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Sunday, April 18, 1999
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Substitute Cinema
Local series offering filmgoers an alternative
to current Hollywood fare
By Carol Cling
Review-Journal
For most people, going to the movies means popcorn -- and popcorn pictures -- at the neighborhood multiplex.
But other adventurous cinematic voyagers can strike out for more exotic climes -- without ever leaving Las Vegas.
In separate film series sponsored by city and county, university and library groups, local moviegoers can explore a wide variety of attractions, from foreign-language films to documentaries to vintage favorites from Hollywood vaults.
Despite the differences in programming, however, the various series share a common goal: to show audiences there's more to the movies than the high-profile product playing at commercial theaters.
"We're just trying to broaden people's perspective on life through cinema," comments Kelly Richards, branch administrator of the West Las Vegas Library, where a free series focusing on African films continues Mondays through May.
At Charleston Heights Arts Center, where documentaries and foreign films are part of its long-running Tuesday night film series, the aim is "to offer the public what isn't shown in mainstream theaters," according to Joanne Lentino, cultural center coordinator.
The free Thursday-night International Film Series at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, now in its 30th season, spotlights a variety of movies that "bring different worlds to us," explains series founder Hart Wegner, who chairs UNLV's film department.
Sometime those worlds exist in other countries.
Sometimes, however, they exist in different times.
One popular Tuesday-night series at the Winchester Community Center explored the shadowy Hollywood world of postwar film noir.
Starting Saturday, a four-week festival at the Huntridge Performing Arts Theatre -- commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Las Vegas Department of Leisure Services -- will re-create the thrills of an old-time Saturday matinee, from newsreels of the late '40s and early '50s and Looney Tunes cartoons to the rip-snortin' cliffhanger serial "Zorro's Black Whip."
Still other local series spotlight disparate movies that explore a common theme, such as the current "I Fought the Law" series, which continues through April at the Winchester center.
Finding movies to suit a particular theme can present a definite challenge, according to Patrick Gaffey, a Clark County cultural specialist who coordinates the Winchester center film series.
Gaffey and Las Vegas Weekly film critic Jeannette Catsoulis, who introduces the Winchester films, generally "think of some films we really want to show and then think of a theme" to link them, he notes. "We really specialize in not specializing in anything."
Regardless of the topic, however, "it's important to show stuff that appeals to the real film aficionados," Gaffey adds. "Otherwise, why bother?"
Yet themed series "can either get an audience or you can lose your audience," notes Francisco Menendez, an associate professor who co-hosts the UNLV series with Wegner.
That's exactly what's happening with "I Fought the Law," Gaffey says. The series, which has featured such rebels-with-a-cause classics as "Cool Hand Luke" and "Bonnie and Clyde," continues Tuesday with "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and concludes April 27 with "Dog Day Afternoon."
Gaffey "thought it was going to be our biggest attendance ever," he notes, "but it's not what I expected." Part of the problem, he suggests, may be that "people have seen (the movies) -- or think they have."
That's generally not the case at UNLV, which emphasizes foreign-language and other art-house titles that seldom reach local theaters.
Or, if they do play local theaters, they don't "stay around enough for word to get out," Wegner adds.
The UNLV series represents a haven for self-described "film nuts" Marvin and Cynthia Feldman, transplanted New Yorkers who rely on the offerings to keep up with cinematic alternatives.
"It's very comforting to know that it's there and know there are things we're going to see that didn't come here," says Marvin Feldman, who teaches history in UNLV's lifelong learning program for seniors.
In some cases, bringing those movies to Las Vegas can be a daunting task.
The West Las Vegas Library's African film series features videos, part of a 50- to 60-title collection the library purchased, Richards notes.
Other local film series, by contrast, show film, not video, complicating their programming.
UNLV features 35 mm prints whenever possible, Wegner says, but sources are drying up.
"It's difficult for me to find films," he admits. "The hard-to-getness is becoming a real problem."
But Wegner "deserves a lot of credit for sticking with it," says Paul Blau, a retiree who's a regular at UNLV's International Film Series. "He puts forth the effort." A similar supply problem extends to the 16 mm prints featured at Winchester and Charleston Heights.
Certain movies long out of circulation suddenly become available, Gaffey points out, while others suddenly vanish.
In addition, Wegner adds, "you see some of the local series dipping into the same pool," with UNLV and Charleston Heights competing for some of the same foreign films.
But showing featured titles on film offers audiences a new view of sometimes familiar works.
"Of course, 35 mm would be better, but even good 16 mm is a completely different experience," Gaffey says. "The sharpness of the film image is something else."
