Cheryl asked me to list some of the films that we have screened and discussed . I did attempt to attach the file, but I must be doing it incorrectly...so..instead..I have pasted the second season's playlist here. Enjoy!
September 22 Big Night (USA 1996) directed by Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci
Two brothers—Tony Shalhoub, a great chef, and Stanley Tucci, a good cook and businessman—try to make a go of a beautiful Italian restaurant against stiff competition. Their last-ditch effort involves a celebrity visit and platters of fabulous confections. Be sure eat supper before you come! 107 minutes
October 27 Repulsion (UK 1965) directed by Roman Polanski
In his first English-language project, Polanski and his star (Catherine Deneuve in her first film in English), explore paranoia and schizophrenia against the backdrop of swinging London. A brilliant example from a brilliant director demonstrating that we fear not what we see, but what we imagine. 104 minutes
November 24 Lone Star (USA 1996) directed by John Sayles
A poignant and pointed exploration of the cultural, political, and emotional complexities confronting contemporary society. Sayles uses mystery and intrigue, romance, and family to propose a startling understanding of our social moment. 135 minutes
December 22 Gosford Park (USA 2001) directed by Robert Altman
A houseful of family, with all of the murmurs and tensions that implies, finds itself caught up in an inconvenient murder mystery while the staff toils away at its chores. A beautiful, elusive and enigmatic, and provocative study of social class. 137 minutes
January 26 The Sweet Hereafter (Canada 1997) directed by Atom Egoyan
What is more tragic, the accident itself or the shattered lives left behind? Based on Russell Banks’ novel of the same title, this film enters the cold world of winter in Canada and of loss, whenever and wherever it may appear. 112 minutes
February 23 The Saddest Music in the World (Canada 2003) directed by Guy Maddin
Set in Winnipeg in 1933, the city that, for the fourth year running, has been declared by the London Times as the “world capital of sorrow,” this is an indescribable confection of music, historical excavation, and meditation on national cultures. Beautiful, strange, totally wacked out . . . you’ve never seen a film quite like this! 99 minutes
March 24 Last Picture Show (USA 1971) directed by Peter Bogdanovich
An ode to the vanishing world of small-town USA circa 1950. The familiar faces of Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan, Ben Johnson, and Cloris Leachman (these last two in Oscar-winning performances) and newcomers Cybil Shephard, Jeff Bridges, Randy Quaid, and Timothy Bottoms create world that, for better or worse, is unlikely to return. 126 minutes
April 27 Days of Heaven (USA 1978) directed by Terrence Malick
A muted exploration of love and loss set against an expansive landscape as narrated by a child. In Roger Ebert’s words, “one of the most beautiful films ever made.” 95 minutes
May 25 El jardín de Edén / The Garden of Eden (México 1994) directed by María Novaro
A richly ambiguous consideration of the border that runs through Tijuana and how it affects people on either side, who are not necessarily where they want to or should be. An excellent example of the many wonderful films being made in México. 104 minutes
June 22 The Draughtsman’s Contract (UK 1982) directed by Peter Greenaway
An elegant puzzle set in 1694 involving a rich mother and daughter, an artist, a country house, and quite possibly a dead man. What do we see when we look? What’s in the frame or not? How important are details? For one viewer, at least, not much, everything and nothing, and apparently pretty important. 103 minutes
July 27 Moulin Rouge (Australia/USA 2001) directed by Baz Luhrman
Fasten your seat belts and take a deep breath as you’re whisked off to Paris and into the lives of a jumble of characters played by the likes of Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor, John Leguizamo, and Jim Broadbent. It’s all great fun, and it makes an important point, too. 127 minutes
