May Film Club

 Hey everybody! How about those days of summer we had? Who needs spring?! No matter how much I lament the lack of actual spring, the warm weather is a welcome sight. Thank you to everyone who made it out for Hail, Caesar!

For the month of may, I've decided to show a film I missed in theaters and one of our fellow members suggested. We will be watching Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza.

Licorice Pizza is a 2021 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It stars Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman in their film debuts, alongside an ensemble supporting cast including Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper and Benny Safdie. Set in 1973, the film follows the development of a young couple's relationship. The film received critical acclaim and received 3 Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. It currently holds a fresh rating of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and Christy Lemire, writing for Rogerebert.com, gave it 4/4 stars saying this in her review, "Paul Thomas Anderson's golden, shimmering vision of the 1970s San Fernando Valley in Licorice Pizza is so dreamy, so full of possibility, it's as if it couldn't actually have existed. With its lengthy, magic-hour walk-and-talks and its sense of adventure around every corner and down every block, it's a place where anything could happen as day turns in to night."

We will be meeting Thursday, May 26th at 5:30pm SHARP! (It's 2hrs 13min, so we'll be tight with time).

Here's the trailer:

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

Hope to see you there!

April Film Club

 Hello everyone! It's April! It finally looks like we might be moving away from winter! (Huzzah!)

Ok, down to business. Thank to you everyone who came out for Belfast, great group, great discussion as always. For the month of April, I generally just show one of my favorite movies because it's my birthday month, and that's how I roll. So, for this month, I've decided to show Hail, Caesar! by the Coen Brothers.

Hail, Caesar! is a 2016 comedy film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Channing Tatum with Michael Gambon as the narrator. It is a fictional story that follows the real-life fixer Eddie Mannix (Brolin) working in the Hollywood film industry in the 1950s, trying to discover what happened to a star actor during the filming of a biblical epic.

Hail, Caesar! received positive reviews from critics. It currently has an 86% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Glenn Kenny, writing for Rogerebert.com, gave the film 4/4 stars saying this in his review, "The Coen's three previous films were pretty heavy stuff, this new film is an exhilarating switch up: A comic fable that's both deftly clever and irrepressibly goofy. It is also, from stem to stern, the sweetest and sunniest film the Coens have ever made."

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

Here's the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMqeoW3XRa0

Hope to see you there!

March Film Club

 Hello everyone! Spring is trying its best to get here and honestly, it can't come soon enough. In Film Club tradition, I like to show some kind of Irish film for the month of March, for St. Patrick's Day. I wasn't quite sure what to show until one of our fellow members made a suggestion that I had completely forgot about: Kenneth Branagh's Belfast.

Belfast is a 2021 British coming of age drama film written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. The film stars Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Morgan and newcomer Jude Hill.  The film, which Branagh has described as his "most personal film", follows a young boy's childhood in Belfast, Northern Ireland at the beginning of The Troubles in 1969. The film holds an 87% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it has been nominated for 7 Academy Awards and Cristy Lemire, writing for Rogerebert.com, gave the film 3/4 stars saying this in her review, "Belfast is unquestionably Kenneth Branagh's most personal film to date, but it's also sure to have universal resonance. It depicts a violent, tumultuous time in Northern Ireland, but it does so through the innocent, exuberant eyes of a nine-year-old boy. Within the steady hum of the threat Buddy and his family face is an impossible decision: Do they stay in this neighborhood where they've lived their whole lives, where everyone knows everyone, or do they move somewhere safer and start over? Long before the dedication that plays in front of the closing credits, we can feel Branagh's wistful heart on his sleeve."

We will be meeting Thursday, March 24th at 5:30 pm.

Here's a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja3PPOnJQ2k

Hope to see you there!

February Film Club

 Hey everybody! It's February! It's winter! and there's snow end in sight! (that was bad, I apologize for nothing). I have our next film selected, and just like all the years I've done this, I relied on my research skills and relentless study of all of film history to find the most perfectly perfect pick! I'm kidding, it just popped into my head, as always. Normally, I show a Romance of some sort because of Valentine's day, but this year I've selected a film that honors both Valentine's Day and Black History Month. Our film this month is Jeff Nichols' wonderful film, Loving.

Loving is a 2016 American biographical romantic drama film which tells the story of Richard and Mildred Loving, the plaintiffs in the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision Loving v. Virginia, which invalidated state laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The film takes inspiration from The Loving Story (2011) by Nancy Buirski, a documentary which follows the Lovings and their landmark case.

The film was directed by Jeff Nichols, who also wrote the screenplay. Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton co-star as Mildred and Richard Loving. Martin Csokas, Nick Kroll and Michael Shannon are all featured in supporting roles. The film received praise for its acting, Nichols' direction and screenplay, and the film's faithfulness to the Lovings' account. It holds a certified fresh rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes and Brian Tallerico, writing for Rogerebert.com, gave the film 3.5/4 stars saying this in his review, "Jeff Nichols' "Loving" is that rare mainstream film that provokes frustration and rage without resorting to monologues or melodrama.  The two people at the center of this period drama aren't prone to long speeches. They're quiet, conservative, almost shy folk who ended up at the center of one of the most important Supreme Court cases of the '60s by virtue of falling in love, getting married and having children.  Nichols' approach is careful, reserved and deeply considerate of the human story he's trying to tell.  There's no sense of exploitation here. One can sense a director's understandable  trepidation in telling the story of two private people whose life was made very public.  What's most important to Nichols' vision is how much trust he has in his two leads, and what they give back to him in exchange for that trust."

We will be meeting Thursday, Feb. 24th at 5:30. 

Here's a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRXuCY7tRgk

Hope to see you there!

January Film Club

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2022. Can you believe it? Well, the new year is here and with it comes a whole new lineup of films to enjoy (barring any further virus related issues). To begin this new year of Film Club, I've decided to show one of my favorite movies from 2019. Rian Johnson's modern whodunnit, Knives Out.

Knives Out is a 2019 American mystery film written and directed by Rian Johnson and produced by Johnson and Ram Bergman.  It follows a master detective investigating the death of the patriarch of a wealthy, dysfunctional family.  The film features an ensemble cast including Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Lakeith Stanfield, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, and Christopher Plummer. 

The film received critical acclaim, particularly for its screenplay, direction and acting. It currently has a fresh rating of 97% on Rottentomatoes.com and Brian Tallerico writing for Rogerebert.com gave the film 3.5/4 stars saying this in his review, "Knives Out is one of the most purely entertaining films in years.  It is the work of a cinematic magician, one who keeps you so focused on what the left hand is doing that you miss the right. And, in this case, it's not just a wildly funny mystery to unravel but a scathing bit of social commentary about where America is in 2019. Directing a wildly charismatic cast who are all-in on what he's doing, Johnson confidently stays a step or two ahead of his audience, leaving them breathless but satisfied in the end."

We will be meeting Thursday, January 27th at 5:30pm. Hope to see you there!

Here's a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi-1NchUqMA

February Film Club

Hey everybody!  Thank you to everyone who made it out for Logan Lucky and of course, a big thank you to everyone who brought snacks to share, you are always appreciated!

For the month of February I generally show something along the lines of a romance in honor of Valentine's Day, and this month I've decided to show Terrence Malick's To the Wonder.

To the Wonder is a 2012 American experimental romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, and Javier Bardem.  Filmed in Oklahoma and Paris, the film chronicles a couple who, after falling in love in Paris, struggle to keep their relationship from falling apart after moving to the United States.

The film received mixed reviews from critics.  It holds a 46% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 172 reviews.  To the Wonder was the final film reviewed by Roger Ebert prior to his death on April 4, 2013.  He awarded it 3.5/4 stars saying this in his review, "A more conventional film would have assigned a plot to these characters and made their motivations more clear.  Malick, who is surely one of the most romantic and spiritual of filmmakers, appears almost naked here before his audience, a man not able to conceal the depth of his vision. 'Well,' I asked myself, "why not?"  Why must a film explain everything?  Why must every motivation be spelled out?  Aren't many films fundamentally the same film, with only the specifics changed?  Aren't many of them telling the same story?  Seeking perfection, we see what our dreams and hopes might look like.  We realize they come as a gift through no power of our own, and if we lose them, isn't that almost worse than never having had them in the first place?  There will be many who find To the Wonder elusive and too effervescent.  They'll be dissatisfied by a film that would rather evoke than supply.  I understand that, and I think Terrence Malick does, too.  But here he has attempted to reach more deeply than that: to reach beneath the surface, and find the soul in need."

I hope you can make it out to this interesting and thought provoking film!

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTAzcTZTY1g

January Film Club

Happy New Year everyone!

Well, here we are, the big 2020.  Hopefully it is a wonderful year for everyone.  I will do my best to at least make sure you get to see some great films!

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it for our showing of Krampus last month, we had a nice turnout, some fun conversation and as always, some great treats.

Now, on to our next film.  To kick off the new year, I've decided to show Steven Soderbergh's heist comedy Logan Lucky.

Logan Lucky is a 2017 American heist comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh, based on the debut screenplay of Rebecca Blunt.  Soderbergh came out of retirement to direct the film, and to distribute it independently through his own company.  The film features an ensemble cast consisting of Channing Tatum, Adam Driver, Riley Keough, Daniel Craig, Seth MacFarlane, Katie Holmes, Hilary Swank, Katherine Waterston and Sebastian Stan, and follows the Logan family, who plan to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway and must avoid getting caught by the FBI.  The film holds a 92% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Matt Zoller Seitz, writing for Rogerebert.com gave the film 3.5/4 stars saying this in his review, "Soderbergh is one of the reigning masters of the heist picture: he did the Ocean's Eleven remake and its two sequels, plus Out of Sight and The Underneath.  This one's about a bunch of good ol' boys trying to rob the Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.  The movie is put together with the no-fuss confidence of Soderbergh's best entertainments, staging comedic banter and suspense sequences with equal assurance, even playing sly perception games with the audience by making you wonder how smart or dumb the character (and the movie) actually are.  Soderbergh directs the script with his characteristic smoothness, moving through the story so deftly that you don't realize you've already gone from point A to point B until you're already en route to point C.  There's no wasted motion.  Everything happens as it does for a reason.  A lot of times you have no idea what you're looking at or why it's important until Soderbergh moves a bit to the left or shifts focus to make you go "Aha!"  There are few working directors who still know how to make a film this way.  Soderbergh is one of them."

We will be meeting Thursday, Jan. 16th at 6:15pm.  

I hope you are able to make it out to this wonderfully fun film!

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPzvKH8AVf0