Halls of Cinema

Posted on May 11, 2016 Updated on May 12, 2016

Halls of Cinema is a writing assignment that I give students of Intro to Film at Harper College in Palatine, IL. I ask them to submit a film that we should preserve for future generations and to keep an eye out for films that I may have overlooked for some reason or another.

These are the results from the Spring semester of 2016:

Shawshank Redemption – The Express – Pursuit of Happyness x 5 – 500 Days of Summer – Bajo La Misma Luna – Little Rascals – The Watchmen – The Breakfast Club – Rocky – Mulholland Drive – Gladiator – Chronicle – Walk the Line – Detachment – The Natural – Bridesmaids – The Notebook – Scarface x 3 – Dante 01 – Hurt Locker – The Dark Knight – The Force Awakens – Office Space x 2 – Django: Unchained x 3 – The Bucket List – The Prestige – Focus – Toy Story – Standford Prison Experiment – American Sniper – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas – Harold and Maude – Evil Dead 2 – Big Hero 6 – A New Hope – Moneyball – Million Dollar Baby – The Office (TV) – The Motivation – Avatar – Almost Famous – Tiny Times – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Pay it Forward – 2001: A Space Odyssey – A Goofy Movie – The Graduate x 2 – A Walk to Remember – Borat – Up – What’s Eating Gilbert Grape – Cloverfield – Step Brothers – Chicken Run – Donnie Darko – It’s a Wonderful Life – The Grand Budapest Hotel

Entry that I hadn’t seen yet: I haven’t been brave enough to watch The Boy in the Striped Pajamas but this student pushed me to seek it out.

Entry that I want to rewatch: This student had some cool theories about how Donnie Darko plays out that left me wondering whether I’d really seen the film at all.

Biggest Surprise: What is it about this semester that made 5 students write about Pursuit of Happyness? There are also students that chose this film for their Final Presentation.

Bonus Shout Out: Harper College Film Club took Second Place in the Reel Illinois Film Competition for their video about Anne’s Resale Shop in Rolling Meadows.