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Night School Archives:
FACETS NIGHT SCHOOL
Archive: Session 5
Guest Host Series
June 5 - August 14, 2010An off-shoot of Facets' long-running, popular film school program, Facets Night School digs into cinema's wild side with special Saturday night midnight lectures on cult favorites led by Facets' expert staff, followed by screenings of the films and post-screening discussions. It's a schooling in Midnight Movies that you won't find anywhere else!
The summer 2010 session has a twist, though--the lectures will be delivered by guest hosts, as opposed to Facets' staff. All are friends of Facets, Night School regulars, local filmmakers, scholars and more--each eager to contribute to the Night School action!
Saturday, June 5
Pam Grier, Switchblade Sisters & Spider Babies:
An Introduction to Jack Hill
Film writer Jason Coffman examines the weird horror comedy:
Spider Baby
Directed by Jack Hill, 1964, 84 mins.
Jack Hill directed some of the most influential and popular exploitation films of all time. While today perhaps best known as the director of Pam Grier's biggest hits (Coffy, Friday Foster and Foxy Brown), Hill's work in low-budget filmmaking in the 60's yielded him at least one major cult film for the ages. Spider Baby has gathered a fiercely devoted fan base over the years, joining the ranks of overlooked horror classics and making many film critics' "must see" list. Jason Coffman gives an overview of Jack Hill's illustrious career and looks at the cult of Spider Baby.
Jason Coffman is an unrepentant cinephile and religious attendee of Facets Night School. He writes film reviews for the web site Film Monthly when he can manage to stop watching movies long enough to write something.
Official site
YouTube trailer
Slant Magazine
Lecture archived on Ustream
Saturday, June 12
The Good, the Bad and the Django
Writer Michelle Zaladonis dives into the underrated spaghetti western:
Django
Directed by Sergio Corbucci, 1966, 90 mins."Django is considered the finest example of the Spaghetti Western genre outside of the famous Sergio Leone films, and rightly so"
-Combustible Celluloid
About the same time Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood were making the "Spaghetti Western" famous with A Fistful of Dollars, director Sergio Corbucci unveiled this even more over-the-top example of the genre. Franco Nero stars as the title character, a mysterious stranger who travels with a coffin in tow. Caught in the crossfire between bandits and sadistic vigilantes, he makes his own kind of order out of the chaos.
With its heavily stylized and extreme violence, Django was banned in several countries, but it became a huge hit in many others, leading to over 50 unofficial sequels and copycats. Writer Michele Zaladonis gets to the bottom of this overlooked gem, its influence on subsequent films and more!
Michele Zaladonis is a writer and teacher who works at Facets, as well, where she is affectionately known as "Facets Girl Friday." She does it all here!
YouTube trailer
Combustible Celluloid
Michele Zaladonis is a writer and teacher who works at Facets, as well, where she is affectionately known as "Facets Girl Friday." She does it all here!
Saturday, June 19
Mourning into Dancing:
From Queen of the Weepies to Icon of Screwball Comedy
Film scholar Steven Reginald looks at the classic screwball comedy:
Theodora Goes Wild
Directed by Richard Boleslawski, 1936, 94 mins."A forerunner of much '30s craziness"
-TimeOut London
Irene Dunne deviated from her melodramatic roles to star in this comedy opposite Melvyn Douglas. Dunne appears to be an ordinary small town woman with no outward signs that indicate she is in fact the author of a torrid and sexy romance novel. All that changes when her identity is revealed to the priggish townsfolk. Her New York illustrator (Douglas), a suave New Yorker from a prominent family, comes calling, and together they throw aside convention to have the time of their lives. Film scholar and classic film expert Stephen Reginald will examine this comedy classic and its iconic star, Irene Dunne!
Stephen Reginald is a freelance writer and editor. He has worked at various positions within the publishing industry for over 25 years. Most recently he was executive editor for McGraw-Hill's The Learning Group Division. A long-time amateur student of film, Reginald hosts "Meet Me at the Movies" once a month at the Sherwood Conservatory of Music (Columbia College), 1312 South Michigan Ave.
