ISSUE #56
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!
TONIGHT at 8:00pm (5/6), we’re hosting our first event of the month: a screening of George Lucas’ 1971 feature debut, the atmospheric sci-fi THX-1138. If you missed our foreword to the film, you can check it out in last week’s issue. Rather than share a trailer, we thought we’d implore you to check out this truly bizarre piece of original marketing for the film:
And don’t forget that THIS FRIDAY (5/10), we are hosting the Grand Rapids premiere screening of THE PEOPLE’S JOKER featuring a LIVE Q&A with actor Nathan Faustyn, who we interviewed in last week’s issue as well! Indie film fans will not want to miss this chance to catch this very special and very important independent film.
And, finally, NEXT MONDAY (5/13) we are hosting a special 45th ANNIVERSARY SCREENING of DAWN OF THE DEAD, featuring a LIVE Q&A with actress JEANNIE JEFFERIES! Our very own Nicholas Hartman couldn’t be more excited...
A DAWN OF THE DEAD FOREWORD
[BY: NICHOLAS HARTMAN]
Here I am, at the age of twelve, sitting in my parent’s computer room. I’m hopped up on Mountain Dew and connected to dial-up internet. Anyone remember that sound? If you do, congratulations — like me, you’re old.
As I chat with my friends on MSN messenger and illegally download music through Napster, I look up horror film t-shirts on the internet due to my newfound obsession with the genre. Thanks to Google, I’m introduced to rottencotton.com and my-oh-my am I pleased. The site is dedicated to macabre shirts, and I’m about to spend my hard-earned cash from mowing my grandparents’ lawn. As I browse the site, I come across a graphic and tagline that catches my attention. The tagline reads “When Hell is full, the dead will walk the earth”. My twelve year-old brain can’t comprehend such profound words...
I click the image and find myself introduced to George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978). At that point, there was no going back for me. This...this is now my personality, this is who I will become — a horror-obsessed film fanatic. I now find myself clicking link after link to learn more about Dawn. I must do everything in my power to see it. The stills provided online draw my attention like a moth to the flame. I mean, look at the skin tone of these zombies; the chilling pastel blues, the vibrantly saturated blood, and hordes of the undead lurking through a mall is what every young boy gets excited by, right? No? Just me? Well let me tell you, it got my blood pumping, and it’s an excitement I still have to this day. I literally have a Dawn of the Dead poster directly behind my desk at Wealthy Theatre because, when I see it, it still gives me that excitement — an excitement to do my job and to do it well.
Now, I could go into some film facts about Dawn of the Dead such as the two zombie children are the kids of the legendary Tom Savini who did special FX for the film, or that Gaylen Ross who plays Fran refused to scream in the film because screaming would make her look weak (or simply stating the film is a metaphor for capitalist consumerism, hence brain-dead zombies in a mall); instead, I want to let you all know what the night of May 13th means to me.
As some of you may already know, we will have a very special guest in attendance: the lovely Jeanie Jefferies who plays “the blonde zombie” in Dawn. When I got confirmation that Jeanie would be joining us in-person, I put myself back in the shoes of my twelve year-old self, the kid who stumbled upon a tagline and immediately became intrigued. I put myself in the shoes of that young cinephile who became obsessed with this movie and would spend his nights alone watching and studying it.
Now, here I am, a grown man still filled with that same excitement, still feeling like a kid, and I owe it all to the horror genre. There’s just something about the genre that keeps me young and enthusiastic. Maybe it’s because it’s a genre that some don’t take too seriously (even though we should) or maybe because zombies, monsters, vampires, etc. are targeted toward children? I don’t really know — all I do know is if the genre didn’t exist, I’m not sure I would. It defines me.
The fact that I’ll be able to sit on stage and have a Q&A with Jeanie Jefferies just doesn’t feel real. Some people fan out over Beyoncé, some fan out over Taylor Swift. I fan out over Jeanie because of the work she’s done on Dawn. I fan out because she scared the hell out of me as a kid. I fan out because she worked with Savini and Romero to create an unforgettable gorefest that’s nothing short of a masterpiece.
In the spirit of that excitement, I ask of you all: this coming Monday, May 13th, please join myself and the Grand Rapids Film Society for one of the best zombie films ever made and a conversation with a very special guest.
PARTNER PICKS WITH GRAND RAPIDS PUBLIC LIBRARY
[FEAT. JACKSON EZINGA]
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 Jackson Ezinga pulled off the shelves...
If you’re interested in reading more about Jackson’s full list of recommendations, check out GRPL’s curated list. You can 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!
IN PRAISE OF A LUCA GUADAGNINO DANCE SEQUENCE
[BY: KYLE MACCIOMEI]
Challengers landed in theaters this past weekend, and its arrival was met with thunderous applause, wide eyes, and more than a few Film Twitter memes. It also brought Luca Guadagino back into the cultural conversation, which is the perfect opportunity to review his filmography. Guadagnino, like most filmmakers, has an artistic sensibility that allows for the re-use of certain themes, ideas, and techniques.
He came onto the scene with his “Desire Trilogy” (2010’s I Am Love, 2015’s A Bigger Splash, and 2017’s Call Me By Your Name) in which he explores desire as it relates to wealth, ego, sensuality, and taboo — all set against a luxurious Italian backdrop. An Italian-born filmmaker, Guadagnino ended up spending most of his adolescence in Ethiopia, which would explain why most of his European-set films feature non-native Italians as their main characters. His narratives often have an easy comfortability with exploring sexuality and identity in ways that elevates his status as one of our great queer filmmakers. Technically, his use of crossfades and frequent breaking of the 180-Degree Rule shows an unorthodox approach that arguably recalls a bygone era of filmmaking.
