God Bless The Ross

I’m sure that most folks probably don’t consider Lincoln, Nebraska to be a powerhouse when it comes to world and arthouse cinema.  Fortunately, we’ve got an ace up our sleeve: the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center.  Every time I’m feeling a little blue, a little bummed that I’m not going to get a chance to see, on the big screen, those films that folks are discussing on Twitch, GreenCine Daily, and Arts & Faith, The Ross comes through for me.  And this time, it’s come through in two big ways.

The Host poster

On April 27, The Ross will start a two-week showing of Bong Joon-ho’s The Host, aka “The Biggest Movie In The History Of South Korea.”  I caught a midnight screening of The Host at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and absolutely loved it (my review).

The Host has it all—great characters, intense action, slimy monsters—and proves once again that Korean cinema has an uncanny ability to throw multiple genres together—cult, horror, comedy, action, drama, etc.—and still end up with a compelling and exciting experience.  The fact that I get to see it again (and again) on the big screen in just a few weeks has me positively giddy.  (And hopefully, this means that The Ross will start showing a few more cult/genre films from time to time.)

You can watch the trailer here.

Into Great Silence poster

The second film I’m excited about, Into Great Silence, couldn’t be further from The Host in terms of subject matter.  A three-hour-long documentary about a remote Catholic monastery and the monks who live there, Into Great Silence has been garnering much praise from many folks I’ve come to respect, including Jeffrey Overstreet and Steven Greydanus.  And Christianity Today has just posted this glowing review, where Brandon Fibbs concludes:

You are aware, while watching, of just how much you have and just how much you lack; of the omnipresence of the divine in the most mundane of activities; of the pervasive majesty of the natural world utterly squelched by our urban lives; of the inspiration these men arouse. To watch this film is to be humbled. To watch this film is to be in awe. Into Great Silence is a transformative theatrical experience, a spiritual encounter, an exercise in contemplation and introspection, a profound meditation on what it means to give oneself totally and completely, reserving nothing, to God.

Into Great Silence begins playing at The Ross on June 8 and will be there for two weeks.  You can watch the trailer here.

The complete list of movies coming to The Ross in the next few months can be seen here.

4 Comments

  1. Gravatar for Ryan Ryan 2 years, 10 months ago

    “The Host” is now available on DVD. I have it in my queue on Netflix, but when I saw that the Ross would be screening it, I decided to hold off and, hopefully, see it on the big screen.

    The film I’m most excited about seeing at the Ross, though, is “Killer Of Sheep.” The synopsis: “Milestone, Steven Soderbergh and Turner Classic Movies present one of the most famous and acclaimed films by an African-American filmmaker, KILLER OF SHEEP was one of the first 50 films to be selected for the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry and was chosen by the National Society of Film Critics as one of the 100 Essential Films. But, due to music licensing problems, the film has rarely been screened, and then only in ragged 16mm prints. On its thirtieth anniversary, Milestone Films has cleared all the rights and will present UCLA Film & Television Archives dazzling 35mm restoration of this landmark film.”

  2. Gravatar for Jason Jason 2 years, 10 months ago

    Yeah, you’ll definitely want to see “The Host” on the big screen—and hopefully with a lot of people.

    “Killer Of Sheep” does look interesting, though.  I know little about it, other than the “controversy” surrounding its difficulties of making it to the silver screen.

  3. Gravatar for RT RT 2 years, 10 months ago

    Let us know when you’re going to see The Host. I remember your excitement after Toronto… We’re game!

  4. Gravatar for Jason Jason 2 years, 10 months ago

    Coolest. Neighbors. Ever.

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