Welcome to Movie Nights @ The Literary
Film Fanatic Movie Nights is a series of communal film experiences designed to stimulate the senses, feed the mind, and dazzle the eyes. Each film is presented by a film fanatic curator who introduces the film, sets the stage with background and insight, and leads an informal discussion afterward. Whether you come as a viewer, a movie buff, or a full-on fanatic — you're among friends here.
Adaptation.
USA 2002 • 114 min • 1.85:1 • Rated R
Directed by: Spike Jonze
Wrtten by: Charlie Kaufman
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton, Brian Cox, Maggie Gyllenhaal
RSVP on Facebook • Download poster
Saturday, November 21, 2026 at 10:30pm
Venue: The Literary Book Bar (122 N Neil St, Champaign)
Advance tickets: $10 (available online until 5pm on November 20)
Regular admission: $12 (at the door)
Current members: $8 (online only)
Special offer: Join Film-Fanatic.Club today and get one FREE admission plus one drink ticket (more info)
Note: Upon purchase, your name will be added to our door list (no tickets will be issued). Simply check in at the door at least 10 minutes before the screening starts on the night of the event. Your email receipt is your proof of purchase.
The Literary is an ADA accessible venue with designated spaces that can accommodate anyone, including guests who use wheelchairs. Please email ada@film-fanatic.club for more information.
About the film
What happens when a screenwriter tries to adapt a book about orchids and discovers that the real subject is himself? Charlie Kaufman’s wildly inventive adaptation of Susan Orlean's 1998 nonfiction book is transformed into one of the great films about screenwriting — a dizzying hall-of-mirrors comedy that turns writer’s block, artistic anxiety, Hollywood formula, and the very idea of originality into its own raw material. Nicolas Cage gives one of his most remarkable performances as both the painfully neurotic Charlie and his fictional twin Donald, while Meryl Streep and Chris Cooper bring extraordinary depth to characters who gradually become entangled in Kaufman’s increasingly unstable fiction. Spike Jonze directs with a light touch that allows the screenplay’s elaborate games to remain genuinely funny, surprisingly moving, and completely unpredictable. The film constantly threatens to collapse under the weight of its own cleverness, then somehow finds another level. Funny, melancholy, intellectually mischievous, and formally audacious, this s a rare Hollywood movie that turns its own construction into the subject without losing sight of the human beings trapped inside it.
Content Advisory: Strong language, sexual content, nudity, drug use, smoking, alcohol use, violence, death, suicide, and disturbing imagery.
#SpikeJonze #CharlieKaufman #NicolasCage #MerylStreep #ChrisCooper #CultCinema #ArtCinema #MetaCinema #FilmAboutFilm #RepertoryCinema #LiteraryAdaptaton
Presented by Sanford Hess
This screening and the discussion that follows will be hosted by Sanford Hess, curator of the Arthouse Experience and former operator of the Art Theater.
Here's Sanford's take on what makes the film so extraordinary:
"Turning a book into a film can be a difficult process, especially if the book (in this case The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean) devolves into a history of many topics without a satisfying narrative arc.
"Writer Charlie Kaufman took that assignment but struggled with creating a suitable movie script from the book. His solution was to wrap his writing process into the film, then take it into a fictional third act that blends genres on the way to generate the climactic conclusion movie audiences expect.
"I love this film for the wonderful performances by its stars (especially Nicholas Cage, playing against type) and for the narcissistic honesty with which Kaufman bares everything about his process.
"Join me for a discussion about the book, the process of adapting material, and how films and books work as different art forms. Bonus points for anyone who reads The Orchid Thief before watching the film. While not required, it helps you appreciate Charlie’s frustration!"
—Sanford Hess
Film-Fanatic.Club • The Literary Book Bar • 122 N Neil St, Champaign
