The director of such gigantic hits as The Blues Brothers, Coming to America and Trading Places used to be one of Hollywood's highest-profile commercial filmmakers. But it's been a while since the words "A John Landis Film" graced movie screens, so no one would blame you if you assumed Landis had retired.
But Landis is alive and well and still working steadily, mostly on television now, recently having directed episodes of Showtime's Masters of Horror (a show that hasn't lived up to its potential, but is still a guilty pleasure of mine) and the USA Network's Psych, as well as the HBO documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project.
Landis, who also happens to be a great raconteur, will be at the Bill Cosford Cinema on the University of Miami campus at 7 p.m. Friday for a Q&A session with the audience in between screenings of two of his best-known films: An American Werewolf in London, which was one of the first movies to successfully mix horror and comedy (and which I saw at least three times at the old Westchester Twin Cinema, successfully sneaking past ushers each time, since I wasn't old enough to see R-rated films on my own); and Animal House, arguably the granddaddy of all R-rated raunchy comedies.
The event, which is part of the UM School of Communication's Communication Week, is free and open to the public. For more information, including directions to the theater, go here.
