Paris, Je T’aime

One of my favorite segments from the film:

More later…

Planet Ant Film Festival

Last Saturday the Planet Ant Film Festival was in full swing. “Dr. Alphonse Hudson” and Chrissy Yvonne were, most assuredly, in attendence. I heard this through the figurative grape vine: In addition to providing free beer, there was a small uniquely ornamented garden party (bowling balls as garden stones). According to both members, the festival voiced a strong community atmosphere, which they especially enjoyed. The first series of films were from around the Detroit area. Unfortunately, these films were laughable at best. The second series included much better films from a variety of different locations. Overall, the two felt as though the experience was genuinely worth it. In an effort to avoid being overly assuming, I leave the opportunity for a more detailed description to them…

“Cold Hearts Revisited”

On June 30th, the DFC will be hosting a film series entitled “Cold Hearts Revisited: Short Film and Music Videos from Iceland.” Essentially, as the title suggests, this series will feature many Icelandic films which have never been shown in the United States.

Of notable interest, is the DFC’s increasing involvement in a more universal movement; a movement to support the endeavors of music video producers. Although this genre continues to experience the detrimental effects of stigmatization, there has erupted a significant desire amongst members of the film community to spotlight the contributions of music video producers. Hopefully, this event will be as entertaining, and liberating, as the preview suggests.

PTFC Weekend Update

Most assuredly, this weekend will be an eventful one. The PTFC has planned a themed evening for Friday night. First the club will go bowling and catch a few drink specials. Then, it is off to Royal Oak for the midnight showing of the Big Lebowski.

Saturday evening, the PTFC plans on attending the Planet Ant Film Festival. As previously noted, this festival should be quite eventful.

Sunday, it appears that the club will be attending the Satori Circus at Oakland University.

Within recent days, it seems that the club has garnered some additional attention. Let it be noted, that there will be several honorary members attending the main event on Friday. A list of their names will be provided shortly.

Last Night/This Morning

The PTFC attended the midnight showing of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The Royal Oak Main Art theatre was fairly packed, and the crowd was initially (and predictably) loud. Midnight showings generally are. Once the footage started rolling, the uproar died down, and the film played through the various networked extensions for which it is composed.

One of the main reasons that the film is so entirely provocative, is that it defies traditional narrative form. Yes, Hunter S. Thompson (Johnny Depp) travels to Las Vegas, experiences various drug induced encounters, runs from authority figures (Gary Busey), and then returns to Los Angeles after having witnessed desert motorcycle races and the potential shanking of a camera-man. Yet, despite what initially seems an overly simplistic narrative framework, it becomes evident that the film distorts the general form of narrative progression. To the perpetual viewer, the intermediary portions of the film become a series of related, and yet, entirely segmented scenes. These scenes provide reflections on a wide variety of interrelated issues and provoke varying reactions. There is, of course, the predictable anti-Nixon commentary, marked most explicitly by various characitures, photographs, and telelvision appearances. Then, there are the numerous suggestions of what it felt like to be part of the lsd culture during the mid-sixties. Depp reflects on the ways in which this cultural epidemic affected those that participated, especially after the “movement” dissipated. This is followed by observations on action and absurdity, law enforcement, and sexuality. These scenes are segments, punctuated by a confronting humor that makes one consider whether it was intended to be humorous or if it is suppossed to reflect the sad recollections/realizations of the drug culture.

The film’s departure from the typical “introduction/suspense/conclusion” narrative is accentuated by the moments of closure that the audience misperceives. When Thompson initially leaves Vegas, the film suggests an immediate conclusion. The viewer accepts this proposition eagerly. Then, the film refutes this misconception. Thompson returns to Vegas for several more scenes. These scenes are amongst the most successful and suggestive moments in the film. Why this willingness for closure? Simply, the film distorts. Perhaps in order to  simulate the experience of Thompson himself. Perhaps, unintentionally.

Fragments can be isolated. Scenes can be disjoined and rearranged without disturbing the effect. The film provides a demonstration of what Barthes’ would refer to as fragmentation. The scenes provide a figuration.

Despite its narrative form, the film relies on something that appears with the upmost redundancy in films concerning dated subjects; archival footage of protests. Although it can be expected that films rooted in historical issues will utilize archival footage pertaining to those issues, it is still interesting to consider why. The intermittent videos of protests are the same from film to film. People parade half naked in large groups, listening to tripped out music. They carry small children on their shoulders, and signs proclaiming “peace” in their hands. Soldiers approach them, and try to break up the crowd with tear gas. Yet, despite the predictable nature of the footage, it is gratifying. This is not a historical lesson necessarily. The people and locations are indistinct. Perhaps, it resides in an affinity for things past. Potentially the gratification lies elsewhere. This observation deserves more consideration, and more adequate space in a future post.

Tonight’s showing

Tonight, as previously mentioned, the Royal Oak Main Art Theatre will be hosting a showing of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. This film is part of the theatre’s midnight showing schedule, and the PTFC will most assuredly be attending.

The Heavy Weight Champion of Ann Arbor

If you missed the hysteria of the Ann Arbor Film Festival, than you will experience the upmost gratification at the DFC on June 9.

