LGBTQ communities, and youths of color from their historic urban neighborhoods” and “to protect, defend, and expand housing that is truly affordable and dignified for low-income and very low-income communities.”
Videology Essentials: FAT GIRL
“Catherine Breillat has cemented herself as a polarizing filmmaker among French and American audiences alike, her name synonymous with provocative filmmaking. Daring to explore the female gaze (and what that even means,) Breillat questions preconceived notions about female sexuality and makes some startling and unflinching assertions about it, refusing sentimentality at all costs. This is no truer than in her 2001 film, FAT GIRL, which explores female adolescent sexuality and the negotiations it’s willing to make to define itself. I was loosely reminded of FAT GIRL recently when I saw Paul Verhoeven’s ELLE. While both films indulge in the ambiguous and complex nature of human sexual desire, I remembered how beautifully penetrating, and subversive these themes could be in the hands of a female filmmaker (no offense to Verhoeven.) This makes FAT GIRL a must-see, regardless of how you feel about that ending.” – Madeleine, Film & Event Programmer at Videology
The Simpsons Bingo
Hey, hey kids!
Every Wednesday evening through February and beyond will feature The Simpsons Bingo! What better way to celebrate the longest-running TV comedy of all time than with a good old ding-dong-diddly game of BINGO? Every Wednesday night, we’ll be watching The Simpsons and playing BINGO. Watch for things like Duff beer, celebrity cameos, and the Itchy and Scratchy show. Listen for quotes like “D’oh!” “Eat my shorts!” and “Excellent….” Get a BINGO, and you’ll win a free drink (or doughnut that makes you go “Mmmm”)!
First Fridays: UNFRIENDED
Recognized as something of a “found footage” film for the internet age, UNFRIENDED takes place entirely on their desktop Blair as she chats and messages with friends, including the demonic spirit of a classmate who committed suicide a year prior. But this is more than a gimmick film: it’s a truthful and insightful examination of teen dynamics, peer pressure, and friendships, all beautifully adapted for the digital age. UNFRIENDED earns credibility with its realistic depiction of messaging: “Mitch is typing” builds anticipation as it lingers on the screen for several seconds but then disappears briefly before a short message is sent, leaving character and viewer alike wondering what he originally wanted to say; Blair will also type out a message, then re-phrase or alter it, giving us a window into her thought process; characters will make small typos and correct them on occasion, but not always; too much movement or talking during video chats will lead to glitches and buffering issues.
UNFRIENDED isn’t just a new type of found footage film – it’s one of the sub-genre’s crowning achievements.
American Cool: RESERVOIR DOGS
From the opening conversation about the merits of tipping and the lyrical interpretation of Madonna songs, Quentin Tarantino had it made. His debut film remains a taut exercise in genre filmmaking. It wisely refrains from dropping hints or foreshadowing, turning the viewer into the detective missing from this film but central to so many like it. His colorful cast of characters remains some of his most memorable, their collective demeanor and costuming being aped countless times since. As it builds tension and eventually makes its third-act reveals, RESERVOIR DOGS is a potent reminder of the violence and pathology not just of crime but also inherent to cinema’s narratives, even if they are rarely presented as bluntly as Tarantino affords to do here.
Midnights
- THE THING
- THEY LIVE
- NAKED LUNCH
- EXISTENZ
- REPO MAN
- WALKER
- HAUSU
PLUS: MUBI Presents TIME BANDITS, Fluent City Presents ORPHEUS, Titanic Trivia on Super Bowl Sunday and Oscars Trivia the week before the big night, sneak previews of KEDI and DONALD CRIED, and much more.