ECCENTRIC CINEMA

A cyborg federal agent questions her place in the human world. A brilliant college student finds himself duped into creating a powerful weapon for the American government. An average man turns into a weapon made of flesh and steel when his son is kidnapped. A film producer develops a fascination with a cult-like group who fetishize car accidents. Eccentric Cinema presents all that plus The Room this May!

Screening on May 3 is Mamoru Oshii’s 1995 anime cyberpunk odyssey, Ghost in the Shell. A major influence on the Wachoski’s The Matrix, Ghost tells the story of Major Motoko Kusanagi, a cyber security officer who is on the hunt for a dangerous hacker nicknamed the Puppet Master. In a world where cybernetic augmentation has become a reality, the Puppet Master is able to hack into the minds of average citizens and control them, forcing them to commit violent acts. As Motoko gets closer and closer to capturing the terrorist, she takes stock of her existence, wondering if the augmentation has removed all traces of humanity within her, uncertain of whether the Puppet Master represents a new step in evolution or the destruction of humankind.

Tommy Wiseau’s The Room screens May 10. If you have not experienced The Room at the Drexel, you don’t know what you’re missing. The loyal fans have created their own live experience à la The Rocky Horror Picture Show. They’re always excited to indoctrinate newbies into the cult of Wiseau. A Drexel tradition for 16 years, The Room is a gonzo masterpiece.

We salute the late Val Kilmer on May 17 when we screen his 1985 comedy, Real Genius. Kilmer stars as Chris Knight, a college rebel with a brilliant mind who befriends incoming freshman Mitch Taylor (Gabriel Jarret), a 15-year-old savant who’s nervous about entering the adult world. Knight teaches the kid to lighten up, party, have fun, but never forget to study. The boys wind up working on a secret project run by the snooty and duplicitous Professor Hathaway (William Atherton), who has been contracted by the U.S. military to create a powerful laser cannon. When Knight and Mitch discover what their work has developed, they flip the script on Hathaway and try to stop the weapon from falling into the wrong hands. Jon Gries and Michelle Meyrink co-star.

The first Tetsuo movie was so popular back in March that we’re bringing you more metal machine mayhem on May 24 when we screen Tetsuo II: Body Hammer! When skinheads kidnap his son, a quiet salaryman named Tomoo (Tomorowo Taguchi, star of the original film) undergoes a radical transformation into a metal beast as he seeks revenge on the kidnappers. With a bigger budget and color film stock, director Shinya Tsukamoto ups the carnage and surrealism, expanding upon the original picture’s fear of an increasingly soulless industrial world. If you loved Tetsuo: The Iron Man, you are going to go gaga for Tetsuo II.

Closing out the month is David Cronenberg’s wildly controversial 1996 film, Crash. Hated by both billionaire media mogul Ted Turner and filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, Cronenberg’s adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s 1973 novel scandalized critics and audiences, earning the rare NC-17 rating and prompting incredible outrage. James Spader stars as James Ballard, a film producer in an open marriage with his wife Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger). After surviving a gruesome car crash, James and Catherine are introduced to a dangerous underground spectacle where a small group of obsessives re-enact the car crash deaths of celebrities. The couple fall under the spell of the group’s leader, Vaughn (Elias Koteas), who pulls them further into a world where eroticism and violence are intertwined. PLEASE NOTE: Due to the film’s NC-17 rating, no one under 18 will be admitted. No exceptions.