Category Archives: Movies

Black Christmas!

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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Alien… older than half of our audience, and still wonderful!

Somewhat astoundingly, given that it is now thirty-two years old, Alien looked fresh as a daisy on our silver screen. The effects were impressive and believable even without the copious amounts of CGI we have come to accept. Sigourney Weaver is surely the queen of the sci-fi, having spanned the gap between this and Avatar.

Speaking of which, do you think it’s time for MovieNight to go 3D, or should we keep it like it is? Is there anyone out there? Hello?!

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Melancholia provides happiness on a Friday night.

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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The Last Train Home

The Last Train home provided a handful of guests with a heart-rending glimpse into the life of a modern Chinese family. And you think you have it tough? Maybe it’s because of my age (it certainly can’t be because of an inordinate amount of suffering… I haven’t really suffered much in my life, I must confess) but seeing this film made me just a tiny bit more resentful of those over-privileged teens one sees on the subway, visiting New York from [Elsewhere, USA]. They think that, for instance, since the escalator is moving, they needn’t bother using the thing as a stairway. Just stand there and let the machine do the work. Hello!? This country is at war and, for the war effort (personally, I don’t agree with either war, but still…) you could at least keep moving on an escalator. I know that this is perhaps not a succinct articulation of my frustration with the mostly lazy, often thoughtless, and goddammit-I-blame-the-parents, self-centered kids of today, but I hope you get what I’m eluding to.

On the flip side… every once in a while some kid surprises me with their smartness and shared appreciations. I guess it was always thus. Shit.

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Submarine kept us above water, and wanting more.

Somehow, the awkwardness of coming of age never completely escapes our memory (at least that’s what I’m hoping for), and the budding romance of young Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) and his beau Jordanna (Yasmin Paige) in Submarine was just cringe-making enough to make a lovely MovieNight. And funny… of course.

Once again, there was Brie, aprez!

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