ISSUE #20
BEAM FROM THE BOOTH | GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY
[EDITED BY: GRIFFIN SHERIDAN]
Welcome to an all-new installment of BEAM FROM THE BOOTH, brought to you by GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY!
We’d like to kick off our twentieth (!!) issue by saying thank you to all who came out and supported us throughout our June programming. We were so happy with how each of our events turned out this month and can’t wait to reveal what we have planned for July. In fact, we’re going to right now...
With the holiday at the beginning of July, we have decided to push all of our programming into the second half of the month. Up first, we’ll be hosting yet another FILM SOCIETY ROUNDTABLE social event on THURSDAY, JULY 13th. Join us for another evening of mingling and quality conversation with other local film fans and filmmakers.
The first film we’ll be screening is LYNCH/OZ, which finds director Alexandre O. Philippe reflecting on the influence of The Wizard of Oz on the work of David Lynch. Fans of documentary or Lynch will want to check out this WEST MI PREMIERE for sure when we screen it on THURSDAY, JULY 20th.
Then, just a few days later on MONDAY, JULY 24th, we’re screening an underrated summertime staple: René Clément’s PURPLE NOON.
And to close out the month is Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 classic REAR WINDOW on SUNDAY, JULY 30th. For those who haven’t seen this one, this will be the perfect way to experience this iconic film for the first time!
We can’t wait to share these events with you all. Hit the links above or in our Upcoming Events section below for more info and tickets!
Our June programming wrapped up this past Thursday with a screening of JOYLAND from director Saim Sadiq. As a companion to the event, our first piece this week is a featured short from the director’s days as a student filmmaker...
FEATURED SHORT:
DARLING
(dir. Saim Sadiq, 2020)
“An exploration of one culture’s view of masculinity and femininity.”
GRFS’ FAVORITE SUMMER MOVIES
With the summer season now officially underway, some members of the GRFS Board wanted to share their picks for their favorite summer movies!
Nicholas Hartman:
Dazed and Confused (Linklater, 1993)
When I think of my favorite summer films, I tend to think of films that make me sweat; ones that just feel ‘hot.’ Films such as Do the Right Thing (1989), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), and Tremors (1990). I also think of coming-of-age movies: films that really capture youth and the feeling of summer vacation — the feeling of being with your best buds, getting into trouble, and not having a care in the world.
It may be an obvious choice, but for me, that film is Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused (1993). There’s something special about that movie that captures the true feeling of summer. It’s one of those viewing experiences that you can just feel in your soul. The soundtrack, sets, and costume design pull you right back to 1976, and you never want to leave. It captures a time that’s forgotten — a time where there were no cell phones, no streaming, no internet. A time where kids were entertained with just hanging out in a parking lot.
It’s a film that makes you reflect on your own youth and makes you ask ‘where did the time go?’ A film that makes you want to call up your old buddies to go drink some beer, shoot pool, and just be together without a care in the world. A reminder that a specific time has passed, a time that you’ll never get back.
Even though I didn’t experience the summer of 1976, I can tell you that every time I watch this film I feel like I did, and it’s a blast every single time.
If you’ve never seen this gem (be a lot cooler if you did), you’re in luck because it screens at Wealthy Theatre on Tuesday, July 11th, at 8:00 PM.
"Alright, alright, alright."
Jackson Ezinga:
Moonrise Kingdom (Anderson, 2012)
Set during a New England summer in the 1960s, Wes Anderson's wit, charm, style, and a star-studded ensemble make this an unforgettable summer flick. The cast, both young and old, shine in this nostalgic adventure about two young lovebirds who escape in search of the perfect summer romance while also trying to evade their parents and the boy scout troop that's after them!
Honorable Mention: The 4th (dir. Andre Hyland, 2016)
With the 4th of July coming up, I can't not mention Andre Hyland's bumbling BBQ comedy. I laughed the whole way through!
