Movies for April 2018: Easy Rider and The Sheltering Sky

Joe is hosting in April and the movies to see are:

Easy Rider (1969)

Two counterculture bikers travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of America.

Director: Dennis Hopper
Writers: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Terry Southern
Stars: Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson

The Sheltering Sky (1990)

The American artist couple Port and Kit Moresby travel aimlessly through Africa, searching for new experiences that could give sense to their relationship. But the flight to distant regions only leads both deeper into despair.

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci

Writers: Paul Bowles (book), Mark Peploe and Bernardo Bertolucci (screenplay) 

Stars: Debra Winger, John Malkovich, Campbell Scott

Extra Credit: "Morocco (Tangier)" Episode of Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown on Netflix

Season 1 | Episode 5

What Burroughs called "Interzone", where artists like Burroughs, Bowles, Rimbaud, Verlaine, the Rolling Stones sought escape from Western moral prohibitions and the possibilities of great empty spaces.

Directors: Jared Andrukanis, Nick Brigden

Writer: Anthony Bourdain

Stars: Anthony Bourdain, Bachir Attar, George Bajalia 

Scores for March 2018 Films

• Lady Bird (2017): 7.7
• I, Tonya (2017): 6.45

Films of Merit

• A Thousand Clowns (1965)
• Coco (2017)
• Darkest Hour (2017)
• Harry and Tonto (1974)
• Phantom Thread (2017)
• Science Fair (2018)
• Sullivan's Travels (1941)
• The Last Hot Lick (2017)

Movies for March 2018: Lady Bird and I, Tonya

Bill G is picking the movies for March, but the meeting will be held at Dean's house. The movies to see are:

Lady Bird (2017)

In 2002, an artistically inclined seventeen-year-old girl comes of age in Sacramento, California.

Director: Greta Gerwig

Writer: Greta Gerwig

Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf, Tracy Letts 

I, Tonya (2017)

Competitive ice skater Tonya Harding rises amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but her future in the activity is thrown into doubt when her ex-husband intervenes.

Director: Craig Gillespie

Writer: Steven Rogers

Stars: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney

Scores for February's Films

• The Post (2017)  7.1 / 10
• The Shape of Water (2017)  6.82 / 10

Films of Merit

• A Futile and Stupid Gesture (2018)
• Babylon Berlin (TV series)
• Definitely, Maybe (2008)
• Get Out (2017)
• Last Flag Flying (2017)
• Live by Night (2016)
• Phantom Thread (2017)
• Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams (TV series)
• Strangers on a Train (1951)
• The Polka King (2017)
• The Tunnel (TV series)

Performances Worth Seeing

• Astoria Parts 1 and 2 at Portland Center Stage
• Chamber Music Northwest
• The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Books Worth Reading

• Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival by Peter Stark

Movies for February 2018: The Post and The Shape of Water

Dean is officially hosting in February but the meeting will be at Bill G's house.

The movies to see are:

The Post (2017)

A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government.

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writers: Liz Hannah, Josh Singer

Stars: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Sarah Paulson 

The Shape of Water (2017)

At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Writers: Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor

Stars: Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon

Scores for Last Month's Films

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)  7.00 / 10
The Disaster Artist (2017)  5.86 / 10

Films of Merit

• All in the Family (TV series)
• Black Mirror (TV series)
• Darkest Hour (2017)
• Get Out (2017)
• Godless (TV series)
• Good Behavior (TV series)
• Happyish (TV series)
• Lady Bird (2017)
• Lost in Paris (2016)
• Molly's Game (2017)
• My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes (2014)
• Roberta (1935)
• Shaka Zulu (TV series)
• The Crown (TV series)
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (TV series)
• Vera (TV series)

Movies for January 2018: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Disaster Artist

Hugh is hosting in January. Both movies to see are showing locally in theaters now:

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

 A mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter's murder when they fail to catch the culprit.

Director: Martin McDonagh
Writer: Martin McDonagh
Stars: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell

The Disaster Artist (2017)

When Greg Sestero, an aspiring film actor, meets the weird and mysterious Tommy Wiseau in an acting class, they form a unique friendship and travel to Hollywood to make their dreams come true.

