the stranger Tagged Articles at Cinematical

You can't turn around in a movie without bumping into a professor. If it's not Nicolas Cage as the unlikeliest astrophysicist to be granted tenure at M.I.T. in Knowing, just released on DVD, it's the passel of professors that will undoubtedly be presented in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, due out in theaters next Wednesday. Which kind of professor do you prefer?

My early impressions were formed by seeing the distinguished, imposing Harvard law professor John Houseman dress down Timothy Bottoms in James Bridges' The Paper Chase: "Here is a dime. Take it, call your mother, and tell her there is serious doubt about you ever becoming a lawyer." My impressions changed dramatically when I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones may have been more of a thrill-seeker than an academic, but he was driven by his love for archeology -- and a desire to share his knowledge with his students, no matter how distracted they were by his dreamy looks.

Movies have produced so many memorable professors that it's hard to narrow down the list, but here are my other favorites, and why:

• Gary Cooper, Ball of Fire (Good-hearted and modest).
• Orson Welles, The Stranger (Cold-hearted and scary; an alluring phony).
• Jerry Lewis, The Nutty Professor (Makes you feel better about yourself).
• Peter O'Toole, Creator (Zestful and enthusiastic; encourages free thinking).
• Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society (Funny, if a bit too manic and pushy).
• Michael Douglas, Wonder Boys (Wounded, but can still teach life lessons).

Who are your favorite movie professors?

We're heading into Week Two of the Seattle International Film Festival, and the excitement shows no signs of dissipating. One of the things I love most about this fest is how the audience members are just genuinely pumped about every single film, and how open people are to giving films a chance. Whether films sit well with an audience or not, there are always clusters of folks huddled outside the venues post-film, animatedly discussing the perceived merits of a film (or lack thereof). Let's go eavesdrop on some other folks writing about SIFF to see what people are buzzing about.

• Pop Culture A-Go-Go is blogging a daily SIFF diary, with short descriptions and film recommendations from one to five stars. My fave description of a film on this blog, about South Korean flick Sa-Kwa: "Dull South Korean film following the main character's love life. She gets dumped by her boyfriend. She gets married and has a kid. She is unhappy and has an affair with her old boyfriend. Then she dumps him and wants a divorce from her husband. Are you bored reading the description? I was bored typing it. Now imagine watching that "story" unfold over two fricking hours. Bored now." Alrighty, then. Thanks for saving me two hours of my life, Pop Culture.
• New to SIFF and not sure what to see or how to get around? The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has a handy-dandy Guide to SIFF to make your film-watching easier.
• Emerald Sunshine had a Matthew Lillard encounter at the screening of Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas (the film is not getting great buzz, btw)-- and was unimpressed.
• Roya is blogging her SIFF adventures daily, with her take on the films she's seeing and a report on the freakish behavior of audience members. One of her Audience Watch stories is about a Sigher, and she notes there seem to be a lot of those Sighers at SIFF this year (maybe there's a convention of downtrodden mothers going on or something). I had a Sigher behind me at Somersault, and I damn near turned around and smacked him after the 89,000th loud sigh. Wonder if he's the same guy Roya got stuck next to.
• The Stranger's Annie Wagner is talking up the OTHER film festival here, the Seattle True Independent Film Festival (STIFF). Also, be sure to check out her very excellent, in-depth interview with Al Gore. Is he gonna run for Prez in '08? Your guess is as good as anyone's, but if he does, will it start a trend of ex-politicians making movies about their causes? Who wants to see a Jimmy Carter doc at Sundance next year?
• Check out all the latest pics in the SIFF photo pool over on Flickr. If I ever get it together enough to remember to actually bring my camera with me, I'll be posting a photoblog here, as well as over at Flickr.