Hello movie lovers! We are excited about our first movie night, which will occur on the third Tuesday of every month. On March 20, we will meet in the library to watch and discuss one of the following three films. You need to choose which one and email it to Gail Sergenian ([email protected]) with the subject MOVIE NIGHT by Monday March 12th.
For our first evening, Edythe Salzman offers three fine films. Select the one you would like to see and discuss with others.
SIDEWAYS, directed by Alexander Payne, 2004
With Sideways, Paul Giamatti has become an unlikely but engaging romantic lead. Struggling novelist and wine connoisseur Miles (Giamatti) takes his best friend Jack (Thomas Haden Church, Wings) on a wine-tasting tour of California vineyards for a kind of extended bachelor party. Almost immediately, Jack's insatiable need to sow some wild oats before his marriage leads them in into double-dates with a rambunctious wine pourer (Sandra Oh) and a recently divorced waitress (Virginia Madsen)--and Miles discovers a little hope that he hasn't let himself feel in a long time. Sideways is a modest but finely tuned film; with gentle compassion, it explores the failures, struggles, and lowered expectations of mid-life. Giamatti makes regret and self-loathing sympathetic, almost sweet. Bret Fetzer
STAND BY ME, directed by Rob Reiner, 1986
From Left, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O'Connell, Corey Feldman and River Phoenix.
]In a small woodsy Oregon town, a group of friends--sensitive Gordie (Wil Wheaton), tough guy Chris (River Phoenix), flamboyant Teddy (Corey Feldman), and scaredy-cat Vern (Jerry O'Connell)--are in search of a missing teenager's body. Wanting to be heroes in each other's and their hometown's eyes, they set out on an unforgettable two-day trek that turns into an odyssey of self-discovery. They sneak smokes, tell tall tales, cuss 'cause it's cool and band together when the going gets tough. When they encounter the town's knife-wielding hoods who are also after the body, the boys discover a strength they never knew they had. Stand by Me is a rare and special film about friendship and the indelible experiences of growing up. Filled with humor and suspense, Stand by Me is based on the novella 'The Body' by Stephen King. Amazon.com
It's hard to tell if the four young actors are all geniuses or just perfectly cast, but the performances are never short of real, and if some of the key scenes don't have you choking back tears, you are without a soul. This is as fresh and moving as it was when it was first released. Superbly acted...the classic of its genre. Emma Cochrane, Variety.
LAST PICTURE SHOW, directed by Peter Bogdanovich
Peter Bogdanovich's masterpiece from 1971, co-written with the original novel's author Larry McMurtry, is set in a small, dusty, windblown town in Texas at the time of the Korean war, with shades of John Updike's Tarbox and Peyton Place. (The last picture in question, which is to say the final feature to be shown in the town's dying movie theatre, is Howard Hawks's Red River.) Timothy Bottoms and a heartbreakingly young-looking Jeff Bridges play Sonny and Duane, two boys destined to fall out over their interest in the stunningly beautiful, exquisitely manipulative Jacy, played by Cybill Shepherd. This movie is baked hard in the high summer heat of eroticism and sexual tension. Sonny's affair with a melancholy older woman Ruth (Cloris Leachman) is compelling. It begins with the awkward teen agreeing to drive her to the clinic for an illness that is never specified and appears later to vanish, perhaps cured by this glorious adventure. The nude swimming-party scene is inspired: shy Jacy strips off on the diving board, stumbles in, and smilingly shows to a handsome naked boy that the watch her boyfriend has given her has stopped. Bodganovich deserves a special laurel for that quietly superb sequence. The cast, including Ellen Burstyn, Eileen Brennan and Ben Johnson, take their leave in quaint "curtain- call" style final credits that, for some reason, made me want to sob. The soundtrack from Hank Williams and others is a joy. Unmissable. Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian.
Don’t forget to send Gail your choice.
Movie Night at the clubhouse
Tuesday, March 20th
6:30-7 Cocktails 7 PM movie Discussion afterwards led by Edythe Salzman
BYOB and an appetizer or sweet to share!