Welcome to the completely unofficial site of Cinema 1544, the (also completely unofficial) Center For Neuroscience biweekly movie night! To join the Cinema 1544 mailing list, send an email to jsjohnson at ucdavis dot edu.
The main reason for this page existing in the first place is to help keep track of what has been shown. (In fact there’s been so much shown that there is now a second page covering films #250 and up!) But I’ve been having a bit of fun writing up movie synopses, so I’ll keep doing it (and backfill in the older ones as I find the time – as you can see that has been going very slowly…the films in black are eventually coming up as I have direct access to a copy, the films in green I’m waiting on showing up on a movie channel or otherwise).
Now that we have 250 films, here’s a retrospective covering (in my opinion) the best films show so far. These are the films you really can’t afford to miss.
Warning: Movie write-ups are extremely spoilerific, pretty much every time. If you haven’t seen the film and don’t want it spoiled, don’t read the write-up!
Date | Feature Presentation | Presenter | Short |
---|---|---|---|
10/12/06 | Shaun Of The Dead | Troy Crowder | Mr. Resistor (Phong) |
10/26/06 | Bitter Films Collection, Volume 1 – Don Hertzfeldt (1995-2005) | Troy Crowder | Midnight Dance; Wallace and Gromit: A Close Shave (Phong) |
11/9/06 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Henry Alitto | What’s Opera, Doc? |
11/16/06 | Dancer in the Dark | Henry Alitto | Baseball Bugs (Henry)/ J’attendrai Le Suivant (“I’ll Wait for the Next One”) (Phong) |
11/30/06 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | Jeff Padberg | The Snowman (Phong) |
12/14/06 | To Kill A Mockingbird | Jeff Padberg | Inja (“Dog”) (Phong) |
1/4/07 | Schizopolis | Jeffrey Johnson | Can I Keep Him? |
1/18/07 | Trois Coleurs: Bleu (“Blue”) | Jeffrey Johnson | An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge (Phong) |
2/1/07 | Festen (“The Celebration”) | Alessandro Graziano | The Fly |
2/15/07 | Pane e Tulipani (“Bread and Tulips”) | Alessandro Graziano | Schwartzfahrer (“Black Rider”) |
3/1/07 | Daughters of the Dust | Malaika Singleton | None |
3/14/07 | The Last Dragon | Malaika Singleton | Manifestoon |
3/29/07 | Das Boot (“The Boat”) | Dylan Cooke | None |
4/12/07 | Les Invasions Barbares (“The Barbarian Invasions”) | Dylan Cooke | Neurogenesis of the Adult Latex Glove; Above Average |
4/26/07 | Before Sunrise | Denise Cook | The Delicious (Phong) |
5/3/07 | Before Sunset | Denise Cook | Ed (Phong)/The Night I Connected With My Dog; Time Flies (Jeff) |
5/17/07 | Dr. Strangelove, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb | Kevin Hill | My Chorus (Phong) |
5/31/07 | Annie Hall | Kevin Hill | Bit Players (Phong) |
6/14/07 | Faces | Alireza Javan | None? |
6/28/07 | El Topo (“The Mole”) | Alireza Javan | None? |
7/12/07 | Zerkalo (“Mirror”) | Andrey Goloshchapov | None? |
7/26/07 | Crna macka, beli macor (“Black Cat, White Cat”) | Andrey Goloshchapov | Katten Mons (“Mons the Cat”) (Phong) |
8/16/07 | Real Genius | Sarah Parrish | Phull Phrontal Phingers (Phong) |
8/30/07 | The Princess Bride | Sarah Parrish | None |
