Know Your Mushrooms
May 1 at 9.00 pm, May 3 at 8 pm
(Ron Mann, 2009, Canada/USA, 73 min.)

Know Your Mushrooms follows uber-myco visionaries Gary Lincoff and Larry Evans (two of the more expert and unforgettably mercurial characters in the community) as they lead us on a hunt for the wild mushroom and the deeper cultural experiences attached to the mysterious fungi. Combining material filmed at the Telluride Mushroom Fest with animation and archival footage along with a neo-psychedelic soundtrack by the Flaming Lips, Know Your Mushrooms opens the doors to perception, takes the audience on a longer, stranger trip and delivers them to a brave new world where the fungi might well guide humanity to a saner, safer place with extra cheese. CONSUMER WARNING: Don’t Go Into The Forest Without This Movie

Webster Student Film & Video Festival
May 2 at 7 pm

Another fascinating installment of recent work from Webster’s talented film and video students proves to be even better than the last. A broad representation of genre and theme, the program is a strong showcase of some the School of Communication’s brightest minds. Curated by the Webster Film & Video Society. Admission is free.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High
May 6 at 8 pm- part of Strange Brew: Cult Films at Schlafly Bottleworks
(Amy Heckerling, 1982, USA, 90 min.)

Based on the “real-life adventures” chronicled by screenwriter/journalist Cameron Crowe – before he was a big time moviemaker – Fast Times follows a group of high school students growing up in southern California. Stacy Hamilton (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and Mark Ratner (Brian Backer) are looking for love, egged on by their older classmates, Linda Barrett (Phoebe Cates) and Mike Damone (Robert Romanus). Stacy’s older brother Brad (Judge Reinhold) struggles with his dead-end job and a perpetually stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn in his star-making performance) faces off with the resolute Mr. Hand (Ray Walston), the history teacher who is convinced that everyone is on dope. Fantastic soundtrack features cuts from The Go-Go’s, Oingo Boingo, and Led Zeppelin.

Presented in the lively atmosphere of Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Avenue, Maplewood MO. There is ample parking and great beer on tap! 

Special Admission $4.00

THE CELLULOID COUCH:

Presented by the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute

Because movies are the unique product of the human imagination, they are affected by unconscious influences. The Celluloid Couch skillfully examines movies from the perspective of analytic thought and theory. Each film in the series is introduced and analyzed by a psychoanalytic professional, providing the audience with interpretations and insights from a unique vantage point.

The Son's Room
May 7 at 7:30 pm
(Nanni Moretti, 2001, Italy, 99 min.)

Giovanni is a successful psychoanalyst who has to put up with the seemingly endless string of trivial details his patients ramble on about. Yet his family provides a loving and steadfast foundation for his life that can even survive a problem like their son, Andrea, (who is) being accused of stealing a rare fossil in school. That foundation is profoundly rocked when Andrea dies in a scuba diving accident. Although the usual arrangements run smoothly, the emotional harm is profound. Giovanni begins to obsessively dwell on the missed chances he had with his son that might have saved his life, even blaming his patients. In addition, his wife is inconsolable and his daughter is becoming anti-social in their loss. In the midst of this turmoil, a secret of their son's life is revealed that provides healing in a way they never anticipated. In Italian with English subtitles.

With Analysis by Andrew Chirchirillo, Ph.D.

Edge Of Heaven
May 14 at 7:30 pm
(Fatih Akin, 2007, Germany/Turkey/Italy, 122 min.)

Nejat initially disapproves of his widower father Ali’s choice of prostitute Yeter for a live-in girlfriend. But the young professor warms to her when he learns that most of her hard-earned money is sent home to Turkey for her daughter’s university studies. After Yeter’s accidental death, Nejat travels to Istanbul to search for Yeter’s daughter Ayten. Political activist Ayten has fled the Turkish police and is already in Germany. She is befriended by a young woman, Lotte, who invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, much to the displeasure of her conservative mother, Susanne. When Ayten is arrested and her asylum plea denied, she is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Passionate Lotte abandons everything to help Ayten. A tragic event brings Susanne to Istanbul to help fulfill her daughter’s mission. Winner of the Best Screenplay in the Cannes Film Festival 2007. In German, Turkish, and English with English subtitles.