Jesse Stead’s film, “Foggy Mountains Break Down More than Non-Foggy Mountains,” won the Ken Burns award for best of the festival. According to joint descriptions, the film features nine different versions of the song “Foggy Mountain Breakdown,” as part of a “travelogue of image, voice and text.” The DFC has decided to host a showing of this film on the date previously mentioned.

Fifth Annual Planet Ant Film and Video Festival

The film festival advertisements are quite numerous this year. Although most seem fairly interesting, the Planet Ant Film and Video Festival is the most suggestive. The festival runs from June 13-16. It features various independent films addressing a plethora of topics. The films seem to have been produced utilizing a wide variety of approaches and methodologies.

For a detailed film listing, including show times and film synopsis, visit the Planet Ant Film and Video website. The PTFC has not determined whether it will attend the Friday or Saturday showing.

The following films seem provocative:

8pm
Sym-Tales
Dir: Weichieh Yu, Yawen Chang
NY, 3 min
Sym-Tales is a 3D animation of telling stories inside stories. The goal of this project is to present a non-linear and multi-layered story in linear storytelling.

12am
The Cycles of the Mental Machine
Dir: Jacqueline Caux
FRANCE, 57 min
This 57 minute-documentary film aims at telling about the social and musical destiny of Detroit, from Blues, to Gospel, to Rhythm and Blues, to Jazz, to techno. Within the maze of this city, which bares the marks of its different periods of peak, decline and rebirth… with “The Electrifying Mojo’s” itinerary, the passer, the brilliant unifier of all styles, the creator of techno philosophy and Mad Mike the legendary creator of the first independent label Underground resistance, and the brilliant DJ and producer Carl Craig.

Many of the films find their material basis intimately interwoven with the city of Detroit.

Midnight Showing Schedule

The following list provides the Royal Oak Main Art Theatre midnight showing schedule (June 8 – Setember 1)
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas • Jun 8 & 9 (Definitely making an appearance)

The Big Lebowski • Jun 15 & 16 (Perhaps a bout of bowling before hand)

Wet Hot American Summer • Jun 22 & 23

The Goonies • Jun 29 & 30

The Buffy Musical: Once More, With Feeling • Jul 6 & 7 (Designated Sing-a-long event)

Dynamite Warrior • Jul 13 & 14

Cannibal! The Musical • Jul 20 & 21

Army of Darkness • Jul 27 & 28

Suspiria • Aug 3 & 4

Creature from the Black Lagoon • Aug 10 & 11 (3D showing)

A Clockwork Orange • Aug 17 & 18

Serenity • Aug 24 & 25

Brazil • Aug 31 & Sep 1

Video Rewind: Midnight Showing at the Main Art Theatre

(Friday – June 1st, 2007)

The PTFC attended the midnight showing of Donnie Darko at the Royal Oak Main Art Theatre. Each Summer, the theatre hosts a series of midnight film showings which spotlight what are often considered “cult classics.” Some previous film showings include Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Fight Club (1999), Moulin Rouge (2001), and Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

The midnight showing inevitably raises questions concerning appeal. In and of itself, these showings are not an anomaly. Drive-Ins facilitate a similar experience. One of participating in a particular type of cinematic culture. A culture that suggests that showtimes, show localities, and audience behavior are of increased significance; that there is a culture of appeal beyond the appeal of the film itself.

The midnight showing can be differentiated, though, in terms of the films which are shown. Most films, as previously noted, are distinctly dated. They are entirely relevant politically, philosophically, emotionally, etc., yet, they are realized  as distinctly past; a familiar past. One must consider the means by which these films are digested. One pays $ 5.50 to view a film that one has seen repeatedly; that one often even possesses. What drives the monetary expenditure?

 There is something in the appeal of the midnight hour. The crowds are larger, the people are louder; more involved. The movie itself is drowned out by intermittent shouts; by excitement; by a noise that suggests a particular type of knowledge.

Perhaps, the Royal Oak Main Art Theatre provides a forum for the affirmation of one’s own cinematic knowledge. Audience members often assert their own experience, as if to testify before a critical cinematic court. The girl behind me recites many of the crucial scenes, but stumbles over the more humorous dialogue in Donnie Darko. During last summer’s showing of Moulin Rouge, two girls, belted out the song lyrics in advance. It is as a plague that rolls through the theatre. One feels the inherent necessity to shout something that others will recognize as experience.

At other show times, this behavior would be considered rude or inconsiderate; grounds for termination. Yet, when the clock strikes twelve, these concerns are muttled in favor of applause and echoed dialogue.

Another important aspect to consider is that the theatre only hosts two midnight showings each week (Friday and Saturday). The same film is played during both of these showings. Consequently, the theatre becomes a locale of encounter. The restricted show schedule assures one that if they go to the midnight showing, they have the opportunity to see colleagues, family, and friends. One is provided a fifty percent chance of encountering others interested in viewing the same film. This recalls the American fascination with assuring that a coin will be able to determine the fate.

Inevitably, the various phrases which designate encounter:

“Oh, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Yes, you did!
“Wow, what a coincidence”
Not really.

Essentially, the midnight showing distorts generic conceptions of the way in which a group of people processes a film. As one participates in the banter, one refutes the methodologies which have developed in response to the cinema. This is what Tom Gunning referes to as the “cinema of attractions.” The fascination which was originally associated with the projector itself, is now associated with refutation; a distortion/refutation that ironically designates the conformity of the midnight audience.