Thursday I: Projecting Paranoia

Programmed by Eric Guzman

Projecting Paranoia is a reflection on manipulation and control. The goal is not to seek the truth but to see shades of truth. These projections show things that "they" don't want you to see. The filmmakers that made these films understood that to be paranoid is to believe in contradictions. Within these contradictions lies a hidden history that must be experienced to be understood. A feeling of dread that lies beneath the surface. Something has gone wrong and we all feel it, both in the past and in the future. Was it the creation of the nuclear bomb? Or the various political assassinations of the 1960s? Political scandals and fake wars. The fog is setting in (or the smoke?) and the lessons are no longer clear. What did we learn from all this?

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

3/31/22 @ 7:00 PM

Stanley Kubrick | 35mm | 95m

Unhinged Air Force General Jack D. Ripper orders a surprise nuclear strike on the Soviet Union, and it’s up to a war room of politicians, generals, and other morally questionable characters to stop it. Starring Peter Sellers as an ex-Nazi scientist and science advisor to President Merkin Muffley (also played by Sellers), references to Operation Paperclip, MAD Cold War doctrine, and Red Scare hysteria make this film a terrifying and hysterical satire.

Wag the Dog (1982)

4/7/22 @ 7:00 PM

Barry Levinson | 35mm | 97m

When the President of the United States is accused of sexual misconduct inside the Oval Office, spin doctor Conrad Brean (Robert Dinero) is called in to distract the public by staging a fake war in Albania with the assistance of Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Dustin Hoffman). Released a month before the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, this film would become synonymous with the Clinton presidency in the media and is a classic example of life imitating art.

Z (1969)

4/14/22 @ 7:00 PM

Costa-Gavras | 35mm | 83m

This academy award-winning Algerian-French thriller is a staple of late 1960s filmmaking. Z is based loosely on the 1963 assassination of left-wing activist Gregoris Lambrakis. Yves Montand stars as The Deputy, a doctor and politician, whose murder sets off a wave of cover-ups by higher-ups that The Examining Magistrate (Jean-Louis Trintignant) thinks he can indict. This film was named the best film of 1969 by film critic Roger Ebert.

Inherent Vice (2014)

4/21/22 @ 7:00 PM

Paul Thomas Anderson | 35mm | 148m

Adapted from Thomas Pynchon’s novel of the same name, Paul Thomas Anderson’s return to 1970s Los Angeles revolves around stoner private investigator Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) as he stumbles around the fog and smoke of L.A. counterculture. With a beautiful, melancholy soundtrack played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Inherent Vice marks the third collaboration between Anderson and Johnny Greenwood, lead guitarist of Radiohead.

The Parallax View (1974)

4/28/22 @ 7:00 PM

Alan Pakula | 35mm | 102m

The second film in Alan Pakula's "paranoia trilogy", The Parallax View is a slick thriller born from the tense, dread-filled post-Kennedy assassination America and set in a stylish, yet menacing 1970s Seattle. After witnessing the murder of a presidential candidate atop the Space Needle, reporter Joe Frady (Warren Beatty) begins an investigation which unfolds into a political conspiracy that runs deeper and wider than he could have imagined.

The Thing (1982)

5/5/22 @ 7:00 PM

John Carpenter | 35mm | 109m

Initially panned upon its 1982 release, John Carpenter’s The Thing was criticized for its heavy cynicism and nihilistic tone. After an American research team stationed in Antarctica uncovers a shape-shifting alien, they must close themselves off from the outside world and work together to find and kill The Thing. Now considered one of the best '80s sci-fi horror films, The Thing's enduring appeal lies in the idea that nobody can trust anybody.

Screening TBA

5/12/22 @ 7:00 PM

TBA

TBA

JFK (1991)

5/19/22 @ 6:00 PM

Oliver Stone | DCP | 188m

Oliver Stone has described this depiction of New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison’s (Kevin Costner) investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy as a “counter-myth” to the official Warren Commission Report. Through the use of frantic editing techniques, archival footage, and extensive flashbacks within flashbacks, the three hour-long epic JFK captures the feeling of deep distrust still felt by some about the assassination.

Burn After Reading (2008)

5/26/22 @ 7:00 PM

Coen Brothers | 35mm | 96m

Even the best-laid schemes go astray, in this 2008 black comedy follow-up to the Coen Brothers' double Oscar winner No Country for Old Men. After CIA analyst Osborne Cox’s (John Malkovitch) memoirs make it into the hands of two dim witted fitness trainers (Francis McDormand and Brad Pitt) they attempt to turn a profit by getting into the espionage game. Burn After Reading is a fantastic spy/thriller only without all the explosions.