First of four classes: 4 Mondays, 1/5/2026 – 2/2/2026, no class 1/19/2026 From the beginning of film, producers and directors have sought the works of the past to inspire their own. At first glance, that might seem obvious–a story is a story, and we’ve always had our favorites. But in this class, we’ll look at […]
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” But what does that mean when it comes to what may be the most prolific fictional character on screen? From 1908 to 2025, Holmes has appeared on screens big and small over 250 times. The character affords a wide variety of […]
4 Fridays, 2/6/2026 – 2/27/2026 Horror, as a genre, has often been dismissed as low-brow, inexpensive, or sensationalist fare. But in spite of, or perhaps because of, this dismissal, the history of horror is also a history of what we, as a society, fear. In this class, we’ll take a look at how our concerns […]
The first commercial film to use sound, 1927’s The Jazz Singer, was in a sense a musical. Why did movies sing almost before they could talk, and what have movie musicals meant to pop culture over the past hundred years? Are they merely escapist fluff, or can they offer commentary along the way?
From Tugboat Annie to Sleepless in Seattle to Fifty Shades of Grey, Seattle has a long history as a place to set a story, film a story, or even both! We’ll talk about the legacy Seattle has left on film, what it says about our city, what it leaves out, and share our favorites. Whether […]
4 Mondays, 10/19/2026 – 11/9/2026 @ 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Movies express society’s hopes, fears, values, conflicts, and dreams. Film offers a deeper understanding of the culture that produced it. We will introduce you to the language of cinema and explore how filmmakers use image, editing, sound, performance, genre, and narrative to create meaning. […]
Lon Chaney’s The Phantom of the Opera just turned 100. This Halloween, we’ll look back at how Universal turned a couple of Victorian novels into a genre juggernaut and revisit the origins of Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, and all their descendants. Why was this type of story so successful in the […]