9/13/07 | Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (“Spirited Away”) — Film #25 | Mamiko Niwa | The Emperor’s Haiku (Jeff) |
9/27/07 | Shall We Dance? |
Mamiko Niwa | Not A Fish Story (Phong) |
10/11/07 | Shichinin no samurai (“Seven Samurai”) | Kevin O’Connor | None |
10/25/07 | The Third Man | Kevin O’Connor | La Jetee |
11/1/07 | The Passion Of Joan Of Arc | Phong Nguyen | Frere Jacques |
11/15/07 | Lone Star |
Phong Nguyen | Fait D’Hiver |
11/29/07 | Zardoz | Daniel Rathbun | None? |
12/13/07 | Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead | Megan Rathbun | The Fifteen Minute Hamlet (Jeff) |
1/10/08 | Unbowed | Malaika Singleton | None? |
1/24/08 | Big Trouble In Little China | Malaika Singleton | None? |
2/9/08 | Blade Runner – The Final Cut | Viewers’ Choice | None? |
2/21/08 | An Angel At My Table | Alessandro Graziano | ?? |
3/6/08 | Bagdad Café | Alessandro Graziano | ?? |
3/20/08 | Thirty-Two Short Films About Glenn Gould | Jeffrey Johnson | I Can’t Play The Piano |
4/3/08 | Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid | Jeffrey Johnson | Staplerfahrer Klaus (“Forklift Operator Klaus”); A Complicated Movie |
4/17/08 | Z | Kevin O’Connor | ?? |
4/24/08 | Forbidden Planet | Kevin O’Connor | ?? |
5/8/08 | Inland Empire | Alireza Javan | ?? |
5/22/08 | Yojimbo | Alireza Javan | ?? |
6/5/08 | Dazed And Confused | Jeff Padberg | ?? |
6/12/08 | Metropolis | Aaron Rathbun | The Shadow Box |
6/19/08 | Dirty Pretty Things | Katherine Lee | ?? |
7/3/08 | Fong Sai Yuk (“The Legend”) | Phong Nguyen | One Day A Man Bought A House |
7/17/08 | Cheung Fo (“The Mission”)/Mou Gaan Dou (“Infernal Affairs”) (Double Feature) | Phong Nguyen | None |
7/31/08 | Blue Velvet — Film #50 | Matt Seelke | Green Porno |
8/14/08 | Amadeus | Matt Seelke | Darrill On A Date (Jeff) |
8/28/08 | Michael Clayton |
Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | ?? |
9/11/08 | Network | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | ?? |
9/25/08 | A Soldier’s Story | Malaika Singleton | ?? |
10/9/08 | Shadowboxer | Malaika Singleton | ?? |
10/23/08 | Oldboy | Sam Failor | ?? |
11/6/08 | They Live | Sam Failor | ?? |
11/20/08 | The Lost Skeleton Of Cadavra | Jeffrey Johnson | Roybertito’s 60 Second Spot |
12/4/08 | Le Scaphandre et le Papillon (“The Diving Bell And The Butterfly”) | Jeffrey Johnson | ?? |
12/13/08 | A Fistful Of Dollars/For A Few Dollars More/The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly | Winter Marathon 1: Spaghetti Westerns | None |
1/8/09 | Insomnia (1997) | Viewers’ Choice | ?? |
1/22/09 | Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War | Chris Bishop | ?? |
2/5/09 | Ôdishon (“Audition”) | Chris Bishop | ?? |
2/19/09 | King Of California | Kevin Hill | ?? |
3/5/09 | Evil Dead II: Dead by Dawn | Kevin Hill | ?? |
3/19/09 | Glengarry Glen Ross | Matt Seelke | ?? |
4/2/09 | Better Off Dead | Matt Seelke | ?? |
4/16/09 | Akira | Mamiko Niwa | ?? |
4/30/09 | Tampopo | Mamiko Niwa | ?? |
5/14/09 | The Conversation | Kevin O’Connor | Captain EO (in 3-D, Jeff) |
5/28/09 | The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie | Kevin O’Connor | Taipei, Taipei! |
6/4/09 | Cabeza de Vaca | Alessandro Graziano | C’était un rendez-vous |