With analysis by Eric J. Nuetzel, M.D.

Times & Winds
May 21 at 7:30 pm
(Reha Erdem, 2006, Turkey, 111 min.)

Young teen Omer (Özkan Özen) contemplates the unthinkable as he bitterly struggles under the loveless emotional yoke of his scornful Muslim cleric father. Yakup (Ali Bey Kayali), Omer's best friend, obsesses over a beautiful schoolteacher. Yildiz (Elit Iscan) recoils from burgeoning womanhood, and from the sordid carnal realities she has grown too old to ignore. Blessed with painterly wide-screen visuals, Estonian composer Arvo Part's sublime music score, and phenomenally surefooted performances from an astonishingly adept young cast, Times and Winds contrasts a parochial society's unending chain of cruelty with the pagan natural world's eternal and sensual beauty. In Turkish with English subtitles.

With analysis by Nilufer E. Yalman, Ph.D.

Webster University Senior Overview Showcase
May 9 at 7 pm

This special presentation of films by the class of 2009 from Webster University’s School of Communications features the brightest minds and their freshest ideas. Students have spent the following year writing, producing, directing and editing the films. This is their first opportunity to premier them publicly. A 6 pm reception precedes the program. Admission is Free.

in a Dream, with Professor John Chappell, Webster University Department of History, Politics and International Relations
May 15, 16 & 17 at 8 pm.
(Jeremiah Zagar, 2008, USA, 80 min.)

Over the past four decades, Isaiah Zagar has covered more than 50,000 square feet of Philadelphia with stunning mosaic murals. In A Dream is a documentary feature film that chronicles his work and his tumultuous relationship with his wife, Julia. It follows the Zagars as their marriage implodes and a harrowing new chapter in their life unfolds. Touching on themes of infidelity, drug-addiction, obsession and ultimately, forgiveness, In A Dream explores the joys as well as the pitfalls of a life lived in pursuit of artistic discovery and presents a hopeful portrait of a couple rediscovering the value of their marriage, their family and the dreams they've created together.

Amarcord
May 22, 23 & 24 at 8 pm
(Federico Fellini, 1973, Italy, 123 min.)

In this carnivalesque portrait of provincial Italy during the Fascist period, Federico Fellini’s most personal film satirizes his youth and turns daily life into a circus of social rituals, adolescent desires, male fantasies, and political subterfuge, all set to Nina Rota’s classic, nostalgia-tinged score. The Academy Award–winning Amarcord remains one of cinema’s enduring treasures. In Italian & Greek with English subtitles.

New 35 mm print!

Tony Manero
May 29, 30 & 31 at 8 pm
(Pablo Larrain, 2008, Chile, 98 min.)

Santiago de Chile, 1978. In the midst of the tough social context of Pinochet’s dictatorship, Raúl Peralta (Alfredo Castro), a man in his fifties, is obsessed with the idea of impersonating Tony Manero, John Travolta’s character in Saturday Night Fever. Raúl leads a small group of dancers regularly performing at a bar located in the outskirts of the city. Every Saturday evening, he unleashes his passion for the film’s music by imitating his idol. His dream of being recognized as a successful showbiz star is about to become a reality when the national television announces a Tony Manero impersonating contest. His urge to reproduce his idol’s likeness drives him to commit a series of crimes and thefts. In the meantime, his dancing partners, who are involved in underground activities against the regime, are persecuted by the government’s secret police. In Spanish with English subtitles

Saturday Night Fever
John Badham, 1977, USA, 118 min
June 3 at 8 pm - part of Strange Brew: Cult Films at Schlafly Bottleworks.

