Third FLiCKS screening hits the right note

A cappella performances, audience laughter and cups all featured during "Pitch Perfect" FLiCKS screening, writes Anthony Martinez Rosales.

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Last Sunday, May 5, CEMEX Auditorium hosted a viewing of “Pitch Perfect” (2012) in the third FLiCKS screening of the year. 

The film features a comedic inside look at the world of collegiate a cappella. It’s not the first time that FLiCKS has shown “Pitch Perfect”; the organization hosted an advanced screening before its theatrical release in 2012.

When protagonist Beca (Anna Kendrick) auditions with the original song “Cups,” the crowd erupted with cheers. During the scene, in the only in-film shenanigan of the night, a group of students got on stage and performed the song. Some audience members joined in from their seats using cups of their own.

The audience reacted loudly throughout the film. They cheered, booed, sang along and, most of all, laughed. Some screamed “make-out” and commented that Beca “wasn’t like other girls.” Fittingly, the screening also featured surprise performances from several Stanford a cappella groups.

Stanford Talisman opened with a performance before the show as early-comers rushed to claim a free drink. 

Talisman Co-Director, and Alto, Sofia Pesantez ’24 said the team was excited to receive an invitation from FLiCKS’s Annie Reller ’24 to perform. 

“We watched ‘Pitch Perfect’ as a bonding activity, and it is cool to talk about the college a cappella scene,” Pesantez said. 

Amongst the singing, FLiCKS staff distributed paper for paper plane making and neon-green punch cards, which debuted during the last screening. 

FLiCKS’ Hanna Carlsson ’27 said that “back in the day, FLiCKS used these punch cards as a season ticket. You’d buy a punch card for the entire year, and this was your way to get into the movie.”

Carlsson said that, this time around, the punch card is “a kind of participation rewards system.” 

“If people come to enough FLiCKS, hopefully they can get some free merch,” Carlsson said. “We are hoping to bring back these bits of tradition — the punch cards and the shenanigans — to bring back the FLiCKS experience.”

The next performance began immediately after the doors opened. As eager crowd members flowed into CEMEX, they were met with voices of Mixed Company.

Many audience members commented that they couldn’t hear the group’s voices, an issue present throughout the night’s performances, but they clapped nonetheless. 

Mixed Company Baritone Nick Buckovich ’26 introduced the film and commented that Mixed Company has previously competed at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA), the competition featured in the film. 

The night’s student short film selection included the ending of the fantasy-action “Heartrender Bane of The Elf Queen” (2023), which had been split up over the past two screenings.

Eventually, the screen faded to black. Audiences clapped, thinking that the film would start, but then a group of men sporting red blazers flooded the stage. 

In the third performance of the night, The Stanford Mendicants gave a surprise appearance including a rendition of The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.”

Following the film’s conclusion, a final surprise awaited outside: a performance by Fleet Street.

Audience member and senior Yesenia Garcia ’24 said the live performances were “the cherry on top” of the night. 

“It is really cool to see events like this put together,” Garcia said. “But it definitely makes it so that I wish they had been present earlier.”

FLiCKS will return on May 26.

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