Cine/Club—free screenings of classic films followed by discussion—is held on Friday nights. These events are open to students, their guests, mentors, parents and friends of Art & Film. No need to RSVP. Screenings are held at the Randall Museum (199 Museum Way) and the Delancy Street Screening Room (500 Embarcadero). Refreshments are served at 6:30 and the film begins at 7pm unless otherwise noted.

Discussions are held after each film with moderators Heather Woodward, the head of creative writing at the School of the Arts, and Ronald Chase, the director of Art & Film.




Friday 2: Cine/Club: Randall Museum

Danny Boyle's TRAINSPOTTING (1996, England)

Renton and his friends live lives of mindless pleasure with the aid of alcohol, heroin and sex in 1980’s Scotland. This film captures bother the wild revels of drug culture and its horrific consequences. PARENTAL WARNING: sex, random violence and graphic drug use.

 
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

When this film opened I avoided it. "Not another drug film!" I thought, but Art & Film students urged me to go because they thought it was an important film and very well done. I had to agree, and we’ve shown it at Cine/Club ever since. There’s something imaginative (and very entertaining) about its freeform approach, but as things grow more frightening it becomes a very sobering experience. If ever there was a film that made you understand what is at risk when it comes to drug use, this is it. Come see what you think.

Saturday 3: Art Saturday

10:30 Meet on the balcony outside Metron overlooking Yerba Buena Park (on Mission between 3rd & 4th)
11:00 We'll go see galleries, followed by a picnic lunch and see a film in the afternoon.
Friday 9: Cine/Club: Randall Museum

Gillo Pontecorvo's THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS (1966, Algeria)

This film covers the war for independence fought by Algerians against their French occupiers. Filmed on location, only 4 years after the end of the war, the cast and crew were filled with people who knew firsthand the events of the war. Dynamic, powerful and timely.

 
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

The first thing that’s remarkable about this film is how real it looks. It isn’t a documentary, but you would swear it is. The building of suspense, and the handling of the many different characters and situations is masterful, and the cast of thousands who had just been through The revolution know what it felt like and how to reproduce it. Sometimes your mouth hangs open in disbelief. How did they do it? How did they make it so very real?

Saturday 10: Art Saturday

10:30 Meet on the balcony outside Metron overlooking Yerba Buena Park (on Mission between 3rd & 4th)
11:00 We'll go see galleries, followed by a picnic lunch and see a film in the afternoon.
Friday 16: Cine/Club: Delancey Street

Stanley Kubrick's 2001 (1968, UK)

This grand daddy of all space epics set a standard for all time. A spaceship is manned by a giant computer who begins to wipe out the crew for their incompetence. It’s ending still remains one of the most defiant enigmas in film, and it’s techniques set a standard for Space (and spaced-out) travel.


 
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

It’s time again to have some fun, and what’s better than to revisit what many feel is the best science-fiction film ever made. Besides creating a devinely deadly computer for its main antagonist, it also creates its own future world inside a spaceship. But before we get there we’re given a few flourishes of creative film making like early man (well, gorillas really) who discover an icon in the desert and begin the march of civilization with a famous throw of a bone! And then there’s the dinner in 18th century dress and that giant, mysterious space embryo, and then… sound confusing? Well, come find out for yourself and have a terrific evening at the movies.

Saturday 17: Art Saturday

10:30 Meet on the balcony outside Metron overlooking Yerba Buena Park (on Mission between 3rd & 4th)
11:00 We'll go see galleries, followed by a picnic lunch and see a film in the afternoon.
Friday 23: Cine/Club: Randall Museum

Luchino Visconti's THE LEOPARD (1963, Italy)

Lead by its charismatic patriarch (Burt Landcaster), a family of aristocrats struggles to survive the tumultuous period of Italian unification. Epic only begins to describe this classic film, which is singular in is mix of vision and its deep humanity.

 
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

In the 1860’s, America was occupied by the Civil War. We often forget that Italy was also in the throes of a national conflict, the effects of which are still very much in evidence. This is another giant of a film: big themes and grand vistas... a somewhat less popular film than War & Peace but sharing many of its themes. The aristocratic family in question here are losing their grasp on things during the Italian campaign of Girabaldi and the unification of Italy. What’s extraordinary about the film is that it creates with fine detail and keen observation its own universe. Visconti, the director, came from this world and is qualified to lead us through it with all its baroque complexities. It’s also one of the great costume dramas; the art direction, photography, historical detail are some of the finest in film.

Saturday 24: Art Saturday

10:30 Meet on the balcony outside Metron overlooking Yerba Buena Park (on Mission between 3rd & 4th)
11:00 We'll go see galleries, followed by a picnic lunch and see a film in the afternoon.
Friday 30: Cine/Club: Randall Museum

The Coen Brothers' FARGO (1991, USA)

This popular film features a pregnant cop investigating a bizarre crime in the wilds of North Dakota. The criminals are colorful idiots and the crime turns as ugly as can be. A dark comedy like only the Coen brothers can create. PARENTAL WARNING: lots of blood and violence.

 
WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

The Coen Brothers have a very spotty track record. They’ve produced terrific films and then they've produced more than a few disasters. They love to play with turning a genre-film upside down and backwards... sometimes it works and sometimes it falls flat. This one works. They take the crime-caper and wed it to a stoner movie with disarming results. What makes the film so delightful are the wonderfully etched performances, the bizarre characters, the way the heroine detective stumbles along through more and more horrific events. The ghost of A Prairie Home Companion hovers over the proceedings and gets mangled with abandon. You’ll probably love it.

Saturday 31: Art Saturday

10:30 Meet on the balcony outside Metron overlooking Yerba Buena Park (on Mission between 3rd & 4th)
11:00 We'll go see galleries, followed by a picnic lunch and see a film in the afternoon.