Most Northwestern kids have never visited the Block Museum of Art; some don’t even know where it is. This is unfortunate, especially for cinephiles: the Museum’s even lesser known Block Cinema program has something for everyone, regardless of one’s interest (or lack thereof) in art. The Block Cinema, operating most weekends separately from the museum, shows both classic and contemporary films to any type of audience. Like most art-house cinemas, The Block shows a healthy number of classics, often free to NU students. Last year it screened Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and this winter, Casablanca. Although it is always a treat to see an old favorite on the big screen, there are plenty of places for that in Chicago. You can head to the Music Box, the Gene Siskel Film Center, down to Doc Films – heck, even A&O shows perennial favorites. But instead of catering solely to public taste, The Block attempts to subtly expand its audiences’ horizons with well-loved but largely forgotten films. This winter it showed “Gems From the Pre-Code Era”, a series about the short period in the early thirties before formal censorship crashed the party. It depicts a time when James Cagney smashed a grapefruit into his girlfriend’s face out of pure spite, and Tarzan’s Jane goes for a long, cheekily photographed swim buck naked. They also show little-known, little-seen new films. While this may seem like a waste of time to the average filmgoer, the selections are often unlike anything you’ve ever seen. This fall I saw a film at The Block called The Turin Horse that lasted two and a half hours and consisted largely of two horrifically poor farmers eating boiled potatoes. Granted, it was not the most exciting film experience ever – the old lady in front of me checked the time on her cell phone every 10 minutes – but barely a meal has gone by during which I haven’t thought how lucky I am to have more than one item in my diet. Block has the advantage of not only being on our home turf, but having an audience that is not composed exclusively of film snobs. As I watched the crowd come in last Thursday for Godard’s Vivre Sa Vie, a cheerful older woman with bright red lipstick to match her bright red glasses commented, “Ya just hear so much about this Gah-derd fella that we thought we should go check it out!” My point is not that she was ignorant, but that it is often more fun to watch a movie with an audience full of normal people than those who take themselves (and sometimes the film) way too seriously. So go check out a program at The Block this weekend. Tomorrow night it is continuing its “Film Criticism in Focus” series with a discussion between eminent local film critics about their potentially dying medium. Last year, the topics included what made Saw an admirable film series. I, personally, can’t wait. -Britta Hanson