Wednesday, June 10, 2026

Movies for July: Sentimental Value and Michael Clayton

     Carl Carlson will host our noon July 1 meeting at his home with a Zoom option. We will be discussing:


Sentimental Value (2025)

    An intimate exploration of family, memories and the reconciliatory power of art. 

     Director: Joachim Trier
     Writers: Eskil Vogt and Joachim Trier
     Stars: Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas


Michael Clayton (2007)

     A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit.

     Director: Tony Gilroy
     Writer: Tony Gilroy
     Stars: George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Tom Wilkinson



How to find streaming services for movies:



Scores for June 2026 movies:

The  Promised Land (2023) 7.9 (eight voting)


Films of Merit

Come from Away (2026), a musical featuring Reed Bentley at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR.




         

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Saturday, May 9, 2026

Movies for June: The Promised Land and Triangle of Sadness

      Joe Robinson will host our June 3 meeting at 12:30 p.m. in Cedar Hills Park at 2300 Cedar Hills Blvd. in Beaverton. Those drinking alcohol should decant in a discreet container. We will discuss the following two films


The Promised Land (2023)

     The story of Danish soldier and explorer Captain Ludvig Kahlen, who explored and cultivated Denmark's wild Jutland, which now comprises the vast majority of the country, in the mid-18th Century. The area is under the rule of Frederik De Schinkel, a crooked, merciless nobleman who realized the threat this new farm represents to his corrupt dealings.

     Director: Nikolaj Arcel
     Writers: Nikolaj Arcel, Anders Thomas Jensen and Ida Jessen
     Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Amanda Collin and Simon Bennebjerg

     

Triangle of Sadness (2022)

     A satirical dark comedy about a celebrity supermodel couple who decide to take a Mediterranean cruise with the ultra rich to try on their new elevated social status. 

     Director: Ruben Ostlund
     Writer: Ruben Ostlund
      Stars: Thobias Thorwid, Harris Dickinson and Charlbi Dean

How to find streaming services for movies:


Scores for May 2026 movies:


The Way We Speak (2024)  6.7 (9 votes)
Little Wing (2024)   6.9 (9 votes)



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Friday, April 3, 2026

Movies for May: The Way we Speak and Little Wing

      Bill Graves will host our May 6 meeting at noon at his home with a zoom option. We will have Scott Bernard Nelson, a Portland actor, join us to describe his work on the local film scene. And we will discuss two independent feature films made in Portland:


The Way We Speak (2024)

     An up-and-coming writer refuses to leave the spotlight when his best friend and debate opponent suffers cardiac arrest, leading to a rift between the writer and his ailing wife, and to the writer's obsession over his new opponent -- a bestselling author.

     Director: Ian Ebright
     Writer: Ian Ebright
     Stars: Patrick Fabian, Diana Coconubo and Kailey Rhodes

Little Wing (2024)

     A 13-year-old girl is dragged into the world of pigeon racing as she deals with her parents' divorce and the impending loss of her home.

     Director: Dean Israelite
     Writers: John Gatins and Susan Orlean
     Stars: Brooklynn Prince, Che Tafari and Brian Cox


How to find streaming services for movies: 



Scores for April 2026 movies:

Alien (1979) 7.9 (8 vjotes)


Films of Merit

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Thursday, March 5, 2026

Movies for April: Project Hail Mary and Alien

       Don Nugent will host our April 1 meeting at noon at Bethany's Table, and we will discuss two science fiction movies: 


Project Hail Mary (2026)

     Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spaceship light years from Earth. As his memory returns, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance killing the sun and thus save Earth. 

     Directors: Phil Lord and Christopher Miller
     Writers: Drew Goddard and Andy Weir
     Stars: Ryan Gosling, Milana Vayntrub and Ken Leung


Alien (1979)

      After investigating a mysterious transmission of unknown origin, the crew of a commercial spacecraft encounters a deadly lifeform.

     Director: Ridley Scott
     Writers: Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett
     Stars: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and John Hurt


How to find streaming services for movies: 



Scores for March 2026 movies:



Films of Merit






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Saturday, February 7, 2026

Movies for March: It Was Just an Accident and The Life of Chuck

      Jon Lee will host our March 4 meeting at noon at his home with a Zoom option, and we will discuss:


 It Was Just an Accident (2025)

     An unassuming mechanic is reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he encounters a man he suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor. Panicked, he rounds up a few of his fellow ex-prisoners to confirm the man's identity.

     Director: Jafar Panahi
     Writers: Jafar Panahi, Nader Saeivar and Shadmehr Rastin
     Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari and Ebrahim Azizi

 The Life of Chuck (2024)


     A life-affirming, genre-bending story about three chapters in the life an ordinary man named Charles Krantz.  

     Director: Mike Flanagan
     Writers: Mike Flanagan and Stephen King
      Stars:  Tom Hiddleston, Jacob Tremblay and Benjamin Pajak

How to find streaming services for movies:




Scores for February 2026 movies:

Misery (1990)   7.2 (9 votes)

      

Films of Merit

                 



 

       

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Saturday, January 10, 2026

Movies for February: This is Spinal Tap and Misery

      John Cleary will host our Feb. 4 meeting at noon in his home with a Zoom option if necessary and we will discuss:


     This is Spinal Tap (1984)

       Spinal Tap, one of England's loudest bands, is chronicled by film director Marty DiBergi on what proves to be a fateful tour.

    
     Director: Rob Reiner
     Writers: Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer
     Stars: Rob Reiner, Michael McKean and Christopher Guest


     Misery (1990)

     After a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.

 
     Director: Rob Reiner
     Writers: Stephen King and William Goldman
     Stars: James Caan, Kathy Bates and Richard Farnsworth


How to find streaming services for movies:



Scores for January 2026 movies:


Hamnet (2025)   8.6 (8 votes)
Train Dreams (2025)  7.8 (9 votes)


Films of Merit

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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








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