January Film Club

 HAPPY NEW YEAR! Welcome to 2025 everyone, I hope all your new years have started off as best as possible.

I have a whole year's worth of movies coming your way, so let's get right into it. To kick off the new year, we will be watching Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest.

The Zone of Interest is a 2023 historical drama film written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, co-produced among the United Kingdom, the United States, and Poland. Loosely based on the 2014 novel by Martin Amis, the film focuses on the life of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife Hedwig, who live with their family in a home in the "Zone of Interest" next to the concentration camp.  Christian Friedel stars as Rudolf Höss alongside Sandra Hüller as Hedwig Höss. Development of the film began in 2014 around the publication of the Amis novel, which is itself based partially on real events. Glazer opted to tell the story of the Hösses rather than the characters they inspired and conducted extensive research into the family, as he sought to make a film that demystifies the perpetrators of the Holocaust as "mythologically evil"

The Zone of Interest premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 19 May 2023 and was theatrically released in the United States on 15 December 2023. The film received critical acclaim. Among its accolades, The Zone of Interest received five nominations (including Best Picture) at the 96th Academy Awards, winning two: Best International Feature (the first for a non-English British film) and Best Sound.

It currently holds a fresh rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and Robert Daniels, writing for Rogerebert.com, gave the film 4/4 stars saying this in his review, "When I first watched writer-director Jonathan Glazer’s radical take on the Holocaust back in May, I couldn’t quite pinpoint what was so startling about it. There have been many films on this horrific chapter in history—from “Night and Fog” to “Schindler's List” to “The Pianist,” and as recently as “Occupied City”—all asking the viewer to bear witness to unfathomable suffering under a genocidal regime’s brutality. It would be a mistake, however, to interpret Glazer’s adaptation of Martin Amis’ same-titled novel as him asking viewers to simply witness. It’s a disturbing work, guided by a discomforting sense of immaculateness that chills the viewer. It is the sanitation the film performs, which speaks to the now, in a way few Holocaust films have done before. "

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

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-vfg3KkV54

Hope to see you there!

December Film Club

 Hello everyone, it's December, it's winter, everything is awful (ok, maybe not everything). That might be an overreaction but it is my least favorite season so, cut me some slack. For the month of December, we have watched a variety of films in the past, sometimes Christmas related, sometimes Christmas adjacent, this year will be one of the latter. We will be watching Martin McDonagh's In Bruges.

In Bruges is a 2008 black comedy-drama crime thriller film directed and written by Martin McDonagh in his feature-length debut. It stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two London-based Irish hitmen hiding in Bruges, with Ralph Fiennes as their boss. The film is set and was filmed in Bruges, Belgium.

In Bruges received generally positive reviews and currently holds a fresh rating of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert gave the film 4/4 stars saying this in his review, “This film debut by the theater writer and director Martin McDonagh is an endlessly surprising, very dark, human comedy, with a plot that cannot be foreseen but only relished. Every once in a while you find a film like this, that seems to happen as it goes along, driven by the peculiarities of the characters.”

We will be meeting Thursday, Dec. 26th at 5:30pm.

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-gG2qo_l_A

Hope to see you there!

November Film Club

Thank you to everyone who came out and survived Horror Fest, we had a great turnout and enjoyed some scary flicks from around the world. 

Moving on to business, it's already November, and in keeping with years past, we will be watching a military themed movie in honor of Veteran's Day. This year we will be watching Sam Mendes' WWI film, 1917. 

1917 is  a 2019 war film directed and produced by Sam Mendes, who co-wrote it with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Partially inspired by stories told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather Alfred about his service during World War I, the film takes place after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich, and follows two British soldiers, Will Schofield (George MacKay) and Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), in their mission to deliver and important message to call off a doomed offensive attack. Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Clair Duburcq, Colin Firth, Adrian Scarborough, and Benedict Cumberbatch also star in supporting roles. The film is shot to appear as only two continuous takes throughout the duration of its runtime.

The film received positive critical acclaim and currently holds an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film was nominated for 10 awards at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning three: Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects. Kate Erbland, writing for Indiewire.com gave the film a B+ and said this in her review, "The horrors of war are never far from the frame in Sam Mendes‘ brutal, bruising single-take World War I drama. The clock is always ticking in “1917,” and even as MacKay is offering a heartbreaking study in restrained emotion, he’s still at least moving towards the end goal of his terrible task. There’s no time to pause, even for great beauty, a lesson that even “1917” is often loathe to honor. The message is blunt but always effective: War is hell, of course — and while peace might be found in strange moments, more danger is always just around the bend, even if you stop looking for it."

We will be meeting Thursday, Nov. 21 at 5:30 pm. (Note that it is a week earlier than normal to accommodate Thanksgiving)

Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqNYrYUiMfg&ab_channel=UniversalPictures

Hope to see you there!

