God Bless The Ross

I’m sure that most folks probably don’t consider Lincoln, Nebraska to be a powerhouse when it comes to world and arthouse cinema. Fortunately, we’ve got an ace up our sleeve: the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center. Every time I’m feeling a little blue, a little bummed that I’m not going to get a chance to see, on the big screen, those films that folks are discussing on Twitch, GreenCine Daily, and Arts & Faith, The Ross comes through for me. And this time, it’s come through in two big ways.

On April 27, The Ross will start a two-week showing of Bong Joon-ho’s The Host, aka “The Biggest Movie In The History Of South Korea.” I caught a midnight screening of The Host at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and absolutely loved it (my review).

The Host has it all — great characters, intense action, slimy monsters — and proves once again that Korean cinema has an uncanny ability to throw multiple genres together — cult, horror, comedy, action, drama, etc. — and still end up with a compelling and exciting experience. The fact that I get to see it again (and again) on the big screen in just a few weeks has me positively giddy. (And hopefully, this means that The Ross will start showing a few more cult/genre films from time to time.)

You can watch the trailer here.

The second film I’m excited about, Into Great Silence, couldn’t be further from The Host in terms of subject matter. A three-hour-long documentary about a remote Catholic monastery and the monks who live there, Into Great Silence has been garnering much praise from many folks I’ve come to respect, including Jeffrey Overstreet and Steven Greydanus. And Christianity Today has just posted this glowing review, where Brandon Fibbs concludes:

You are aware, while watching, of just how much you have and just how much you lack; of the omnipresence of the divine in the most mundane of activities; of the pervasive majesty of the natural world utterly squelched by our urban lives; of the inspiration these men arouse. To watch this film is to be humbled. To watch this film is to be in awe. Into Great Silence is a transformative theatrical experience, a spiritual encounter, an exercise in contemplation and introspection, a profound meditation on what it means to give oneself totally and completely, reserving nothing, to God.

Into Great Silence begins playing at The Ross on June 8 and will be there for two weeks. You can watch the trailer here.

The complete list of movies coming to The Ross in the next few months can be seen here.

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