The Student Activities Board has unveiled the full lineup for this semester’s SLU Cinema screenings, and it includes movies from a wide variety of genres and tastes.
“We pick movies that seem to be really popular in theaters and try to mix up the movie genres,” said Kristen Percich, SAB’s movie chair. “That way there’s something for everybody.”
Hairspray, starring John Travolta and Queen Latifah, is a musical based on the Broadway musical adapted from John Waters’ 1988 film. Hairspray shares room on the schedule with Gone Baby Gone, the Ben Affleck-directed adaptation of Dennis Lehane’s novel of the same name about a child-abduction case in Boston.
Joining them are Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Tim Burton’s gothic imaging of the Tony-winning Broadway show, starring Johnny Depp as the title character, and Michael Clayton, the legal thriller and Academy Award nominee for Best Picture starring George Clooney and Tilda Swinton as adversaries in a high-stakes lawsuit.
Also Academy Award nominated and slated to screen this semester is Elizabeth: The Golden Age, starring Cate Blanchett as England’s famous 16th century queen in the sequel to the 1998 historical costume drama Elizabeth.
For those looking for a little more action, the schedule also boasts slots for the Will Smith end-of-the-world flick I Am Legend, and National Treasure: Book of Secrets, the sequel to the 2004 Nicolas Cage vehicle from power producer Jerry Bruckheimer.
SAB also plans to screen Beowulf, 2007’s version of the Old English legend created through motion capture animation and starring Angelina Jolie and Ray Winstone.
As these movies are selected as entertainment for the student body at large, SAB is open to suggestions for films to be shown in future semesters.
“All the movies for this semester have already been chosen,” Percich said, “but in future semesters, students can request a movie by e-mailing the SLU Cinema chair person or another SAB member.”
However, not every film is available to SLU Cinema. Swank Motion Pictures, the company that handles the copyright issues associated with screening these movies, determines which films will be offered at any given time.
“The SLU Cinema committee, made up of me and about six other members, picks the movies from a list on Swank’s website,” Percich said. “Occasionally, movies will not be available to Swank as early as expected, and we will have to make a last-minute change to the schedule.”
In addition, Campus Ministry must approve all films scheduled to screen as a part of SLU Cinema.
Movies will be shown every Wednesday at 9 p.m. in the Billiken Club, located on the bottom floor of the Busch Student Center, until the last week in April. One exception is the scheduled showing of Mr. Woodcock, which will screen in room 170 of the BSC on Wednesday, Feb. 13.
Each week, a poster of the film being shown will be displayed on sab.slu.edu.