David Blakeslee:
Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (Tati, 1953)
My favorite summer movie is Jacques Tati's Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday. I have had a custom of watching it every February for quite a few years when my exhaustion with winter nears the breaking point! Here's an edited excerpt from a blog post I wrote about it in 2010:
One of the great marvels of M. HULOT'S HOLIDAY is its versatility as an eminently re-watchable film when viewed from multiple angles of approach. On its surface, what we have here is entertainment of the breeziest sort, a series of simple vignettes featuring a mostly anonymous collection of tourists and those who wait on them as they stroll from point to point along an oceanside beach, make idle chatter in the nearby hotel and restaurant, and seek pleasant diversions in the adjoining streets of a nameless town on the French Riviera. From a technical perspective, it's a beautifully crafted film. The scenes flow into one another so seamlessly that it's easy to overlook the meticulous choreography and set design packed into each frame. Numerous shots with the camera positioned as looking just over the shoulders of characters in the foreground lead us to an observational perspective, undoubtedly very similar to Tati's own method of standing back and simply looking with a keen and careful eye at the odd things people do. His ability to record and gather these impressions into such a fluid and captivating sequence of images and reenacted moments is a testament to Tati's creative talents and magnanimous nature.
Tati's sense of visual and auditory humor is so subtle that a lot of the jokes won't reveal themselves without close attention to the details and an increased familiarity with the bit characters who seem to prefer lingering around the edges and backgrounds of the frame. And his post-production soundtrack work is simply amazing. The Criterion Collection Blu-ray provides both a French and English soundtrack that differ not merely on what languages are spoken (often just inane chatter, more atmospheric than meaningful) but on the sound effects Tati employs for gags that verge on the subliminal. I don't see much point in trying to recap the action because there's no central point or overarching existential problem that the film attempts to address. The film is not lacking in substance though - if one is so inclined, there's plenty of grist for milling out Tati's views on class barriers, interpersonal conflicts, petty resentments, and intellectual or social pretensions of all sorts that divide and befuddle people, and prevent us from simply finding a point of calm repose in our day to day routines. But his touch is so light, so free of judgment and accusation, so ultimately benevolent toward humanity in this film that it's just as easy to simply glide from one chuckle-inducing moment to the next without having to think very hard at all about anything of lasting importance. And isn't getting away from all that the reason we go on vacation in the first place?
Caleb Francis Jenkins:
The Goonies (Donner, 1985)
The Goonies. Classic Spielberg story. I can literally watch it time after time. It's how I imagined adventuring as a kid. My youth was filled with riding out into the woods with my friends on our Huffy bikes. We'd build forts, imagine worlds, play pirates, and shoot little films on a camcorder. It truly felt like ‘our time’ to get away from the world. RIP Anne Ramsey.
Lauren Patchett:
Purple Noon (Clément, 1960)
(Want to know more about this pick? Come to our screening next month!)
*****
Be sure to share YOUR favorite summer film picks down in the comments or over on our socials!
ECHOES
[BY: SPENCER EVERHART]
Echoes is an exclusively-visual column based on the MUBI Notebook series of the same name - a fun way to find the repetitions, reverberations, and recapitulations in images throughout cinema history.
The Boys From Fengkuei (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1983)
Still Life (Jia Zhangke, 2006)
UPCOMING EVENTS
LYNCH/OZ (Philippe, 2022)
WHAT: WEST MI PREMIERE! This documentary explores the undeniable influence The Wizard of Oz has had on the work of director David Lynch.
WHEN: Thursday, July 20th, 8:00 pm.
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
PURPLE NOON (Clément, 1960)
WHAT: Tom Ripley takes on the identity of a rich, spoilt brat after murdering him. However, he has to summon all his skills to get the police and the victim's friends off his back.
WHEN: Monday, July 24th, 8:00 pm.
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
REAR WINDOW (Hitchcock, 1954)
WHAT: Alfred Hitchcock’s classic story of a recuperating news photographer who believes he has witnessed a murder.
WHEN: Sunday, July 30th, 3:00 pm.
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
ONE LAST THING...
As you may have noticed, the past few issues of Beam from the Booth have been released at various points throughout your weekend. That’s because we want to ensure each issue is the best that it can be before it hits your inbox. As summer schedules set in and life adjustments are made, we’ve realized that our previous Friday release day no longer gives us the time to get each installment to where we want it to be. So to help with that, we’re going to push our expected release day to Saturday.
Thank you for all the love and support you all have shown for the newsletter, and we can’t wait to bring you even more EVERY SATURDAY this summer!
And so we’ve arrived at the end of another BEAM FROM THE BOOTH! We appreciate you taking the time to read it and truly hope you’ll continue to do so. Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to get each issue in your inbox every SATURDAY and stay up-to-date on all things GRFS!
Plus, join us on social media! We’d love to chat with everyone and hear YOUR OWN thoughts on everything above (you can also hop in the comments section below).
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Look for ISSUE #21 in your inbox NEXT SATURDAY, 7/01!
Until then, friends...
