A CASE OF THE MONDAYS

This January, the Drexel presents four sci-fi masterpieces from one of America’s greatest directors—Steven Spielberg.

The program starts on Monday, January 13 with the director’s cut of Spielberg’s 1977 hit, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss) is an ordinary, blue-collar guy whose life is changed when he experiences extraterrestrial activity late one night. Obsessed with his encounter, Roy eventually meets Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon), a lonely woman whose 3-year-old son is abducted by the aliens. Dreyfuss and Dillon are joined by Teri Garr, as Roy’s confused and frustrated wife, and legendary French director François Truffaut as a French government scientist determined to track down the UFOs.

Also on January 13, we present Spielberg’s 2005 adaptation of War of the Worlds. Taken from the H.G. Wells novel, Spielberg updates the material for a post-9/11 America, reflecting on the fragility of the country and trying to find hope amongst cruel destruction. Tom Cruise stars as a dock worker whose determination to protect his daughter and son never wavers in the face of otherworldly horror. Dakota Fanning, Justin Chatwin, Miranda Otto, and Tim Robbins co-star.

Screening on January 20 is A.I. Artificial Intelligence from 2001. Based on the short story “Supertoys Last All Summer Long,” the project was long in development under the direction of Stanley Kubrick. In the mid-’80s, Kubrick offered the film to Spielberg with Kubrick remaining on as producer. The film never came to fruition and was put on the backburner. After Kubrick died in 1999, Spielberg revived the project, delivering one of his best (and most underappreciated) works. David (Haley Joel Osment) is a Mecha, a humanoid robot capable of understanding love. Initially presented to a family whose son is catatonic; David is soon abandoned in a harsh world where Mechas are treated with repulsion and hunted for sport. He meets Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), a Mecha designed to deliver pleasure to paying customers. The two embark on a quest to meet the Blue Fairy, a being David is convinced will turn him human. This melancholy tale marks the start of Spielberg’s turn toward darker and slightly more ambiguous material; A.I., Minority Report, and War of the Worlds function as an unofficial “dark sci-fi trilogy.” Frances O’Connor, Brendan Gleeson, and William Hurt co-star.

Finally, the program ends on January 27 with the filmmaker’s mega-hit, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. The story of a lonely boy and his alien pal, E.T. conquered the planet in 1982, becoming the highest-grossing film in the world, a status it held onto until Spielberg released Jurassic Park eleven years later. 43 years later, the movie still touches the hearts of audiences. Henry Thomas stars alongside Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, and Peter Coyote.