Category Archives: MovieNight stuff

Salero – Mike fills the house.

MovieNight stuff, Movies

salero

When I asked Mike Plunkett how he might feel about a MovieNight screening of his documentary feature Salero, he was modestly touched. “After all the great movies you’ve been showing lately, your guests might not be so excited to see it.” Nonetheless, he was really excited, and a wee bit nervous, but guests started arrived slowly, then less slowly,  and soon the room was absolutely packed (get-out-the-folding-chairs packed).

Our audience was mesmerized with the quiet beauty and compassionate observations of Salero, and a sustained round of applause followed the credits. Of course there was a Q&A, and as always, Mr. Plunkett delivered. I’m proud to know him.

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Aquarius. A quiet fight against the system.

Love and Life, MovieNight stuff, Movies

A mere forty-eight years into her acting career, Sonia Braga was remarkable in the role of Clara, a stoic cancer survivor struggling to keep developers from removing her from her family home.  Aquarius should have been Brazil’s official submission to the 2017 Oscars Best Foreign Film category, but the core of it’s story touched a nerve at the Ministry of Culture. Director Kleber Mendonca Filho’s political views were fiercely attacked in social media by a critic (Marcos Petrucelli) on the selection committee, leading to the resignation of several other members of the committee, and the withdrawl of films by other directors in protest of local government interference in the selection process in this and the previous two years’ competitions. Que escandalo! Read more

I had been wanting to show this for some time, and this week the stars aligned perfectly. We had Brazilians in the house, and Professor Moleski got to excercise his Portuguese!

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The Oscars. Holy f***ing s***!

MovieNight stuff

bestpiccard

Well now… that was really something! Not only did we have a house full of lovely guests, and a huge amount of what I believe to be my best veggie chili ever, tons of beautiful desserts (thank you all!), but then there was Jimmy Kimmel. Kimmel was on fire, but not in that slick, funny man kind of way. He was smart and compassionate too. And then… La La Land “wins” because Beatty and Dunaway have been given the wrong card, we get acceptance speeches almost out of the way, and the mistake is discovered. Moonlight wins!

High drama!

The [L]Edge of Seventeen.

Love and Life, MovieNight stuff, Movies

seventeen

I love coming-of-age movies. Why, though? And why have my two recent favorites been about teenage girls (the other one is Diary of a Teenage Girl from 2015)? The Edge of Seventeen provided a fresh take on the genre. Woody Harrelson turned in a star performance.

The big surprise, though, was the turnout on the day of the “big storm”. Apparently, some people agree that MovieNight is a cosy place to be on a wintry Thursday night.

 

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The Spirit of the Beehive. Spooky stuff.

MovieNight stuff, Movies

spirit

The Spirit of the Beehive was shown for the second time here this week, and once again it delivered its quiet punch of eerie beauty. Nothing has been lost in the intervening period of almost 10 years… in fact, as far as MovieNight is concerned, quite the opposite. We have a better projector, better screen, better sound system, and a better transfer of the movie. Better audience? What can I say? You are lovely now, and they were lovely then.

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