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Schedule of Screenings:

Tuesday February 5:
Knocked Up (Judd Apatow, 2007, 129 min, USA, English, Color, 35mm)
-- Followed by refreshments and a discussion led by Professor Suzanne Shanahan and Ada Gregory of the Kenan Institute for Ethics.

Knocked Up is a hilarious, poignant and refreshing look at the rigors of courtship and child-rearing, with a sometimes raunchy, always witty script that is ably acted and directed. Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) and Seth Rogan star in this hilarious and touching comedy as two mismatched people brought together by a one-night-stand that results in an accidental pregnancy. Using many of the same actors from his previous film, The 40-Year Old Virgin, and his cult television series' Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks, director Judd Apatow once again finds fresh humor in relationships and sex.

Young, bright, and talented, Alison (Heigl) has everything going for her. After being promoted to an on-camera role at E! Television, Alison goes out to celebrate with her older sister, Debbie (Leslie Mann). Not long into the evening Debbie is called home to her kids, leaving Alison in the eager company of charming slacker Ben (Rogen). In the dark of the nightclub and in the ensuing drunk hours, Ben seems like a great guy. But in the sober light of day, Alison quickly discovers the man in her bed is nothing more than an overgrown child with no job, no money, and the social habits of a teenager. Brushing him off politely as a one-time affair, Alison goes on with her life, until two months later she realizes that the unthinkable has happened.

Apatow establishes the differences between his protagonists early in the film, bringing their contrasting worlds to life with stellar performances by secondary characters. Paul Rudd has never been better in his role as Alison's bitter brother-in-law, whose somewhat dysfunctional marriage to Alison's feisty but insecure sister unfolds in parallel to Alison and Ben's story. Meanwhile, Ben's home resembles a frat house, and his friends (Jay Baruchel, Jason Segel, Jonah Hill, and Martin Starr), while hilarious, are hardly role models.

Knocked Up will have audiences cracking up from start to finish, and it also deals with some serious issues about commitment, life choices, and becoming an adult. The film asks universal questions in a sweet and touching way, achieving a sad humor that distinguishes it from other films of its genre.

 

Tuesday February 19:
Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999, 139 min, USA, English, Color, 35mm)
-- Followed by refreshments and a discussion led by Martin Liccardo of the Duke University Women's Center and Professor Suzanne Shanahan and Ada Gregory of the Kenan Institute for Ethics.

Fight Club is narrated by a lonely, unfulfilled young man (Edward Norton) who finds his only comfort in feigning terminal illness and attending disease support groups. Hopping from group to group, he encounters another pretender, or "tourist," the morose Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), who immediately gets under his skin.

However, while returning from a business trip, he meets a more intriguing character--the subversive Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). They become fast friends, bonding over a mutual disgust for corporate consumer-culture hypocrisy. Eventually, the two start Fight Club, which convenes in a bar basement where angry men get to vent their frustrations in brutal, bare-knuckle bouts. Fight Club soon becomes the men's only real priority; when the club starts a cross-country expansion, things start getting really crazy.

Like Tyler Durden himself, director David Fincher’s Fight Club, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, is startlingly aggressive and gleefully mischievous as it skewers the superficiality of American pop culture. Outstanding performances by Norton and Pitt are supported by a razor-sharp script and an arsenal of stunning visual effects that include computer animation and sleight-of-hand editing. One of the most unique films of the late 20th century, Fight Club is a pitch-black comedy of striking intensity.

 

Tuesday March 4:
Notes on a Scandal (Richard Eyre, 2007, 92 min, Canada, English, Color, 35mm)
-- Followed by refreshments and a discussion led by Professors Anne Allison and Suzanne Shanahan.

In this sharp psychological thriller, Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett give fierce, memorable performances as two schoolteachers locked in a battle of wits.

Dame Judi Dench and Kate Blanchett face off with searing performances in this riveting tale of obsession and desire. Based on the novel by Zoe Heller, Notes on a Scandal is the story of Barbara Covett (Dench), a hard-nosed spinster schoolteacher, and her poisonous friendship with fellow teacher Sheba Hart (Blanchett). When the young and beautiful Sheba shows up as the new art instructor, everyone is charmed by her, including the embittered Barbara. Barbara is thrilled when her lonely life is shaken up by Sheba's overtures of friendship, as Sheba invites her to share in family dinners, and opens up to her about her marital troubles and personal longing. Barbara narrates her own feelings of longing to us from her meticulous diaries, and it becomes increasingly clear that her take on the friendship is uncomfortably intense, if not borderline delusional.

Things reach a fever pitch when Barbara happens upon Sheba dallying in the art room with a 15-year-old student. She tells Sheba that she must end the affair at once, but decides not to report her to the school, and instead, to use her knowledge of the indiscretion to draw Sheba closer to her, and put her in her debt. But when Barbara's demands on Sheba become too high, things soon unravel, setting off a chain of events that will leave viewers chewing their nails to the quick, but unable to tear their eyes away.

Both Blanchett and Dench are dazzling to watch as they deftly handle the barbed wit of Patrick Marber's screenplay. Directed by Richard Eyre of the Northern Theatre of London, and with a score by Philip Glass, Notes on a Scandal takes what could serve as mere tabloid fodder and plays it out on the level of Shakespearean tragedy.

 

Tuesday March 18:
In the Bedroom (Todd Field, 2002, 130 min, USA, English, Color, 35mm)
-- Followed by refreshments and a discussion led by Professors Susan Roth and Suzanne Shanahan.

Todd Field's In the Bedroom is an artistic and realistic portrait of domestic trouble in small-town America. Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson star as Ruth and Matt Fowler, the parents of a recent high school graduate, Frank (Nick Stahl), who has an affair with a married woman, Natalie (Marisa Tomei). A tragic event near the beginning of the film seems to stunt its action and dialogue, allowing the film to change into a largely visual piece based on memories, feelings, and silent communication; while the film's slow-moving camera, soft sunny lighting, and cautious pacing give it a resonating intensity.

Set in coastal Maine, the Fowlers are a well-liked family with simple, straightforward values. Dr. Fowler has his own small medical practice. Mrs. Fowler directs the chorus at the high school. Frank is a good kid who is working on the fishing docks for the summer, waiting for college in the fall. Frank falls into a summer romance with Natalie, an older woman with two young sons and a creepy, lurking husband (William Mapother) from whom she is separated. The relationship is worrisome to Mr. and Mrs. Fowler, but they want to be supportive of their son so they gently nudge him to think about the bigger picture, without being overbearing. But when the unthinkable happens, Mr. and Mrs. Fowler come face to face with their worst nightmare.

Quietly, calmly, and with the most logic they can muster, they begin a dark and dangerous psychological journey. The result, reinforced by stunning performances from Wilkinson and Spacek, is a pensive, penetrating, and utterly believable story.

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Have questions about our schedule? Contact Hank Okazaki at hokazak@duke.edu