Tony (John Travolta) is an uneducated Brooklyn teenager. Aside from struttin’, the only joy in Tony’s life comes from the local disco, where he defies the seams of his trousers and becomes the king of the flickering dance-floor. When Tony meets Stephanie (Karen Lynn Gorney ) at the disco, they agree to dance together in a competition. Stephanie resists Tony's attempts to romance her – she aspires to greater things; she is moving across the river to Manhattan. Gradually, Tony also becomes disillusioned with the soulless drum machine of the life he is leading and he and Stephanie decide to help one another to start afresh. The Bee Gees’ multi-platinum score accompanies the glam and boogie.

Presented in the lively atmosphere of Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Avenue, Maplewood MO. There is ample parking and great beer on tap! 

Special Admission $4.00. SNF costumed patrons are FREE (Way to go Manero!)

Throw Down Your Heart
June 5-11 at 8 pm
Extended run through June 11!
(Sascha Paladino, 2008, USA/Gambia/Mali/Tanzania/Uganda, 97 min.)

On a search for the origins of his music, banjo player Bela Fleck travels to Africa, camera crew in-tow. Uplifting and inspiring – the type of film capable of really connecting with audiences – Bela's boundary-breaking musical adventure takes him to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, and provides a glimpse of the beauty and complexity of Africa. Using his banjo, Bela transcends barriers of language-the musicians literally converse through song, speaking notes instead of words- and culture, finding common ground and forging connections with musicians from very different backgrounds.

Examined Life
June 12, 13 & 14 at 8 pm
(Astra Taylor, 2008, Canada, 88 min.)

Filmmaker Astra Taylor (Zizek!) accompanies some of today’s most influential thinkers on a series of unique excursions through places and spaces that hold particular resonance for them and their ideas. Peter Singer’s thoughts on the ethics of consumption are amplified against the backdrop of Fifth Avenue’s posh boutiques. Slavoj Zizek questions current beliefs about the environment while sifting through a garbage dump. Judith Butler and a friend stroll through San Francisco’s Mission District questioning our culture’s fixation on individualism. And while driving through Manhattan, Cornel West—perhaps America’s best-known public intellectual—compares philosophy to jazz and blues, reminding us how intense and invigorating a life of the mind can be. Offering privileged moments with great thinkers, Examined Life reveals philosophy’s power to transform the way we see the world around us and imagine our place in it. Featuring Cornel West, Avital Ronell, Peter Singer, Kwarne Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Michael Hardt, Slavoj Zizek, Judith Butler and Sunaura Taylor.

Treeless Mountain
June 19, 20 & 21 at 8 pm
(So Yong Kim, 2008, Korea, 89 min.)

When their mother needs to leave in order to find their estranged father, seven-year-old Jin and her younger sister, Bin, are left to live with their Big Aunt for the summer. With only a small piggy bank and their mother's promise to return when it is full, the two young girls are forced to acclimate to changes in their family life. Counting the days, and the coins, the two bright-eyed young girls eagerly anticipate their mother's homecoming. But when the bank fills up, and with their mother still not back, Big Aunt decides that she can no longer tend to the children. Taken to live on their grandparents' farm, it is here that Jin comes to learn the importance of family bonds in this beautiful, meditative, and thought-provoking second feature from So Yong Kim, the acclaimed director of In Between Days.

The Wild Child
June 26, 27 & 28 at 8 pm
(François Truffaut, 1970, France, 83 min.)

A touching and philosophical film, set in the 18th century and based on the diaries of real-life French doctor Jean Itard, Truffaut’s L‘enfant Sauvage is as moving today as it was nearly forty years ago. Itard (Truffaut) fought authorities for the right to take charge of the social and intellectual education of a "Wild Child" (Jean-Pierre Cargol) -- a young boy who somehow had managed to survive, alone and uncared for, in nature. Although most of the medical establishment felt that the child, who could not speak and often exhibited violent behavior, was hopelessly retarded, the tenacious Itard, with techniques sometimes kind and frequently cruel, managed to prove them wrong. In French with English subtitles. New 35 mm print!

The Song Remains the Same
July 1 at 8 pm - part of Strange Brew: Cult Films at Schlafly Bottleworks
(Peter Clifton & Joe Massot, 1976, USA, 127 min.)