6/18/09 | Pasqualino Settebellezze (“Seven Beauties”) — Film #75 | Alessandro Graziano | Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Act I (Daniel) |
7/2/09 | Repo! The Genetic Opera | Daniel Rathbun | Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Act II |
7/16/09 | Nausicaa | Daniel Rathbun | Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog, Act III |
7/30/09 | The Fall | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | None |
8/13/09 | A Scanner Darkly | Colenso Speer | In Absentia (Phong) |
8/27/09 | Ravenous | Colenso Speer | Lloyd’s Lunchbox Trilogy (Phong) |
9/10/09 | Broken Flowers | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | None |
9/24/09 | The New World | Phong Nguyen | Aria |
10/8/09 | Waltz With Bashir | Phong Nguyen | Rain Bather (Written and Directed by Phong) |
10/22/09 | The Last Laugh | Corey Ziemba | Proper Urinal Etiquette (Phong) |
11/5/09 | Primer | Corey Ziemba | The Long Morrow (Phong) |
11/19/09 | Candy | Malaika Singleton | The Big He-bowski |
12/3/09 | School Daze | Malaika Singleton | Dock Ellis and the LSD No-No (Jeff) |
12/12/09 | The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)/Strangers On A Train/Rear Window | Winter Marathon 2: Alfred Hitchcock | None |
1/7/10 | The Hudsucker Proxy | Jeffrey Johnson | Husk Musk |
1/21/10 | Passion In The Desert | Jeffrey Johnson | Tuileries/Faubourg Saint-Denis (from Paris, Je T’aime) |
2/4/10 | Atanarjuat (“The Fast Runner”) | Nigel Noriega | None |
2/18/10 | District 9 | Nigel Noriega | Family Attraction (Phong) |
3/4/10 | Casablanca | Adele Seelke | Zaniklý svet rukavic (Phong) |
3/18/10 | The Philadelphia Story | Adele Seelke | That Inferior Feeling; The Homeless Flea |
4/1/10 | Bolivia | Ben Lankow | West Bank Story (Phong) |
4/15/10 | Paradise Now | Ben Lankow | The Tonto Woman (Phong) |
4/22/10 | The Wrong Box | Kevin O’Connor | Anamorphosis (De Artificiali Perspectiva) |
5/6/10 | Touch Of Evil — Film #100 | Kevin O’Connor | The Fine Art of Poisoning (Phong) |
5/20/10 | The Great Escape | Caitlin Kiley | Mr. Hilter In England (Jeff) |
6/3/10 | No One Knows About Persian Cats | Alireza Javan | Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci (Phong) |
6/17/10 | Viridiana | Alireza Javan | The DTs (Jeff) |
7/1/10 | Moon | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | Zoltar from Zoron (Phong)/ Three for the Moon (Jeff) |
7/10/10 | Four Rooms/Sunset Blvd. | Viewer’s Choice – 100th convocation celebration | Peter and the Wolf (Phong) |
7/22/10 | Punch-Drunk Love | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | Parabola |
8/5/10 | The Other Side of the Bed | Jochen Ditterich | The Way Things Go |
8/19/10 | The Silent Partner | Zac Davis | The Last Theft (Phong)/ My Pen! (Jeff) |
9/2/10 | Animal Crackers | Zac Davis | Sing a Song of Six Pants (Kevin) |
9/9/10 | Kung Fu Hustle | Malaika Singleton Duran | United We Stand (Phong)/ Martial Arts Demo Tape (Nigel) |
9/23/10 | Harlem Nights | Malaika Singleton Duran | Electronic Labyrinth THX 1138 4EB (Phong) |
10/7/10 | Touching the Void | Phong Nguyen | The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello/Mountaineering (Jeff) |
10/21/10 | Riding Giants | Phong Nguyen | Big Bang, Big Boom/Girl Drink Drunk (Jeff) |
