Good evening, I’m Molly and I’m one of several programming directors in NJFA. This is my first ever blog entry. Just so you know, I’m an undergraduate student and I study English and cinema studies. Also, I occasionally mumble my way through some French classes.
So far, today has been a rather filmy day for me. I had a few film classes, and a screening of “Bicycle Thieves.” After spending my day discussing Vertov, Eisenstein, and Italian neo-realism, I was obviously desperate for entertainment. I am now watching “Ghostbusters.”
In three years of studying film at the college level, I’ve realized that a lot of my professors and fellow students are just plain snobs. I don’t think I’ve ever studied a film that fared well at the box office, and why not? It’s not like a film’s quality and its popularity are inversely proportional. Say what you want about Diablo Cody, “Juno” was a wonderfully-written cultural phenomenon. Why doesn’t anyone mention it in film class? And no one can argue that Quentin Tarantino is a fantastic director, yet he’s never come up in one of my classes.
Also, you’d think that after the death of John Hughes this summer, at least one of my film professors would have mentioned “The Breakfast Club” or “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” both of which are classics. Teen movies are entertaining and full of social commentary, but apparently none of my film professors has ever heard of the genre. I’m sick of studying movies that I can barely sit through without falling asleep.
I hope that through NJFA, we can bring to light some high-quality, interesting, and most importantly, ENTERTAINING movies that not everyone would normally see. A movie can be smart and appealing at the same time, and there’s nothing wrong with comedy. Hopefully my professors will realize that before I graduate next May. Meanwhile, I’ll be watching the highest-grossing indie movie ever, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” and taking notes.
