Movie series provides alternative for film fans

If the current crop of movies and Oscar-winner wannabes don’t do it for you, there are alternatives. Right here. At Colgate.

Every Tuesday night through May the Alternative Cinema series shows what John Knecht, professor of art and art history, calls some of ‘the greatest hits of film history.’

Knecht urged members of the campus and Hamilton communities to take advantage of the free movies, which are shown at 7 p.m. in Golden Auditorium at Little Hall.

He said the auditorium’s screening facility is ‘absolutely first-class.’ So, seeing movies such as the restored 35mm version of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis ‘ an early venture into science fiction ‘ in the state-of-the-art auditorium ‘should be spectacular,’ he said. Metropolis can be seen Feb. 10.

Knecht, who selects the films, has a hard time picking a favorite among the dozen movies that comprise the current series, which runs in conjunction with his History and Theory of Cinema course.

‘They are a selection of films that certainly exemplify main movements in the development of cinema as an art form,’ he said.

He has been programming the series since 1981. A year later, the New York State Council on the Arts provided funding and, just last November, an anonymous alumnus provided additional financial support.

The funding keeps the series going and makes it accessible to everyone, and also is instrumental in bringing creators of experimental films and videos to campus to talk about their works.

Knecht goes to film festivals in New York City and elsewhere to ‘keep my ear to the ground’ and find out which direction the very latest avant-garde films and videos are headed. Occasionally he shows his own experimental videos, and he’ll often get recommendations for what new artists he should be bringing to campus to speak.

Knecht already knows that he wants to bring Colgate alumni to campus during the fall semester for a documentary film festival. He said there are several alumni ‘ such as Joe Berlinger, who is getting good reviews for his documentary about the heavy-metal band Metallica ‘ who are producing some very exciting work.

As for the movies currently making the rounds, Knecht says Tim Burton’s  Big Fish and 21 Grams by director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu stand out as films ‘that take some chances, some risks.’

Generally, though, he avoids the movies that end up in the mall megaplexes. Far too often, he says, they rely too heavily on narrative and time-worn plot lines, making them all too predictable.

‘I like films that really use the medium, that push the envelope a little bit with sound and images. It’s a visual art form that should be really exciting, that supersede any general genre,’ Knecht said.

And that’s what he hopes the films in the current Alternative Cinema series do for his students and for those who see them. Stretch their idea of what makes a movie a movie, and discover just what is possible.