They tried to warn us, but the lesson didn’t take.
Released in 2006, writer-director Mike Judge’s Idiocracy was offloaded into theaters and damn near buried by distributor 20th Century Fox. In another world, Idiocracy would have come and gone with a few chuckles and plenty of groans. But then two decades of life passed, and the silly satire proved prescient — particularly the character played by Terry Crews, entertainer turned president Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho.
Idiocracy — which will open the International Film Series’ spring 2025 calendar on Jan. 23 — is still funny and plenty cringy (maybe even more so than when it came out in 2006), but there’s an awful lot here that will draw some painful parallels, particularly when you consider the other significant event scheduled that week.
Idiocracy isn’t the only satire on the calendar this season — The Naked Gun screens April 1, clever — but it does stand out in IFS’ usual slate of international, independent and award-winning picks. Oscar hopeful Anora screens on 35 mm on Jan. 27, with 2021’s Best Picture winner CODA on Jan. 30. And starting Feb. 7, this year’s nominees in the Oscar Shorts categories (Animation, Documentary and Live Action) will also grace IFS’ screen.
Also of note is week-long programming devoted to Black History Month, Feb. 20-28 (don’t miss Leslie Harris’ vibrant Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.); documentaries, March 14-19 (featuring Porcelain War from local producer Paula DuPré Pesmen); animation, April 2-6; and the 25th anniversary of Y2K, April 22-28 (if you haven’t seen Kinji Fukasaku’s rambunctious hybrid of sensationalized violence, high school emotions and reality TV in Battle Royale, here’s your chance).
There are more than 50 programs to choose from this season, including Funny Girl (March 20) and Stop Making Sense (April 11), both of which are bound to send you out into the world singing. I have a feeling we’re gonna need it.
ON SCREEN: CU International Film Series. Jan. 23 through April 30, CU Boulder, 1905 Colorado Ave. Pricing and full schedule at internationalfilmseries.com.