Oh, those wacky youngsters at Doc Films! To kick off June, the venerable film society at the University of Chicago swings from the sublime to the ridiculous, programming-wise, in the space of a scant few days. Mark your calendars, third coasters.
The sublime: A CITY OF SADNESS (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1989)
Monday, June 1, 2009
7:00pm - 10:00pm
After much discussion with the Taiwanese Embassy, Doc Films successfully secured a new print of the Taiwanese film classic, A CITY OF SADNESS, to be struck. This means a brand new, NEVER-BEFORE-SHOWN print will premiere at Doc in time for the film's 20th anniversary. Join us for this exciting event.
The greatest film to emerge from the New Taiwan Cinema, this historical epic about the desolation visited upon a native Taiwanese clan over the course of the White Terror, when Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) imprisoned or executed some 140,000 Taiwanese for dissidence real and perceived, proceeds in half-defined spans of narration, allowing us only a tenuous grasp of history in its making. Similarly deprived of the agency to determine their fate, Hou's characters cannot but endure catastrophe, while fumbling to adequately articulate their experience of time. Archival 35mm
7:00pm - 10:00pm
After much discussion with the Taiwanese Embassy, Doc Films successfully secured a new print of the Taiwanese film classic, A CITY OF SADNESS, to be struck. This means a brand new, NEVER-BEFORE-SHOWN print will premiere at Doc in time for the film's 20th anniversary. Join us for this exciting event.
The greatest film to emerge from the New Taiwan Cinema, this historical epic about the desolation visited upon a native Taiwanese clan over the course of the White Terror, when Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) imprisoned or executed some 140,000 Taiwanese for dissidence real and perceived, proceeds in half-defined spans of narration, allowing us only a tenuous grasp of history in its making. Similarly deprived of the agency to determine their fate, Hou's characters cannot but endure catastrophe, while fumbling to adequately articulate their experience of time. Archival 35mm
The ridiculous: INDEPENDENCE DAY (Roland Emmerich, 1996)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
9:30pm - 11:55pm
Tickets are $5
Space is limited, so come early to ensure seats
On the Fourth of June, Doc Films celebrates Independence Day a month early with a special screening of Roland Emmerich's 1996 classic. Simply put, not coming would be unpatriotic.
There will also be special secret pre-show entertainment before ID4. It won't include an orchestra like at last year's JURASSIC PARK screening, but I can tell you it will be perhaps even more epic.
Following the standing-room-only success of last year's Doc finale, Jurassic Park, we present a special screening of Jeff Goldblum's other great blockbuster. ID4 follows the multiple interweaving storylines of several characters who must come together to save the human race from a coordinated alien attack. It's like Robert Altman, only shitty! Bill Pullman, naturally cast as the President of the United States, leads an all-star cast that also includes Will Smith, Randy Quaid, Vivica A. Fox, the guy from Taxi, the brother from Mrs. Doubtfire, and Lt. Cmdr. Data. Plus, special pre-show entertainment! 35mm
9:30pm - 11:55pm
Tickets are $5
Space is limited, so come early to ensure seats
On the Fourth of June, Doc Films celebrates Independence Day a month early with a special screening of Roland Emmerich's 1996 classic. Simply put, not coming would be unpatriotic.
There will also be special secret pre-show entertainment before ID4. It won't include an orchestra like at last year's JURASSIC PARK screening, but I can tell you it will be perhaps even more epic.
Following the standing-room-only success of last year's Doc finale, Jurassic Park, we present a special screening of Jeff Goldblum's other great blockbuster. ID4 follows the multiple interweaving storylines of several characters who must come together to save the human race from a coordinated alien attack. It's like Robert Altman, only shitty! Bill Pullman, naturally cast as the President of the United States, leads an all-star cast that also includes Will Smith, Randy Quaid, Vivica A. Fox, the guy from Taxi, the brother from Mrs. Doubtfire, and Lt. Cmdr. Data. Plus, special pre-show entertainment! 35mm