October Film Club: 13th Annual Crete Library Horror Fest

 Well well well, here we are again at my favorite time of year: HALLOWEEN! There's a chill in the air, the leaves are falling, the days are getting shorter, and spooky things abound. Well, that last one might not be a natural thing, but you know what I mean. 

Of course, if it's Halloween then it must also be: THE 13TH ANNUAL CRETE LIBRARY HORROR FEST! My favorite program. So, without further ado, our theme for 2024 is: "POSSESSED!" We will be watching 4 films featuring possession of some sort, but not your typical, "exorcist" style possession films. I've selected 4 films from America, Australia, Iran and Argentina that showcase possession in some way or another.

The Taking of Deborah Logan (2014)- America

Talk to Me (2023)- Australia

Under the Shadow (2016)- Iran

Terrified (2017)-Argentina

(click the titles for trailers)

We will be meeting Wed. Oct. 23 and Thurs. Oct 24 at 4 and 6 each day. Hope to see you there!

September Film Club

 Hello everyone! I can't believe the summer is basically over and we're already in September, the time is just flying by! Thank you to everyone who braved the Weird and Wonderful this summer, we watched a lot of strange films by a lot of strange directors and had some good, and only a little strange, discussions. For the month of Sept. we will briefly return to the world of normal films (well, kind of). We will be watching the Coen Brothers' A Serious Man.

A Serious Man is a 2009 black comedy-drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in 1967, the films stars Michael Stuhlbarg as a Minnesotan Jewish man whose life crumbles both professionally and personally, leading him to questions about his faith.

A Serious Man received widespread positive critical response and was nominated for Best Picture. It currently holds a fresh rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes and Roger Ebert awarded it 4/4 stars saying this in his review, "Beginning with a darkly comic prologue in Yiddish, "A Serious Man" inhabits a Jewish community where the rational (physics) is rendered irrelevant by the mystical (fate). Much of the success of "A Serious Man" comes from the way Michael Stuhlbarg plays the role. He doesn't play Gopnik as a sad-sack or a loser, a whiner or a depressive, but as a hopeful man who can't believe what's happening to him. What else can go wrong? Where can he find happiness? Who can he please? Have I mentioned "A Serious Man" is so rich and funny? This isn't a laugh-laugh movie, but a wince-wince movie. Those can be funny, too."

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

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDKHWRbK2_Q

Hope to see you there!

August Film Club #2

 Our 6th and final film in our Summer Series comes to us from the inimitable Andrei Tarkovsky, the great Soviet director whose films were suppressed for years. We will be watching Mirror.

Mirror is a 1975 Soviet drama film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky. It is loosely autobiographical, unconventionally structured, and incorporates poems composed and read by the director's father, Arseny Tarkovsky. The film features Margarita Terekhova, Ignat Daniltsev, Alla Demidova, Anatoly Solonitsyn, Tarkovsky's wife Larisa Tarkovskaya and his mother Maria Vishnyakova. Mirror is structured in a form of a nonlinear narrative. It unfolds around memories recalled by a dying poet of key moments in his life and in Soviet culture. The film combines contemporary scenes with childhood memories, dreams, and newsreel footage. Its cinematography slips between color, black and white, and sepia. The film's loose flow of oneiric images has been compared with the stream of consciousness technique associated with modernist literature.

Mirror initially polarized critics and audiences, with many finding its narrative incomprehensible. Since its release, it has been reappraised as one of the greatest films of all time, as well as Tarkovsky's magnum opus.

We will be meeting Thursday, August 29th at 5:30 pm.

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2U9TXmYJ94&ab_channel=FilmatLincolnCenter

Hope to see you there!

August Film Club #1

 Our fifth film in our Summer Series comes to us from one of my favorite directors, Werner Herzog. We will be watching his second feature film made in 1970, Even Dwarfs Started Small.

Even Dwarfs Started Small (German: Auch Zwerge haben klein angefangen) is a 1970 West German absurdist comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by Werner Herzog. Dwarfs confined in an institution on a remote island rebel against the guards and director, also dwarfs, in a display of mayhem.

Alex Peterson of Spectrum Culture wrote this in his review, "Herzog has never been shy about speaking in depth about his films—a happy fact of film history provided by one of its key artists—but with this one he doesn’t have much to explain: Even Dwarfs Started Small is about a young filmmaker with a killer eye and access to a haunting location and incredible subjects, stringing a story together on the sheer strength of his creativity and willpower. See it to find out where the mind behind the films Fitzcarraldo and Stroszek came from. Werner Herzog’s second feature film is a small, strange, black-and-white movie shot in 1969 and yet it’s still a movie that matters, because Herzog’s career is still going strong. He hasn’t gone the way of other aging greats who piddled out irrelevant films late in life after making era-defining work in their heyday. No, Herzog is another Godard, just as influential in film history, a legend who cannot be stopped at any age because he lives and bleeds film."

We will be meeting Thursday, August 23rd at 5:30

Here's a trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58NK-rez8Bs&ab_channel=CathodeRayTerrors

Hope to see you there!