Each week, Spectator associate A&E editor and film buff Stefan Countryman recommends and reviews a favorite pre-2000 movie for your viewing pleasure. Each film is available for checkout from our very own Butler Media Reserves, so distant cinemas and tight budgets won’t hold you back from enjoying these classics. Stefan advocates sneaking into an unused lecture hall to turn on the projector and watch a great flick on a big screen—all without leaving campus or spending a dime! (Popcorn optional.)
After much deliberation, I chose Giuseppe Tornatore’s 1988 classic, Cinema Paradiso, for the first installation of this series. Paradiso (circulating call number: DVD17362; non-circulating call number: DVD0177) is a movie about why we love cinema, what movies mean to us, and why cinema is worthwhile. In some sense, explaining why I love this movie explains what this whole series is about.
The story follows Salvatore, affectionately called “Toto," through his childhood in the Sicilian village of Giancaldo. He spends every night in the local theater (the titular Cinema Paradiso) watching movies and bothering the projectionist, Alfredo. The two become best friends, and Toto goes on to become a famous director.
