As most students know, last week a little movie known as "Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day" arrived on campus. Many were surprised at the appearance of a wide release movie coming to campus and being shown for free in the Browning Cinema, one on the nicest theatres in the state of Indiana. But hey, it's a movie about Irish Catholics. This is an Irish Catholic university, why shouldn't they be here?
But the "Boondock Saints" premier was actually part of a series that the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center (DPAC) and the Student Union Board (SUB) have decided to play throughout the year. It will give students something to do as the weather turns cold and the campus looks to be north of the Arctic Circle where even the penguins don't live.
DPAC and SUB are working with big name studios and even some smaller independent film companies in an effort to bring premieres of all types to campus. Ideally, there will be a film every Tuesday with student ticket pick-up on the same day, similar to the Boondock set up. Realistically though, it will be closer to every other week as the program gets rolling.
The event was first set in motion with a screening of "The Fourth Kind" on Nov. 3. Many have seen the sidewalk chalk on the pavement leading to the greatest dining hall on campus, South Dining Hall. The film was well attended, encouraging the head honchos to try for something a little newer and possibly more popular.
What resulted was the mishegas that was the arrival of Troy Duffy, Sean Patrick Flannery and "Boondock Saints II." The campus was abuzz with talk of the premier, the Facebook faithful were aroused with the creation of a group and the line for tickets was longer than the 200-seat capacity by 10:45 a.m. for tickets that weren't slated to be distributed until noon. Needless to say DPAC and SUB had a hit on their hands.
The enthusiastic response of the campus was a great encouragement and something tangible that could be shown to studios possibly interested in also taking advantage of the unique opportunity to show sneak previews at the University of Notre Dame. So cross your fingers and buckle up for what DPAC has in store as we close this semester and begin another, colder one. There is no word yet as to what the next cinematic sensation will be, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say probably the next James Cameron or Martin Scorsese film. One can hope.
The movies shown at DPAC can be expected to be from smaller studios as the movie series continues to build momentum, but with continued support and enthusiasm from the student body, expect to see larger studios and bigger name titles arrive on campus. Come on, how hard is it to get excited about a free movie that you get to see before any of your friends back home can even think about buying tickets? Get excited, keep your ear to the grindstone and wait to see who DPAC can hook us up with next.
