Music, culture meet the movies

Suzie Harrison

A glimpse into the life of an influential jazz musician, the

Rolling Stones in their prime, New York City’s explosive music and

art scene of 1980 and 1981 and a look at the DJ phenomenon are all

sewn together by the thread that is usually the beat of existence to

most college students -- music.

That’s what UCI Film Society’s Film Festival is bringing to the

big screen this month with “Funk, Punk & Monk: Music on Film.” Every

Friday night this month, a different music related film will play,

including “Gimme Shelter,” “Straight, No Chaser: Thelonious Monk,”

“Downtown 81” and “Scratch.”

“This particular series of films are films you wouldn’t

necessarily be able to get at Blockbuster or see anywhere else,”

festival co-producer James Huerta said. “It’s a great series of films

that showcase different types of music.”

On Jan. 17, “Straight No Chaser: Thelonious Monk” will play. The

movie is a look into the life, music and mind of maverick jazz

pianist and composer Thelonious Sphere Monk. This portrait of the

composer depicts Monk in the studio, on and off stage and gets into

his personality and his playing style that makes him a legend. It was

shot in 1968 and produced by Clint Eastwood.

Showing Jan. 24 is the 1989 film “Downtown 81” by Charlotte

Zwerin. This movie is about Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-88), who

starred in the movie at age 19. It’s about his legend as a painter,

graffiti artist, poet and musician. It has been described as a “lost”

film that vividly depicts the downtown New York art and music scene

of 1980-81. The cast includes Deborah Harry, Kid Creole and the

Coconuts, James White and the Blacks, DNA, the Plastics and more.

The final film, on Jan. 31, is “Scratch,” a 2001 film by Doug

Pray.

It tells the true stories of musical artists who use vinyl and

turntables as their instruments. It looks into the DJ scene spectrum,

from breaks, beats, hip-hop and other subcultures in the scene. The

film spans its origins in the 70s in the South Bronx, New York to San

Francisco today. “Scratch” features interviews and performances by

Afrika Bambaataa, the Invisible Scratch Pickles, Yoga Frog, DJ

Q-Bert, Mix Master Mike and other innovators of the music.

The UCI Film Society is a student-run organization that started in

1978 to bring quality films to UCI for large-screen viewing.

“We got together titles that mainly appeal to the youth, which

surfaces around college campuses,” said co-producer Doug Hodapp a

graduate student. “‘Scratch’ is about the current DJ culture and

closely masks the student population.”

The films on Jan. 17 and Jan. 31 -- “Straight No Chaser:

Thelonious Monk” and “Scratch,” respectively -- will be shown at the

UCI Student Center Crystal Cove Auditorium. The Jan. 24 film,

“Downtown 81,” will be shown in the humanities instructional

building, Room 100.

All showings are at 7 and 9 p.m. Tickets cost $3 for UCI students,

$4 for UCI faculty and non-UCI students and $5 general admission. For

information, call (949) 824-5588 or go online to

www.filmsociety.uci.edu.

In addition to Huerta and Hodapp, Tom Feimer and Tim Holland are

co-producers of the UCI Film Society.