ISSUE #52
BEAM FROM THE BOOTH | GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY
[EDITED BY: GRIFFIN SHERIDAN]
Hello and welcome back to an all-new installment of BEAM FROM THE BOOTH brought to you by GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY!
We’re very excited to welcome filmmaker Joseph Beyer to the Wealthy Theatre THIS WEDNESDAY (4/10) for the GRAND RAPIDS PREMIERE of his new documentary, MARQUEETOWN.
No one fights to preserve a multiplex, but some people will risk everything to save a marquee. Through booms and busts, Delft Theatres Inc. - and its innovative gem, The Nordic - endured in Marquette Michigan for almost 100 years, even as the world changed endlessly around them. Local kid Bernie Rosendahl’s modern crusade to restore the historic arthouse to its former glory leads filmmakers to discover a hidden cinema empire in the Upper Peninsula.
Portraying the fascinating history of motion pictures through one iconic screen - and featuring dozens of Michigan locations and characters - “Marqueetown” is a true story of chasing your dreams, redefining failure and success, and reembracing the enduring magic of cinema.
The film will be followed by a discussion and Q&A with Beyer and other cast and crew members in attendance. Don’t miss this chance to support independent MI filmmakers! Find your link to purchase tickets further down in our ‘Upcoming Events’ section further down, as always.
Those paying close attention to our socials know we’ve just recently pulled the curtain back on our biggest screening series to date. To tell you more, here’s David!
INTRODUCING... THE “SEASONS OF BERGMAN” SERIES
[BY: DAVID BLAKESLEE]
This coming Monday, April 15th, the Grand Rapids Film Society will begin a new year-long series of screenings: “Seasons of Bergman” featuring four classic offerings (one per quarter, corresponding to the seasons of the year) directed by Ingmar Bergman — one of the most significant, revered, and prolific filmmakers of the 20th century. In the decades following the release of his masterworks from 1957 (The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries), Bergman has been held in high regard by cinephiles from around the world. At the forefront of the burgeoning art house scene at the beginning of the 1960s, the Swedish auteur established a reputation for directing films that were culturally sophisticated, highly literate, and intimately personal. As a screenwriter, he tackled topics of spirituality, sexuality, and complex psychology with rigorous candor, often exploring existential subjects that were either taboo or simply considered too difficult to address in a medium seemingly relegated to function as a vehicle for shallow popular entertainment. At one time considered a powerfully influential cultural tastemaker, his lean, ascetic approach to cinema has gone in and out of vogue in subsequent decades. For many contemporary viewers, he may be more familiar by reputation than through active engagement with his filmography. This series aims to engage audiences in a communal theatrical setting by introducing them to four of his most important works which may nevertheless be somewhat under-exposed in comparison to the titles mentioned above or others such as Persona (1966) and Fanny & Alexander (1982) that are more frequently cited in current cinema discourse.
Corresponding to the changes that occur in our environments and moods over the course of a calendar year, the “Seasons of Bergman” series includes the following films:
THE VIRGIN SPRING (1960) – Screening date 4/15/24, 8:00 p.m.
SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT (1955) – Screening date 8/5/24, 8:00 p.m.
AUTUMN SONATA (1978) – Screening date 11/4/24, 8:00 p.m.
WINTER LIGHT (1963) – Screening date 1/6/25, 8:00 p.m.
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THE VIRGIN SPRING (1960)
Building on the resounding popular success that Bergman experienced with The Seventh Seal, here he returns to a medieval European setting to adapt a 13th century Swedish folk ballad centering on themes of familial honor, exploited innocence, merciless revenge, and the application of faith when grappling with tragedy. The film is also famous for serving as a template for Wes Craven’s original version of The Last House on the Left (1972). This was Bergman’s first collaboration with cinematographer Sven Nykvist and features some of the most iconic images in their lengthy catalog that followed. The Virgin Spring won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1961 and was also nominated for Best Costume Design (Black and White).
SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT (1955)
Written by Bergman during one of the most excruciating bouts of depression he ever experienced, Bergman crafted this darkly comic portrayal of the boundless complexities triggered by romantic and erotic yearnings that hold so many of us in their thrall. Whether or not those desires find their fulfillment, relationships tend to get complicated! And this script, set in a slightly absurd 19th century aristocratic milieu, loaded with witty and barbed exchanges between the sexes and across class lines, lays it all out there with brilliant insight, serving us succulent fruit we can feast on delivered by a man who knew a few things about recklessly falling in and out of love. Setting a high bar for countless sophisticated sex comedies that followed, Smiles of a Summer Night reveals a delightfully ribald side of Bergman’s creative expression that runs counter to his popular reputation as a filmmaker of dour, ponderous temperament.
