The Greater Park Circle Film Society

Next Saturday, June 27, come check out two great films at the Olde North Charleston Picture House.

Six-String Samurai
Directed by Lance Mungia
Rated PG-13; 91 minutes; 1998
Time: June 27, 4pm matinée, 7pm evening
Cost: $2 members, $5 non-members

From Netflix: After the Russians lob an atomic bomb at the United States in the late 1950s, survivors flock to the neon lights of “Lost Vegas,” where Elvis Presley is a bona fide king of music and men, but when His Majesty dies unexpectedly, the city’s shiny throne is up for grabs. Armed with a six-string in one hand and a samurai sword in the other, rock ‘n’ roll hipster Buddy (Jeffrey Falcon) vows to make it to Sin City in time for his coronation.

“A rock ‘n’ roll Mad Max served up Cantonese style, this is one wildly original and highly entertaining American indie with genuine commercial appeal…The barren locations and rock ‘n’ roll theme, along with the numerous nods to bygone films, meld into a unique vision of the millennium that’s exhilarating in its momentum and accomplished in its execution.”
Variety

Late Night Series: The Road Warrior
Directed by George Miller
Rated R; 95 minutes; 1981
Time: June 27, 10pm
Cost: $2 members, $5 non-members

From Netflix: In this sequel to Mad Max, Mel Gibson returns as the heroic loner who drives the roads of post-apocalyptic outback Australia in an unending search for gasoline. Arrayed against him and the other scraggly defendants of a fuel-depot encampment are the bizarre warriors commanded by The Humungus (Kjell Nilsson). The post-nuclear future meets the mythological past in this epic of action and carnage.

“What Miller has done here is create a milieu as dense and tangy as Tolkien’s Middle Earth or Céline’s demimonde. This is Australia as the Down Underworld, where character is revealed in the gradations between good and awful.”
Time

Gospel Hill
Directed by Giancarlo Esposito
Not Rated; 98 minutes; 2008
Time: June 13, 4pm matinée, 7pm evening
Cost: $2 members, $5 non-members

From Rotten Tomatoes: Beneath the tranquil surface of the Southern town of Julia stirs the ghosts of a tragic, prejudiced past. Decades after the unsolved assassination of a prominent civil rights leader, his son John (Danny Glover) is slowly exposed to the truth that has always eluded him. This tense murder-mystery from director and co-star Giancarlo Esposito (THE KEEPER) features grand performances from Glover, Angela Bassett, Adam Baldwin, and Julia Stiles.

Next Saturday, May 30, the Greater Park Circle Film Society will be presenting The Graffiti Artist during our normal times, and we’ll be kicking off our new Late Night series with the 80s classic The Lost Boys.

The Graffiti Artist
Directed by James Bolton
Not Rated; 80 minutes; 2004
Time: May 30, 4pm matinée, 7pm evening
Cost: $2 members, $5 non-members

From Netflix: Homeless teen tagger Nick falls for middle-class graffiti artist Jesse in this urban drama. Shoplifter Nick dodges cops in order to spray-paint Seattle’s cement walls with evocative graffiti murals signed with his trademark tag, “Rupture.” Everything changes when he meets fellow tagger Jesse; the two become a team, but Jesse bolts when the relationship moves beyond friendship, which devastates Nick.

Locally renowned artist Philip Hyman will be displaying several pieces from his 2009 Piccolo Spoleto show entitled “Evolution” and he expects to arrange several graffiti artists to display their work between shows at the theater.

The Lost Boys
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Rated R; 97 minutes; 1987
Time: May 30, 10pm
Cost: $2 members, $5 non-members

“The Lost Boys is to horror movies what Late Night With David Letterman is to television; it laughs at the form it embraces, adds a rock-and-roll soundtrack and, if you share its serious-satiric attitude, manages to be very funny.”
The New York Times

El Método (The Method)
Directed by Marcelo Piñeyro
Not Rated; 115 minutes; 2005
Time: May 16, 4pm matinée, 7pm evening
Cost: $2 members, $5 non-members

From Netflix: A multinational company in Madrid is the setting for Marcelo Pineyro’s drama about a group of candidates vying for one executive position and the fierce competition that develops among them. The seven applicants quickly grow to distrust one another when they discover they’re all aiming for the same position. Put through a grueling selection process, they endure feelings of fear and paranoia while going to extreme measures to land the job.

“[A] suspenseful, funny film that touches on a corporation’s responsibility to society, the price of ambition, the persistence of workplace sexism, the destructive competition between women, and why it’s a good idea to take an extra shirt to your next interview.”
The New York Times

Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy local filmmaking at its finest. We had over 70 people at our 4pm block of shorts and 100 at the 7pm block. There were about 50 attendees at the member and VIP reception between blocks. Even our biggest events so far have only gotten about half that; it was amazing to see the house so packed and everyone so excited!

My Park Circle has written about the event and has some photos as well.  Check out their article here. Be on the lookout for information on our next film in a day or so, and you can always check the Now Playing page to see what’s coming for the rest of the month.

As part of the 2009 North Charleston Arts Festival, the Greater Park Circle Film Society will present Lowcountry Indie Shorts. This event will be a series of short films, all produced locally, with a question and answer session after each block of shorts. The event is free to the public and the schedule is as follows:

At the 4 p.m. showing, the following films will be shown.
Wrench – Ed Tilden
Born of the Metropolis IV – Dave Smith & John Barnhardt
Acquired Taste – Jackson McDonald
The Replicant – Dave Smith

Between blocks of films there will be a reception for film society members with a chance to spend some time one-on-one with the filmmakers. Members, look for an email with your invitation to the reception in the next day or so.

Films for the 7 p.m. screening are:
The Runaround – Jon Richards
The Shephard’s Tale – Addam Gallegos
The Merkin Man – Devin Dukes
Search – Brad Jayne
Tackle Box – Bob Newcomb

Election
Directed by Alexander Payne
Rated R; 103 minutes; 1999
Time: April 18, 4pm matinée, 7pm evening
Cost: $2 members, $5 non-members

From Netflix: Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) appears to have the election for student council president sewn up until one of her teachers, Mr. McAllister (Matthew Broderick), rounds up a worthy opponent. McAllister convinces Paul (Chris Klein), a popular and naïve varsity football player whose injury has put him on the sidelines for the season, to take up politics. But Tracy is desperate to win the election and turns the halls into a political war zone.

Prior to the main feature, we will be showing a short film. Life On The Farm is a short about student filmmaker Adrienne Brown’s grandfather, who lost both hands in a farming accident and how the experience has affected his life. Ms. Brown will be present at both showings to talk about the film and take questions.