The Hunt

One of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes is the first season's "Monsters Are Due on Maple Street," in which the humanity of a sleepy American suburb quickly dissolves when rumours that a monster is in their midst start to spread. To me, Twilight Zone was at its best when it was unabashedly tuning into that Cold War mistrust and fear of one's neighbour. If it used to be a far-out idea that an individual in the community was capable of monstrosity ("He seemed like such a nice guy..."), we seem to have arrived at a place where we assume that anyone could not be who they seem, anyone could be capable of whatever horror we ourselves are able to dream up. The tone would be a little different, but I can imagine Rod Serling supplying one of his weather-worn velvet introductions to Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt.

Mads Mikkelsen, everyone's favorite Dane, plays Lucas, everyone's favorite preschool teacher. As loving and at ease as he is with the kids, there's a stiffness to Lucas, a perfect posture that seems almost uncomfortable, as through he's recovering from some severe break. Indeed, he's divorced, though we don't quite know how freshly or why. Lucas's community within the Danish hunting village is small. His best friend Theo lives a stone's throw down the street, and he spends weekends with a generations-deep hunting club. As we're introduced to Lucas and his community, we get the idea that these relationships have sturdy roots.

Theo's young daughter Klara is slightly withdrawn, more a resident of her own head than the village. She's afraid to step on cracks or any lined pattern, and so walks with her head down and gets lost easily. Lucas is often the one to find her, her own parents being reliably tardy or vaguely unavailable. A puppy love develops, but when Lucas reacts to a kiss on the lips with a gentle reprimand, Klara quickly turns moody, and that bad mood, tainted with some untoward information she gleans from her teen aged brother, has her mumble to the daycare leader that Lucas has done something inappropriate.

Cue the Twilight Zone theme.

It may seem a bit extreme to compare the fallout accompanying accusations of pedophilia to some eldritch Serling-esque scenario, but as Lucas's life is slowly and then violently dismantled on account of Klara's passing, innocent fib, I can't think of a better example of weirdness and alienation and reality being upended. The demonizing of Lucas becomes all the more surreal and existential because, for the viewer, there is no doubt of his innocence. "Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" quickly becomes "Terror At 20,000 Feet" as Lucas's declarations of innocence are not even entertained by the village.

I can think of few topics more or as repellent as pedophilia, and I don't doubt that some people will steer clear of The Hunt on the sheer basis of subject matter. But if you can stomach the fact that repugnance resounds in our world, do take the time to see The Hunt. Morally--especially in that empathetic corner of morality, the "What would I do?" corner--Vinterberg's film is compelling and challenging in a very rare way. Because it can be sometimes uncomfortable feeling doesn't mean The Hunt  isn't one of the best movies of the year.

- Andrew

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Vote, or It’s Game Over, Man

Yes, I’m aware I stole the line from Aliens and not Alien—but it’s Bill Paxton and it’s a great line. We go to space Thursday, August 29 at 9:00 p.m. You’ll also want to be at the eBar at 8:00 p.m. for Dr. Scott Duchesne’s talk on why movies matter.

Before we get to that, we’ve got to talk votes. Please choose one of the following movies as your selection for Guelph Movie Club Episode 9 (September):

•    E.T.
•    Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
•    Goonies
•    Labyrinth
•    Top Gun

You can vote for your choice via this handy dandy GMC poll. Note that you can only vote once; after that the poll won't appear when you view this blog:

Which movie would you like to see for the September Guelph Movie Club Screening?

E.T.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The Goonies

Labyrinth

Top Gun

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Thanks for taking the September Guelph Movie Club poll! The results will be announced at the screening of Alien on Thursday, August 29 (9:00).

Voting ends Thursday, August 22, at midnight.

We’ll see you August 29 at 8 (or 9) p.m. for what’s sure to be a night of movie goodness. Unless a terrifying alien bursts through your chest. But that’s a worst case scenario.

Till then, see you at the movies.

- Danny W.

