February 26th: Sunset Boulevard

February 26th's film will be Sunset Boulevard (1950) by Billy Wilder.  

What's it about?  A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent-film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

Why are we watching this? "The film gives a glimpse into film history and is an example of excellent cinematography. It also explores the use of voice over. Arguably the best movie made about Hollywood, Billy Wilder's masterpiece, "Sunset Boulevard," is a tremendously entertaining combination of film noir, black comedy, and character study." (courtesy of Harrison event poster) 

IMDB Page

Trailer (YouTube)

Harrison College House Event Page

February 19: Transsiberian

February 19th's film will be Transsiberian (2008) by Brad Anderson.

What's it about?

A Trans-Siberian train journey from China to Moscow becomes a thrilling chase of deception and murder when an American couple encounters a mysterious pair of fellow travelers.

Why are we watching this? 

The film in an example of traditional 3-act narrative structure and explores the possibilities of filming in limited locations.

IMDB Page

Trailer

Harrison College House Event Page

Please arrive on time. 

February 12: Run Lola Run

February 12th's movie will be Run Lola Run (1999) by Tom Twyker.

Why are we watching this? The film is a good example of an alternative narrative structure and adventurous editing.

What's it about? A young woman in Germany has twenty minutes to find and bring 100,000 Deutschmarks to her boyfriend before he robs a supermarket. 

IMDB Page

Trailer

Harrison College House Event Page

Editing Statistics (courtesy of IMDB):This film contains about 1581 transitions (edits, dissolves, fades, wipes, etc) in 71 minutes of action (i.e. excluding the credits, and pre-credits sequence). This equates to an Average Shot Length of about 2.7 seconds. Interestingly, the editing is relatively slower towards the end of the film. For most contemporary films, the opposite is the norm.

Number Trivia (also from IMDB): Lola screams for twenty seconds in the Roulette scene, she also bets to the number twenty, the only bills she had were twenties, the first story lasts twenty minutes and twenty minutes was also the time she had to get the money.

Feb. 5th: Drowning By Numbers

Feb. 5th's movie will be Drowning By Numbers (1991) by Peter Greenaway.

Why are we watching this? The film uses a game structure as it's narrative architecture, which may be of particular interest to members of the Interactive Video class. 

IMDB Page

Trailer

Harrison College House Event Page

Movie Trivia Tidbit (courtesy of IMDB): All the numbers between 1-100 appear during the course of the film.