Rope - October 27

Rope - 1948

October 27, 2011

7:00
Charley's Club
204 S. 6th Street., Springfield, IL

Brandon and Philip are two young men who share a New York apartment. They consider themselves intellectually superior to their friend David Kentley and as a consequence decide to murder him. Together they strangle David with a rope and placing the body in an old chest, they proceed to hold a small party. The guests include David's father, his fiancée Janet and their old schoolteacher Rupert from whom they mistakenly took their ideas. As Brandon becomes increasingly more daring, Rupert begins to suspect. (IMDB.com)

October Films - Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Here are the nominations for the October movie:

The Lady Vanishes
Travellers on a trans-European train are delayed for a night due to bad weather in a small fictional country called Mandrika. The passengers cram into the small village hotel where socialite Iris Henderson meets an old governess called Miss Froy. Shortly after the journey restarts, Miss Froy disappears. (IMDB.com)

The Wrong Man
The true story of Manny Balestrero, a musician unjustly accused of armed robbery. In classic Hitchcock form, Balestrero vehemently protests his innocence but acts thoroughly guilty, leading a host of policemen and witnesses to finger him as the thief. The trial goes badly for Manny, but life is worse for his wife, Rose, who falls apart under the strain of his ordeal. (IMDB.com)

Rope
Two young men strangle their "inferior" classmate, hide his body in their apartment, and invite his friends and family to a dinner party as a means to challenge the "perfection" of their crime. (IMDB.com)

The Lodger (Silent Film)
A serial killer known as "The Avenger" is on the loose in London, murdering blonde women. A mysterious man arrives at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Bunting looking for a room to rent. The Bunting's daughter is a blonde model and is seeing one of the detectives assigned to the case. The detective becomes jealous of the lodger and begins to suspect he may be the avenger. (IMDB.com)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
Note: This is not the James Stewart version. This film stars Peter Lorre. While holidaying in Switzerland, Lawrence and his wife Jill are asked by a dying friend, Louis Bernard, to get information hidden in his room to the British Consulate. They get the information, but when they deny having it, their daughter Betty is kidnapped. It turns out that Louis was a Foreign Office spy and the information has to do with the assassination of a foreign dignitary. Having managed to trace his daughter's kidnappers back to London, Lawrence learns that the assassination will take place during a concert at the Albert Hall. It is left to Jill, however, to stop the assassination. (IMDB.com)

Movie Geeks Club is Back... And Better!

We're Back!

Actually, Movie Geeks Club was back last month with a soft opening at the new location. Movies will still be shown once a month but will now be shown at Charley's Club which is located in the basement of Cafe Andiamo. The movies will show on the last Thursday of the month and begin at 7:00 pm so if you would like to eat some dinner at Cafe Andiamo, arrive early. Drinks will be available for purchase.

Another change will be that Bart Rodgers (drakebuckley@gmail.com) will now take the lead in Movie Geeks Club. Bart has been a die-hard movie lover, loyal member and my co-leader since John Anderson left. I will continue to assist him.

It will be a wonderful change. I attended the soft opening last month and it is a great little venue. It's very comfortable, relaxed, the staff is wonderful and I LOVE being downtown.

Movie Geeks Club
Charley's Club (Basement of Cafe Andiamo)
204 S. 6th Street
Springfield, IL


Thursday, September 29, 2011
7:00 PM


And now to the nominees for September...

Remembering John Cazale

The Godfather

The Conversation

The Godfather II

Dog Day Afternoon

The Deer Hunter

Hope to see you soon!

Micah

The End of Movie Geeks Club

Unfortunately, I have to announce the end of Movie Geeks Club.

Here is what happened:

For the previous 4 1/2 years, we have partnered with Capital City Bar & Gill to bring you a movie once a month while at the same time bring in a couple hundred dollars in business for them on a night that otherwise would not have that extra business. It worked well. There were some months that I wished we had brought more people in but as long as they weren't losing money, it worked. I always viewed them as a restaurant who opened up their extra dining room for us. It probably stretched the waitresses a bit thin at times but I never worried as long as people were eating food, buying drinks and leaving tips.

Last month, the Capital City Bar and Grill had a change of ownership/management. We had heard about a change coming at the May MGC. Last week, at the June movie, it was clear that there had been a communication break down during the transition because the new manager didn't know about us. After we explained what we are and that we had been bringing in customers one night a month to watch a movie for the past 4 1/2 years, I thought we would be able to continue the partnership.

I was informed today by the new manager that he would begin charging us between $125 and $150 a night, depending on the length of the movie. As you know, we have never charged admission because we wanted this to be a free and unique experience for Springfield. We could also never charge because of licensing laws (of which we were always in the gray area on that anyway). And while I loved the Movie Geeks Club, I can't justify paying out of my own pocket while marketing business for Capital City Bar and Grill to continue this.

This is not a "call to action" but feel free to contact them if you are disappointed. In the end, it is his business decision and there isn't anything we can do.

Thank you to all who have attended throughout the years. We have shown some great films and I have met many wonderful people. I was really looking forward to our next movie because it would have been our 50th film.

Finally, even though I am announcing the end, if there is another venue out there that we can use in the future, we may continue. Unfortunately, this was a unique situation where a bar can make money and we could offer Springfield a unique opportunity to enjoy a free night (minus the food and drink) out watching a great film.

THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!

Color By Picture

Blue Velvet

An innocent man (Kyle MacLachlan) gets mixed up in a small-town murder mystery involving a kinky nightclub chanteuse (Isabella Rossellini) and a kidnapper (Dennis Hopper) with a penchant for snorting helium in this moodily surreal mystery from writer-director David Lynch. One of the most critically acclaimed movies of the 1980s, the film inspired a generation of independent filmmakers by taking a dark look at the lives of everyday Americans.


A Clockwork Orange

In this Stanley Kubrick classic based on Anthony Burgess's novel, teenage miscreant Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) wanders aimlessly amid a bleak, futuristic urban landscape, drinking drugged milk and listening to Beethoven with his fellow "droogs." But he also spends his time stealing, raping and beating innocent people in nihilistic orgies of violence, all in an attempt to get his nightly kicks.


The Purple Rose of Cairo

Stuck in a dead-end job and saddled with an abusive husband, Cecilia (Mia Farrow) depends on the movies for her escape. She sees one picture, The Purple Rose of Cairo, so often that the film's star (Jeff Daniels) walks off the screen and into her life … and promptly falls in love with her. Writer-director Woody Allen's touching romantic comedy bagged a Golden Globe for Best Screenplay and was nominated for a host of foreign and critics' awards.


How Green Was My Valley

Recounted via the memories of the Morgan family's youngest son (Roddy McDowall), director John Ford's gentle masterpiece (which won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director) chronicles 50 years in the lives of a close-knit clan of Welsh coal miners. As the years pass, the Morgans try to survive unionization, a lengthy strike and a mining accident; meanwhile, their hometown and its venerable traditions slowly disintegrate.


The Pink Panther

Arriving at a posh resort with her precious "Panther" -- a large, priceless diamond with the image of a leaping feline inside -- sexy princess Dala (Claudia Cardinale) meets the debonair Sir Charles (David Niven), who happens to be a professional thief. Enter the ever-incompetent Jacques Clouseau (Peter Sellers), the clumsiest inspector ever to trip over a case. Can he stop Charles's attempts to relieve the princess of her diamond?


The White Ribbon

A year before World War I, a series of strange and brutal pranks threaten to shatter a northern German town's orderly existence. But the residents' response may have even more disturbing implications for the future. Celebrated Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke helms this Golden Globe-winning, sumptuously photographed black-and-white drama that stars Susanne Lothar, Ulrich Tukur and Theo Trebs.

Goldfinger - May Movie

Thursday, May 26, 2011
7:30 pm

Capitol City Bar & Grill
3149. S. Dirksen Parkway
Springfield, IL

Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation presents "Comedians & Spirituality in Cinema"

The Movie Geeks Club has been kindly invited to the May film series at the Abraham Lincoln Unitarian Universalist Congregation. They are featuring four movies on consecutive Wednesdays throughout May exploring "Comedians & Spirituality in Cinema".

The films featured are:

May 4: Robin Williams, "The Fisher King"
May 11: Ricky Gervais, "The Invention of Lying"
May 18: Bill Maher, "Religulous"
May 25: Steve Carrell, "Evan Almighty"

This series (as all monthly films) are free, and we serve popcorn, chips & salsa and other snacks. They usually have soda, but it's BYOB.

Battle of the Bonds - May Film

Who is your favorite Bond?

Sean Connery
Goldfinger

The Bank of England has discovered that someone is stockpiling vast quantities of gold and suspects international bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger of being involved. The Bank requests that British agent James Bond be sent to investigate. Bond soon uncovers an audacious plan to commit "the crime of the century" and bring economic chaos to the West.(IMBD.com)

David Niven
Casino Royale (1966)

After the death of M, Sir James Bond is called back out of retirement to stop SMERSH. In order to trick SMERSH and Le Chiffre, Bond thinks up the ultimate plan. That every agent will be named James Bond. One of the Bonds, whose real name is Evelyn Tremble is sent to take on Le Chiffre in a game of baccarat, but all the Bonds get more than they can handle, especially when the ultimate villain turns out to be Bonds nephew, Jimmy Bond. (IMDB.com)

George Lazenby
On Her Majesty's Secret Service

James Bond woos a mob boss's daughter and goes undercover to uncover the true reason for Blofeld's allergy research in the Swiss Alps that involves beautiful women from around the world.(IMDB.com)

Roger Moore
Live and Let Die

Several British agents have been murdered and James Bond is sent to New York, to investigate these mysterious deaths. Mr. Big comes to his knowledge, who is self-producing heroin. Along his journeys he meets Tee Hee who has a claw for a hand, Baron Samedi the voodoo master and Solitaire and her tarot cards. Bond must travel deep inside New York, through marshy grass and on water as he completes his mission. (IMBD.com)

Timothy Dalton
The Living Daylights

James Bond 007's mission is to firstly, organise the defection of a top Soviet general. When the general is re-captured, Bond heads off to find why an ally of General Koskov was sent to murder him. Bond's mission continues to take him to Afghanistan, where he must confront an arms dealer known as Brad Whitaker. Everything eventually reveals its self to Bond. (IMDB.com)

Pierce Brosnan
GoldenEye

James Bond has a mission to recover the 'Goldeneye' access key. A Russian computer programmer called Natalya Siminova survives a murder spree by Xenia Onatopp and General Ourumov. Bond must work with Natalya to find this key and uncovers a sinister secret. His fellow agent, Alec Trevelyan who was believed to have been shot and killed 9 years ago re-surfaces. Bond soon realizes that Trevelyan is behind everything. Bond must now battle his former friend, in order to stop him from destroying London with the Goldeneye satellite. (IMDB.com)

Daniel Craig
Casino Royale (2006)

James Bond goes on his first ever mission as a 00. Le Chiffre is a banker to the world's terrorists. He is participating in a poker game at Montenegro, where he must win back his money, in order to stay safe among the terrorist market. The boss of MI6, known simply as M sends Bond, along with Vesper Lynd to attend this game and prevent Le Chiffre from winning. Bond, using help from Felix Leiter, Mathis and having Vesper pose as his wife, enters the most important poker game in his already dangerous career. But if Bond defeats Le Chiffre, will he and Vesper Lynd remain safe? (IMDB.com)

The Pride of the Yankees - April Movie

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Capital City Bar and Grill
7:30 pm

The Pride of the Yankees Biopic traces the life of Lou Gehrig, famous baseball player who played in 2130 consecutive games before falling at age 37 to ALS, a deadly nerve disease which now bears his name. Gehrig is followed from his childhood in New York until his famous 'Luckiest Man' speech at his farewell day in 1939.

Please note:

Due to another scheduling conflict with our venue, April's selection will be shown on Tuesday, 4/26. We apologize for the switching back and forth as of late, but this could not be avoided. It seems that Thursdays work best for most movie geeks, so we'll aim to move May's showing back to the last Thursday of the month. Thanks for your cooperation!

Springtime: Best of Baseball

Field of Dreams Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella hears a voice in his corn field tell him, "If you build it, he will come." He interprets this message as an instruction to build a baseball field on his farm, upon which appear the ghosts of Shoeless Joe Jackson and the other seven Chicago White Sox players banned from the game for throwing the 1919 World Series. When the voices continue, Ray seeks out a reclusive author to help him understand the meaning of the messages and the purpose for his field.

The Natural An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league in this magical sports fantasy. With the aid of a bat cut from a lightning struck tree, Hobbs lives the fame he should have had earlier when, as a rising pitcher, he is inexplicably shot by a young woman.

Bull Durham Veteran minor-league catcher Crash Davis is assigned to the Class A Durham Bulls to handle the team's star rookie, wild pitcher "Nuke" LaLoosh. Team groupie Annie Savoy romances both players, creating a comic triangle.

The Pride of the Yankees Biopic traces the life of Lou Gehrig, famous baseball player who played in 2130 consecutive games before falling at age 37 to ALS, a deadly nerve disease which now bears his name. Gehrig is followed from his childhood in New York until his famous 'Luckiest Man' speech at his farewell day in 1939.

Major League The new owner of the Cleveland Indians puts together a purposely horrible team so they'll lose and she can move the team. But when the plot is uncovered, they start winning just to spite her.

The Straight Story - Thursday, March 31 - 7:30 pm

The Straight Story
Alvin Straight is a very old man with a quiet life in a small country town. When his brother gets seriously sick, he decides to put away their differences and visit him after many, many years. So, alone, he begins a long journey through hundreds of miles, just to see again his brother, even if it's the last thing he will ever do... Based on a real story.

Movie Geeks Club - Last Thursdays of the Month

Movie Geeks Club has now moved to the last Thursday of each month.

THANKS!

March Film Nominations - Biography

Amadeus
Antonio Salieri believes that Mozart's music is divine. He wishes he was himself as good a musician as Mozart so that he can praise the Lord through composing. But he can't understand why God favored Mozart, such a vulgar creature, to be his instrument. Salieri's envy has made him an enemy of God whose greatness was evident in Mozart. He is set to take revenge.

Downfall
As the Russians advance through Berlin in the spring of 1945, Adolf Hitler and his remaining military and secretarial staff shelter in his large bunker complex in the centre of the city. His mood swings between completely unjustified optimism that his forces will still break through, and rage against the incompetence and betrayal of his military commanders. Reality does finally start to break through and the Fuhrer and the others in the bunker start to make their final personal preparations for the inevitable.

Bonnie and Clyde
A bored small-town girl and a small-time bank robber leave in their wake a string of violent robberies and newspaper headlines that catch the imagination of the Depression-struck Mid-West in this take on the legendary crime spree of these archetypal lovers on the run.

Raging Bull
When Jake LaMotta steps into a boxing ring and obliterates his opponent, he's a prizefighter. But when he treats his family and friends the same way, he's a ticking time bomb, ready to go off at any moment. Though LaMotta wants his family's love, something always seems to come between them. Perhaps it's his violent bouts of paranoia and jealousy. This kind of rage helped make him a champ, but in real life, he winds up in the ring alone.

The Straight Story
Alvin Straight is a very old man with a quiet life in a small country town. When his brother gets seriously sick, he decides to put away their differences and visit him after many, many years. So, alone, he begins a long journey through hundreds of miles, just to see again his brother, even if it's the last thing he will ever do... Based on a real story.

His Girl Friday - This Thursday

This is a reminder that Movie Geeks Club is on Thursday (February 24) this month. The doors open at 7:00 pm and the movie begins at 7:30 pm.

Hope to see you there!

HIS GIRL FRIDAY

The second screen version of the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur play The Front Page, His Girl Friday changed hard-driving newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson from a man to a woman, transforming the story into a scintillating battle of the sexes. Rosalind Russell plays Hildy, about to foresake journalism for marriage to cloddish Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). Cary Grant plays Walter Burns, Hildy's editor and ex-husband, who feigns happiness about her impending marriage as a ploy to win her back. The ace up Walter's sleeve is a late-breaking news story concerning the impending execution of anarchist Earl Williams (John Qualen), a blatant example of political chicanery that Hildy can't pass up. The story gets hotter when Williams escapes and is hidden from the cops by Hildy and Walter--right in the prison pressroom. His Girl Friday may well be the fastest comedy of the 1930s, with kaleidoscope action, instantaneous plot twists, and overlapping dialogue. (IMDB.com)

Season for Valentines: Classic Cheeky Romance

PLEASE NOTE: Due to conflicting schedules, the movie selection for February will be shown on Thursday, 2/24 instead of Tuesday, 2/22. Same time, same place. So please...make your vote count, come on out, and don't pretend you're not all hopeless romantics!!


THE LADY EVE

Returning from a year up the Amazon studying snakes, the rich but unsophisticated Charles Pike meets con-artist Jean Harrington on a ship. They fall in love, but a misunderstanding causes them to split on bad terms. To get back at him, Jean disguises herself as an English lady, and comes back to tease and torment him.

The Lady Eve is a 1941 American screwball comedy film. It is about a mismatched couple who meet on a luxury liner, written by Preston Sturges based on a story by Monckton Hoffe, and directed by Sturges, his third directorial effort, after The Great McGinty and Christmas in July. The film stars Henry Fonda and Barbara Stanwyck and features Charles Coburn, Eugene Pallette, William Demarest and Eric Blore.



CITY LIGHTS

Charles_Chaplin was deep into production of his silent City Lights when Hollywood was overwhelmed by the talkie revolution. After months of anguished contemplation, Chaplin decided to finish the film as it began--in silence, save for a musical score and an occasional sound effect. Once again cast as the Little Tramp, Chaplin makes the acquaintance of a blind flower girl (Virginia_Cherrill), who through a series of coincidences has gotten the impression that the shabby tramp is a millionaire. A second storyline begins when the tramp rescues a genuine millionaire (Harry_Myers) from committing suicide. When drunk, the millionaire expansively treats the tramp as a friend and equal; when sober, he doesn't even recognize him. The two plots come together when the tramp attempts to raise enough money for the blind girl to have an eye operation. Highlights include an extended boxing sequence pitting scrawny Chaplin against muscle-bound Hank_Mann, and the poignant final scene in which the now-sighted flower girl sees her impoverished benefactor for the first time. Chaplin's decision to release the silent City Lights three years into the talkie era was partially vindicated when more than one critic singled out this "comedy in pantomime" as the best picture of 1931. Hal Erickson, Rovi



HAROLD AND MAUDE

A 1971 American comedy film directed by Hal Ashby. It incorporates elements of dark humor and existentialist drama, with a plot that revolves around the exploits of a young man intrigued with death, Harold (played by Bud Cort). Harold drifts away from the life that his detached mother prescribes for him, and develops a relationship with an old woman named Maude (played by Ruth Gordon).




HIS GIRL FRIDAY

The second screen version of the Ben Hecht/Charles MacArthur play The Front Page, His Girl Friday changed hard-driving newspaper reporter Hildy Johnson from a man to a woman, transforming the story into a scintillating battle of the sexes. Rosalind Russell plays Hildy, about to foresake journalism for marriage to cloddish Bruce Baldwin (Ralph Bellamy). Cary Grant plays Walter Burns, Hildy's editor and ex-husband, who feigns happiness about her impending marriage as a ploy to win her back. The ace up Walter's sleeve is a late-breaking news story concerning the impending execution of anarchist Earl Williams (John Qualen), a blatant example of political chicanery that Hildy can't pass up. The story gets hotter when Williams escapes and is hidden from the cops by Hildy and Walter--right in the prison pressroom. His Girl Friday may well be the fastest comedy of the 1930s, with kaleidoscope action, instantaneous plot twists, and overlapping dialogue.



BALL OF FIRE

Ball of Fire is a delightful retelling (by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett) of the "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" legend -- though strictly for grownups. Gary Cooper is the youngest of eight bookish professors authoring an encyclopedia. They find a perfect "research associate" in the curvaceous form of stripteaser Barbara Stanwyck, who (chastely) hides on the professors' domicile to escape her gangster boyfriend (Dana Andrews). As Stanwyck interprets various slang expression, she and the professors grow quite fond of one another; she brings out their sentimental sides, while they revive her essential decency. Naturally, Cooper is the one most smitten, though he hides his true feelings until the inevitable clinch.