Category Archives: Movies

Dheepan. A dormant Tiger awakes.

Love and Life, MovieNight stuff, Movies

dheepan

Jacques Audiard’s 2015 Palm D’or winning Dheepan starts in the devastated heart of war-torn Sri Lanka, with a man, woman and child – all strangers to each other – assembling themselves into a make-shift family in order to flee to Europe. Remaining in Sri Lanka would mean almost certain death for the three. The titular character, Dheepan, is a high-ranking member of the Tamil Tigers, a revolutionary secessionist organization.

Dheepan finds his new life as the janitor in a rough housing project in the suburbs of Paris only marginally less challenging… but his “family” begin to form bonds, and the risk of being killed seems comparatively remote. Or is it?

I wish I had done a better job at selling this one to you beforehand… at first glance, it looks like another story of untold human suffering and woe. In fact, it’s full of charm, with moments of joy and tenderness… and just plain fun. Go see it when it comes out!

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The Conversation. Stimulating, as always.

MovieNight stuff, Movies

conversation

Almost forty-two years have passed since the theatrical release of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation… and almost ten since its first MovieNight screening. How time flies!

Thanks to a stunning Blu-ray transfer and a keen audience (not to mention the cocktails!) it was a thrill to see it again tonight, and a point of pride to present something “new” to some of the younger eyes.

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Tale of Tales. Fairy pleasing.

MovieNight stuff, Movies

tale

Matteo Garrone’s Tale of Tales, based on folk myths collected and published by the 16th-century Neapolitan poet Giambattista Basile, tells three stories of parallel, intersecting kingdoms: Darkwood, Highmountain, and Stronghold. Sumptuous, sexy, creepy, and just plain silly at times, Tale of Tales was perfect for this Thursday evening’s installment of our mini-season featuring the work of Italian directors. Our audience was enthralled.

Imaging my delight to discover this fantastic treat on Monday morning, with the week’s movie choice yet unmade! So tempted to show it again… but we mustn’t get into that habit, must we?

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The Consequences of Love. A concrete story.

MovieNight stuff, Movies

consequences

This week, we dug into the MovieNight archives to find a great bit of early film-making by Italian director, Paolo Sorrentino. Sorrentino has come to the attention of the American public in recent years with his two, critically acclaimed features, The Great Beauty, and Youth, yet there are many who believe these showy vehicles to be all style and no substance. I tend to agree, specially in the case of Youth, his most recent, star-studded endeavor. However… I watched is several times, and was highly entertained by it.

Anyway… getting to the point… The Consequences of Love had style and substance, in droves. Here’s hoping that Mr. Sorrentino can find a way back to making films like this. Per favore, Paolo.

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I Knew Her Well. Twice as well.

MovieNight stuff, Movies

knewher

Every once in a while, a film comes along that is just so MovieNight. It may not be perfect in every way, but it’s perfect for MovieNight. Antonio Pietrangeli’s I Knew Her Well, was one such overlooked treasure which was, well, overlooked at its initial screening here. One can only speculate as to why that screening was so poorly attended, but the “gut feeling” was strong enough to program a repeat viewing the following week (the first in our history). As it turns out, one can trust one’s gut; a full house of appreciative viewers. I know you well, apparently 🙂

More about this film on IMDb imdb