Volume CXXXI, Number 21 April 12, 2002 f

Party flicks presented courtesy of Film Society
JIM FLANAGAN
COLUMNIST

This weekend, Film Society has the pleasure of presenting three quality musicals. Since this is a dry weekend on campus, we're hoping you'll use the lack of campus wide parties as an excuse to come out and catch a few of these films. These movies are kind of like a campus wide party…there's lots of music, and people get dressed up in them and do weird things. The only things they're missing are long lines and smelly basements. Oh yeah, and alcohol, but this is a dry weekend, so you're going to have to do without no matter what. As always, the movies will be shown in Smith Auditorium, Sills Hall, and are free and open to everyone.

Dancer in the Dark
Friday at 7:00 p.m.
Remember at the Oscars a couple years back when Björk wore that swan dress? Well, it was because of her nomination for this film that she was able to attend the ceremony. Although the nomination was for best song, Björk also stars in this film, where she plays a European immigrant to the U.S. who is slowly going blind. Her son has inherited this disease, and she is trying to save enough money to get him a preventative operation. Life is bleak in this film, and Björk is able to get away from her troubles through her love of music, specifically Hollywood musicals. Hence, we get a bleak drama that features musical numbers. How much fun is that?

Velvet Goldmine
Friday at 9:00 p.m.
This film centers on the world of Glam rockers. It is 1984, and a reporter is sent out into the world to find a musician he was once huge fan of whose career has disappeared since the end of the 1970s. The story he discovers is basically about a fantasy world in which a man based upon David Bowie had a romantic relationship with a man based upon Iggy Pop. Not a very common plot for sure, but this isn't a film concerned about plot. Glam Rock was about the show. You had to be as wild and fantastic as possible, and this movie does just that.

Moulin Rouge
Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
This is a film in which the biggest star is the film itself. When you see this film, you are taken on a visual roller coaster that doesn't let up for a second. Although it is hinged upon a tragic romance, this film is a lot of fun. The use of song and dance is incredible-it uses familiar pop tunes in an entirely new way. The sets are equally incredible. That is why it recently won the Oscar for best Art Direction and Set Design, and deservedly so. This really is a remarkable film that I strongly encourage you to attend. Where else are you going to see John Leguizamo play a hallucinogenic addicted midget? [Note to my Art Historian friends: I know Toulouse Lautrec wasn't a real midget, but when people think that there are midgets in a movie, they come out to see it]