Flying Saucer Cinema - Winter

This classic science fiction film appreciation class showcases beloved films that cry out for viewing in a group setting the way they were first presented to the world. Each week will bring something new, films ranging from Golden Age sci-fi of the 1950s and 60s to the dystopian science fiction of the 1970s and occasional forays beyond. Co-hosts Eric Cohen and Mark Daniels will be your guides and provide you with film information, trivia, and lively post-screening discussion every week. Winter quarter begins with the sublime Universal Studios masterpiece The Invisible Man (1933) in which Claude Rains, under the influence of his insanity-inducing invisibility drug, unleashes mayhem with a story that still completely delights. Next up is another heavy hitter, acclaimed director Howard Hawks’ 1951 classic The Thing from Another World, one of the earliest alien invasion films. Set in the Arctic, the story concerns a group of scientists and military personnel who find a flying saucer and its pilot encased in ice. When the ice of course melts, mayhem ensues! For our third installment, Russ Tamblyn and Kumi Mizuno star in War of the Gargantuas (1966), a dark kaiju masterpiece from director Ishirô Honda (Godzilla) about two ginormous furry Frankenstein offspring - don’t worry, we’ll explain – who mix it up, leveling a bunch of Tokyo in the process. Rounding out this quarter with just as big a punch as the first three films, we close with yet another banger, the 1973 dystopian gem Soylent Green, featuring Charlton Heston and Edward G Robinson. Set in overpopulated New York in the year 2025 where fresh food is scarce and women are treated as property, the story starts off as a simple police procedural, but Heston‘s character soon uncovers a scandal of global proportions. Whether you are a seasoned science fiction film buff or simply want to put your head in a different place for a couple of hours every week, this will be an engaging, fun adventure of a class you won't want to miss.