Thursday, March 13, 2025

Movies for April 2025: Anora and Mulholland Drive

Jon Lee will host our meeting at his home with a Zoom option at noon on April 2. We will discuss:

Anora (2024)

A young escort from Brooklyn meets and impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairy tale is threatened as his parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled.

Director: Sean Baker

Writer: Sean Baker

Stars: Mikey Madison, Paul Weissman and Yura Borisov

Mulholland Drive (2001)

After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.

Director: David Lynch

Writer: David Lynch

Stars: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring and Justin Theroux

How to find streaming services for movies:

http://justwatch.com

Scores for March 2025 movies:

A Complete Unknown (2024) 7.5 (8 votes)

I'm Still Here (2024) 7.9 (8 votes)

Films of Merit

The Mallorca Files, a series (2019)

Hard Times, also known as Holy Water (2009)

The Newsroom, a series (2013-2014)

The Damned United (2009)

1923, a series (2022-2025)

1883, a series (2021-2022)

Flow (2024)

The Pitt, a series (2025)

Monday, February 10, 2025

Movies for March 2025: A Complete Unknown and I'm Still Here

Bill Triest will host our March meeting at his new home in Forest Grove at noon on March 5 with a Zoom option. We will discuss:

A Complete Unknown (2024)

In 1961, an unknown 19-year-old Bob Dylan arrives in New York City with his guitar and forges relationships with musical icons on his meteoric rise, culminating in a groundbreaking performance that reverberates around the world.

Director: James Mangold

Writers: James Mangold, Jay Cocks and Elijah Wald

Stars: Timothee Chalamet, Edward Norton and Elle Fanning

I'm Still Here (2024)

A mother is forced to reinvent herself when her family's life is shattered by an act of arbitrary violence during the tightening grip of a military dictatorship in Brazil, 1971

Director: Walter Salles

Writers: Murilo Hauser, Heitor Lorega and Marcelo Rubens Paiva

Stars: Fernanda Torres, Fernanda Montenegro and Selton Mello

How to find streaming services for movies:

http;//justwatch.com

Scores for February 2025 movies:

The Brutalist (2024) 5.8 (5 votes)

The Last Showgirl (2024) 6.1 (7 votes)

Films of Merit

Hard Truths (2024)

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

The Only Girl in the Orchestra, short (2023)

Mr. Malcolm's List (2022)

Here (2024)

A Real Pain (2024)

Friday, January 17, 2025

Movies for February 2025: The Brutalist and The Last Showgirl

Nic Bentley will host our meeting at noon on Feb. 5 at his home with a Zoom option. We will discuss:

The Brutalist (2024)

When a visionary architect and his wife flee post-war Europe in 1947 to rebuild their legacy and witness the birth of modern United States, their lives are changed forever by a mysterious, wealthy client.

Director: Brady Corbet

Writers: Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold

Stars: Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce

The Last Showgirl (2024)

A seasoned showgirl must plan for her future when her show abruptly closes after a 30-year run.

Director: Gia Coppola

Writer: Kate Gersten

Stars: Pamela Anderson, Brenda Song and Kiernan Shipka

How to find streaming services for movies:

http;//justwatch.com

Scores for January 2025 movies:

Wild Target (2010) 4.7 (9 votes)

The World's Fastest Indian (2005) 7.6 (9 votes)

Films of Merit

Churchill at War, a series (2024)

Baby Girl (2024)

Slow Horses, a series (2022)

Loudermilk, a series (2017-2020)

My Donkey, My Lover and I (2020)

Shrinking, a series (2023- )

Back Doves, a series (2024)

The Day of the Jackal (2024-)

Thelma & Louise (1991)

A Complete Unknown (2024)

Sunday, December 15, 2024

Movies for January 2025: Wild Target and The World's Fastest Indian

Dean Hiser will host our January meeting, which will be a week later than usual at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 8, because New Year's Day falls on the first Wednesday. The meeting will be at Dean's house with a Zoom option, and we will discuss:

Wild Target (2010)

A hitman tries to retire, but a beautiful thief may change his plans.

Director: Jonathan Lynn

Writers: Lucinda Coxon and Pierre Salvadori

Stars: Bill Nighy, Emily Blunt and Rupert Grint

The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

The story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years rebuilding a 1920 Indian motorcycle, which helped him set the land speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967.

Director: Roger Donaldson

Writer: Roger Donaldson

Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Diane Ladd and Lain Rea

How to find streaming services for movies:

http://justwatch.com

Scores for December 2024 movies:

Conclave (2024) 8.2 (9 votes)

Ghostlight (2024) 8 (9 votes)

Films of Merit

Cabaret (1972)

Landline (2017)

Hidden, a series (2018-2022)

White Collar, a series (2009-2014)

I Know Where I'm Going (1945)

Elf (2003)

The Piano Lesson (2024)

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

Sunday, November 10, 2024

Movies for December, 2024: Conclave and Ghostlight

Bill Graves will host our Dec. 4 meeting at 7 p.m. at his house with a Zoom option, and we will discuss the following movies:

Conclave (2024)

When Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with leading one of the world's most secretive and ancient events, selecting a new Pope, he finds himself at the center of a conspiracy that could shake the very foundation of the Catholic Church.

Director: Edward Berger

Writers: Peter Straughan and Robert Harris

Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow