July Film Club #2

 Our second film of the month of July is another Humphrey Bogart offering, John Huston's The Maltese Falcon.

The Maltese Falcon is a 1941 American film noir written and directed by John Huston, marking Huston's directorial debut. It is the second film adaptation of the Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel, following the 1931 version directed by Roy Del Ruth.

The film stars Humphrey Bogart as the hard-boiled private detective Sam Spade, in a role that would cement his status as a Hollywood icon, alongside Mary Astor as the enigmatic and manipulative femme fatale Brigid O'Shaughnessy. Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet portray the memorable villains whose shifting alliances and hidden motives drive much of the story’s tension. Set in San Francisco, the plot revolves around the pursuit of a priceless, jewel-encrusted falcon statuette, with each character willing to resort to deceit, betrayal, and even murder to claim it.

The film currently holds a 99% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert awarded it 4/4 stars, adding it to his list of the Great Movies, said this in his review, "

Among the movies we not only love but treasure, “The Maltese Falcon” stands as a great divide. Consider what was true after its release in 1941 and was not true before:

(1) The movie defined Humphrey Bogart’s performances for the rest of his life; his hard-boiled Sam Spade rescued him from a decade of middling roles in B gangster movies and positioned him for “Casablanca,” “Treasure of the Sierra Madre,” “The African Queen” and his other classics.

(2) It was the first film directed by John Huston, who for more than 40 years would be a prolific maker of movies that were muscular, stylish and daring.

(3) It contained the first screen appearance of Sydney Greenstreet, who went on, in “Casablanca” and many other films, to become one of the most striking character actors in movie history.

(4) It was the first pairing of Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, and so well did they work together that they made nine other movies, including “Casablanca” in 1942 and “The Mask of Dimitrios” (1944), in which they were not supporting actors but actually the stars.

(5) And some film histories consider “The Maltese Falcon” the first film noir. It put down the foundations for that native American genre of mean streets, knife-edged heroes, dark shadows and tough dames."

We will be meeting Thursday, July 23 @ 5:30 pm

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv-BPuqhW9U

Hope to see you there!

July Film Club #1

It's July! Summer is in full swing and we're onto our 3rd film in our series. Our first July film in our Noir Series is The Big Sleep.

The Big Sleep is a 1946 American film noir directed by Howard Hawks. William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett and Jules Furthman co-wrote the screenplay, which adapts Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel. The film stars Humphrey Bogart as private detective Philip Marlowe and Lauren Bacall as Vivian Rutledge in a story that begins with blackmail and leads to multiple murders.

The film currently holds a 96% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert awarded it 4/4 stars, adding it to his list of the Great Movies, said this in his review, "It is one of the great film noirs, a black-and-white symphony that exactly reproduces Chandler’s ability, on the page, to find a tone of voice that keeps its distance, and yet is wry and humorous and cares. Howard Hawks is one of the great American directors of pure movies (“His Girl Friday,” “Bringing Up Baby,” “Red River,” “Rio Bravo”), and a hero of auteur critics because he found his own laconic values in many different kinds of genre material."

We will be meeting Thursday, July 16 @ 5:30 pm

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-K49CUaeto

Hope to see you there!

June Film Club #2

 Our second film for the month of June comes to us from the master of suspense himself, Mr. Alfred Hitchcock. 

Strangers on a Train is a 1951 American psychological thriller film noir produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and adapted by Raymond Chandler and Czenzi Ormonde from the 1950 novel of the same name by Patricia Highsmith. 

The story concerns two strangers who meet on a train, one of whom is a psychopath who suggests that they "exchange" murders so that neither will be caught. The film initially received mixed reviews, but has since been regarded much more favorably.

The film currently holds a 98% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert gave it 4/4 stars, adding it to his list of the Great Movies, saying this in his review, "The abiding terror in Alfred Hitchcock’s life was that he would be accused of a crime he did not commit. This fear is at the heart of many of his best films, including “Strangers on a Train”. The movie is usually ranked among Hitchcock’s best, and its appeal is probably the linking of an ingenious plot with insinuating creepiness. It is a plot made of ingenuity and amorality, based on the first novel by Patricia Highsmith, who in her Ripley novels and elsewhere was fascinated by brainy criminals who functioned not out of passion but from careful calculation, and usually got away with their crimes. Strangers on a Train is not a psychological study, however, but a first-rate thriller with odd little kinks now and then."

