magic lantern film series
films - dates - times
Tuesday, March 18th: Coen Brothers - Blood Simple (opening film)
suggested reading: Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
8:00PM - south philly
1984 - 99 minutes
“1984- 99 minutes
Blood Simple is The Coen Brothers first film. It centers around a husband's plot to kill his wife and lover, and contains distinctive stylistic elements that have become their trademark.”
-patrick murray
Tuesday, March 25th: Coen Brothers - Barton Fink
suggested reading: Hell of a Woman by Jim Thompson
8:00PM - south philly
1991 - 116 minutes
“Barton Fink is the story of a young playwright with a crushing case of writer's block. It was written by the Coen Brothers during their own crushing case of writer's block brought about while they were working on Miller's Crossing. Although it exhibits much less of the noir elements of the other movies showing, it seems to me that the movies are inextricable from each other. It's also a damn good movie.” -patrick murray
Tuesday, April 1st: Coen Brothers - Miller’s Crossing
suggested reading: Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett
8:00PM - south philly
1990 - 115 minutes
“One of my favorite movies of all time, and still my favorite by the Coen Brothers. Miller's Crossing is a classic noir film in the style of Dashiell Hammett. The dialogue is amazing, as well as the cinematography, sets, music... I could go on and on.” -patrick murray
SUNDAY, April 6th: Coen Brothers - SPECIAL SCREENING
THE BIG LEBOWSKI AND THE BIG SLEEP
suggested reading: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
6:00PM - south philly
1998 - 118 minutes | 1946 - 116 minutes
“One of the most hilarious and strange movies of the Coen Brothers, The Big Lebowski is a send up as well as a tribute to the noir genre. The movie closely follows the plot of the Raymond Chandler novel The Big Sleep, and references it everywhere else. From the Brothers themselves "[we] wanted to do a Chandler kind of story ‚Äì how it moves episodically, and deals with the characters trying to unravel a mystery. As well as having a hopelessly complex plot that's ultimately unimportant."” -patrick murray
Tuesday, April 8th: Coen Brothers - The Man Who Wasn’t There
suggested reading: The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
8:00PM - south philly
2001 - 118 minutes
“This movie is all about style. Filmed in color, but transferred to black and white, it evokes the 1950s and has an unsettling quality throughout. The plot surrounds a barber with little ambition who unwittingly sets in motion a chain of events that lead to his downfall. The Coen Bros. have stated that it is "heavily influenced by" James M. Cain.” -patrick murray
The Master and Margarita Mini Series - Presented by Janina
this will be a five week program where we will see the 10-part russian mini series of Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita (Мастер и Маргарита). We will watch two episodes per week on tuesday night (each one is about an hour long), and recommend that you read the book either before hand or as we go. i will be posting “read to” comments in the schedule for those of you who wish to read this in parts. also, after much discussion, ive decided to recommend the Pevear and and Volokhonsky translation. as someone who worked in the independent book scene for over 5 years, i would like to strongly recommend you pick copies of this book up at Joseph Fox bookstore located on 1724 Sansom Street, Tel: (215) 563-4184. the sell copies of this edition for $12.95. if you would like a used or cheaper copy, i highly recommend Alibris over Amazon.com, they are a coalition of used and new bookstores that directly compete with corporate chains. they have copies of this edition for as low as $4.98. please support our independent bookstores.
Tuesday, April 15th: The Master and Margarita Russian Mini Series
Parts One and Two - read to page 80
8:00PM - south philly
55 minutes each
Tuesday, April 22nd: The Master and Margarita Russian Mini Series
Parts Three and Four - read to page 160
8:00PM - south philly
55 minutes each
Tuesday, April 29th: The Master and Margarita Russian Mini Series
Parts Five and Six - read to page 240
8:00PM - south philly
55 minutes each
TUESDAY, MAY 6TH: NO SCREENING
Tuesday, May 13th: The Master and Margarita Russian Mini Series
Parts Seven and Eight - read to page 320
8:00PM - south philly
55 minutes each
Tuesday, May 20th: The Master and Margarita Russian Mini Series
Parts Nine and Ten - read to end
8:00PM - south philly
55 minutes each