CAL Film Series
The Spring CAL Film Series
**Due to the coronavirus outbreak, numerous College of Arts and Letters events have been cancelled. We hope to resume plays, concerts, films, and other events as soon we can do so and ensure the health of our audiences.
More Great Collaborations
Tuesdays 7 pm at the Cline Library. Free Admission
NAU’s College of Arts and Letters Film Series, co-sponsored by the Cline Library and the School of Communication, promotes understanding and appreciation of cinema at Northern Arizona University and the greater Flagstaff community.
Before each movie, a local film expert offers a short introduction of the film to set its historical, artistic, and cultural context. Each screening is followed by a discussion.
The CAL Film Series blends well-known audience favorites along with lesser-known movies. The CAL Film Series also mixes genres and artists while moving chronologically from past to present. We do this so that audiences can see the evolution of the art form.
Why is this film series important to NAU?
If you need special accommodations, please contact Disability Resources: DR@nau.edu, Phone: 928-523-8773 or TTY: 928-523-6906. We suggest contacting Disability Resources 48 hours prior to the event as some accommodations may take time to arrange. Assisted listening systems are also available.
Spring 2020 schedule
Admission is free, but donations are welcome!
January 14: The Scarlet Empress Accordion Closed
Directed by Josef Von Sternberg; Starring Marlene Dietrich, Sam Jaffe; 1934, 104 min., Passed
Von Sternberg directed seven films starring Dietrich between 1930-1935. Many of them are classics, including this masterpiece of production design, in which the luminous Dietrich is forced to marry a mad Russian Duke but goes on to become Empress Catherine the Great.
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
January 21: His Girl Friday Accordion Closed
Directed by Howard Hawks; Starring Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell, Ralph Bellamy; 1940, 92 min., Passed
Hawks directed Grant in five films, including what is still regarded as one of the funniest, fast-paced, dialogue-driven comedies ever made. The film is based on the Ben Hecht & Charles MacArthur classic newspaper comedy “The Front Page.”
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
January 28: Adam’s Rib Accordion Closed
Directed by George Cukor; Starring Spencer Tracy, Katherine Hepburn, Judy Holiday; 1949, 101 min., Not Rated
Tracy and Hepburn were a legendary couple both on and off the screen. In this, perhaps their funniest film together, they play opposing husband and wife lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband.
Rotten Tomatoes: 100%
February 4: On the Waterfront Accordion Closed
Directed by Elia Kazan; Starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Steiger; 1954, 108 min., Not Rated
Kazan had directed Brando and Malden to two Oscar nominations and one win each for “Streetcar Named Desire” and this must-see classic about corruption on the waterfront, which is arguably Brando’s greatest performance.
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
February 11: Sweet Smell of Success Accordion Closed
Directed by Alexander Mackendrick; Starring Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis; 1957, 96 min. Approved
Lancaster produced and chose Curtis as co-star for the second time for this noir tale about a powerful Broadway columnist who uses an unscrupulous press agent for his own personal vendettas. The film is shot in gorgeous black and white on location in New York City.
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
February 18: 8 ½ Accordion Closed
Directed by Federico Fellini; Starring Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale; 1963, 138 minutes, Not Rated.
8 ½, the second of four films directed by Fellini starring Mastroianni, is a semi-autobiographical, often surreal, look at a renowned film director trying to cope while working on a new film after his last big hit. (In Italian with English subtitles.)
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
February 25: Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Accordion Closed
Direct by Stanley Kubrick; Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden; 1964, 95 minutes, PG
Two years after making “Lolita” with Sellers, Kubrick again chose Sellers to star in the Cold-War classic “Dr. Strangelove.” Sellers brilliantly plays three characters in this film about an insane general’s plan to start a nuclear holocaust.
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
March 3: A Fistful of Dollars Accordion Closed
Directed by Sergio Leone; Starring Clint Eastwood; 1964, 99 min., R
Television actor Clint Eastwood became an international star as the Man with No Name in this first film of a spaghetti western trilogy directed by Leone. The rest is movie history.
Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
March 10: History of the World: Part I Accordion Closed
Directed by Mel Brooks; Starring Mel Books, Gregory Hines, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Chloris Leachman; 1981, 92 min., R
Brooks, king of politically incorrect comedy, outdoes himself in this hilarious romp through world history featuring regulars including Kahn, Korman, Leachman, and DeLuise. In a film guaranteed to offend some, we learn that “it’s good to be the king.”
Rotten Tomatoes: 62%
March 24: Three Days of Condor Accordion Closed
Directed by Sydney Pollack; Starring Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson; 1975, 117 min., R
Pollock directed Redford in seven films over four decades and together they produced some of the biggest commercial and box office hits. Among the very best is this marvelously-plotted spy thriller.
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
March 31: The Big Chill Accordion Closed
Directed by Lawrence Kasdan; Starring William Hurt, Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, Jeff Goldblum, Mary Kay Place; 1983, 105 min, R
After writing two Star Wars films and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Kasdan wrote and directed a series of films with Hurt, Kline, and Goldblum; including this funny but touching film about a reunion of college friends after the death of one of them.
Rotten Tomatoes: 68%
April 7: Blood Simple Accordion Closed
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen; Starring Frances McDormand, John Getz, Dan Hedaya, M. Emmet Walsh; 1984, 99 min., R
Frances McDormand starred in Joel and Ethan Coen’s first movie, a brutal, violent, but funny film noir. She then married Joel, and has starred in seven more Coen Brothers’ films since.
Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
April 14: Ed Wood Accordion Closed
Directed by Tim Burton; Starring Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker, Patricia Arquette, Bill Murray; 1994, 127min, R
For the second of eight times, Burton directed Depp in this funny and affectionate biopic about a tenacious and ambitious film maker of genuinely awful movies in the 1950s.
Rotten Tomatoes: 92%
April 21: Eat Drink Man Woman Accordion Closed
Directed by Ang Lee. Starring Sihung Lung, Kuei-mei Yang; 1994, 123 min., Not Rated
Before winning two Best Directing Oscars for American films, Ang Lee made Chinese language films. This comedy about intergenerational family tensions stars frequent Lee collaborator Sihung Lung. (In Chinese with English subtitles.)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
April 28: Blues Brothers Accordion Closed
Directed by John Landis; Starring Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Carrie Fisher; 1980, 133 min., R
Landis had directed Belushi in “Animal House” before teaming him with Aykroyd as the Blues Brothers characters they’d made famous in the early days of Saturday Night Live in a comedy musical featuring some of the greatest soul singers of the era including Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and James Brown.
Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
Parking at NAU
Some events are designated as guest parking with a permit for community members.
To qualify for weeknight event parking permits, you must be a community member and register with NAU Parking:
- Create a Guest Account for designated free parking.
- Contact NAU Parking by calling 928.523.6623 or emailing to verify you are not affiliated with NAU.
- After completing this one-time registration, you will be able to print a complimentary evening parking permit at home for each designated event. This permit must be displayed on your vehicle dashboard while parked for the event.