Movie Madness University (MMU), a film and television appreciation program of the Hollywood Theatre, in the Movie Madness Miniplex on SE Belmont St., has two classes available in August. The four-week It Couldn’t Happen Here: Horror Movies in the Suburbs class kicks off Thursday, August 6, 6:30 pm. Through the lens of four films, the class will examine how horror movies based in the suburbs differ from those set in rural and urban milieus. The suburbs scream safety. They were designed to encourage conformity, separate social classes and promote consumerism. The suburbs exist to beat back the evils of the inner city and keep the horrors of the country at bay. Yet, look beneath the veneer, peel back the layers of purported safety and you will see that the suburbs aren’t immune to their own special brand of awfulness and evil. Taught by David Harris, a member of the Portland Critics Association, film studies teacher at Northwest Academy and writer for Spectrum Culture and SPIN, the class meets weekly through August 27. Cost: $75 members, $90 non-members.
For those looking for a quickie, there’s the single-session Shadows at Noon Sunday, August 23, 12 pm. Spend an afternoon with celebrated writer, film historian, host of Turner Classic Movies Noir Alley and founder/president of the Film Noir Foundation, Eddie Muller. The class will be so steeped in shadows that the name of the film to be screened isn’t being announced. Suffice it to say, if you’re going to spend an afternoon in the dark, who better to spend it with than Muller? Cost: $18 members, $22 non-members.
Visit moviemadness.org/movie-madness-university to reserve your seat before the 18-person limit per class is reached.