MFAH Film – Movies Houstonians Love: Funny Bones (Introduced by Mat Johnson, University of Houston Creative Writing Program)

Often surprising and always intriguing, Movies Houstonians Love has become one of the Museum’s most popular film series.

Over the past decade, more than 60 local luminaries from different fields—the arts, politics, sports, education, restaurants, medicine, and beyond—have shared anecdotes from their personal moviegoing histories, and then taken a seat to enjoy the incomparable experience of watching the film on the big screen, with an audience.

This year, each presenter has chosen a favorite comedy.

The 2015–16 season opens on September 28 with Ken Hoffman, the highly entertaining Houston Chronicle columnist. The next two months bring architect Jim Furr on October 26; and Stephanie Saint Sanchez, Señorita Cinema founder, on November 23.

Save the dates for these memorable Monday night screenings! The lineup continues monthly through April, so check back for additional presenters, film descriptions, and tickets.

Funny Bones
Introduced by author Mat Johnson, University of Houston Creative Writing Program

Aspiring comedian Tommy Fawkes (Oliver Platt) finds his career overshadowed by the success of his comedy-legend father (Jerry Lewis).

Feeling dejected in Las Vegas, Tommy flies to his hometown, the English seaside resort of Blackpool, to find a new act—or at least steal one to use as his own. There, he meets a woman (Leslie Caron) and a uncovers a family secret.

Blending humor and hatred with startling results, the film unravels a mystery that leaves audiences haunted long afterward.

“Lovingly recapturing the visual texture of the past while embracing the artistic challenges of the future, Funny Bones is a rare contemporary delight. Unfolding in what seems, at first, quite a random fashion . . . the movie will, ultimately, come together and deliver a payoff.” —Austin Chronicle

About the presenter
Mat Johnson, a professor in the UH creative writing program, is the author of the novels Drop, Hunting Harlem, Loving Day, and Pym; the nonfiction re-creation The Great Negro Plot; and the comic books Dark Rain and Incognegro.

He is a recipient of the USA James Baldwin Fellowship, the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature.

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/mat_johnson