We will be meeting Thursday, June 25 @ 5:30 pm

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1iSS5r0OVE

Hope to see you there!

June Film Club #1

To kick off our Summer Series: Film Noir, we will be watching Carol Reed's The Third Man

The Third Man is a 1949 film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene, and starring Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, Alida Valli as Anna Schmidt, Orson Welles as Harry Lime and Trevor Howard as Major Calloway. Set in post-World War II Allied-occupied Vienna, the film centres on American writer Holly Martins, who arrives in the city to accept a job with his friend Harry Lime, only to learn that he has died. Martins stays in Vienna to investigate Lime's death, becoming infatuated with Lime's girlfriend Anna Schmidt.

It currently holds a 99% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert who awarded it 4/4 stars, adding it to his list of The Great Movies, said this in his review, "The Third Man reflects the optimism of Americans and the bone-weariness of Europe after the war. It’s a story about grownups and children: Adults like Calloway, who has seen at first hand the results of Lime’s crimes, and children like the trusting Holly, who believes in the simplified good and evil of his Western novels. Of all the movies I have seen, this one most completely embodies the romance of going to the movies."

We will be meeting Thursday, June 18 at 5:30 pm.

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9yyDEDGlr0

Hope to see you there!

Summer Series: Film Noir

Hey everyone! Summer is upon us and with that comes the Film Club Summer Series!

Each summer, our Film Club alternates between exploring the work of influential directors and diving into a cinematic genre. Following last year's spotlight on the Coen Brothers, we're turning our attention to one of film's most enduring and influential styles: Film Noir. Join us as we journey through a world of shadowy streets, hard-boiled detectives, dangerous schemes, and moral ambiguity, exploring classic noir films and their lasting impact on cinema. 

(Keep an eye out each month for posts and booklets specific to each film.)

Here's our lineup for the summer (click the title for a trailer):

June 18 @ 5:30- The Third Man

June 25 @ 5:30- Strangers on a Train

July 16 @ 5:30- The Big Sleep

July 23 @ 5:30- The Maltese Falcon

Aug 20 @ 5:30- Sunset Boulevard

Aug 27 @ 5:30- Double Indemnity

May Film Club

 Hello all, thanks to everyone who made it out for the ludicrous Dr. Strangelove. For the month of May I have selected a film from recent years that I really enjoyed and that is Ford v. Ferrari. I love a good racing biopic and this is no exception.

Ford v Ferrari is a 2019 American biographical sports drama film directed by James Mangold and written by Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller. It stars Matt Damon and Christian Bale, with Jon Bernthal, Caitríona Balfe, Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas, Noah Jupe, Remo Girone, and Ray McKinnon in supporting roles. The plot follows a determined team of American and English engineers and designers, led by automotive designer Carroll Shelby and his English driver, Ken Miles, who are hired by Henry Ford II and Lee Iacocca to build a race car to defeat the perennially dominant Italian racing team Scuderia Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France. At the 92nd Academy Awards, the film received four nominations, including Best Picture, and won Best Film Editing and Best Sound Editing. It currently holds a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Glenn Kenny writing for Rogerebert.com gave the film 3/4 stars saying this in his review, "Lest all of this sound heavy, I should assure you that Ford v Ferrari is exactly as fun, maybe even more fun, than its well-put-together trailer makes it out to be. The dialogue is replete with zingers and the racing sequences are a blast. Mangold sticks to the verities and conveys high speeds and potentially deadly impacts with a lot of gusto; there’s very little that looks tricked-up or obviously animated. Ford v Ferrari delivers real cinema meat and potatoes."

We will be meeting Thursday, May 28 at 5:00 pm (it's a little longer, so earlier start time)

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyYgDtY2AMY

Hope to see you there!

