Cult classics at the Palm
May 1, 2008 12:43 pm comedy
Any doubts about the future of the Palm Theatre’s brand-new series, Palm Wednesday, were settled last night.
The one-time-only screening of “Trainspotting” was packed.
As you might guess given the subject matter (young heroin addicts in Edinburgh), “Trainspotting” isn’t for everyone. Dialogue is spoken in the thickest of Scottish brogues and laden with obscenities. Characters are morally suspect and, at times, shockingly cavalier about their misdeeds. And the plot? It’s downright depressing.
No wonder “Trainspotting” is a cult classic.
Watching the movie once more on the big screen, I was reminded just how darkly brilliant Danny Boyle’s movie is.
Written and shot with gritty realism, it’s at times desperate and desperately comical.
What other movie would find its junkie protagonist (Ewan McGregor, more grunge than glam) swimming through the foulest toilet in Scotland to rescue drugs, or hallucinating about a dead baby crawling on the ceiling? That’s modern-day absurdity at its finest.
The Palm Wednesday series continues May 7 with “Billabong Odyssey,” an adrenaline-charged sports doc about big-wave surfing.
Personally, I’m more excited about the winsome, whimsical “Amelie,” which screens May 14.
“The Big Lebowski” (strange, funny) screens May 21, followed by “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” (strangely funny) on May 28.
It should be a fun month at the movies.
***
Check out the Palm Wednesday series, 7 p.m. every Wednesday at The Palm Theatre, 817 Palm St. in San Luis Obispo. Tickets are $7.50, and a season pass is available.
Photo above courtesy of MovieWeb.com.