Director: James Franco
Writers: Scott Neustadter (screenplay), Michael H. Weber (screenplay), Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell (authors of the book "The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made")
Stars: James Franco, Dave Franco, Ari Graynor

Scores for December 2017 Movies

• The Florida Project (2017): 7.5
• The 400 Blows (1959): 6.7

Films of Merit

• A Special Day (1977) 
• Boogie Nights (1997)
• Coraline (2009)
• Cuba and the Cameraman (2017)
• Frontier (TV series)
• Happyish (TV series)
• Hard Eight (1996)
• Hollywood Party (1934)
• Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017)
• Mudbound (2017)
• Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
• Singin' in the Rain (1952)
• Spy (2015)
• The Big Sick (2017)

Special Event: Animating Life: The Art, Science, and Wonder of LAIKA - through May 20, 2018 at the Portland Art Museum

Movies for December 2017: The 400 Blows and The Florida Project

Steve is hosting in December and the movies to see are:

The 400 Blows (1959)

Moving story of a young boy who, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.

Director: François Truffaut
Writers: François Truffaut (scenario), Marcel Moussy (adaptation)
Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier

The Florida Project (2017)

Set over one summer, the film follows precocious 6-year-old Moonee as she courts mischief and adventure with her ragtag playmates and bonds with her rebellious but caring mother, all while living in the shadows of Disney World.

Director: Sean Baker

Writers: Sean Baker, Chris Bergoch

Stars: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe 

Scores from November's Movies

Lucky (2017): 7.63 / 10

Paris, Texas (1984): 6.11 / 10

Films of Merit

• Abstract: The Art of Design (TV series)
• If I Were You (2012)
• Paterson (2016)
• Stranger Things (TV series)

Movies for November 2017: Lucky and Paris, Texas

We have moved this meeting back one week to Wednesday, November 8th. 

Carl has picked the November films, but because he helped Jon by providing the meeting place and food last month, Jon is providing the venue and food this month.

Location is Georgia Lee's home (Jon's mother's!), whose address is 395 NW Brynwood Lane, Portland 97229. A link to the location in Google Maps is here: https://goo.gl/maps/pbJztmzb4HU2

There is sufficient parking available in the driveway and to its sides, but if you want to leave early (this means you, Don!), park in one of the spaces out by the street.

The movies to see are:

Lucky (2017)

The spiritual journey of a ninety-year-old atheist.

Director: John Carroll Lynch

Writers: Logan Sparks, Drago Sumonja

Stars: Harry Dean Stanton, David Lynch, Ron Livingston

Paris, Texas (1984)

Travis Henderson, an aimless drifter who has been missing for four years, wanders out of the desert and must reconnect with society, himself, his life, and his family.

Director: Wim Wenders

Writers: L.M. Kit Carson (adaptation), Sam Shepard

Stars: Harry Dean Stanton, Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell 

Scores from October Meeting

• Lolita (1962) 4.7 / 10
• A Clockwork Orange (1971) 5.2 / 10

Films of Merit

• Barry Lyndon (1975)
• Blade Runner - Director's Cut (1982)
• Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
• Five Came Back (TV series)
• Legends of the Fall (1994)
• Master of None (TV series)
• Mitt (2014)
• Spielberg (2017)
• The Deuce (TV series)
• The Dresser (1983)
• The Little Foxes (1941)
• World War II in HD Colour (TV series)

Offers to Check Out

Moviepass.com: Subscription service that gets you into theaters to see as many movies as you want in a month

Filmstruck.com: Streaming service for the Criterion Collection of films

Movies for October 2017: Lolita and A Clockwork Orange

Jon L is hosting in October.

IMPORTANT: We are moving the date for this meeting back to Wednesday, October 11th. The meeting will be held at Carl's house due to Jon's remodeling work.

We will have a special guest for the next meeting, Mario Falsetto, PhD and Professor Emeritus in Film Studies at Concordia University (Montreal).

The movies to see are:

Lolita (1962)

A middle-aged college professor becomes infatuated with a fourteen-year-old nymphet.

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writers: Vladimir Nabokov (screenplay and novel)
Stars: James Mason, Shelley Winters, Sue Lyon, Peter Sellers

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned.

Director: Stanley Kubrick

Writers: Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Anthony Burgess (novel)

Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates

Films of Merit 

• A Hologram for the King (2016)
• Black Mirror (TV series)
• In the Electric Mist (2009)
• Liberal Arts (2012)
• Logan Lucky (2017)
• Lost in America (1985)
• Master of None (TV series)
• Norsemen (TV series)
• Paper Man (2009)
• RV (2006)
• The Big Sick (2017)
• The Bridge (TV series)
• The Glass Castle (2017)

Aggregate Ratings for Last Month's Films

Detroit (2017)  6.14 / 10

Wind River (2017)  7.09 / 10