April Film Club

 Hello all! It's the month of April, the greatest month of the whole year! Why you ask? Well, it's the month of my birthday and in following my own egotistical tradition, we'll be watching one of my favorite movies! This year, it happens to be Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove: or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (known simply and more commonly as Dr. Strangelove) is a 1964 political satire black comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick. It is loosely based on the thriller novel Red Alert (1958) by Peter George, who wrote the screenplay with Kubrick and Terry Southern. The film, financed and released by Columbia Pictures, was a co-production between the United States and the United Kingdom.  Dr. Strangelove parodies Cold War fears of a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union and stars Peter Sellers (portraying three different characters), George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenan Wynn, Slim Pickens, and Tracy Reed. The story concerns an insane brigadier general of the United States Air Force who orders a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the Soviet Union. It follows the President of the United States (Sellers), his scientific advisor Dr. Strangelove (Sellers), a Royal Air Force exchange officer (Sellers), and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Scott) as they attempt to stop the crew of a B-52 from bombing the Soviet Union and starting a nuclear war.

The film is widely considered one of the best comedy films and one of the greatest and most influential films ever made. The film received four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Actor for Sellers. It currently holds a 98% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert gave it 4/4 stars later adding it to his list of The Great Movies, saying this in his review, " Kubrick made what is arguably the best political satire of the century, a film that pulled the rug out from under the Cold War by arguing that if a “nuclear deterrent” destroys all life on Earth, it is hard to say exactly what it has deterred. “Dr. Strangelove’s” humor is generated by a basic comic principle: People trying to be funny are never as funny as people trying to be serious and failing. The laughs have to seem forced on unwilling characters by the logic of events. A man wearing a funny hat is not funny. But a man who doesn’t know he’s wearing a funny hat … ah, now you’ve got something. The characters in “Dr. Strangelove” do not know their hats are funny."

We will be meeting Thursday, April 23 at 5:30 pm 

Here's a trailer: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftZUbEu6WeA

Hope to see you there!

March Film Club

 It's March and that means an Irish film for Film Club. This month we will be watching Jim Sheridan's The Boxer.

The Boxer is a 1997 Irish sports drama film written and directed by Jim Sheridan and co-written by Terry George. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Emily Watson, and Brian Cox, the film centers on the life of a boxer and former Provisional IRA volunteer Danny Flynn, played by Day-Lewis, who is trying to "go straight" after his release from prison. The film is the third collaboration between Sheridan and Day-Lewis and portrays different factions within the IRA. In preparation for the role, Daniel Day-Lewis trained as a boxer in Ireland for a year. The film currently holds an 80% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert gave it 3/4 stars saying this in his review, "Jim Sheridan’s The Boxer isn’t the usual pugilistic grind — the ring becomes a backdrop for something deeper: a man seeking peace in a city torn apart by old wounds. Daniel Day-Lewis gives Danny Flynn a quiet strength, not just as a fighter but as someone trying to rebuild his community and his heart. Sheridan balances politics, romance and the struggle to forgive with a craftsman’s care, making this more than a boxing movie — it’s a portrait of endurance in a place desperate for healing."

We will be meeting Thursday, March 26 at 5:30 pm

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qc0AxFQMm9o

Hope to see you there!

February Film Club

 Hello everyone! 

For the month of February I sometimes choose a romantic comedy, this is one of those Februarys. 

We will be watching Woody Allen's Annie Hall.

Annie Hall is a 1977 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay written by Allen and Marshall Brickman, and produced by Allen's manager, Charles H. Joffe. The film stars Allen as Alvy Singer, who tries to figure out the reasons for the failure of his relationship with the eponymous female lead, played by Diane Keaton in a role written specifically for her. Regarded among the greatest films ever made, it ranks 31st on AFI's list of the 100 greatest films in American cinema, 4th on their list of the greatest comedy films and 28th on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies". It currently holds a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert initially gave it 3.5/4 stars and later gave it 4/4 adding it to his list of The Great Movies, saying this in his review, "“Woody Allen’s Annie Hall… dares to go into this material a little more seriously and cohesively than is usually the case in an Allen film. Annie Hall is a comedy, yes, and there are moments in it as funny as anything Woody has done, but the movie represents a growth on Allen’s part… From a filmmaker who would do anything for a laugh… this film is much more thoughtful and (is it possible?) more mature… At the end of the affair, we’ve learned only two things for certain: that enduring relationships are very likely impossible in this time and place… and that life without the search for relationships is unthinkable. In Annie Hall he makes it very funny, and sad, and tricky indeed.”

