SEASON THREE

"On The Road"

The film festival is an ongoing Sunday evening event at our house where we show movies, serve flavored popcorn, and encourage a lively discussion of the films afterwards.

The second season was called "On The Road."  Starting with the quintessential road movie, Easy Rider, we'll explored the genre of the road movie as a manifesto for freedom & wandering, and as the anti-establishment American dream. 

DARJEELING LIMITED (2007), screened 12/14/08.  Following the death of their father, three brothers (Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman) embark on a journey on the cross-India train the Darjeeling Limited and attempt to reconnect after years of physical and emotional distance. The trip also opens up some old wounds and proves that their sibling rivalry can never be completely erased. Natalie Portman and Anjelica Huston co-star in Wes Anderson's lyrical comic drama.  (91 mins)  VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

ALICE DOESN'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE (1974), screened 11/16/08.  Undeniably one of the must-sees of 1970s cinema, Martin Scorsese's film features Ellen Burstyn in the Oscar-winning role of a widow who must find the strength to go on in the face of loneliness and fear, all in the name of her young son, Tommy (Alfred Lutter). Eventually, they land in Tucson and she finds a job as a waitress at a diner, where somehow, she's able to picture love again through the eyes of a customer (Kris Kristofferson).  (112 mins)

A PERFECT WORLD (1993), screened 11/2/08.  Film icons from two generations meet when fugitive Butch Haynes (Kevin Costner) takes a young boy hostage and goes on the lam across the Lone Star state, hotly pursued by police chief Red Garnett and criminologist Sally Gerber (Laura Dern).  In this film (directed by Clint Eastwood) robbery, murder and a haunting final confrontation are the lynchpins of a remarkable movie that takes a close look at the true nature of violence.  (138 mins)  VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

THE SEARCHERS (1956), screened 9/7/08.  John Wayne and Jeffrey Hunter spend years searching for Wayne's niece (Natalie Wood), who was abducted as a child by Comanches. Far from a picaresque adventure yarn, The Searchers is director John Ford's forceful meditation on racism, revenge and obsession -- one of the most powerful ever filmed. And Wayne's portrayal of a brutishly obsessed "savior" is downright frightening.  (119 mins)  VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE (1985), screened 8/31/08.  When his treasured bike is stolen outside Chuck's Bike-O-Rama, Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) is devastated -- and he'll do anything to get it back. Working off a hot tip that his wheels may be stashed in the Alamo's basement, Pee-Wee leaves his girlfriend (Elizabeth Daily) and sets off on a whirlwind cross-country adventure. Quirky filmmaker Tim Burton directs this classic comedy with an all-star cast that's too long to list.  (90 mins)  VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

REPO MAN (1984), screened 8/10/08 This is a cult classic from Alex Cox (director of Sid & Nancy).  Lacking role models and a purpose, baby-faced delinquent Otto (Emilio Estevez) finds a code of honor and a higher calling when he hooks up with a band of contemporary "knights": the repo men. A "seasoned" auto re-possessor (Harry Dean Stanton) shows Otto the ropes, and when a big reward is offered for an elusive 1964 Malibu, Otto dodges G-men, cops, religious kooks, and more, in a frenzied quest for the car. Does his fate lie in its trunk?  (93 mins)  VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

WILD AT HEART (1990), screened 7/27/08:  Barry Gifford's neo-pulp novel inspired this controversial cult film from director David Lynch. A star-crossed couple on the lam (Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern) is in for the most gruesome ride of their lives when they encounter a handful of bizarre, and perhaps murderous, strangers on the road (played by the likes of Sheryl Lee and Willem Dafoe).  (124 mins)  VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

BADLANDS (1973), screened on 7/13/08:  Young garbage man Kit Caruthers (Martin Sheen) and his girlfriend, Holly (Sissy Spacek) hit the road in South Dakota on the run from the law. Writer-director Terrence Malick's script (for his feature film debut), based on a real outlaw couple in 1958, does not judge its characters as they make their way to the Badlands of Montana, leaving a trail of senseless and random murders in their wake.  (95 mins) VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

TRUE ROMANCE (1993), screened on 6/28/08:  In this darkly comic web of crime, murder and mayhem from writer Quentin Tarantino and director Tony Scott, novice prostitute Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) and her lover, comic book store clerk Clarence Worley (Christian Slater), become a Bonnie and Clyde for the 1990s. When Clarence kills Alabama's pimp, the newlyweds ride off into the sunset -- with $5 million worth of cocaine in a suitcase and the police and the mob on their trail.  (123 mins)  VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

DOWN BY LAW (1986), screened on 6/22/08:  When fate lands three hapless men -- an unemployed disc jockey (Tom Waits), a small-time pimp (John Lurie) and a strong-willed Italian tourist (Roberto Benigni) -- in a New Orleans prison, their adventure toward escape and freedom begins.  Director Jim Jarmusch delivers a twisted comedy filled with fine performances and sharp black-and-white frames from cinematographer Robby Müller.  (107 mins)  VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

THELMA & LOUISE (1991), screened on 6/8/08:  Waitress Louise Sawyer (Susan Sarandon) and naive housewife Thelma Dickinson (Geena Davis) take off for a simple weekend free of men … and become outlaws blazing a cathartic trail across America.  (129 mins)  VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

EASY RIDER (1969), screened on 6/1/08:  This ultimate 1960s counter-culture film was Dennis Hopper's anti-establishment road movie (his directorial debut) which garnered widespread critical acclaim. Flush with cash from a cocaine sale and looking for the "real America," motorcycle mavericks Billy (Hopper) and Wyatt (Peter Fonda) are joined by boozy American Civil Liberties Union lawyer George Hanson (Jack Nicholson, in an Oscar-nominated performance) as they hit the road.  (95 mins)  VIEW THEATRICAL TRAILER HERE

OTHER SEASONS....

For information about the other seasons of the Rowhouse Film Festival go to: