December Films (now January film)

We have the December movie poll up and you might notice a bit of a theme. We selected these films for nomination because we wanted some "feel good" films. Movies with a bit of inspiration. The movie night in December falls right in the midst of the holidays so we didn't want to present anything gritty or provoking. Not that that's all we do by any means but it's a good time of the year to feel good. The ultimate inspirational film is probably It's a Wonderful Life. We don't need to show that because there's a good chance you'll be watching that anyway. We did throw in a Capra film for good measure though. Meet John Doe is a quintessential Capra film that stars Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck. The most modern of the films is Once. John highly recommends this film to everyone. I have yet to see it but I know some of the great music. Only Angels Have Wings is a Cary Grant film that most people, including Cary Grant fans, have never seen. Life is Beautiful was a huge hit in the late-1990's and included an unforgettable performance by Roberto Benigni. I have never seen Breaking Away but I found it highly rated on all of the "inspirational" lists. Here they are:

Once













"An (unnamed) Guy is a Dublin guitarist/singer-songwriter who makes a living by fixing vacuum cleaners in his Dad's Hoover repair shop by day, and singing and playing for money on the Dublin streets by night. An (unnamed) Girl is a Czech who plays piano when she gets a chance, and does odd jobs by day and takes care of her mom and her daughter by night. Guy meets Girl, and they get to know each other as the Girl helps the Guy to put together a demo disc that he can take to London in hope of landing a music contract. During the same several day period, the Guy and the Girl work through their past loves, and reveal their budding love for one another, through their songs." - IMDB


Meet John Doe

















"As a parting shot, fired reporter Ann Mitchell prints a fake letter from unemployed "John Doe," who threatens suicide in protest of social ills. The paper is forced to rehire Ann and hires John Willoughby to impersonate "Doe." Ann and her bosses cynically milk the story for all it's worth, until the made-up "John Doe" philosophy starts a whole political movement. At last everyone, even Ann, takes her creation seriously...but publisher D.B. Norton has a secret plan." - IMDB

Life is Beautiful















"In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish book keeper named Guido starts a fairy tale life by courting and marrying a lovely woman from a nearby city. Guido and his wife have a son and live happily together until the occupation of Italy by German forces. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a Jewish Concentration Camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank." - IMDB


Only Angels Have Wings
















"While waiting for her boat, Bonnie Lee stops at a small airport in South America. The pilots there deliver mail over a dangerous and usually foggy mountain pass. Geoff Carter, the lead flyer, seems distant and cold as Bonnie tries to get closer to him. Things heat up as Judy MacPherson, Geoff's old flame, shows up with her husband who is an infamous pilot." - IMDB

Breaking Away










"Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his 3 friends, The comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends and parents annoyance. While meanwhile, the 4 friends try to break away from their townie, Indiana reputation while fighting with nearby college snobs." - IMDB

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

It was a close race until the final hours between The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Butch Cassidy surged ahead and that will be our November film. It is a well known film that includes one the onscreen best duo's that Hollywood has ever put together. Paul Newman and Robert Redford make Brad Pitt and George Clooney look like children putting on a play for their accomodating neighbors. It looks like it is more fun for them than it is us. Don't get me wrong, I like Clooney and Pitt but Newman and Redford were different. They were fun, cool and "punch you in the face" manly. The film is loosely based on historical fact about two bank robbers who are escaping from the law and trying to go straight.

In a bit of irony, this month marks the 100th anniversary of the (disputed) deaths of the real Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid.

You will also enjoy the music of Burt Bacharach.

The film will play on Tuesday, November 25th at 7:30 pm.
Capital City Bar and Grill

We will nominate the December film and let you know very soon.

November is Paul Newman month

In honor of the late Paul Newman, we will be showing one of his films in November. It was too difficult to pick the usual 5 or 6 films for nomination so we decided to go with a dozen to choose from. The film that will be voted on from today until October 28th will be shown on November 25th. Looking at the list made me want to dedicate every month in 2009 to Newman but you'll have to make a tough decision and watch the other 11 on your own. I won't give a description of each film (too much time) but I will provide a link for each.

Here they are:

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

The Hustler

Cool Hand Luke

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

The Sting

The Towering Inferno

Slap Shot

The Verdict

The Color of Money

Nobody's Fool

Road to Perdition

The Long, Hot Summer

October Film Nominees: Horror Movie Month

Micah and I went back and forth on what to do for our horror movie nominations for October. Last year we showed Rosemary's Baby, which I always think of as a classic horror movie. This year we flirted with nominating a group of horror films from the classic B-horror movie era. Films like Spider Baby, or the Maddest Story Ever Told, Orgy of the Dead, Night of the Living Dead, or something similar.