We will be meeting Thursday, February 26 at 5:30 pm

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj4ZoeRMHwU

Hope to see you there!

January Film Club

 Happy New Year!

Thank you to everyone who made it out last month for The Green Knight, even though I completely forgot to make a blog post or booklet! Hey, there's a baby in my house now, I've been distracted.

Anyway, a new year always brings with it a whole slew of new movies. We will be starting 2026 with Martin Scorsese's After Hours.

After Hours is a 1985 American neo-noir black comedy film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Joseph Minion, and produced by Amy Robinson, Griffin Dunne, and Robert F. Colesberry. Dunne stars as Paul Hackett, an office worker who experiences a series of misadventures while attempting to make his way home from Manhattan's SoHo district during the night.

After Hours grossed only $10.1 million in the United States, but was given positive reviews and has since been considered an "underrated" entry in the director's filmography. The film won Scorsese the Best Director award at the 1986 Cannes Film Festival and allowed him to take a hiatus from the tumultuous development of The Last Temptation of Christ. It currently holds a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Roger Ebert initially gave it 4/4 stars and later added it to his list of The Great Movies, saying this in his review, "Martin Scorsese’s “After Hours” is a comedy, according to the strict definition of that word. It is, however, the tensest comedy I can remember, building its nightmare situation step by insidious step until our laughter is hollow, or defensive. This is the work of a master filmmaker who controls his effects so skillfully that I was drained by this film – so emotionally depleted that there was a moment, two-thirds of the way through, when I wondered if maybe I should leave the theater and gather my thoughts and come back later for the rest of the “comedy.” The result is a film that is so original, so particular, that we are uncertain from moment to moment exactly how to respond to it. The style of the film creates, in us, the same feeling that the events in the film create in the hero.

We will be meeting Thursday, January 22 at 5:30 pm.

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkruzyfYR4A

Hope to see you there!

November Film Club

 Hey everyone, Fall.

For the month of November I've always tried to show some kind of war film in honor of Veteran's Day. This year we will be watching the harrowing remake of All Quiet on the Western Front.

All Quiet on the Western Front (German: Im Westen nichts Neues, lit. 'Nothing New in the West') is a 2022 German epic anti-war film based on the 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque. It is the third film adaptation of the book, after the 1930 and 1979 versions. Co-written, directed and co-produced by Edward Berger, it stars Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Brühl, Sebastian Hülk, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic, and Devid Striesow.

Set during World War I, it follows the life of an idealistic young German soldier named Paul Bäumer. After enlisting in the German Army with his friends, Bäumer finds himself exposed to the realities of war, shattering his early hopes of becoming a hero as he does his best to survive. The film adds a parallel storyline not found in the book, which follows the armistice negotiations to end the war.

It currently holds a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Matthew Jackson of the AV Club gave it an A- saying this in his review, "Berger’s All Quiet On The Western Front is a powerful, human odyssey about the cost of endless war and the whims of the powerful, but what lingers afterward is the way its director frames that narrative across the (literal) European landscape. Berger’s battle sequences are memorable, but just as memorable are his moments of quiet punctuation by framing up the silent trees of the Western European forests, the babbling brooks that will flow on no matter how much blood seeps into the waters, the wildlife that will keep fighting its own battles, heedless of the human ones. A shot of a tank emerging from smoke like a monster in a horror film might be followed by a still tableau of a forest canopy, as though God himself is watching from just above those trees, maybe judging the combatants, maybe ignoring them. If the outcome is the same, does it matter?

These are the questions invited, and not always answered, by All Quiet’s elegiac and haunting look at a war almost no one is still alive to remember. Yet what it has left to teach us, and what we carry of it into our own wars, is very much up to us—and it’s the film’s keen awareness of that sense of projection that makes it resonate."

Because the 27th is Thanksgiving, we will be meeting Thursday the 20th at 5:00 pm (the movie is 2.5 hours, so we're starting a little early). 

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFqgmaO15x4

Hope to see you there!

October Film Club: 14th Annual Horror Fest

 Hello everyone!

It's October! And while you wouldn't know it from the weather, spooky season has arrived. Halloween is later this month and for those of you seasoned Film Club attendees that can mean only one thing: Horror Fest!

Our theme for this year's Horror Fest is "Horror Outside of the Box". I have selected 4 horror movies that each have some kind of "hook" that makes them different from your standard movie. One is shot almost incidentally, and is unlike anything I've ever seen, one is a live show from hell, one has no dialogue, and one is from the perspective of the killer. I was impressed by all of them in some way or another so I thought it would be fun.

As in previous years we will be meeting for two nights and watching two movies each night. This is what the lineup looks like:

(Click the title for a trailer)

Oct. 22 @ 4 pm: Skinamarink

Oct. 22 @ 6 pm: Late Night With the Devil

Oct. 23 @ 4 pm: Azrael

Oct. 23 @ 6 pm: In a Violent Nature

Hope to see you there!

September Film Club

Thank you to everyone who made it out for our Summer Series celebrating the work of the Coen Brothers, we have a had great time!

For the month of September we're going to get a little weird (we can't go a whole year without a little something strange). We will be watching Denis Villeneuve's bizarre and mysterious, Enemy.

Enemy is a 2013 surrealist psychological thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve and produced by M. A. Faura and Niv Fichman. Written by Javier Gullón, it was loosely adapted from José Saramago's 2002 novel The Double. The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal in a dual role as two men who are physically identical, but different in personality. Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, and Isabella Rossellini co-star.

The film has a fresh rating of 73% on Rotten Tomatoes and Godfrey Cheshire writing for Rogerebert.com gave the film 2.5/4 stars saying this in his review, "As noted, Villeneuve and Gullon leave the meaning of all this an open question—or perhaps several questions at once. Is the French Canadian director’s tale of Anglo Canada an allegory of his culturally divided homeland? Is the cryptic story a symbolic meditation on something central to cinema, the fraught relationship between an actor and the “double” he fashions in creating a character who bears his likeness? Does it contain a whiff of Villeneuve’s feelings about Canada’s greatest art-film auteur prior to his arrival, David Cronenberg, whose “Dead Ringers” is one of cinema’s finest tales of doubles.

Take your pick, or better yet, supply your own reading. What seems certain is that Villeneuve is a very self-conscious artist whose estimable work descends from the European high-modernist tradition of decades past."

We will be meeting Thursday, Sept. 25 at 5:30 pm.

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVvgt3jIUsc

Hope to see you there!

August Film Club #2

 Our final film of our Coen Brothers Summer Series is True Grit.

True Grit is a 2010 American Western film produced, written, and directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. It is an adaptation of Charles Portis's 1968 novel. Starring Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld (in her theatrical-film debut), True Grit also stars Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Barry Pepper. In the film, 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross (Steinfeld) hires boozy, trigger-happy lawman Rooster Cogburn (Bridges) to go after outlaw Tom Chaney (Brolin), who murdered her father, accompanied by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Damon), who is also hunting Chaney, and who has his own gripes with Cogburn. The Coens intended their film to be a more faithful adaptation of Portis's novel than the 1969 version starring John Wayne; in particular, they wanted to tell the story from Mattie's point of view.

The film currently holds a 95% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert gave it 3.5/4 stars saying this in his review, "What strikes me is that I’m describing the story and the film as if it were simply, if admirably, a good Western. That’s a surprise to me, because this is a film by the Coen Brothers, and this is the first straight genre exercise in their career. It’s a loving one. Their craftsmanship is a wonder. Their casting is always inspired and exact. The cinematography by Roger Deakins reminds us of the glory that was, and can still be, the Western.

But this isn’t a Coen Brothers film in the sense that we usually use those words. It’s not eccentric, quirky, wry or flaky. It’s as if these two men, who have devised some of the most original films of our time, reached a point where they decided to coast on the sheer pleasure of good old straightforward artistry. So let me praise it for what it is, a splendid Western. The Coens having demonstrated their mastery of many notes, including many not heard before, now show they can play in tune."

We will be meeting Thursday, Aug 28th at 5:30 pm.

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOHGKCle-aY

Hope to see you there!

August Film Club #1

 Our first Coen Brothers film for the month of August is Burn After Reading.

Burn After Reading is a 2008 black comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It follows a recently jobless CIA analyst, Osborne Cox (John Malkovich), whose misplaced memoirs are found by a pair of dimwitted gym employees (Frances McDormand and Brad Pitt). When they mistake the memoirs for classified government documents, they undergo a series of misadventures in an attempt to profit from their find. The film also stars George Clooney as a womanizing U.S. Marshal; Tilda Swinton as Katie Cox, the wife of Osborne Cox; Richard Jenkins as the gym manager; and J. K. Simmons as a CIA supervisor.

The film has a 78% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert gave it 3/4 stars saying this in his review, "The Coen brothers’ “Burn After Reading” is a screwball comedy that occasionally becomes something more. The characters are zany, the plot coils upon itself with dizzy zeal, and the roles seem like a perfect fit for the actors — yes, even Brad Pitt, as Chad, a gum-chewing, fuzzy-headed physical fitness instructor. I’ve always thought of him as a fine actor, but here he reveals a dimension that, shall I say, we haven’t seen before. This is not a great Coen brothers’ film. Nor is it one of their bewildering excursions off the deep end. It’s funny, sometimes delightful, sometimes a little sad, with dialogue that sounds perfectly logical until you listen a little more carefully and realize all of these people are mad."

We will be meeting Thursday, Aug. 21 at 5:30 pm

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVCHSiRWjJM

Hope to see you there!

July Film #2

 Our second Coen Brothers film for July is The Big Lebowski.

The Big Lebowski is a 1998 crime comedy film written, directed, produced and co-edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. It follows the life of Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski (Jeff Bridges), a Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler. He is assaulted as a result of mistaken identity then learns that a millionaire, also named Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston), was the intended victim. The millionaire Lebowski's trophy wife is supposedly kidnapped and millionaire Lebowski commissions the Dude to deliver the ransom to secure her release. The plan goes awry when the Dude's friend Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) schemes to keep the ransom money for the Dude and himself. Sam Elliott, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, David Thewlis, Peter Stormare, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Jon Polito and Ben Gazzara also appear in supporting roles.

The film is loosely inspired by the work of Raymond Chandler. Joel Coen stated, "We wanted to do a Chandler kind of story – how it moves episodically and deals with the characters trying to unravel a mystery, as well as having a hopelessly complex plot that's ultimately unimportant." The original score was composed by Carter Burwell, a longtime collaborator of the Coen brothers. The Big Lebowski received mixed reviews at the time of its release. Reviews have since become largely positive and the film has become a cult favorite, noted for its eccentric characters, comedic dream sequences, idiosyncratic dialogue and eclectic soundtrack. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant."

It currently holds an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert gave it 3/4 stars originally, in 1998, and later gave it 4/4 and added it to his list of Great Movies, saying this in his review, "“The Big Lebowski” is about an attitude, not a story. It’s easy to miss that, because the story is so urgently pursued. It involves kidnapping, ransom money, a porno king, a reclusive millionaire, a runaway girl, the Malibu police, a woman who paints while nude and strapped to an overhead harness, and the last act of the disagreement between Vietnam veterans and Flower Power. It has more scenes about bowling than anything else. This is a plot and dialogue that perhaps only the Coen Brothers could have devised. I’m thinking less of their clarity in “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men” than of the almost hallucinatory logic of “Raising Arizona” and “The Hudsucker Proxy.” Only a steady hand in the midst of madness allows them to hold it all together–that, and the delirious richness of their visual approach."

We will be meeting Thursday, July 24 at 5:30pm 

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd-go0oBF4Y

Hope to see you there!

July Film Club #1

 Our first film for July is Barton Fink.

Barton Fink is a 1991 American black comedy thriller film written, produced and directed by the Coen Brothers. Set in 1941, it stars John Turturro in the title role as a young New York City playwright who is hired to write scripts for a film studio in Hollywood, and John Goodman as Charlie Meadows, the insurance salesman who lives next door at the run-down Hotel Earle. The Coens wrote the screenplay for Barton Fink in three weeks while experiencing writer's block during the writing of Miller's Crossing. They began filming soon after Miller's Crossing was finished. The film is influenced by works of several earlier directors, particularly Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965) and The Tenant (1976).