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In Movie Club, No One Can Hear You Scream

We had Jaws. Now we have Jaws in Space. That’s right, Episode 8 of Guelph Movie Club is Alien. We’re stepping off the ship with Ripley to take our chances with facehuggers, chestbursters, and big, bad aliens.

You’ve been warned, but it won’t do you any good. You might as well join us on Thursday, August 29 at 9:00 p.m.

And right before Alien, at 8:00 p.m., you can also join us in the eBar for a special talk on why movies matter. Dr. Scott Duchesne of the University of Guelph will drop some knowledge on us and then answer your movie-related questions. Scott teaches in the School of English and Theatre Studies, where he specializes in the study of graphic novels and extra-theatrical performance. He has taught contemporary cinema for the past three years, focusing on the history, politics, and aesthetics of "blockbusters."

Scott will talk about how Alien is a transitional movie that both recalls the "new" Hollywood of the early-to-mid-1970s and anticipates the "blockbuster" decade of the 1980s. In the course of his talk he'll touch on both The Exorcist and Star Wars, and he'll also consider how Ridley Scott evolved as an artist right after the success of Alien by looking at Scott's masterpiece, Blade Runner, and his groundbreaking 1984 commercial for the Apple Macintosh.

It’s just another way we’re trying to make movie club bigger and better.

Before the movie starts, I’ll be announcing the winning movie for Episode 9, the September GMC (the short list for that should be ready for voting soon). And after the movie, you'll have a chance to nominate movies for Episode 10, so start thinking about what movie you’d like to see back on the big screen.

Don’t forget to visit the Bookshelf Facebook and Twitter pages for voting and more details!

Till then, see you at the movies.

 - Danny W.



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It’s a Simple, Five-Option Multiple-Choice Question with No Wrong Answers

Sorry if I just gave you a terrifying high school flashback but I thought, what with our screening Breakfast Club for Guelph Movie Club Episode 7, it just made sense. So mark your agendas: Thursday, July 25 at 9:00 p.m.

Before we get to that, please take out a Number 2 pencil and a blank sheet of paper. We’re having a pop quiz. Please choose one of the following movies as your selection for Guelph Movie Club Episode 8 (August). Be sure to show your work.

• Alien
• E.T.
• Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
• Gremlins
• Zoolander

You can vote for your choice via this handy dandy GMC poll:

Voting ends Thursday, July 18, at midnight.

Time’s up. Pencil’s down. Don’t forget, it’s Breakfast Club on July 25 at 9:00 p.m.

Till then, see you at the movies.

- Danny W.

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Does Barry Manilow Know That You Go to Movie Club?

We found out is that each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a movie club. And we’re all going back to high school. Episode 7 of Guelph Movie Club is The Breakfast Club. So come spend the evening with John Hughes, the man who defined what high school in the movies means.

You’ve all been sentenced to detention (in a really good way): Thursday, July 25, 9:00 p.m.

Before the movie starts, I’ll be announcing the winning movie for Episode 8, the August GMC (the short list for that should be ready for voting soon). And after the movie, you'll have a chance to nominate movies for Episode 9, so start thinking about what movie you’d like to see back on the big screen.

We’ve been working to add more to movie club evenings (because we love you that much). Stay tuned for more details.

Don’t forget to visit the Bookshelf Facebook and Twitter pages for voting and more details!

Till then, see you at the movies.

 - Danny W.


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Take a bite out of Jaws!

For thirty-eight years, that big, toothy jerk has been taking a bite out of anyone silly enough to get off the sand and into the ocean. Now's our chance for some payback, friends.

Tomorrow, when we show Jaws as part of Guelph Movie Club (9:00 p.m. at the Cinema; beachwear optional), you can have your chance to take some succulent revenge. For one night only, the Greenroom will be featuring fresh beer-battered Lake Erie pickerel with house-cut Yukon Gold fries, tartar sauce, and slaw. Sure, it's not a salt water fish, but we have to start somewhere.

If you're thinking of making it dinner and a movie tomorrow, this is a great reason to take the plunge.

In other news, the ebar will be offering a special drink in honour of Jaws—The Cape Cod (naturally): 2 oz vodka, fresh squeezed lime, and cranberry juice for $6.25.

We're trying to come up with more drink and dinner specials, as well as other ideas to make movie club nights special. We welcome your input.

So come out, see the movie, and enjoy some refreshments.

Until then, see you at the movies,

- Danny W.

From Sunrise to Sunset to Before Midnight

Before Sunrise, the first film in Richard Linklater's series tracing a trans-Atlantic relationship, begins with a couple spatting on a train through the German countryside. It's the ruckus--the singing of the marital spheres?--that causes Jesse and Celine to meet eyes, roll those eyes, and split together for some quiet in the dining car. They're both in their early twenties, soft with baby fat; Jesse's American and aimless, Celine's French and returning from visiting her grandmother. What follows is the situation I think everyone of a certain age and singleness hopes for when they get on a plane or a bus or a train: Jessie has to fly back the next day and convinces Celine to detrain with him and spend the night in Vienna. They walk around the city together, casting and missing glances, and talking, talking, talking, and it's all romantic as hell.


 
Before Sunrise is very much of its time, loquacious and earnest, as interested in the offhand things we think as it is the offhand things we do. It follows self-taught director Richard Linklater's cult classic Dazed and Confused, but shares more in common with his first proper film, Slacker. That 1991 indie takes place over one summer day in Austin, Texas, and is a kind of human daisy chain about little more than walking and talking. Appearing around the same time as Douglas Coupland's Generation X, Slacker became something of a touchstone for the burgeoning overstimulated, underemployed generation. As a filmmaker, Linklater was one of the major players in the early 90s American DIY cinema wave, but has since gone on to have a fairly uneven career, matching his mainstream stinkers with thoughtful, interesting volleys. It should be pointed out that since those uneven years of the noughts Linklater's been chipping away at a single film, maybe titled Boyhood. The film's remarkable for the fact that it's filmed in real time, following a boy from birth to adolescence. His commercial stabs aside, Linklater has maintained a very genuine, vibrant curiosity with what film is and what it can do.

Sunrise's "sequel," Before Sunset came on the heels of the not-terrible Jack Black vehicle The School of Rock. Nine years later, Jesse has written a novel about that slacker night in Vienna. His book tour takes him to Paris, and his book brings Celine to the reading. Again, Jesse has a flight to catch, and again the two, now without their baby plumpness, stroll through a European city in real time, talking, talking, talking. And it's all almost romantic as hell.


 
Standing alone, Before Sunrise can seem a little saccharine--which is perfectly fine, I should add. I saw the movie in my early teens and was completely taken by--what was to me, at that time--the rare combination of romance and intelligence. Watching it now, it still strikes me as very honest and interesting. But in some ways Before Sunset contextualizes the saccharineness of the first movie. Those elements in the first movie that seem trite are also the elements of our youth that seem trite now in retrospect. In the nine years between movies, Jesse has gotten married and has a new baby, and Celine works in environmental law; Jesse has found a way to profit from his idealistic pontificating, whereas Celine has grown a bit more cynical, less trusting of the world--she's hasn't exactly lost her faith in romance or the possibility of the kind of happiness her night in 1994 with Jesse suggested, but she's becoming suspicious. Sunset is still a romantic movie, but it's different from the romance in Sunrise. Before, there was a possibility that romance was something you could do with your life; here it's something you do in defiance of life.

Now we have the third installment of Jesse and Celine's relationship. In nine more years, they've gotten married and, as far as I know, the question now is what happens when a relationship founded on movie-like romance has to live in the real world. I haven't seen the movie yet, but from reviews I've read, it should be interesting to think back to how Jesse and Celine first met. Rolling their eyes at the bickering married couple on the train, I can't help but imagine they both thought to themselves, "That will never be my life."

- Andrew

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