11/4/10 | The Gumball Rally | Jeff Padberg (Remote!) | Toy Cack (Jeff J.) |
11/18/10 | Let the Right One In | Sam Failor | Gasman (Jeff) |
12/2/10 | Tetsuo, the Iron Man | Sam Failor | Yuki the Snow Maiden (Jeff) |
12/11/10 | The Lady Eve/Sullivan’s Travels/Unfaithfully Yours (1948) | Winter Marathon 3: Preston Sturges | None |
1/13/11 | Lars and the Real Girl | Jeffrey Johnson | The Club of the Laid Off (Phong)/The Curse |
1/27/11 | Nattvardsgästerna (“Winter Light”) | Jeffrey Johnson | A Joke by Ingmar Bergman |
2/10/11 | Battle Royale | Nigel Noriega | Upper Class Twit of the Year (Jeff) |
2/24/11 | Kick-Ass | Nigel Noriega | Nigel’s short lecture on the history of the superhero |
3/10/11 | Being There — Film #125 | Kevin O’Connor | 14th Arrondissement from Paris, Je T’aime (Jeff) |
3/24/11 | Cure | Kevin O’Connor | The Fan and the Flower |
4/7/11 | Black Swan | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | Ballet (Jeff) |
4/21/11 | Se7en | Time Change Special | 7th Arrondissement from Paris, Je T’aime (Jeff) |
4/28/11 | Secretary | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | Epic Rap Battles of History (Nigel) |
5/12/11 | Nikita (“La Femme Nikita”) | Jackie O’Ninja | Good Grandpa (Jeff) |
5/26/11 | Leon (“Leon: The Professional”) | Jackie O’Ninja | A Date With Your Family (Jeff) |
6/9/11 | The Triplets of Belleville | Bryan Sandoz | One Got Fat (Caitlin) |
6/23/11 | Cabaret | Caitlin Kiley | Presto! |
7/7/11 | Soldaat van Oranje (“Soldier of Orange”) | Sander Keemink | Father and Daughter |
7/21/11 | Dark City | Sander Keemink | Vincent |
8/4/11 | Into the Wild | Katie Neverkovec | I Love Alaska, episode 1 |
8/18/11 | Sideways | Katie Neverkovec | Liquorville |
9/1/11 | Miller’s Crossing | Zachary Cline-Egri | Don’ You Go Rounin’ Roun to Re Ro/Buying a Bed (Jeff) |
9/15/11 | True Romance | Zachary Cline-Egri | Polite War |
9/29/11 | Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery | Xochi Navarro | Alpine Ski Chase from The Spy Who Loved Me; Fan Trailers of first 5 Bond Films (Kevin) |
10/13/11 | Reservoir Dogs | Xochi Navarro | None |
10/27/11 | Fast, Cheap & Out of Control | Joey Broussard | The Days Of Our Years (Jeff) |
11/3/11 | Payback | Joey Broussard | The Panties (That 70’s Show) |
11/17/11 | Chinatown | Kevin O’Connor | None |
12/1/11 | Three Days of the Condor | Kevin O’Connor | Is My Directing Interfering With Your Phone Call? (Jeff) |
12/10/11 | Sleeper/Manhattan/Match Point | Winter Marathon 4: Woody Allen | None |
1/5/12 | The Tree Of Life | Aaron Kian | El Empleo |
1/19/12 | El ángel exterminador (“The Exterminating Angel”) — Film #150 | Aaron Kian | Love Language |
2/2/12 | The Secret in Their Eyes (2009) | Conor Weatherford | None |
2/16/12 | The Salton Sea | Conor Weatherford | Robot Chicken Star Wars, Episode 1 (Jeff) |
3/1/12 | The Girl Who Leapt Through Time | Mamiko Niwa | The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (Jeff) |
3/15/12 | I Am Sam | Mamiko Niwa | None |
3/29/12 | The Passenger | Joshua Downer | None |
4/12/12 | Cinema Paradiso | Joshua Downer | None |
4/26/12 | Diner | Zachary Cline-Egri | Spider |
5/10/12 | Winter Kills | Zachary Cline-Egri | None |
5/17/12 | Drive | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | Christopher Walken reads “Where The Wild Things Are” (Jeff) |
