Gregory College House

The Film Culture Program at Gregory College House devotes itself to film-lovers of all sorts. A regular schedule of screenings covers the history of the medium and the scope of world cinema today. The program hosts faculty discussions on a variety of cinematic subjects, makes numerous excursions to Philadelphia film venues, and provides endless opportunity for participants to analyze, appraise and argue about film... ...whether The Seventh Seal or The Sixth Sense, La Grand Illusion or Gladiator, L'Avventura or The Lord of the Rings. The program is located in Van Pelt Manor, 3909 Spruce Street.

All Gregorians are welcome to join the Film Culture Program, which requires no time commitment. They will be added to the program listserve, and will receive postings concerning the semester film series, cinematic goings-on in the Philadelphia area, and other relevant tidbits. They will also receive information about exclusive film trips and advanced screenings. All members may post to the board, provided their notices are relevant to the program. Non-residents can petition to join fcp by writing the House Office at gch@pobox.upenn.edu.

For more information, please contact Lance, our Program Director.

Daily View

Weekly View

Monthly View

Check back soon for a list of upcoming events in the Film Culture Program.

FCP participants reside in Van Pelt Manor, 3909 Spruce Street, usually on the fourth floor. Room types are primarily quads, though doubles or singles may be available elsewhere in the building for upperclassmen. All residents, regardless of room type, have private bedroom space; all apartments have a private bathroom. Information on Penn's housing processes can be found at the Housing and Conference Services webpage.

Freshmen
Be sure to apply by the Housing Deadline, and list the code for FCP. There is no essay. Freshmen applicants will be assigned to the quad rooms closest to the Film Lounge on the fourth floor of Van Pelt. 4th floor occupants are almost entirely freshmen.

Returning Gregorians
Apply during the regular in-house process. Remember to list your
email address under "Film Culture," on the reverse of the application.

New Upperclassmen
Upperclassmen coming from other College Houses should fill out an "Application for New Program Participants" at the Van Pelt Manor Information Center; dates will be available on the Housing and
Conference Services website. Note that non-freshmen participants are not grouped together, but rather assigned anywhere in Gregory College House. That said, we will try to assign new FCP applicants together within quad or double rooms when possible.

Essential Resources

	Internet Movie Database The best online directory, an almost-always accurate source of information on films, directors, stars, etc, plus a solid glossary, news tidbits, and more.
	Penn’s Cinema Studies Program

Philadelphia Film Venues

	The Bridge Our long-in-the-coming mini-multiplex.
	Ritz Theatres Philly’s top-notch art-house chain.
	Philadelphia Film Festival/International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
	International House Right over on Chestnut street (by Sansom Place), offering a fine assortment of international releases and the occasional sneak preview.
	Secret Cinema Philadelphian Jay Schwartz screens classic films – often classic B-films – at various locales.
	Greater Philadelphia Film Office
	Prince Theater

Film Theory and Criticism

	Movie Review Query Engine The best way to find film reviews, both high- and low-brow.
	Rotten Tomatoes Offering a sampling of reviews for all the new releases.
	MetaCritic Ditto.
	Cinemarati Most exclusively online film "critics" are not worth consulting; the best ones belong to this "roundtable."
	Gerard Peary Noted Boston film critic, offers reviews, interviews, essays and the eclectic, indispensable "100 Films for Film Literacy."
	Roger Ebert The world’s most recognizable critic, famous for his television programs.
	Senses of Cinema An excellent online journal.
	Sight and Sound Britain’s top film monthly, with an excellent links page.
	American Film Institute Devoted to the preservation and study of film, but mostly known for all those debate-provoking top-100 lists.
	Metaphilm Opinionated film analysis.
	Slant Magazine Ditto.
	Reverse Shot Online
	Film Blather Film criticism from Gregory alumnus Eugene Novikov.
	Cineaste Magazine Film interpretation with a political slant.
	Cinema-Scope International films.

Industry/Professional Information

	Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
	Writers Guild of America
	Creative Planet Communities A ring of sites devoted to various technical crafts.
	Indiewire The industry outside the Industry.
	Director’s Guild of America
	Dogme 95 A filmmaking collective (Breaking the Waves director Lars Von Trier is the most famous member) that claims to eschew Hollywood’s high gloss.

Getting Started in Film

	Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Film School Some advice from the fast-working, low-spending director of El Mariachi and the Spy Kids films.
	The Mad Screenwriter Easing the mind of would-be Tarantino’s everywhere; excellent source of links to all sorts of cinematic resources.
	The Dirty Dozen More tips on getting started on that screenplay.
	filmmaking.net Useful technical and other nuts-n-bolts info.

Graduate Programs

	NYU
	USC
	Temple University
	UCLA

Film News

	Movie City News
	Greencine Daily

Box Office Data/Statistics

	Box Office Guru
	Box Office Mojo

Gossip and Silly Stuff

	Film Threat Nasty-hip commentary.
	Dark Horizons
	Ain’t It Cool News Harry Knowles’s infamous gossip-mongering, fanboy heaven, where any nutcase has his say on the talkbacks; the nadir of American film discourse, and sometimes a lot of fun.

Lists

	The granddaddy of all film lists, Sight and Sound, compiled every ten years by critics and directors: http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/
	100 Years, 100 Movies: The best-known of the American Film Institute’s increasingly pointless catalogues of mostly the same (American) films. http://www.afi.com/Docs/tvevents/pdf/movies100.pdf
	The British Film Institute also takes a crack at THEIR 100 best films: http://www.bfi.org.uk/features/bfi100/1-10.html
	“They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They,” A massive list of 1,000 indispensable films: http://www.theyshootpictures.com/gf1000.htm
	TIME magazine’s list of the 100 greatest films: http://www.time.com/time/2005/100movies/the_complete_list.html
	EMPIRE magazine provides a FAR less pretentious take on lists: Overall: http://www.filmsite.org/empireuk100.html
	Another EMPIRE Magazine list: 50 Independents: http://www.empireonline.com/features/50greatestindependent/50-41.asp
	Jim Emerson’s great list of “102 Movies You Must See Before You Die”: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060420/EDITOR/60419010
	Critics Top Tens: Useful site that tabulates the most critically acclaimed films of each year: http://www.criticstop10.net/
	The 100 Best Screenplays of all time, voted by the Writer’s Guild of America: http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=1807
	The Oscar Choices for Best Picture: http://www.filmsite.org/bestpics3.html
	And lastly: An excellent discussion of lists and canons in general: http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/01/14/light_my_fire.html

Copyright © 2008 Gregory College House
College Houses and Academic Services at the University of Pennsylvania
Van Pelt Manor: 3909 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Class of 25: 3941 Irving Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
House Office (127 Van Pelt): (215) 573-5171
Info Center (Van Pelt Lobby): (215) 898-5202
gch at pobox.upenn.edu
This page was last updated on: 03/30/2008
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