The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus
Thursday, July 20 (7:30 p.m.)
The Graduate (Embassy Pictures, 1967)
Director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Buck Henry concocted a funny and satirical look at a certain slice of Americana and the generation gap that pervaded the era of the 1960s. This coming-of-age story stars Dustin Hoffman as the clueless college graduate Benjamin Braddock, Anne Bancroft as the worldly Mrs. Robinson and Katharine Ross as her innocent daughter Elaine. The Graduate won the Academy Award for Best Director for Nichols and was nominated in six other categories. It was added to the National Film Registry in 1996.
Friday, July 21 (7:30 p.m.)
Con Air (Buena Vista Pictures, 1997 – R rated*)
In this action crime thriller directed by Simon West, a group of dangerous inmates are transferred to a new super-maximum security facility. Parolee Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) hitches a ride on their Con Air transport flight only to find himself caught up in a mid-air hijacking masterminded by Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom (John Malkovich). U.S. Marshal Vince Larkin (John Cusack) must prevent the takeover and keep his overzealous superiors from blowing up the aircraft. * No one under the age of 17 will be admitted without a parent or guardian.
Saturday, July 22 (2 p.m.)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney, 1937)
Walt Disney’s groundbreaking Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs–the first American animated feature film and a warm and joyful rendition of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale–is still in a class by itself. In addition to winning an Honorary Academy Award as a “significant screen innovation, which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field,” the film was also nominated for best musical score. The animated classic was named to the National Film Registry in the Registry’s inaugural year, 1989.
Saturday, July 22 (7:30 p.m.)
Titanic (Paramount Pictures, 1997)
A fictional romance between first class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and impoverished itinerant artist Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) is set on the 1912 ill-fated maiden voyage of the R.M.S Titanic. The story is told in flashback by the 102-year-old Rose (Gloria Stuart) when she is taken to the site of the ship wreck by American treasure-seeker Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton). Director James Cameron and his crew shot the actual shipwreck in the Atlantic Ocean in a series of high risk dives before he began writing the screenplay. This spectacular epic ranked as the most expensive film in Hollywood history at the time of its release, and became the most successful in history. Titanic garnered fourteen Academy Awards nominations, winning eleven including Best Picture and Best Director.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.