<< Film in vOID May 2002 >>

Wednesday 5.01.02 • 8PM Laura (1944)


Laura (1944)
is one of the most stylish, elegant, moody, and witty classic film noirs ever made with an ensemble cast of characters. Producer/director Otto Preminger ultimately directed the film, although filming was begun by Rouben Mamoulian and his cinematographer Lucien Ballard. Preminger's film falls under the category of romantic, melodramatic mystery/detective thriller, characterized by shadowy, dream-like, high-contrast black and white cinematography, taut and smart dialogue in a quick succession of scenes, the recognizably-poignant 'Laura' signature theme music, a decadent and morally-corrupt group of upper-class society types (among them a gigolo, a cynical columnist and an aging socialite) facing a down-to-earth detective, and a psychological study of deviant, kinky obsession - all framed within an entertaining who-dun-it. Almost everyone in the cast loves the title character - Laura. more info

Wednesday 5.08.02 • 8PM The Postman Always Rings Twice

Wednesday 5.15.02 • 8PM Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958)



Cat On A Hot Tin Roof (1958)
is the powerful, highly-charged, moving story of a neurotic, dysfunctional Southern family with its rivalries and tensions. Its provocative screenplay by Richard Brooks and James Poe was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tennessee Williams. Because of strict censorship Production Codes in the late 1950s, all references to homosexuality and four-letter words were deleted, watered down, or obscured from the shocking, original play. more info

Wednesday 5.22.02 • 8PM To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)



To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
is a much-loved, critically-acclaimed, classic trial film. It exhibits a dramatic tour-de-force of acting, a portrayal of childhood innocence, and a progressive, enlightened 60s message about racial prejudice, moral tolerance and courage. The Academy Award winning screenplay was faithfully adapted by screenwriter Horton Foote from the 1960 novel of the same name by Harper Lee - who had written a semi-autobiographical account of her small-town Southern life (Monroeville, Alabama), her widower father/attorney Amasa Lee, and its setting of racial unrest. [Lee's first and sole novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961.] The poor Southern town of deteriorating homes was authentically re-created on a Universal Studios' set. Released in the early 60s, the timely film reflected the state of deep racial problems and social injustice that existed in the South. more info

<< Film in vOID June 2002 >>

Wednesday 6.05.02 • 8PM The Hustler (1961)



The Hustler (1961)
is the realistic adult story of a small-time, ambitious, struggling, self-destructive pool shark, commenting on winning/success and losing, life and love, loyalty, greed, self-respect, selling out and ultimate redemption. more info


Wednesday 6.12.02 • 8PM The Grapes Of Wrath (1940)



The Grapes Of Wrath (1940)
is director John Ford's most famous epic drama - the classic adaptation of John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning, widely-read 1939 novel. [The film is much more closely related to Ford's social protest dramas, The Informer (1935) and How Green Was My Valley (1941) than to his Westerns.] Nunnally Johnson's screenplay is remarkably faithful to its source material. Not present in the novel or the screenplay is a tacked-on ending in the film that optimistically and sentimentally affirms the strength of the individual spirit.The Grapes of Wrath (1940) is director John Ford's most famous epic drama - the classic adaptation of John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning, widely-read 1939 novel. [The film is much more closely related to Ford's social protest dramas, The Informer (1935) and How Green Was My Valley (1941) than to his Westerns.] Nunnally Johnson's screenplay is remarkably faithful to its source material. Not present in the novel or the screenplay is a tacked-on ending in the film that optimistically and sentimentally affirms the strength of the individual spirit. more info


Wednesday 6.19.02 • 8PM Badlands (1973)

Badlands (1973)
is the remarkable and impressive directorial debut from twenty-nine year old director Terrence Malick (who also scripted and produced the film). [Malick's first scripted film Pocket Money (1972) was just a year earlier.] more info

Wednesday 6.26.02 • 8PM The Treasure Of Sierra Madre (1948)


The Treasure Of Sierra Madre (1948)
is a classic tale of the elusive search for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains by a trio of ill-matched prospectors that meet in Tampico. Director John Huston's fourth feature film is a combination adventure story and Western shot almost entirely on location, as well as an intense character study showing the corruptive effects of greed on the souls of men. One of the film's posters clarified the theme: "The Nearer They Get to Their Treasure, the Farther They Get From the Law!" After the group strikes it rich, warnings from a crazy old prospector (Walter Huston) about the ways that gold makes a person suspicious and avaricious fall on the deaf ears of a mean, wary and sneering Dobbs (Bogart) - and he meets his just end at the hands of bandits. more info

<< Film in vOID July 2002 >>

Wednesday 7.03.02 • 8PM The Apartment (1960)

The Apartment (1960)
is producer/director Billy Wilder's bittersweet, heartrending tragi-comedy/drama of a compliant insurance clerk (Lemmon) who secretly lends out his apartment to other company executives for adulterous sexual affairs and liaisons. The plot thickens when the clerk realizes that his building's elevator operator (MacLaine) is being taken for trysts by his married boss (MacMurray) to his apartment. The sophisticated yet cynical film of the early 60s is a bleak assessment of corporate America, capitalism, and the work ethic, when a lowly accountant enables his climb up the corporate ladder by ingratiating himself to his superiors - he literally prostitutes his own standards and moral integrity and allows himself to be exploited. more info

Wednesday 7.10.02 • 8PM A Streetcar Named Desire (19)

Wednesday 7.17.02 • 8PM The Third Man (19

Wednesday 7.24.02 • 8PM A Touch Of Evil (19)

Wednesday 7.31.02 • 8PM The African Queen (19)

<< Film in vOID August 2002 >>

Wednesday 8.07.02 • 8PM The Graduate (19)

Wednesday 8.14.02 • 8PM On The Waterfront (19)

Wednesday 8.21.02 • 8PM The Killers (19)



Wednesday 8.28.02 Closed For Vacation