5/31/12 | Alien (Prometheus release special) | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | Prometheus Trailers (after the film) |
6/14/12 | Higanbana (“Equinox Flower”) | Jeffrey Johnson | Are You Ready For Marriage? |
6/28/12 | The Virgin Suicides | Jeffrey Johnson | Tim Minchin’s Storm |
7/12/12 | Raging Bull | Jason Neverkovec | DeNiro/Pesci Bert and Ernie |
7/26/12 | Big Fish | Jason Neverkovec | Fish/The Beard (Jeff) |
8/9/12 | El Laberinto del Fauno (“Pan’s Labyrinth”) | Jackie O’Ninja | Birdboy |
8/23/12 | El Espinazo del Diablo (“The Devil’s Backbone”) | Jackie O’Ninja | Tenacious D: To Be the Best |
9/6/12 | Departures | Aaron Kian | Dirty Laundry |
9/20/12 | The Fountain | Aaron Kian | Frankenweenie |
9/27/12 | Zorba the Greek | Kevin O’Connor | None |
10/11/12 | Young Frankenstein | Neuroscientists Gone Wild: Viewers Choice | None |
10/25/12 | Les Yeux Sans Visage (“Eyes Without A Face”) | Kevin O’Connor | Le Sang des Bêtes (“Blood of the Beasts”) |
11/8/12 | Barton Fink | Jessica Verhein | Book, Bottle, Blonde (Jeff) |
11/15/12 | American Beauty | Jessica Verhein | None |
12/6/12 | Inglourious Basterds | Ashley Royston | None |
12/15/12 | Double Indemnity — Film #175 /Some Like It Hot/The Apartment | Winter Marathon 5: Billy Wilder | None |
1/10/13 | Night of the Living Dead | Henry Alitto | One Froggy Evening |
1/24/13 | ¡Three Amigos! | Henry Alitto | Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century |
2/7/13 | Disco Godfather | Ben Lankow | Paperman; For Your Consideration (Jeff) |
2/21/13 | Weird Science | Ben Lankow | Why Study Industrial Arts? (Jeff) |
3/7/13 | Titus | Jeffrey Johnson | None |
3/21/13 | The Royal Tenenbaums | Jeffrey Johnson | Century 21 Calling |
4/4/13 | Seven Psychopaths | Conor Weatherford | Ax Sharpening (Jeff) |
4/18/13 | The Lion In Winter (1968) | Conor Weatherford | None |
5/2/13 | 3:10 to Yuma (2007) | Jacob Herford | None |
5/16/13 | In the Valley of Elah | Jacob Herford | None |
5/30/13 | It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World | Kevin O’Connor | None |
6/13/13 | The Bank Dick | Kevin O’Connor | The Brideless Groom |
6/27/13 | Pulp Fiction | Joshua Downer | None |
7/11/13 | Once Upon A Time In The West | Joshua Downer | None |
7/25/13 | Ghost World | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | None |
8/8/13 | Frida | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | The Home Economics Story (Jeff) |
8/15/13 | A Serious Man | Alex Pevzner | None |
8/29/13 | La Cité des Enfants Perdus (“City of Lost Children”) | Alex Pevzner | Johnny at the Fair (Jeff) |
9/12/13 | Valley of the Dolls | Angie Michaiel | None |
9/26/13 | OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies | Angie Michaiel | None |
10/10/13 | The Artist | Caitlin Kiley/Bryan Sandoz | Le Voyage Dans La Lune |
10/24/13 | Hedwig and the Angry Inch | Caitlin Kiley/Bryan Sandoz | Rod Torfelson’s Armada; Armada – Did we make it? (Jeff) |
11/14/13 | Ikiru — Film # 200!! | Jeffrey Johnson | |
11/21/13 | Monty Python’s The Life of Brian | Jeffrey Johnson | Jesus Was a Lousy Carpenter |
12/5/13 | Beasts of the Southern Wild | Jessica Verhein | Curfew (Jeff) |