The film currently holds a fresh rating of 90% on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert gave it 3.5/4 stars, saying this in his review, "Like all of the Coen productions, “Barton Fink” has a deliberate visual style. The Hollywood of the late 1930s and early 1940s is seen here as a world of Art Deco and deep shadows, long hotel corridors and bottomless swimming pools. And there is a horror lurking underneath the affluent surface. Goodman, as the ordinary man in the next room, is revealed to have inhuman secrets, and the movie leads up to an apocalyptic vision of blood, flames and ruin, with Barton Fink unable to influence events with either his art or his strength. “Barton Fink” is above all a black comedy in the tradition of David Lynch, Luis Bunuel and the Coens themselves. Turturro is the right man for the role, making Fink a plodding, introspective, unsure intellectual whose lack of insight is matched only by his lack of talent."

We will be meeting Thursday, July 17 at 5:30 pm

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK0WjWlVO9w&t=7s

Hope to see you there!

June Film Club #2

 Our second June film of our Summer Series is Miller's Crossing.

Miller's Crossing is a 1990 American neo-noir gangster film written, directed and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring Gabriel Byrne, Marcia Gay Harden, John Turturro, Jon Polito, J.E. Freeman, and Albert Finney. The plot concerns a power struggle between two rival gangs and how the protagonist, Tom Reagan (Byrne), plays both sides against each other.

It currently holds a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert gave the film 3/4 stars saying this in his review, "Miller's Crossing comes from two traditions that sometimes overlap, the gangster movie of the 1930's and the film noir of the 1940's. It finds its characters in the first and its visual style in the second. There's a lot to admire. Albert Finney is especially good as Leo, the crime boss, and Jon Polito is wonderful as Johnny Caspar, his rival, who keeps talking about 'business ethics.' One of the most interesting characters in the movie is Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro), a two-timing bookie who pleads for his life in a monologue that he somehow keeps afloat long past any plausible dramatic length. The pleasures of the film are largely technical. It is likely to be most appreciated by movie lovers who will enjoy its resonance with films of the past."

We will be meeting Thursday, June 19th at 5:30 pm.

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYQNlJ5zrWA

Hope to see you there!

June Film Club #1

To kick off our Summer Series: Directed by The Coen Brothers, we will start with their kooky comedy Raising Arizona.

Raising Arizona is a 1987 American crime comedy film written, directed and produced by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Nicolas Cage as H.I. "Hi" McDunnough, an ex-convict, and Holly Hunter as Edwina "Ed" McDunnough, a former police officer and his wife. Other members of the cast include Trey Wilson, William Forsythe, John Goodman, Frances McDormand, Sam McMurray, and Randall "Tex" Cobb.

The Coen brothers set out to work on the film with the intention of making a film as different from their previous film, the dark thriller Blood Simple, as possible, with a lighter sense of humor and a faster pace.

The film currently holds a fresh rating of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and Josh Larsen gave it 3.5/4 saying this in his review, "The comic hysteria works best during a Huggies heist, in which H.I. tries to steal some diapers but runs afoul of trigger-happy store clerks, rampaging cops, and a relentless pack of dogs. And yet, despite all the mania and exaggerated characterizations, Raising Arizona is ultimately one of the Coens’ kinder (if not gentler) efforts, a raucous cartoon that consistently offers the beleaguered, desert-stricken H.I. little oases of grace."

We will be meeting Thursday, June 12 at 5:30 pm

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AIfVoGUs6c&t=2s

Hope to see you there!

Summer Series: Directed by The Coen Brothers

 

Once again, our Film Club Summer Series will be a director spotlight. For the months of June, July and August, we will be watching films directed by the Coen Brothers.

I will have individual posts for each month but for the time being here is what the lineup looks like:

(click the title for a trailer)

June 12- Raising Arizona

June 19- Miller's Crossing

July 17- Barton Fink

July 24- The Big Lebowski

August 21- Burn After Reading

August 28- True Grit

We have watched quite a few Coen Brothers film over the years, but I thought it criminal I've never done a director spotlight on them. I hope you will join us for a summer of masterful, irreverent and fun films like only the Coens can deliver.