YouTube trailer
New York Times
Stephen Reginald is a freelance writer and editor. He has worked at various positions within the publishing industry for over 25 years. Most recently he was executive editor for McGraw-Hill's The Learning Group Division. A long-time amateur student of film, Reginald hosts "Meet Me at the Movies" once a month at the Sherwood Conservatory of Music (Columbia College), 1312 South Michigan Ave.
Lecture archived on Ustream
Saturday, June 26
Advertising, Wonder Foods & Other Nasty Businesses:
The Stuff Behind The Stuff
Filmmaker Maria Gigante dissects the media manipulations of:
The Stuff
Directed by Larry Cohen, 1985, 93 mins."[Larry] Cohen's humour is chaotic...surreal, and very, very subversive"
-TimeOut London
"What's not to like? The film enjoys a larky sense of innocence, some hideous gaping mouths full of a curdling, parasitic menace, and a fey performance by Michael Moriarty"
-Variety
The Stuff, the 1985 satirical comedy horror film by Larry Cohen, tells how a tasty goo is suddenly discovered burbling from the earth's surface and quickly becomes the newest American dessert craze, marketed as The Stuff. Unfortunately, a minor side effect is that it takes over the brains of those who eat it, turning them into zombies. It is up to ex-FBI agent David "Mo" Rutherford (Michael Moriarty) and a Stuff-hating kid named Jason to stop the spread of the mind-munching dessert. Filmmaker Maria Gigante will look at how the film comments on consumerism in the 1980's and how it reflects the concerns of the time, both culturally and politically. She'll also touch on its relevance today, comparing and contrasting the state of marketing and food trends then versus now.
Maria Gigante works as freelance producer, director, and screenwriter in New York City and Chicago. In 2007, she earned her MFA in Film & Video from Columbia College Chicago and was a finalist for the 2007 MTV Movie Award "Best Filmmaker on Campus." Her award-winning short film, Girls Room, continues to screen at festivals around the world, including Berlin International, Tribeca, and Montreal World. Additionally, Maria was named by Boards Magazine as one of Chicago's Top 10 Emerging Talents, and is currently writing a feature length screenplay she hopes to put into production within the next year.
YouTube trailer
Senses of Cinema: Larry Cohen
New York Times: Larry CohenMaria Gigante works as freelance producer, director, and screenwriter in New York City and Chicago. In 2007, she earned her MFA in Film & Video from Columbia College Chicago and was a finalist for the 2007 MTV Movie Award "Best Filmmaker on Campus." Her award-winning short film, Girls Room, continues to screen at festivals around the world, including Berlin International, Tribeca, and Montreal World. Additionally, Maria was named by Boards Magazine as one of Chicago's Top 10 Emerging Talents, and is currently writing a feature length screenplay she hopes to put into production within the next year.
TimeOut London
Lecture archived on Ustream
Saturday, July 3
We're OFF for the holiday! Careful with those fireworks.Saturday, July 10
Neverseen: The Mystery at the Center of Teeth
Louisville arts/film programmer Tracy Heightchew chews
on the teenage body-horror of:
Teeth
Directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein, 2007, 94 mins. |
WINNER Special Jury Prize Sundance Film Fest |
|
"In a bloody, nightmarish, young-romantic way, it's kind of touching"-Roger Ebert
"Clever, crude"
-New York Times
"Campy, shameless and sophisticated, Lichtenstein's debut is gutsy and original"
-Los Angeles Times
"Credit writer-director Mitchell Lichtenstein with making a first feature that every man in America will watch with his legs crossed"
-Village Voice
If the vagina dentata metaphors were too vague in scary movies like The Descent and Monster House, Teeth made the toothed vagina concept quite literal. Television actress Jess Weizler stands out in this blackly comic horror satire, playing a chaste high schooler who gets sexually assaulted and discovers her body possesses an uncanny defense mechanism. Weixler won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance for her performance. Arts programmer and former Facets staffer Tracy Heightchew promises a lecture to remember; one that gets to the bottom of an explicit film where the "monster" is never seen!
Tracy Heightchew is the co-founder of the Louisville Film Society, a non-profit committed to expanding the film offerings in Louisville, Kentucky. She is currently a box office guru at The Ogle Center located in New Albany, Indiana and is a former publicist for the Facets Video label. She is a self-described expert in all things zombie, Shirley Jackson, bourbon and vagina dentata related, only some of which comes from experience.