And the city's upcoming Saturday matinee series at the Huntridge -- complete with costumed Rainbow Company performers acting as ushers -- will provide "a step back in time," notes Barbara Hinricksen, cultural center coordinator for Reed Whipple Cultural Center, who is overseeing the nostalgia bash. "The Huntridge is itself a historic landmark in Vegas, and they would have shown movies like this."
Even at the Winchester Center or UNLV, where the film series are shown in a large lecture hall, "the screen's much bigger," notes Blau, who attends UNLV's International Film Series with wife Constance Ann and their best friends, Robert and Gwynneth Weiss. "It's larger, so you're more into the film. It's just part of the theater experience, which is disappearing."
Both Charleston Heights and Winchester charge $2 to help defray some costs, most of which are borne by the city and county cultural divisions that sponsor the series.
"We can't support the staff and the cost of the theater" through the $2 admission charge, Gaffey explains, "but we try to support the cost of renting films and bringing in Jeannette Catsoulis" to discuss the movies with audience members.
The UNLV series, which is free, relies on contributions to pay for the 20 movies shown annually -- and to send copies of the schedule to the 1,000 people on the mailing list, Wegner explains.
The Weisses provide "the lion's share" of support for the series, Wegner said, with continuing support from other contributors. (Every season's brochure includes a form for patrons to make tax-deductible donations to extend the series.)
And while city officials acknowledge "it would be lovely" if the Saturday matinee series at the Huntridge broke even -- at 50 cents a ticket, in a 549-seat theater -- no one expects that, Hinricksen admits.
Adds Richard Lenz, executive director of Friends of the Huntridge, "There are some things you do strictly for art's sake -- and this is one of them."
Besides, "if this has a modicum of success, we want to see them do more," he says.
By presenting the Saturday matinee festival, "we are providing for the public something they're not going to be able to get anywhere else," Hinricksen explains.
Local film series may provide audiences with experiences they can't get anywhere else, but getting audiences to experience the movies is an ongoing concern.
Crowds have been "kind of sparse" so far at the West Las Vegas Library, the newest of the local series, but "we've had several people come back several different times," Richards reports.
Established programs series at Charleston Heights and Winchester can draw upwards of 100 patrons a night, depending on the movie -- and other factors.
"We get a real cross mix" at Charleston Heights, Lentino says. "We have students, up to our senior population." Many of the attendees also are regulars at other center events.
The Winchester series generally draws "a strange mix of university students, seniors and ordinary Las Vegans," Gaffey says.
"A real limiting factor is how difficult it is to get people out of the house," he points out. "They've got their butt glued to the chair online, or they're listening to their stereo, or watching their home theater. They're immersed in multimedia at home."
Winchester's film noir series brought out a lot of seniors, Catsoulis notes -- most of whom "kept on coming" when the center started showing "foreign movies and more risquŽ movies," she points out. Now, "everyone knows the format -- it's like a little film club. They know what's going to happen."
At UNLV, regulars can judge the controversy level of the featured movie by the host who introduces it.
"I usually host the dangerous films," Menendez says, noting "people kind of cringe" when he steps up to introduce a movie.
"It's a running joke the audience shares," Wegner adds, recalling a regular who once told him: " `This must not be a weird film, if you're introducing it.' "
The eclectic UNLV series draws an equally eclectic crowd, Menendez notes, with Asian movies attracting a different audience than French movies or works by women filmmakers.
But even regulars don't always know what they're going to get.
"Every once in a while there's something we'll take a chance on," Feldman says. And if it's not quite to their taste, Feldman and his wife "will do the New York option and get up and walk out."
With the kinds of movies featured at UNLV and in other film series, there's always a risk, Blau acknowledges.
"If you go to see 20 films" -- the number featured at UNLV's film series every year -- "some are terrific, some are mediocre and some you wish you hadn't wasted two hours of your life watching," he says.
Even in those cases, for "a big, huge film buff" such as Blau, local film series provide a welcome alternative to "the big-budget junk" at area multiplexes, he maintains.
And emphasizing those alternatives remains an ongoing goal for the local film series.
"I'm really heartened there's a great deal more activity in this dimension," Wegner comments.
"It's great to have all these different series doing different things," Gaffey adds. "People have a chance to see what they really like."
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1999 Best of Las Vegas Results.
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Printable version of this story
"Dog Day Afternoon," starring Al Pacino, will be shown April 27 at the Winchester Community Center, 3130 S. McLeod Drive, as part of the "I Fought the Law" film series.
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