We finally decided to select six films for nomination that span the "horror" genre. Here are the nominees. Learn about them. Then vote in the poll on the right hand of your screen.

Peeping Tom: a 1960 psychological thriller film by the British film director Michael Powell. The title derives from 'peeping Tom', a slang expression for a voyeur. The film is a horrific tale of voyeurism, serial murder and child abuse which revolves around a young man who murders women while using a portable movie camera to record their dying expressions of terror. The film was written by the World War II cryptographer and polymath Leo Marks.

The Innocents: a 1961 horror film based on the novella The Turn of the Screw by Henry James. Directed and produced by Jack Clayton, it starred Deborah Kerr and Michael Redgrave. Falling into the subgenre of psychological horror, the film makes use of its lighting, music, and direction for its effect rather than gore and shock factor. Its atmospheric feel was achieved by Academy Award winning cinematographer Freddie Francis, who employed deep focus in many scenes, as well as bold, minimal lighting.

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: the classic 1974 American independent horror film written, directed, and produced by Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel. The film is the first in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise, featuring Marilyn Burns, Gunnar Hansen, Teri McMinn, William Vail, Edwin Neal, and Paul A. Partain. The plot revolves primarily around a group of friends who embark on a road trip to rural Texas to visit the Hardesty family gravesite, which according to radio reports, had been gruesomely vandalized. On a detour to visit the Hardesty mansion, the friends fall victim to a family of cannibals, including the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface.

Magic: a 1978 film starring Anthony Hopkins and Ann-Margret. It was written by William Goldman, who also wrote the novel on which it was based. Magic tells the story of Charles "Corky" Withers (Hopkins), a man that has just failed his first attempt at professional magic. His mentor says that he needs to have a better show business personality. A year later Corky comes back as a ventriloquist with a foul-mouthed dummy named Fats. Do you really need any more than that?

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer: a 1986 film directed by John McNaughton, based on the life of real-life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. The film stars Michael Rooker as Henry, a nomadic serial killer. Henry meets up with an old friend from prison named Otis in Chicago, who he introduces to the delights of random murder. The film was shot in less than a month on a budget of about $110,000, it was not released until 1989 due to repeated disagreements with the MPAA over the movie's violent content. The film was ultimately released without a rating.

Don't Look Now: an Anglo-Italian thriller, directed by Nicolas Roeg and released in 1973. It is based on a short story by Daphne du Maurier.

September Film: Oldboy

For September we will be screening the Korean film Oldboy, a film critics called, "a bloody and brutal revenge film immersed in madness and directed with operatic intensity." Roger Ebert gave the film four stars (out of four) and claimed that it was "a shock to find a movie in which the action, however violent, makes a statement and has a purpose."

Screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004, the film took home the Grand Prix, although the President of the Jury, Quentin Tarantino, attempted to secure the Palm d'Or for the film.

Oldboy is a truly unique film, a blending of revenge drama, martial arts action flick, and intense character study. It is also terrifically violent, but the violence serves the ultimate purpose of revealing just how twisted one can become when set on revenge against those even more twisted.

Oldboy is really a unique film and worth seeing for anyone interested in film.

Here's a trailer for the film.

September Film Nominees

We're still trying to get back on track for September. We'll do a hand count of these movies tomorrow night at Movie Geeks, and the poll will remain up until 9/1. At that point, the film with the most votes will be the September selection.

We decided to go with Foreign Language films for September. Here are the nominees.

Oldboy

Les Diaboliques

8 1/2

Rashomon

Week End

Take a few minutes. Check these films out. Vote for the one you want to see in September.

Trekkies

Trekkies
Tuesday, August 26
Doors open at 7 pm
7:30 pm
Capital City Bar & Grill
Admission is free.

The voting is finished and after a late surge, Trekkies will be the August movie. I saw part of the film several years ago and I really liked what I saw. The film is about Star Trek fans. Not the average Star Trek fans but super Star Trek fans. These people live Star Trek. Star Trek fans are often the target of jokes and mockery but I believe this film was made so that average fans can say "See, at least I'm not that bad."

I have only seen one Star Trek movie in my life and I believe it was the 9th film. I have also never seen any of the television shows. I have always been interested in why there are so many die-hard fans out there so this does at least give some insight in to that culture. It is also timely to note that the Star Trek movie series is getting a re-boot next year. From what I read, it will be an origin story so I do plan on seeing the film and figuring out what it's all about.