Official site
YouTube trailer
Roger Ebert
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
-Los Angeles Times
"Credit writer-director Mitchell Lichtenstein with making a first feature that every man in America will watch with his legs crossed"
-Village Voice
If the vagina dentata metaphors were too vague in scary movies like The Descent and Monster House, Teeth made the toothed vagina concept quite literal. Television actress Jess Weizler stands out in this blackly comic horror satire, playing a chaste high schooler who gets sexually assaulted and discovers her body possesses an uncanny defense mechanism. Weixler won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance for her performance. Arts programmer and former Facets staffer Tracy Heightchew promises a lecture to remember; one that gets to the bottom of an explicit film where the "monster" is never seen!
Tracy Heightchew is the co-founder of the Louisville Film Society, a non-profit committed to expanding the film offerings in Louisville, Kentucky. She is currently a box office guru at The Ogle Center located in New Albany, Indiana and is a former publicist for the Facets Video label. She is a self-described expert in all things zombie, Shirley Jackson, bourbon and vagina dentata related, only some of which comes from experience.
Lecture archived on Ustream
Saturday, July 17
Open the Gate:
Heavy Metal as a Gateway to Ritual
and the Satanic Panic in The Gate
Musician/film scholar Terrence Hannum opens the secrets of:
The Gate
Directed by Tibor Takács, 1987, 85 mins.
All hell breaks loose-literally-when two teens accidentally open a gateway to Hell with the power of Heavy Metal in this classic from the '80s starring a young Stephen Dorff! Artist Terence Hannum will look at the Satanic Panic of the 1980s surrounding heavy metal music and how it was scapegoated (sometimes willingly) by religious organizations and the PMRC. He will also discuss framing music as a conjurer of sometimes negative forces and heavy metal as a medium for reconnecting us to rituals in a society thought to be divorced from it.
Terence Hannum is a Chicago based artist and musician. His art has been
exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Light & Sie, Dallas,
TX, Western Exhibitions, Chicago, IL, Marine, Los Angeles, CA, Gallery 400,
Chicago, IL Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Torino, Italy and many
others. His videos have been screened at the Borealis Festival in Bergen,
Norway and the San Francisco Cinematheque. He is one half of the noise-drone
duo Locrian. terencehannum.com
YouTube trailer
Lecture archived on Ustream
Saturday, July 24
Slightly Scarlet:
My Sister Is a Kleptomaniac
Projectionist Julian Antos reflects on the underrated noir of:
Slightly Scarlet
Directed by Allan Dwan, 1956, 99 mins.Arlene Dahl, Rhonda Fleming and John Payne star in a gripping, noir-tinged drama based on a novel by James M. Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice, Double Indemnity) and filmed in blazing Technicolor and "SuperScope" (2:1).
A ruthless criminal sets out to smear a mayoral candidate through the kleptomaniac sister of his girlfriend. Things get complicated, however, when he falls for one of the redheaded sisters. Cinematography by John Alton (The Big Combo, Raw Deal). Julian Antos will discuss the careers of Slightly Scarlet director Allan Dwan, cinematographer John Alton and star Rhonda Fleming, the often overlooked Technicolor noirs, RKO's Superscope and much more!!
Julian Antos is the assistant manager at Bank of America Cinema, a projectionist at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and a long time Facets volunteer. The 35mm print of Slightly Scarlet screened this evening is from his personal collection.
YouTube trailer
Julian Antos is the assistant manager at Bank of America Cinema, a projectionist at the Museum of Contemporary Art, and a long time Facets volunteer. The 35mm print of Slightly Scarlet screened this evening is from his personal collection.
Lecture archived on Ustream
Saturday, July 31
Reform School Girls:
Frivolous, or Meditation on Modern Correctional
Challenges?
--Cancelled --
Attorney Katherine Anthony puts the lock-down on the wild
women-in-prison flick:
Reform School Girls
Directed by Tom DeSimone, 1986, 94 mins."An unrelenting demonstration of bad taste and exploitation"
-New York Times
Reform School Girls is seen by many as silly, campy, even downright frivolous. But could it have had said something relevant about the challenges of modern-day prisons?
