While you may have had your fill of gawking at celebrities after the frenzied sweep of presidential candidates coming through this week, make sure you pencil in one more star for later this month. Call it your antidote to all the stumping, or just blatant hero-worship for the children of the Clinton Nineties, but you cannot miss Kevin Bacon's appearance in Spaulding Auditorium when The Dartmouth Film Society awards him the Dartmouth film award on Jan. 25.
The man whose Hollywood career began with the Dartmouth-inspired comedy "Animal House" will receive the society's annual award. In the past this award has gone to artists such as Johnny Depp, Meryl Streep, Sydney Lumet and Ang Lee. In recent years, however, few actors have been given the award. Dartmouth Film Society Director Bailey Massey '08 said the choice is intended to help win back attention for DFS programming.
The Film Society's hope is to inspire more students to attend the films that comprise both the Film Society and Loew series this winter. Massey pointed out that in recent years, the combined influences of online downloads and Netflix have made movie-going less popular. She hopes the star's visit to campus to receive the award will spark interest and reverse this trend.
Though many know Bacon through his roles in "Footloose" (1984), "Apollo 13" (1995) and "Mystic River" (2003), his career has extended beyond acting.
As Massey observes, "he's just a multi-talented guy and we're excited to have him."
Bacon sings and tours as a member of the band Bacon Brothers, directed the 2006 film "Loverboy" and directs the TNT drama series "The Closer," which stars his wife, Kyra Sedgwick.
He has also founded the online charity initiative at SixDegrees.org. SixDegrees allows users to either donate to the causes of their favorite celebrity philanthropists, or to start funds of their own for which they become the online spokespeople. Parade Magazine and the Case Foundation have promised to contribute major funding to the most popular charities on Six Degrees.
The website embraces the pop culture theory that every actor can be connected to Kevin Bacon through six degrees of separation, making use of the joke that has made the actor a household name. The site's most popular celebrities include Jessica Simpson, Hilary Duff and Ted Danson in addition to Bacon himself.
The Film Society hopes Bacon's popularity will call attention to the group's featured film series at Dartmouth this winter. As part of the Film Society's own series, they will be showing an eclectic group of films, united by the theme, "The Class Divide," every Wednesday and Sunday in Spaulding Auditorium. The films -- which include newer selections such as this year's "Juno," "Atonement" and "There Will Be Blood" -- range across decades and genres. The series will feature classics such as John Ford's "The Grapes of Wrath" (1940), foreign films like "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" (1964), and the generation-defining "Clueless" (1995).
As Massey explains it, "The new films are the foundation, then we fill it in with foreign, documentary, silent and classic films, in an effort to entertain viewers and to stimulate thought.
The series' themes are chosen by the Film Society's members, who individually draft potential programs and then vote on the selections with the input of faculty members.
Loew theatre will offer both the Thursday night "Reel Life" documentary series showing films such as this 2007's "Darfur Now" and "My Kid Could Paint That," as well as a series of recent art-house films on Saturday nights, including "Lars and the Real Girl," and "Love in the Time of Cholera."
Dartmouth Film Society sells passes for both series, which cost $12 for Dartmouth I.D. holders. The passes are good for 26 films, including double- and triple-features.
