Auteur Film Festival: "Lolita"

The stars have been used to navigate and tell stories historically, but these days, when living in the city, they can go completely unnoticed.

The Physical Science Department is hosting a telescope night on Monday, Nov. 27, from sunset to 10:30 p.m. in the veranda outside the Planetarium in the Center for Sciences building.

Telescope Night is a free event and open to the public. Guests will observe a range of objects in the sky through motorized telescopes with built-in GPS systems.

Dale Fields, the Physical and Planetary Sciences Department chair, is organizing Telescope Night along with a few astronomy student tutors. Fields said guests will have a view of the moon, a few galaxies, several planets and glass clouds that light up as new stars are born within them.

Fields said the motorized telescopes allow guests to name the planet they want to look at, and then it points right to it for viewers to enjoy.

“You are not just seeing some fantasy drawn up on a laptop. You are seeing that the moon has some geography to it, that it’s got

Astronomy tutor Joshua Becker is helping set up and align all the telescopes. He said it is important to have good weather conditions to see the moon and other deep sky objects clearly.

“The stars of the show will be the moon in its waxing gibbous phase, the andromeda galaxy, the orion nebula and much more,” Becker said.

Becker said anyone should attend these events to experience and view the universe from a different perspective.

“It’s not often we can actually connect with our place in the cosmos, especially living in the city. You look up at night and you’re lucky to see just a few stars, and you forget that there’s an entire living universe out there,” Becker said.

Marielle Stober, an astronomy tutor, has been participating in Telescope Nights for a few years and said everyone in the department wants to spread interest about the subject.

“There’s such a lack of enthusiasm when it comes to physical sciences because they are hard, so everyone is intimidated by it,” Stober said. “We want students to take astronomy classes because they want to, not because they have to.”

Stober said people can see galaxies and the birth and evolution of a star or planet by looking through a telescope.

Aside from the sights through the lens, Stober knows what else people will see Monday.

“A bunch of the tutors just nerding out. You’ll know that person is a tutor if they are freaking out and geeking out over what they are seeing,” said Stober.

Screening and panel take a look into the mind of Kubrick

JESSICA VAUGHAN Reporter @JVaughanRoundup

A half-full audience with differing opinions gathered their snacks and sat in front of a black and white screen to watch an old film present timely ideas.

The recent Hollywood controversy about sexual misconduct made Stanley Kubrick’s “Lolita” (1962) an interesting film to play because it depicts an adult man lusting for the young daughter of his new wife.

Philosophy instructor Melanie Mcquitty and English instructor Brad Saenz coordinated the Auteur Film Festival to present auteur filmmakers. Auteurs make a film their own through an individualized style and approach to filmmaking.

This was the second installment of the Auteur Film Festival, the first was a showing of David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” (1986).

“Lolita” is based on Vladimir Nabokov’s novel. He and Kubrick wrote the screenplay of this 1961 adaptation.

“One of the things that made this film so great is what Kubrick and Nabokov did to satisfy the censors. The book is far more explicit,” Mcquitty said.

Mcquitty said that it is up to the consumer to figure out some of the sexual references that were alluded to in the film.

“That is part of what makes this ‘Kubrick’ to me,” Mcquitty said.

A panel discussion following the film was led by Mcquitty.

Panelists Saens and Chris Corning, an assistant professor of English, answered Mcquitty’s questions about the film and had a discussion with the audience once the panel opened for questions.

Corning said that these events provide an opportunity to get people to look at older films.

“As someone who grew up not wanting to watch films made before I was born, it is always cool to see people coming in to watch films that are more 50 years old. We are still looking at them, talking about them and engaging in a meaningful way with them,” Corning said. “It’s great to see students get excited about that.”

Once the panel opened the floor for audience questions and discussion, attendants vocally expressed their confusion and disgust with the story. Many said the main character was pitiful and worthy of sympathy. Conflicting opinions were discussed during the panel.

Corning said he liked listening to the students’ questions, and their input made him think about aspects of the film he hadn’t considered in a while.

“It was interesting to see what issues the students walked away with from the film,” Corning said.

Humanities major Jesse Monterroso only attended the panel discussion for “Blue Velvet,” but she thought it was a better experience to watch “Lolita” and participate in the discussion.

Monterroso said that hearing opinions from people who have experience analyzing films gave him a different insight about “Lolita.”

He said that listening to the film panel has made him consider paying attention to detail when watching films to get to the root of the meaning and the symbolism.

Monterroso said the panel discussion was informative, educational and exciting.

“The knowledge that you are gaining, and being able to use critical thinking skills when you dissect movies is beneficial,” Monterroso said.

Mcquitty said that the auteur theme will be kept for the film festivals next semester. Alfred Hitchcock and Pedro Almodóvar will be two auteur filmmakers showcased next semester.