Aside from rare, and phenomenal, rock concerts and Brian Baumgartner's enduring love, SMU occasionally provides more than mere amusement to the greater D-FW area. Scratch that: They're pretty on-point when it comes to hosting great arts and culture events.
This time, they're bringing in Oscar-winning film director John G. Avildsen, the American hero behind Rocky, The Karate Kid, and 8 Seconds, for a lecture on April 22.
That's actually a fairly incomplete list of the still-working 79-year-old's accomplishments. Anyone who's seen the original Rocky will not be surprised that Avildsen works best in the figurative medium of "the underdog." In fact, last year a successful Kickstarter raised $30,000 to fund a documentary called John G. Avildsen: King of the Underdogs, currently in production. There's lots more information here.
At best, Avildsen's films garner Oscar nods or wins by depicting gritty urban worlds populated by restless war veterans who neither understand nor accept contemporary values and whose reactionary choices often lead to violence and tragedy. At worst, they star Jean-Claude Van Damme and receive 0 percent ratings on Rotten Tomatoes. But, hey, that's something special in its own way.
While it may be hard for working stiffs to make it to the campus at 4 p.m. on a Wednesday, the talk is both free and open to the public. The presentation also features a discussion of his current project, Nate and Al, which a statement describes as a feature film about "an elderly wisecracking Holocaust survivor who decides 60 years after the war to kidnap the Nazi criminal who killed his family."
Tory Winkelman, Director of Communications at SMU's Meadows School of the Arts, said the lecture hall holds about 100 people and many students will be attending, so she recommends those unaffiliated with the university arrive early to secure a spot.
Need a primer? Check out these scenes from iconic and cult-classic films Avildsen directed.
Rocky (1976): Rocky flies high, inspiring all workouts for the rest of time.
Joe (1970): The dad from Everyone Loves Raymond, aka Young Frankenstein's monster, hates hippies. Like, murder-hates them. And, he's a really bad influence. (Contains NSFW language)
Karate Kid (1984): Fool you once, shame on Mr. Miyagi. Fool you twice, you're just dumb.
8 Seconds (1994): Tuff rides 16 seconds for Lane. *audience sobs inconsolably*
Save the Tiger (1973): Jack Lemmon levies one huckuva mid-life crises against the younger generation (again, hippies ... ew), parlaying his character's perceived death of the American Dream into a Best Actor Academy Award.
BONUS -- Inferno (aka Desert Heat, (1999): While considered a lesser entry in the Avildsen canon, Inferno features Jean-Claude Van Damme, Johnny Trejo, some actor named Shark, and Pat Morita -- with a hillbilly accent. That, in and of itself, is worth your hate-watch.