AUTUMN SONATA (1978)
A primary example of Bergman’s late mature style, this is the film that paired “the two Bergmans” (Ingmar and Ingrid) for the first and only time in their respective legendary careers. Here, Ingrid Bergman is in the role of a renowned classical pianist who also happens to be the mother of a character portrayed by Liv Ullman (Ingmar’s former lover and creative muse throughout the 1960s and 70s). The film captures a day and a night they spend together as they recognize a rare opportunity to address serious ruptures that occurred in years past, even while escalating the intense risks that accompany the reopening of old wounds. Featuring indelible, powerfully gripping performances from two of cinema’s most accomplished actresses, Autumn Sonata will launch a series of cathartic moments for viewers who empathize with the turmoil and regret that exists within so many parent/child relationships.
WINTER LIGHT (1963)
Released when Bergman was arguably at the pinnacle of his artistic prestige and influence in broader popular culture, Winter Light can be seen as an incredibly risky career move. The film probably does more than any other of his major works to feed into the reputation mentioned above of Bergman’s oeuvre as relentlessly bleak and trembling on the brink of utter despair. Taking place in the depths of a Scandinavian winter, the film introduces us to a small cast of characters, each burdened by hefty and unavoidable questions about the purpose and even value of their individual lives. At the center of this stark, minimalistic scenario is a minister propelled by duty to lead a worship service attended only by a scant few of his congregants even as he grapples with his own crisis of faith as he questions the validity of his beliefs and pastoral vows. His exchanges with a young man contemplating suicide in response to the threat of nuclear annihilation cut to the heart of similar concerns felt by many as we confront the uncertainties imposed by climate change. Winter Light has been cited by Paul Schrader as a source of inspiration for First Reformed (2017) and should be seen by all who appreciate that film, one I personally consider to be among the greatest of the 21st century.
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The Grand Rapids Film Society is proud and excited to present this series to film lovers in the West Michigan area. Each showing will be preceded by a brief talk to put the film in context and prep viewers to make the most of this unique opportunity to watch it on the big screen. We’ll also provide essays and other informative materials on the films as their screening dates draw near in upcoming issues of our Beam From the Booth newsletter. Likewise, tickets for each event are already available on our website.
Plan to join us on this riveting cinematic journey in the months ahead!
PARTNER PICKS WITH GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY
[FEAT. BREANA MALLOY]
Inspired by series like Criterion’s Closet Picks and Letterboxd’s Four Favorites, GRAND RAPIDS FILM SOCIETY and our friends at the GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY have teamed up to bring you all PARTNER PICKS: an ongoing series of brief videos featuring a member of the GRFS Board as they browse the vast and varied selection of films (and television!) available to check out at our local library.
In this latest installment, check out what our own Breana Malloy pulled off the shelves...
If you’re interested in reading more about Breana’s full list of recommendations, check out GRPL’s curated list. Access these films — and thousands more — on shelves or online with your GRPL library card.
A very special thanks to GRPL’s HAILEY JANSSON for arranging, shooting, editing, and sharing this super fun series.
Stay tuned for another installment of Partner Picks very soon!
A HISTORY OF THE “MONSTERVERSE” - PART 1
[BY: ERIK HOWARD]
If you went back in time and told 14-year old Erik who just had his mind absolutely blown leaving Celebration Cinema North post-Godzilla (2014) that there’d be a decade’s worth of both Toho and American kaiju alike...I wouldn’t have believed you. There’s probably few people you can meet within Grand Rapids Film Society or the greater film community that will say this franchise is a masterpiece of a cinematic universe and be completely serious — and I’d imagine that’s why the board turned to me when Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire absolutely shattered expectations at the box office last weekend (and continues to this weekend).
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire marks the fourth film from Warner Bros./Legendary featuring the Big G and the third featuring Kong but is only the second in which the two have appeared together. Director Adam Wingard of Godzilla vs. Kong (2022) returns to once again flex his muscles for true kaiju spectacle, managing to create large-scale battles that focus far more on the fantastical elements of these colossal creatures. Wingard isn’t afraid to sacrifice weight and narrative intensity for all-out comedy, placing him right in the pantheon of kaiju directors from prior years who refuse to take themselves too seriously. His sophomore kaiju film is the poster child of humility, an utterly ridiculous 115 minutes harkening back to the mind-numbing hilarity of Godzilla’s Showa Era ranging from the 1950s to the mid 70s when aliens and cyborgs were just common nuisances for Earth. From Wingard’s grandiose yet human vision (Godzilla sleeping in the Roman Colosseum like Wingard’s own cat), to his cast’s infectious fun as they navigate rooms surely/actually packed with blue screens as if they are discovering a whole new world, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is nothing short of fun at cinemas once again. It’s big, it’s loud, yet nothing is as loud as your IMAX theater’s laughing audience when Godzilla performs a suplex on Kong off of a pyramid.
