Joe Dante in Person
From November 4-6, the UW Cinematheque, in collaboration with the Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Film Committee and the Chazen Museum of Art, will welcome the acclaimed, Hollywood-based director Joe Dante to the UW Madison campus. The filmmaker, who is also a former movie critic, a renowned cinephile, and the co-creator of the "Trailers From Hell" website, will introduce a screening of the extended cut of his most popular film, 1984's Gremlins, at 9:30 pm on Friday November 4 at the Union South's newly opened Marquee Theater. On Saturday, November 5 at 7 pm in the Cinematheque's regular venue, 4070 Vilas Hall, Dante will present his first film project, the proto mash-up epic The Movie Orgy (1968). Inaugurating the regular "Sunday Screenings" series in the new auditorium at the Chazen Museum of Art, on Sunday, November 6 at 4 p.m. Dante will kick off three weeks of "Joe Dante Selects" with a screening of John Farrow's The Big Clock (1948) followed by a post-screening discussion.
- Fri., Nov. 4 | 3:00 PMMarquee
Acclaimed director and noted cinephile Joe Dante will discuss his career in feature films, television, and the internet and answer audience questions in a 2-hour session on Friday, November 4 from 3 to 5 p.m. in the Marquee Theater at the new Union South, 1308 W. Dayton Street. The session will also include a screening of the episode Dante directed for the omnibus film, Twilight Zone: The Movie(1983), as well as special selections from Dante's website, "Trailers from Hell." The session is open to all UW students, faculty and staff and the general public.
- Fri., Nov. 4 | 9:30 PMMarquee
Gizmo, a cute and fuzzy “Mogwai,” spawns a legion of vicious, reptilian gnomes at Christmastime. Soon, a small town is besieged by hordes of gremlins, smoking cigars, wielding chainsaws, and...watching Disney movies. Hysterically funny and anarchically inspired, this anti-E.T. (produced by Steven Spielberg!) was one of the most successful films of the 1980s. Director Joe Dante will introduce this screening of an alternate cut of Gremlins, which features six minutes more of footage not seen in its original release version!
- Sat., Nov. 5 | 7:00 PM4070 Vilas Hall
The grandaddy of movie mash-ups is a four-hour plus comic collage culled from the personal 16mm film collection of director Joe Dante and producer Jon Davison. The Movie Orgy combines educational films, television commercials, B sci-fi features, and lots, lots more for an exhilharating, transcendent cinephilic experience. A smash hit on the college circuit from the late 60s through the early 70s (when it screened on a tour sponsored by Schlitz Beer!), this riotous piece of entertainment is returning for an ultra-rare single screening in a campus setting. Don't miss what may be your only chance to see it! Joe Dante will appear in person to introduce his epic of found footage.
- Sun., Nov. 6 | 4:00 PMChazen
Ruthless publisher Earl Janoth (Laughton) murders his mistress and assigns his top editor, George Stroud, (Milland) to solve the crime. Realizing he's being framed, George has to cover up evidence that points to him while racing time to uncover the true culprit. A great thriller with noir-ish touches, The Big Clock is "one of my favorite pictures. Clever, witty, and entertaining as hell!" (Joe Dante). Filmmaker Joe Dante will talk about The Big Clock and his cinephilia in post-screening discussion.