In the only official performance footage ever released by one of the greatest (and certainly most popular) rock bands of all time, the members of Led Zeppelin are called back from vacation by manager Peter Grant to play Madison Square Garden. Amid extraordinarily rockin’ performances of some of their best songs (stand outs include Misty Mountain Hop, Over The Hills and Far Away and a ten minute drum solo by John Bonham during Moby Dick) each member's personal fantasies (er… hallucinations?) sweep the audience into lush and bizarre scenarios – including Robert Plant astride a horse in a distant Arthurian castle and some1930s gangster schtick complete with tommy guns and drive-bys.

Presented in the lively atmosphere of Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Avenue, Maplewood MO. There is ample parking and great beer on tap! 

Special Admission $4.00

Sullivan's Travels
July 3, 4 & 5 at 8 pm
(Preston Sturges, 1941, USA, 90 min.)


One of the funniest movies about movies ever made, Preston Sturges’ Depression era comedy is a biting satire that pokes fun at all of Hollywood – including himself. John Loyd “Sully” Sullivan, a sheltered movie director (Joel McCrea) tired of churning out lightweight comedies, decides to make O Brother, Where Art Thou —a serious, socially responsible film, or as Sully puts it, “ a true canvas of the suffering of humanity…with a little sex in it.” After his producers point out that he knows nothing of hardship, Sully hits the road as a hobo, dead-set on finding trouble. He finds the lovely Veronica Lake—and more trouble than he ever dreamed of. Beautiful NEW 35mm print!

Send It With Truth: The Uncompromising Cinema of John Cassavetes
July 10- 26

The most difficult thing in the world is to reveal yourself, to express what you have to... As an artist, I feel that we must try many things - but above all, we must dare to fail. You must have the courage to be bad - to be willing to risk everything to really express it all.

John Cassavetes is the undisputed father of American Independent Cinema. While many worked outside the Hollywood studio system prior to Cassavetes, none worked with such vigor and fierce individualism. His films, which have a raw and “real” aesthetic, flow with an improvisational quality (although tightly scripted) and his characters reveal qualities in each of us that we scarcely see on the screen. Join us as we celebrate the mastery of Cassavetes’ work. All features are presented in 35 mm. Series pass available for $40.

A Constant Forge - The Life and Art of John Cassavetes
July 9, 16 & 23 at 8 pm
(Charles Kiselyak, 2000, USA, 200 min.)

A detailed journey through the career of one of film’s greatest pioneers and iconoclasts, Kiselyak’s film is assembled from candid interviews with Cassavetes’ collaborators and friends, rare photographs, archival footage, and the director’s own words. The film paints a revealing portrait of a man whose fierce love, courage, and dedication changed the face of cinema forever.

Shadows
July 10 at 8 pm
(John Cassavetes, 1959, USA, 81 min.)

John Cassavetes’ directorial debut revolves around an interracial romance between Lelia (Lelia Goldoni), a light-skinned black woman living in New York City with her two brothers, and Tony (Anthony Ray), a white man. The relationship crumbles when Tony meets Lelia’s brother Hugh (Hugh Hurd), a talented dark-skinned jazz singer struggling to find work, and discovers the truth about Lelia’s racial heritage. Shot on location in Manhattan with a cast and crew made up primarily of amateurs, Cassavetes’ Shadows is a visionary work that is widely considered the forerunner of the American independent film movement.

Faces
July 11 at 8 pm
(John Cassavetes, 1968, USA, 130 min.)

The disintegration of a marriage is dissected in John Cassavetes’ searing film. Shot in high-contrast 16 mm black and white, the film follows the futile attempts of captain of industry Richard (John Marley) and his wife, Maria (Lynn Carlin), to escape the anguish of their empty marriage in the arms of others. Featuring astonishingly powerful, nervy performances from Marley, Carlin, and Cassavetes regulars Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel, Faces confronts suburban alienation and the battle of the sexes with a brutal honesty and compassion rarely matched in cinema.

