Monday, December 3, 2007

Wednesday, December 5

DocUquarium Series – last screening of the year!!
Don’t forget to viisit the DocUquarium blog at http://docuquarium.groups.vox.com/.

UWM Union Theater
7h30pm *FREE*
An Unreasonable Man
(Henriette Mantel and Steve Skrovan, USA, 122 min, 2006)

Guest David Bollier, former Nader Raider and interviewee, in person!



In 1966, General Motors, the most powerful corporation in the world, sent private investigators to dig up dirt on an obscure thirty-two year old public interest lawyer named Ralph Nader, who had written a book critical of one of their cars, the Corvair. The scandal that ensued after the revelation of this smear campaign launched Ralph Nader into national prominence and established him as one of the most admired Americans and the leader of the modern Consumer Movement. Over the next thirty years and without ever holding public office, Nader built a legislative record that is the rival of any contemporary president. Many things consumers take for granted such as seat belts, airbags and product labeling are largely due to the efforts of Ralph Nader and his citizen groups. Cast as a "spoiler candidate" in the 2000 presidential election, he has become a pariah even among former friends and allies. How did this happen? An Unreasonable Man traces the life and career of Ralph Nader, one of the most unique, important, and controversial political figures of the past half century.

Guest David Bollier is a former Nader Raider featured in the film, and he's an author, journalist and a Senior Fellow at University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communication. A co-founder of Public Knowledge, he advocates for the public domain, especially in the digital realm. He's written several books, including Silent Theft, about the privatization of things that belong to the public, from the sky to seeds to our genes — The Commons.

The film will be screened again at Discovery World on Dec. 6 (see details bellow).

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Basement Cinema
Mitchell Hall - Room B91

Basement Cinema is a student-run series of B and unusual commercial movies.
More information at http://basementcinema.wordpress.com
This week: A question that seems to perplex America is “What would happen if a black man entered a white man’s world.” And who better than Hollywood to address such a quandary.

8pm *FREE*
The Things with Two Heads
(Lee Frost, 1972, 93 minutes)



A rich, white bigot is about to die, but he’s got plan. He hopes to graft his head onto another’s body. The problem is the only available candidate is a black man from death row. Ray Milland stars as the bigot and former pro football player Rosey Greer stars as the body. Together they form a bickering odd couple thrown into a series of wild events that play up their racial differences and the comical image of Ray Milland’s head sitting atop Rosey’s shoulders.

10pm *FREE*
Change of Mind
(Robert Stevens, 1969, 98 minutes)



A film so rare in the US we had to get our copy from overseas! Come see a white man’s brain transplanted into a black man’s body. Once David Rowe’s brain is moved into the skull of a black man doctor’s, law officials, even his own wife start to question who David is. Is David a white man with a black man’s body or a black man with a white man’s brain? Even David is unsure of who he is especially when old friends change their attitude towards the new David, even allowing him to become the victim of racism. Made during a moment of high racial tensions in the US, Change of Mind calls into question what makes a man. Duke Ellington’s music provides the score to this film that was a bit ‘a head’ of its time.