Puxatawny Phil saw his shadow. Six more weeks of winter? Hmmm. I know that I’ll probably be choking down these words in the coming weeks, but c’mon… we haven’t really even had any winter to speak of. Meanwhile, nearer home, Staten Island Chuck did not see his shadow… he is from Saten Island though… I guess time will tell…

We started our Groundhog Day presentation of Groundhog Day with footage (can one even refer to it as footage any more?) of the legendary rodent and the elaborate prodeedings surrounding his annual outing from earlier in the day. One of our guests hit the nail on the head with the comment, “Didn’t you show this before?”

Pair o’ dogs-icly, we are looking after/thinking of adopting another Jack Russell Terrier who was present at the screening. His name is Bill, and another guest christened him “Bill Furry” as an homage to Groundhog Day’s leading man (we have some funny people at MovieNight!). He’s super sweet, but we’re not sure whether his presence will make Flea happy. Of course, Flea’s happiness is of the utmost importance. Stay tuned.

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Black Christmas closed the first part of our MovieNight season, with thrills, chills, and a good giggle. Add to that a steaming hot portion of our spicy-sweet veggie chilli (treats had been promised), and you have the formula for a cozy night in. Plus, Mr. K. turned up with a delicious new vodka to sample… we hope to have it on the menu in ’12.

By the way, we’re thinking about making a few changes around here next year. We’ll keep you posted, and we’ll be asking for your comments.

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To many of you who were [lucky] enough to have over-indulged at the tables of  families and friends the day before, the prospect of a Friday MovieNight must have been an appealing return to some sort of normalcy. Well, not exactly normalcy: a planet named Melancholia is on course to destroy Earth, after first wreaking emotional havoc on an already dysfunctional wedding party. After a montage of stunning imagery, evoking among other things, Kubrick’s 2001 Space Odyssey, and making at least one informed viewer wonder what the heck had happened to the Lars von Trier co-originated Dogme 95 manifesto, Melancholia snapped into sharp, jolting crispness, and entertained majestically.

The folding chairs had to come out!

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Well. After last week’s full house for The Trip, we were surprised to see only a handful of guests at MovieNight for the excellent Fat Girl. The handy, dandy little visit counter tracked over 60 visits to the review page, so we can only assume that the movie didn’t appeal. Was it the political incorrectness of the title? The original French title À ma soeur, is a bit tricky to translate. It is probably a play on Et ta soeur, which kind of means “fuck off and mind your own business”. Hmmm.

At any rate, the handful had a great MovieNight experience. So there!  ; )

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Rather disappointingly, not one Indian guest showed up for our screening of the third part of the “Apu Trilogy”. Yes Lavanya, we are referring to you!

Still, it was beautiful to see how this 52 year old film entranced our audience. Only a couple fell asleep.

: )

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