Husbands
July 12 at 8 pm
(John Cassavetes, 1970, USA, 131 min.)

Three friends, Harry, Archie and Gus, (Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk and John Cassavetes) embark on a cleansing weekend of the soul after the sudden death of their friend and contemporary Stuart. On a whim these middle-aged New Yorkers decide to flee to London to gamble, party and test the boundaries of life. A beautifully observed and outrageously unsentimental study of sentiment, Husbands explores the desires, loves and losses of a generation constantly running away from their lives through three men who actually do it.

Minnie and Moskowitz
July 17 at 8 pm
(John Cassavetes, 1971, USA, 114 min.)

Moskowitz (Seymour Cassel) is a nutty parking lot attendant who decides to head for California. Minnie (Gena Rowlands) is a museum curator whose relationship with a married man hits a dead end, thereby forcing her back into the dating world. When Moskowitz protects Minnie from a desperate suitor, a relationship forms that is at first raucous and bitter; eventually, however, the pair begins to realize that their differences pale in comparison to their inexplicable need to be together.

A Woman Under the Influence
July 18 at 8 pm
(John Cassavetes, 1974, USA, 155 min.)

John Cassavetes’ devastating drama details the emotional breakdown of a suburban housewife and her family’s struggle to save her from herself. Starring Peter Falk and Gena Rowlands (in two of the most harrowing screen performances of the 1970s) as a married couple deeply in love yet unable to express that love in terms the other can understand, the film is an uncompromising portrait of domestic turmoil. One of the benchmark films of American independent cinema — A Woman Under the Influence is a heroic document from a true maverick director.

The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
July 19 at 8 pm
(John Cassavetes, 1976, USA, 135 min.)

Cassavetes engages film noir in his own inimitable style with The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. Ben Gazzara brilliantly portrays gentlemen’s club owner Cosmo Vitelli, a man dedicated to pretenses of composure and self-possession. When he runs afoul of a group of gangsters, Cosmo is forced to commit a horrible crime in a last-ditch effort to save his beloved club and his way of life. Suspenseful, mesmerizing, and idiosyncratic, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie is a thought-provoking examination of desperation and masculine identity.

Opening Night
July 24 at 8 pm
(John Cassavetes, 1976, USA, 144 min)

Broadway actress Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) rehearses for her latest play, about a woman unable to admit that she is aging. When she witnesses the accidental death of an adoring young fan, she begins to confront the personal and professional turmoil she faces in her own life. Featuring a moving performance by Rowlands (and with some scenes shot on stages with live audiences reacting freely to the writing and performing), Opening Night exposes the drama of an actress who at great personal cost makes a part her own

Gloria
July 25 at 8 pm
(John Cassavetes, 1980, USA, 123 min.)

Jack Dawn (Buck Henry) and his family are eliminated by the mob, because he was their accountant and was keeping a personal copy of their records. However his six-year-old Puerto Rican son, Phil (John Adames) escapes with Gloria Swenson (Gena Rowlands), a neighbor who was a former girlfriend of one of the gangsters. The mob pursues Gloria and Phil throughout New York City looking for a black book containing the info on their accounts.

Love Streams
July 26 at 8 pm
(John Cassavetes, 1984, USA, 141 min.)

A few days in the decadent alcohol-soaked life of writer Robert Harmon (John Cassavetes) and his sister Sarah (Gena Rowlands). The story follows two seemingly unconnected individuals who are in the midst of personal crises. Robert Harmon (Cassavetes) is a successful writer who can't seem to control his libido; he fills his house with a rotating cast of attractive females in order to feel less lonely. Sarah Lawson (Gena Rowlands) is a fragile woman whose life begins to fall apart when her husband divorces her and retains custody of her daughter. In a series of events, Robert takes his young son Albie on a debauched trip to Las Vegas upon seeing him for the first time since his birth; he also tries to convince Sarah to love her own daughter just little bit less. John Cassavetes’ last screen appearance as an actor, and last personal film as a director, is another challenging drama that tackles deeply profound questions without becoming heavy-handed. 