Whatever your position, join Kate Anthony
(former attorney for the Illinois Department of Corrections) for a midnight
showing of this cult classic. We'll kick some stuff around. Y'know, kinda
like they do in prison yards. Feel free to come dressed as your fave RSG
character, bring a stuffed animal... and sing along with the late, great Wendy
O. Williams.
Kate Anthony is a licensed attorney who, for years, litigated discrimination cases on behalf of employees. She also spent three years with the Illinois legislature, as one of the Speaker's attorneys, and five years with the Illinois Department of Corrections (working, not residing). In more recent years, Kate has been leading training seminars all over the country on topics such as sexual harassment and civil rights. When not working, Kate can be found reading, watching movies, practicing yoga, and/or enjoying fine food and wine – not necessarily in that order.
YouTube trailer
New York Times
Kate Anthony is a licensed attorney who, for years, litigated discrimination cases on behalf of employees. She also spent three years with the Illinois legislature, as one of the Speaker's attorneys, and five years with the Illinois Department of Corrections (working, not residing). In more recent years, Kate has been leading training seminars all over the country on topics such as sexual harassment and civil rights. When not working, Kate can be found reading, watching movies, practicing yoga, and/or enjoying fine food and wine – not necessarily in that order.
Saturday, August 7
"A Self-Caressing Twerp of Dubious Provenance":
The Agony and Ecstasy of
Prince's Under the Cherry Moon
Music writer/studio engineer Andrew Horton makes a case for
Prince's much-maligned musical:
Under the Cherry Moon
Directed by Prince, 1986, 98 mins. |
WINNER Worst Film Worst Director Worst Actor Worst Supporting Actor & Worst Original Song Razzie Awards |
|
"[An] ingenious self-sabotage scheme"
-Onion AV Club
1986: Following the smashing success of Purple Rain and its
Springsteen-dethroning, Academy Award-winning soundtrack, Prince was given
free rein by Warner Brothers for his next film. But what happened when the
man who thought he could do anything was allowed to not just star in but
DIRECT this new project? Sun, sex, sin, divine intervention, death and
destruction, the coveted Golden Raspberry award... and much more. Andrew
Horton will discuss Under the Cherry Moon within the greater context of
Prince's career and examine how such a beautiful, expensive, misguided
endeavor manages to achieve ecstatic brilliance both in spite of and as a
direct result of its creator's pretensions.
Andrew Horton is a music writer, studio recordist and slavish Facets devotee from Chicago, IL who makes Prince-inspired music under the name FM Towns.
Vimeo trailer
Onion AV Club
New York Times
Chicago Reader
Andrew Horton is a music writer, studio recordist and slavish Facets devotee from Chicago, IL who makes Prince-inspired music under the name FM Towns.
Lecture archived on Ustream
Saturday, August 14
My Cat Could Eat a Whole Watermelon:
On the Road with Rubin and Ed
Video artist/DePaul media instructor Sharon Mooney
looks inside the warped buddy/road-trip film:
Rubin and Ed
Directed by Trent Harris, 1991, 86 mins.This off-beat, dark and unsettling road movie stars the talented though truly bizarre Crispin Glover and Howard Hesseman as two unruly souls traveling through the desolate Southwest, attempting to bury a cat and make a killing in the real estate market. Video-artist and teacher Sharon Mooney will be our guide through this weird comedy, looking at its relation to other buddy and road-trip films and more. She will also examine the unique career of star Crispin Glover!
Sharon A. Mooney is a Chicago-based video artist who hails from Richmond, Virginia. Her neo-realistic work in documentary portrait, narrative and animation has screened internationally in a variety of festivals and galleries. She holds an MFA in Photography, Video and Related Media from The School of Visual Arts in New York City and has taught at DCTV, SVA, and University of Cincinnati, Raymond Walters College. She currently is an educational multimedia producer teaches in the Digital Cinema program at DePaul University. She currently is an educational multimedia producer and teaches in the Digital Cinema program at DePaul University.
YouTube trailer
Lecture archived on Ustream
For all inquiries about Facets Night School, contact Phil Morehart at 800.331.6197 or philm@facets.org.