After watching most of his films this past week, though, I’ve discovered another creative throughline in Guadagnino’s work as a filmmaker: his use of dance to convey character. Guadagnino’s cinematic use of the human body through dance and movement exists throughout his films, which I have edited together in this helpful video montage:
Ever since the movie musical was relegated to a more niche corner of movie marketability, opportunities to incorporate dance in film are seemingly fewer and far between in our modern cinematic landscape. Film is a uniquely-suited medium for exploring the physicality of the human body, and Guadagnino is one of the prime directors still capitalizing on that potential. While Challengers lacks any formal dance numbers, the human body is on grand display during the many tennis matches that are stylistically filmed throughout the movie. The broad back-handed swings, a forward lunge towards the net, constant heavy breathing of chests glistening from sweat, and even a well-placed racket-between-the-legs shot to win a point (fun fact, I recently discovered this is called a “tweener”), all contributing to Guadagnino’s interpretation of tennis as just another dance between partners.
Zendaya’s character, Tashi, plays tennis so that she may enter into a competitive state of nirvana with her opponent. She describes how, for a short period of time, a tense volley between players can turn into a kind of dance, and the rest of the world just fades away until there’s nothing but what’s on the court; bodies in motion, constantly reacting to one another. It makes sense then that Mike Faist, one of the three leads in the film, is a talented dancer who got his big break as Riff in Steven Spielberg’s recent West Side Story (2021) adaptation.
Looking back at 2022’s Bones and All, Guadagnino’s previous film, we are introduced to Timothy Chalamet’s Lee through dance, conveying a sense of normalcy in the seedy underground world of cannibals. I mean sure, Lee eats people, but his ability to rock hard to some ACDC gives hope to the main character Maren, an “Eater” like Lee, that her life could still contain wonder and joy.
Prior to that was 2018’s Suspiria, a remake of Dario Argento’s 1977 giallo classic. In the original, an American ballet student moves to Germany to study at the Tanz Akademie, a prestigious dance academy, where she uncovers murder, mystery, and magic. While dancing is present in the original, Guadagnino elevates its involvement in his version by purposefully mixing the art of dance with the art of witchcraft, leading to some stellar sequences where the two are seamlessly intertwined.
In the ‘Desire Trilogy,’ both Call Me By Your Name and A Bigger Splash feature extended dance sequences albeit with different subtexts. In Call Me By Your Name, dancing is used with subtle flirtation between the two primary characters. Both are unable to express their attraction directly in public but can still utilize the dance floor to draw each other’s attention and interest. Elsewhere, in A Bigger Splash, Ralph Fiennes’s Harry is a blatant narcissist who craves the spotlight — and what better spotlight might exist than to boisterously prance about your friend’s Italian villa while you play vinyl records from the legendary rock band that you used to produce music for?
Guadagnino’s next film, Queer (which should be released later this year), stars Daniel Craig in the lead role as an American expat wandering through Mexico City where he becomes infatuated with a young Drew Starkey at some local clubs. The potential for a dancing Daniel Craig in this next project feels not only expected, but a necessary addition to the catalog laid out so far.
So, as you go see Challengers for your first (or second time) in theaters these coming weeks, pay attention to the bodies on display. These athletic titans can leap across the court in a matter of seconds, and Guadagnino’s camera is always framed just right to capture it. In a filmography filled with human bodies in free expression, be rest assured that there are still auteurs in Hollywood who have not forgotten that sometimes we just gotta dance.
UPCOMING EVENTS
THX-1138 (Lucas, 1971)
WHAT: George Lucas’ feature debut! In the future, mankind lives in vast underground cities and free will is outlawed by means of mandatory medication that controls human emotion. But when two citizens stop taking their meds, they wake up to the bleak reality of their own existence and fall in love with each other in the process.
WHEN: Monday, May 6th, 8:00pm
WHERE: Wealthy Theatre
THE PEOPLE’S JOKER (Drew, 2024)
WHAT: A law-breaking comedian who is grappling with her gender identity forms a new anti-comedy troupe with a friend and finds herself battling a fascistic caped crusader. (featuring LIVE Q&A with actor NATHAN FAUSTYN!)
WHEN: Friday, May 10th, 8:00pm
WHERE: Wealthy Theatre
DAWN OF THE DEAD (Romero, 1978)
WHAT: A special 45th ANNIVERSARY SCREENING of the horror classic from George A. Romero! (featuring a LIVE Q&A with actress JEANNIE JEFFERIES!)
WHEN: Monday, May 13th, 8:00pm
WHERE: Wealthy Theatre
WHAT: Join us for another FREE GRFS social event and chat about filmmaking, screenwriting, and cinephilia with other like-minded members of the GR film community.
WHEN: Thursday, May 16th, 7:00pm
WHERE: The Front Studio Annex — right next to the Wealthy Theatre!
BELLY (Williams, 1998)
WHAT: Ever since they were kids, Sincere (Nas) and Buns (DMX) have lived life close to the edge, doing whatever it takes to survive. Featuring a Hype Williams music video pre-show and panel discussion!
WHEN: Monday, May 20th, 8:00pm
WHERE: Wealthy Theatre
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.
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Until then, friends...