The Day The Earth Stood Still
July 31, August 1 & 2 at 8 pm
(Robert Wise, 1951, USA, 92 min.)

When alien Klaatu (Michael Rennie) and his mighty robot Gort (Lock Martin) land their spacecraft on Cold War-era Earth to bring an important message to the planet, they have a hard time getting the message across to the trigger happy Earthlings. After escaping a hospital, Klaatu moves in as a boarder with an Earth family. When they begin to suspect him, he reveals himself, along with the news that Gort is a member of a race of super-robot enforcers invented to keep the peace of the galaxy, and—listen up—he will destroy the Earth if provoked. Far superior to the bulk of the 1950’s sci-fi flicks, Wise’s film is a rich, allegorical meditation the Cold War.

New 35 mm print!

I ♥ Musicals

Cabaret
July 7 - 28
(Bob Fosse, 1972, USA, 124 min.)

Willkommen, bienvenue, welcome to Cabaret! The winner of eight Academy Awards, it boasts a score by the legendary songwriting partnership behind another film that would energize the movie musical genre with equal razzle-dazzle 30 years later: Chicago's John Kander and Fred Ebb. Inside the Kit Kat Club of 1931 Berlin, starry-eyed singer Sally Bowles (Liza Minnelli) and an impish emcee (Joel Grey) sound the clarion call to decadent fun, while outside a certain political party grows into a brutal force. Cabaret caught lightning (and won Oscars) for Minnelli, Grey and director Bob Fosse, who shaped a triumph of style and substance. Come to this Cabaret, old chum. You'll never want to leave.

Grease
July 14 at 7:30 pm
(Randal Kleiser, 1978, USA, 110 min)

John Travolta solidified his position as the most versatile and magnetic screen presence of the decade in this film version of the smash hit play Grease. Recording star Olivia Newton-John made her American film debut as Sandy, Travolta's naive love interest. The impressive supporting cast reads like a "who's who" in this quintessential musical about the fabulous '50s. Grease is not just a nostalgic look at a simpler decade--it's an energetic and exciting musical homage to the age of rock 'n' roll!

Chicago
July 21at 7:30 pm
(Rob Marshall, 2002, USA, 113 min.)

Nightclub sensation Velma Kelly (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and spotlight-seeking Roxie Hart (Renne Zellweger) both find themselves sharing space on Chicago's famed Murderess Row in a time when crimes of passion result in celebrity headlines. They also share Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), the town's slickest lawyer with a talent for turning notorious defendants into local legends. But in Chicago, there's only room for one legend!

Moulin Rouge
July 28 at 7:30 pm
(Baz Luhrmann, 2001, Australia, 127 min.)

A spectacle beyond anything you've ever witnessed. An experience beyond everything you've ever imagined. Behind the red velvet curtain, the ultimate seduction of your senses is about to begin. Welcome to the Moulin Rouge! Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor sing, dance and scale the heights of passionate abandon in the year's most talked-about movie from visionary director Baz Luhrmann. Enter a tantalizing world that celebrates truth, beauty, freedom and above all things, love.

Bugsy Malone
August 5 at 8 pm - part of Strange Brew: Cult Films at Schlafly Bottleworks.
(Alan Parker, 1976, USA, 93 min)

Bugsy Malone (Scott Baio) and Tallulah (Jodi Foster) are (child) gangsters determined to rule over New York City. Instead of throwing fists or bullets, the prohibition-era kiddie mobsters sling confections at one another. When Bugsy learns that a rival gang has developed a secret weapon capable of firing whipped cream as quick as a machine gun shoots bullets, he sets out to heist the high-tech tart-launcher. With original songs by Paul Williams, this nearly forgotten gem from the 70s predates Parker’s other musical spins Fame, The Commitments, and Evita.

Presented in the lively atmosphere of Schlafly Bottleworks, 7260 Southwest Avenue, Maplewood MO. There is ample parking and great beer on tap!

Special Admission $4.00