The Gateway Film Center would like – if they may – to take you on a strange journey.
Their ambitious yearlong film series Cult 101 seeks to finally qualify the best in cult films. The program is the culmination of a complicated process of selecting the 101 best films that qualify as “obscure, weird, and secretly beloved.”
“I’m very emotionally attached to this series,” says Chris Hamel, President and Programmer for GFC. “It’s been a project we’ve been talking about trying to tackle for years.”
While the film center frequently screens movies that could be considered cult films, Hamel and company wanted to do something more concrete.
“Film lovers have different definitions for what a cult move is,” he says. “We defined it as films that were almost, for all intents and purposes, discovered after their initial release. We wanted to compile this list and then screen them over the course of a year.”
The process began as GFC staff started tallying lists of what they considered to be cult films. As the list grew to unwieldy proportions, Hamel reached out to potential panelists who could help him zero in on a single, definitive slate.
The panel consisted of international news outlets, studio members, critics and programmers from Wired, Time Out, Alamo Drafthouse, Paramount, Sony, IFC Films, Magnolia Pictures, the Belcourt Theatre, Outfest, and NPR – as well as local panelists from 614 Magazine, Columbus Underground, Dennison and Otterbein Universities, Film Columbus and others.
Panelists voted on the original GFC list and added their own suggestions, then the GFC staff tabulated final results and Hamel put together the program.
“I’m glad we used a panel,” Hamel says. “I don’t think we ever could have come to a final list. There would have been an endless fist fight about whether The Breakfast Club was a cult film.”
Hamel notes that the definition of cult can be very hazy, and many people who watch an awful lot of movies have a different interpretation than the causal moviegoer.
“I would say the The Boondock Saints is perfect because it didn’t play any movie theaters,” he says. “No one ever really saw it, and then because of DVD and cable it had this huge buzz and word of mouth.” Other obscurities Hamel was pleased to see on the final list include Bubba Ho-Tep and Battle Royale.
Hamel says the number 1 vote getter – by a wide margin – was A Clockwork Orange, followed by The Rocky Horror Picture Show, This Is Spinal Tap, Donnie Darko and Blade Runner.
Though Hamel admits that a lot of the films to make the final list are those that some might consider somewhat mainstream, there are some exciting surprises.
“I was happy to see some of the wildly obscure films on that list,” he says. “It’s pretty awesome that we’re going to screen Akira, Irma Vep and Pink Flamingos in the same series. That’s a really nice mix of films.”
Controversy – or at least conversation – is one of Hamel’s goals, though.
“I’m excited and sad to report that many of the films I wanted did not make the final list,” he says. “I’m really pleased with the final product and I think when the audience puts their eyes on it they’ll feel just like I do – which is happy about films that made it, mad about things that didn’t, and ready to argue about things that should have.”
Hamel says they’ll present as many of the films as possible on film, and find as many restored versions as possible. Expect food and drink specials, occasional panels and Q&A’s, as well as a gallery opening in relation to the series.
“GFC celebrates a really sincere love of movies,” Hamel says. “That shows up in our programming, in our facility, in our staff. I think both part of that sincere love of movies is appreciating that art isn’t always in the mainstream, doesn’t necessarily immediately make lots of money or might be considered off the beaten path. Cult 101 is a chance to create the list, screen the list and talk about the value of cult films. It seems consistent with our mission and right in our wheelhouse.”
Specific show times will be announced each quarter and normal ticket prices apply.
Pink Flamingos (1972) in 35mm
December 1 – 9:30 p.m.
December 2 – 9:30 p.m.
December 3 – 7:00 p.m.
Showgirls (1995) in 35mm
December 4 – 9:30 p.m.
December 5 – 9:30 p.m.
December 6 – 9:30 p.m.
Repo Man (1984) in 35mm
December 7 – 7:00 p.m.
December 8 – 9:30 p.m.
December 9 – 12:00 a.m.
Leon: The Professional (1994)
December 10 – 7:00 p.m.
December 11 – 4:30 p.m.
December 12 – 9:30 p.m.
Logans Run (1976)
December 13 – 4:30 p.m.
December 14 – 4:30 p.m.
December 15 – 9:30 p.m.
Tommy (1975)
December 16 – 9:30 p.m.
December 17 – 9:30 p.m.
December 18 – 9:30 p.m.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) in 35mm
December 19 – 4:30 p.m.
December 20 – 7:00 p.m.
December 21 – 7:00 p.m.
Yellow Submarine (1968)
December 22 – 9:30 p.m.
Pink Floyd The Wall (1982)
December 23 – 12:00 a.m.
December 25 – 9:30 p.m.
December 26 – 9:30 p.m.
December 27 – 9:30 p.m.
Pulp Fiction (1994) in 35mm
December 28 – 7:00 p.m.
December 29 – 7:00 p.m.
December 30 – 4:30 p.m.
December 31 – 4:30 p.m.
Cult 101 films in alphabetical order:
- A CLOCKWORK ORANGE
- AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD
- AKIRA
- AMERICAN PSYCHO
- AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON
- AUDITION
- BADLANDS
- BARBARELLA
- BATTLE ROYALE
- BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS
- BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA
- BLACK CHRISTMAS
- BLADE RUNNER
- BLUE VELVET
- BRAZIL
- BUBBA HO-TEP
- CITY OF LOST CHILDREN
- CLERKS
- CLUE
- DAWN OF THE DEAD
- DAZED AND CONFUSED
- DEATH RACE 2000
- DONNIE DARKO
- DR. STRANGELOVE
- EASY RIDER
- EL MARIACHI
- EL TOPO
- ENTER THE DRAGON
- ERASERHEAD
- ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK
- FANTASTIC PLANET
- FIGHT CLUB
- GET CARTER
- GHOST WORLD
- GREY GARDENS
- HARD BOILED
- HAROLD AND MAUDE
- HEATHERS
- HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH
- IRMA VEP
- JACOB’S LADDER
- KISS KISS BANG BANG
- LABYRINTH
- LEON: THE PROFESSIONAL
- LOGAN’S RUN
- MAD MAX
- MEAN STREETS
- MEMENTO
- MONTY PYTHON AND THE HOLY GRAIL
- MULHOLLAND DRIVE
- NIGHT SHIFT
- OLDBOY
- PEE-WEE’S BIG ADVENTURE
- PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE
- PINK FLAMINGOS
- PINK FLOYD: THE WALL
- PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE
- PULP FICTION
- PURPLE RAIN
- RAISING ARIZONA
- RE-ANIMATOR
- REPO MAN
- REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
- RESERVOIR DOGS
- RUSHMORE
- SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE
- SHOWGIRLS
- STOP MAKING SENSE
- STRANGER THAN PARADISE
- TAXI DRIVER
- TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
- THE ADVENTURES OF BUCKAROO BONZAI
- THE BIG LEBOWSKI
- THE BLUES BROTHERS
- THE BOONDOCK SAINTS
- THE BREAKFAST CLUB
- THE EVIL DEAD
- THE EVIL DEAD 2
- THE GHOST IN THE SHELL
- THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH
- THE PRINCESS BRIDE
- THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
- THE THING
- THE USUAL SUSPECTS
- THE WARRIORS
- THE WICKER MAN
- THEY LIVE
- THIS IS SPINAL TAP
- TOMMY
- TOUCH OF EVIL
- TRAINSPOTTING
- TRUE ROMANCE
- TWELVE MONKEYS
- TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME
- VIDEODROME
- WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE
- WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER
- WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
- WITHNAIL AND I
- YELLOW SUBMARINE
- YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN
For more information, visit gatewayfilmcenter.org.
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