Yet for those who don’t live and breathe this franchise, know that this particular installment is a really big deal for the present and future of these films. From a roaring start in 2014 to what could’ve spelled the end of the series in 2019, these films have finally reached their potential after a decade’s worth of growing pains. Let’s take a look back at the trials and tribulations of what has come to be known as The MonsterVerse...
GODZILLA (2014)
Gareth Edwards’ debut MonsterVerse entry, Godzilla (2014), ushered in a high-quality human-centric story with a star-studded cast including Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, and Bryan Cranston who was one of the hottest names in Hollywood at the time due to Breaking Bad’s triumphant success. The stage had been set, and the film would see critical and commercial success, kickstarting a new generation of Godzilla in America after Tristar’s Godzilla (1998) destroyed any and all trust with Godzilla’s parent company Toho. Edwards’ sheer scale of destruction with kaiju, the grounded humanitarian conflict, and now-iconic design (and roar) had fully reintroduced Godzilla to the West while also raising the quality of kaiju films in the present and future. Critics adored the grounded interpersonal conflict, and audiences were in awe of the masterful visual effects mixed with a unique horror-based approach to Godzilla’s return. Members of the deep Godzilla fan base, however, were extremely critical of how Edwards’ film features some of the lowest Godzilla screen time in franchise history, seen as especially galling since Edwards was hyper-aware of this as most of Godzilla’s presence consists of teasing a monster battle that barely ever comes. When it does arrive, though, Edwards proves he has a firm grip on how the King of Kaiju should be respected and feared with a final fight that caused audible cheers in the theater on opening night. Regardless of varying responses after the dust settled, fans wanted more of this new gritty reinterpretation of a monster flick.
KONG: SKULL ISLAND (2017)
In a shocking move following Edwards’ success, Legendary Pictures announced the next entry in its MonsterVerse series featuring none other than Ki-wait...sorry, not King Kong but just Kong. This obviously marked a distinct departure from Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005), which had long been touted to receive a sequel titled Skull Island from Jackson’s hand-picked successor Adam Wingard (remember him?). The film and Kong’s involvement came with one goal in mind: usher in the rematch between Kong and Godzilla which had been 50+ years in the making. This news wasn’t a secret, it in fact was always the narrative goal of Kong: Skull Island (2017). The film, as would become routine in the MonsterVerse, is absolutely stacked in terms of its cast. The leads are none other than Marvel Cinematic Universe darlings Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson, the soon-to-be Marvel alum Brie Larson, and the eternally excellent John Goodman. While all things pointed to a strong MonsterVerse entry with an amazing cast, a recognizable American icon, and a well put-together action film with a comprehensive story...its just fine. It wasn’t necessarily a box office hit domestically and didn’t quite usher in the same excitement as Edwards’ Godzilla, but it showed good promise for the future of these two kaiju within Legendary’s overarching vision, preparing them both for an eventual meeting at the hands of fictional monster-hunting organization Monarch.
GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (2019)
The future of Godzilla’s involvement in Hollywood was in serious jeopardy after Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) was a commercial and critical disappointment (KOTM is unironically my favorite film in the MonsterVerse, but at the time it raised extreme questions about what exactly audiences wanted from a kaiju film).
Following Skull Island is the aforementioned Godzilla: King of the Monsters in 2019. The film sought to connect Edwards’ human-based conflict with an all-out slugfest amongst Toho’s pantheon of kaiju legends, and they pulled no punches. Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Mothra, and Rodan all hit the screen in their newest and top-tier representations across the history of these films. King of the Monsters didn’t stop there, though, as the next big Hollywood name had been cast to replace the impressive trio from the 2014 film: Millie Bobby Brown. The Stranger Things breakout could not have had more luster around her name come 2019 as studios seemingly scrambled to try and pry Netflix’s next big star away from her streaming series role. So, of course, out of all potential suitors she was cast as the supporting role for Godzilla: King of the Monsters in — I kid you not — her feature film debut. Brown is supported by the respectable Kyle Chandler of Friday Night Lights fame and Vera Farmiga who had just come off the back of Bates Motel and was in the midst of The Conjuring series. It was, once again, a stacked cast with a stacked set of kaiju who were ready to fight to the death and give fans exactly what they wanted.
And Godzilla fans were the only ones who showed up.
The film was a flop, barely making any significant ground on its budget plus marketing costs. Critics were brutal, and fans had gotten their slugfest but moved on to criticizing the movie for being too dark — and not dark in the way of subject matter or violence but in terms of literal brightness. Once again, Godzilla has a measly handful of minutes of screen time, and the cast is all but wasted in a hilariously disjointed human subplot. King of the Monsters had landed some big stars for the critics, big monsters for the fans, and yet couldn’t land big box office success.
What’s important to remember here is that Toho has never just given Warner Bros. and Legendary Godzilla to play with. The details of the arrangement were under wraps, but the industry knew that Legendary had all but one more film with Godzilla to really make an impact. Everything had been building to this moment, but the momentum truly wasn’t exceptional. Godzilla was practically sleepwalking towards his final film in Legendary’s hands.
GODZILLA vs. KONG (2021)
That ‘final’ film would be Adam Wingard’s (hey, you again!) Godzilla vs. Kong (2021). Now I know the COVID-19 years have all but disappeared from memory, but I would hope that two distinct films stick out from the height of the pandemic. The one that probably first comes to mind is Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) which of course united generations of Spidey fans in theaters during a time of intense separation — with tremendous box office receipts to boot. But the predecessor to Spider-Man’s meteoric success was none other than Godzilla vs. Kong. It had taken nearly six years to get here, but the long-desired dream of a rematch between Japan and America’s biggest and most iconic monsters hit theaters and HBO Max in March of 2021, at a time where movie theaters had seemingly become an afterthought and would-be blockbusters became just another film you’d watch in your own home. Unbelievably, it was a hit! Godzilla vs. Kong had the biggest opening weekend of 2021; not the biggest achievement of all time, but the film went on to have the biggest global opening of the pandemic and was praised by fans and critics alike for being nothing short of pure fun and mayhem.
The film’s cast maintained rising star Millie Bobby Brown as well as Kyle Chandler while bringing in Rebecca Hall, Alexander Skarsgard, and Bryan Tyree Henry to the table. Director Adam Wingard really found the winning formula here. Visually engaging monster fights that are nothing short of massively entertaining, a cast that has more fun in chaos than trying to be annoyingly serious amidst the circumstances, and an experience that let audiences disassociate from the most challenging time in recent history. The film ran its course in theaters eclipsing well over $400 million dollars at the worldwide box office against a $155 million dollar budget, making it a strong success compared to the withering results yielded by King of the Monsters. Wingard had made a slugfest profitable and, most importantly, exciting — which is what made it sting all the more as 2020 had come and gone, officially marking the end of Godzilla’s involvement in the MonsterVerse due to the expiration of Legendary’s license with Toho. It was a bittersweet end as Godzilla vs. Kong really did bring back the love of the blockbuster and again reminded people of the hilarious spectacle and potential Godzilla and Legendary’s Kong both had.
MEANWHILE IN JAPAN...
Godzilla parent company Toho had found success of its own amidst the MonsterVerse, releasing the highly influential Shin Godzilla (2016) from Japanese visionaries Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi. Shin brought Godzilla back to its roots in one of the most horrifying and destructive iterations of the monster since 2001’s undead iteration in All Out Monsters Attack and toppled the cultural influence of Edwards’ iteration. With Godzilla’s anniversary on the horizon and Toho teasing what would eventually become Godzilla Minus One (2023), it looked as if Toho was going to bring the Big G home and build upon his international success with a slew of new films from their influence.
NOW...
Here we stand with Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire as the biggest domestic opening of 2024 thus far — even beating out the highly acclaimed Dune: Part 2 — and Toho’s Minus One team winning a historic Best Visual Effects Oscar during the 2024 ceremony. Godzilla has never seen worldwide success like this, and it is especially impressive to see these results in a post-pandemic climate after a yo-yo of box office success in America.
So just what the hell happened to get to this point, and where does everyone’s favorite movie monster go from here? Check out ISSUE #53 to find out!
UPCOMING EVENTS
MARQUEETOWN (Beyer & Anderson, 2024) [GRAND RAPIDS PREMIERE!]
WHAT: Portraying the fascinating history of motion pictures through one iconic screen - and featuring dozens of Michigan locations and characters - Marqueetown is a true story of chasing your dreams, redefining failure and success, and re-embracing the enduring magic of cinema.
(Cast and crew in attendance including Co-Writer & Director Joe Beyer!)
WHEN: Wednesday, April 10th, 7:00pm
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
THE VIRGIN SPRING (Bergman, 1960)
WHAT: PART OF OUR “SEASONS OF BERGMAN” SERIES. Ingmar Bergman returns to a medieval European setting to adapt a 13th century Swedish folk ballad centering on themes of familial honor, exploited innocence, merciless revenge, and the application of faith when grappling with tragedy.
WHEN: Monday, April 15th, 8:00pm
WHERE: The Wealthy Theatre
MOVIE TRIVIA @ CRESTON BREWERY
WHAT: What else needs to be said? Grab some friends and join us for our first-ever movie trivia social event! *See event page for full details.*
WHEN: Tuesday, April 30th, 6:00pm
WHERE: Creston Brewery
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 MONDAY (usually), 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 #53 in your inbox on NEXT MONDAY, 04/15!
Until then, friends...