12/14/13 | Mean Streets/The Last Temptation of Christ/The Age of Innocence | Winter Marathon 6: Martin Scorsese | None |
1/9/14 | Sweet Smell of Success | Kevin O’Connor | Cut-Throat (Jeff) |
1/23/14 | A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum | Zac Davis | Mr. B Natural (Jeff) |
1/30/14 | The Producers | Zac Davis | Censored Sketches (Jeff) |
2/13/14 | The Battle of Algiers | Sam Failor | None |
2/27/14 | Dirty Rotten Scoundrels | Sam Failor | Paw de Deux; L’Haunting; The Cat is Sat (Jeff) |
3/13/14 | The Manchurian Candidate (1962) | Kevin O’Connor | None |
3/27/14 | High Fidelity | Jessica Verhein | Into the Doors (Jeff) |
4/10/14 | Intouchables | Millie Copara | Keeping Clean and Neat |
4/24/14 | Los Cronocrímenes (“Timecrimes”) | Millie Copara | What to do on a Date |
5/8/14 | SLC Punk! | Jacob Herford | None |
5/22/14 | Boyz n the Hood | Jacob Herford | Hell’s Grannies (Jeff) |
5/31/14 | Gojira (“Godzilla”)/Best In Show | Grill 1544 – Viewers’ Choice | None |
6/12/14 | Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure | Josh Downer | |
6/19/14 | Ying Xiong (“Hero”) | Bamboo Li | Sunshine (Jeff) |
7/3/14 | Being John Malkovich | Tyler Manning | Triumph Of A Heart; Weapon Of Choice (Jeff) |
7/17/14 | Wizard People, Dear Reader (being an alternative soundtrack to Harry Potter And The Sorceror’s Stone)/The Dark Side Of The Rainbow (Bonus Feature, Jeff) | Josh Downer | None |
7/31/14 | Cloud Atlas | Bamboo Li | None |
8/14/14 | Good Morning, Vietnam — Film #225 | Tyler Manning | Eve (Jeff) |
8/28/14 | 2001: A Space Odyssey | Ashley Royston | None |
9/11/14 | Drop Dead Gorgeous | Brittany Rapone | Body Care And Grooming (Jeff) |
9/25/14 | Pafekuto Buru (“Perfect Blue”) | Brittany Rapone | None |
10/9/14 | Brazil – The Director’s Cut | Ashley Royston | None |
10/23/14 | Edge Of Tomorrow | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | Continental Breakfast |
10/30/14 | Under The Skin | Halloween Special I (Kevin O’Connor) | None |
11/6/14 | Donnie Darko | Cristeta Mississippi-Jones | Pizza Order |
11/19/14 | Stalker | Eric Miller (Note: Weds.) | None |
12/4/14 | Children Of Men | Eric Miller | Pregnant Pause (Jeff) |
12/13/14 | Twelve Angry Men (1957)/Dog Day Afternoon/Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead | Winter Marathon 7: Sidney Lumet, Start at 3:16:17 PM | None |
1/8/15 | Airplane! | Henry Alitto | Rock-a-Bye-Bear; Deputy Droopy |
1/22/15 | Birdman | Henry Alitto | Chicken Lady on a Date (Jeff)/Lovelorn Leghorn |
2/12/15 | Medianeras (“Sidewalls”) | Jon Wong | This Is It |
2/19/15 | The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus | Zac Davis | None |
3/5/15 | Take The Money And Run | Zac Davis | Cheating |
3/18/15 (Weds.) | Boyhood | Jon Wong (Note: Weds.) | None |
4/2/15 | The Thin Man | Jeffrey Johnson | Too Many Cooks |
4/15/15 (Weds.) | The Wedding Singer | Jeffrey Johnson | Wedding Virgin/Wedding Toast/Wedding Objection |
4/30/15 | Bridesmaids | Caitlin Kiley | Feel Inside (and stuff like that) |
5/14/15 | Relatos Salvajes (“Wild Tales”) | Gabriel Peinado | Feast (Jeff) |
5/27/15 (Weds.) |
Underground | Gabriel Peinado | None |
6/6/15 | Back To The Future/Io Sono L’Amore (“I Am Love”) — Film #250 | Grill 1544 Viewers’ Choice | None |
Leave a comment