MEDIA CONTACT: Judy Moore at 847-491-4819 or jkm229@northwestern.edu

May 4, 2004

June 2004 Film Calendar

Block Cinema -- a collaboration of the Northwestern University School of Communication and the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston campus -- screens classic and contemporary films in the museum’s James B. Pick and Rosalyn M. Laudati Auditorium.

Block Cinema features a series on different themes, directors or countries during each quarter of the academic year. Spring 2004 focuses on works by Howard Hawks, “hit man” movies and nature films. Favorite films of some Northwestern University and guest faculty members will also be screened. 

Block Cinema, in partnership with like-minded groups, brings numerous special and rare screenings to Chicago in addition to its regular schedule. All foreign films are subtitled in English, unless otherwise noted. Detailed descriptions of the films are available in the tri-quarterly Block Cinema calendar and on the new Block Cinema Web site at http://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/blockcinema.

Block Cinema is curated by Block Cinema staff and a student group called the Film and Projection Society (FPS). General admission is $6, or $4 for Northwestern faculty and staff, Block Museum members, students and senior citizens. Special Block Cinema events are $10, unless otherwise noted. A season pass is $20, but does not include admission to special events. Tickets and season passes are available at the door 30 minutes before showtime. 

Free parking is available on Northwestern’s Evanston campus after 5 p.m. weekdays and all weekend.

For more information about the spring screenings, call the Block Cinema Hotline at (847) 491-4000 or go to the Block Cinema Web site.

JUNE 2004

Howard Hawks Series, “Rio Bravo,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, June 2 (Howard Hawks, 1959, United States, 141 minutes, 35 mm). Once Sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne) puts Joe Burdette in jail, Joe’s brother begins rounding up hired guns to bust him out while an unlikely group rallies around the sheriff. The group includes Dude (Dean Martin) as the deputy, the young and vengeful Colorado Ryan (Ricky Nelson) and the disabled senior Stumpy (Walter Brennan). Scott Curtis, assistant professor of radio/television/film at Northwestern, will introduce the film.

Howard Hawks Series, “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,” 8 p.m. Thursday, June 3 (Howard Hawks, 1953, United States, 91 minutes, 35 mm). Fun, romance and excitement define the lives of Lorelei (Marilyn Monroe) and Dorothy (Jane Russell), two lounge singers from Little Rock, Ark., on a transatlantic cruise. The destination is Paris and they are prospecting for gold, in the form of wealthy would-be husbands.

Hit Man Series, “Kill Bill: Vol. 1,” 8 p.m. Friday, June 4 (Quentin Tarantino, 2003, United States, 111 minutes, 35 mm). This first installment of a highly stylized epic, “Kill Bill: Vol. 1” pays homage to the “spaghetti western” and the samurai film, with influences of Japanese animation and off-kilter black humor. The Bride, also known as Black Mamba (Uma Thurman), is an ex-assassin who seeks revenge against her boss Bill (David Carradine) and her colleagues who surprised her at her wedding by brutally slaughtering the guests and leaving her for dead.

Reeltime (free), “In Whose Honor?” 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 23 (Jay Rosenstein, 1997, United States, 47 minutes, VHS). This film takes a critical look at the practice of using American Indian mascots and nicknames in sports. This event will feature filmmaker Jay Rosenstein and a live performance by local musician Marc Cleveland. It will be held in the Pick-Laudati Auditorium at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus. This presentation is co-sponsored by the Evanston Public Library, the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art and the Mitchell Museum of the American Indian.

Reeltime is an independent film and video forum jointly sponsored by the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University and the Evanston Public Library in partnership with Reeltime project directors Andrea Leland, Kathy Berger and Ines Sommer. For more information, call the Block Museum at (847) 491-4000 or the Evanston Public Library at (847) 866-0300 or visit the museum’s Web site at www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu