Thursday, December 4, 2025

Movies for January 2026: Train Dreams and Hamnet

      Bill Triest will host our Jan. 7, 2026, meeting at noon in his home with a Zoom option if necessary, and we will discuss:


Train Dreams (2025)

     Based on Denis Johnson's beloved novella, Train Dreams is the moving portrait of Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker who leads a life of unexpected depth and beauty in the rapidly-changing America of the early 20th Century.

     Director: Clint Bentley
     Writers: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar and Denis Johnson
     Stars: Joel Edgerton, Clifton Collins Jr., and Felicity Jones

Hamnet (2025)

     An imagined powerful story of love and loss that could have inspired the creation of Shakespeare's timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.

     Director: Chloe Zhao
     Writers: Chloe Zhao and Maggie O'Farrell
     Stars: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal and Zac Wishart


How to find streaming services for movies:



Scores for December 2025 movies:



Films of Merit








Saturday, November 15, 2025

Movies for December 2025: One Battle After Another and A Little Prayer

      Nic Bentley will host our Dec. 3, 2025 meeting at noon in his home with a Zoom option if necessary, and we will discuss:


One Battle After Another (2025)

     When their evil enemy resurfaces after 16 years, a group of ex-revolutionaries reunite to rescue the daughter of one of their own.

    Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
    Writers: Paul Thomas Anderson, Thomas Pynchon
    Stars: Teyana Taylor, Leonardo DiCaprio and Regina Hall


A Little Prayer (2023)

     A man tries to protect his daughter-in-law when he finds out that his son is having an affair.
    
     Director: Angus MacLachlan
     Writer: Angus MacLachlan
     Stars: Jane Levy, Will Pullen and David Strathairn


How to find streaming services for movies:



Scores for November 2025 movies:


Films of Merit







     
     


Monday, September 8, 2025

Movies for November 2025: Freud's Last Session and A Million Miles Away

      Our October meeting was canceled so Dean Hiser will host our Nov. 5, 2025, noon meeting at his home with a zoom option, and we will discuss:

Freud's Last Session (2023)


     Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud invites professor C.S. Lewis to debate the existence of God, Freud's unique relationship with his daughter, and Lewis' unconventional relationship with his best friend's mother. 
     
     Director: Matt Brown
     Writers: Mark St. Germain, Matt Brown and Armand M. Nicholi Jr.
      Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Goode and Liv Lisa Fries

A Million Miles Away (2023)

     A biopic about Jose Hernandez and his path from a farm worker to becoming an engineer and an astronaut. A tale of perseverance, community and sacrifice to accomplish a seemingly impossible dream. 

      Director: Alejandra Marquez Abella
      Writers: Bettina Gilois, Hernan Jimenez and Alejandra Marquez Abella
      Stars:  Michael Pena, Rosa Salazar and Julio Cesar Cedillo


How to find streaming services for movies:


Scores for September 2025 movies:

The Naked Gun (2025) 4.5 (6 votes)
Last Breath (2025) 7.8 (8 votes)

Films of Merit

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Movies for September 2025: The Naked Gun and Last Breath

      Bill Graves will host our Sept. 3 noon meeting at his house with a Zoom option. The movies are: The Naked Gun and Last Breath.

The Naked Gun (2025)

     Only one man has the particular set of skills to lead Police Squad and save the world.

     Director: Akiva Schaffer
     Writers: Dan Gregor, Doug Mand and Akiva Schaffer
     Stars:  Liam Neeson, Pamela Anderson and Paul Walter Hauser

Last Breath (2025)

     A true story that follows seasoned deep-sea divers as they battle the raging elements to rescue their crew mate trapped hundreds of feet below the ocean's surface.

     Director: Alex Parkinson
     Writers: Mitchell LaFortune, Alex Parkinson and David Brooks
     Stars: Woody Harrelson, Simu Liu and Finn Cole

How to find streaming services for movies:


Scores for August 2025 movies:

The Big Red One (1980) 6.3 (8 votes)

Films of Merit



Saturday, July 19, 2025

Movies for August 2025: D-Day Plus 20 Years -- Eisenhower Returns to Normandy and The Big Red One

      Hugh Heinsohn will host our Aug. 6 noon meeting on Zoom. We will gather at Carl Carlson's house  to be together as Hugh hosts on Zoom. The movies are: D-Day Plus 20 Years - Eisenhower Returns to Normandy and The Big Red One.

D-Day Plus 20 Years - Eisenhower Returns to Normandy (1964)

     Former President Eisenhower goes through the decisions and actions of D-Day with Walter Cronkite.    
     Stars: Walter Cronkite and Dwight D. Eisenhower


The Big Red One  (1980)

       A hardened sergeant and the four core members of his infantry unit try to survive World War II as they move from battle to battle throughout Europe.

      Director: Samuel Fuller
      Writer: Samuel Fuller
      Stars: Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill and Robert Carradine


How to find streaming services for movies:



Scores for July 2025 movies:



Films of Merit





Tuesday, June 17, 2025

Movies for July 2025: Operation Odessa and The Zone of Interest

      Carl Carlson will host our July 9, 2025, meeting at noon at his home with a Zoom option, and the movies we will discuss are: 

Operation Odessa (2018)

     In the early 1990s, three friends set out to hustle the Russian mob, the Cali cartel and the DEA for the score of a lifetime.

     Director: Tiller Russell
     Stars: Ludwig Fainberg, Juan Almeida and Nelson Yester


The Zone of Interest (2023)

     Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoss and his wife, Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden beside the concentration camp.

     Director: Jonathan Glazer
     Writers: Jonathan Glazer and Martin Amis
     Stars: Christian Friedel, Sandra Huller and Johann Karthaus


How to find streaming services for movies:



Scores for June 2025 movies:

Capernaum (2018) 8.9 (7 votes)
September 5 (2024) 8 (7 votes)

Films of Merit



     



     

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Movies for June 2025: Capernaum and September 5

      Don Nugent will host our meeting at his home with a Zoom option at noon on June 11. We will discuss:

Capernaum  (2018)

     While serving a five-year sentence for a violent crime, a 12-year-old boy sues his parents for neglect.

     Director: Nadine Labaki
     Writers:  Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily and Michelle Keserwany
     Stars: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw and Boluwatife Treasure Bankole

September 5  (2024)

     During the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, an American sports broadcasting team must adapt to live coverage of the Israeli athletes being held hostage by a terrorist group.

     Director: Tim Fehlbaum
     Writers: Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum and Alex David
     Stars: Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro and Ben Chaplin


How to find streaming services for movies:



Scores for May 2025 movies:

Fitzcarraldo (1982) 7.8 (8 votes)

Films of Merit