November Movie Club Notes

Hello Everyone,

Time is moving so quickly, I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is almost here, but what can we do about it?

For those of you who do not read all the way to the bottom, here's the info for December. But please continue to read because there is exciting and new information at the end.

Our movies are:

Gone Baby Gone, selected by Ramona. This is in theaters now but I suggest you see it soon since it has been out for about a month now and may be leaving screens soon.

Tsotsi, chosen by Zorah and on DVD.

Our next meeting will be held on Saturday, December 8. Of course I will be sending a reminder ahead of time but put it on your calendar now. This will be our holiday celebration so watch for emails for details.

=====================================================

We had a great movie club meeting last week and although we didn't enjoy the presence of some of our regulars like Zanetta and David, we were graced by a few new folks who were either visiting or just checking us out, hopefully to join us our group on a permanent basis. So hello to Sherry, Robert and UB. We were happy to have you with us and hope that you will come again and again.

Our movies for this month were as different as different can be. Unlike times in the past when the movies we viewed had similar themes, even when chosen randomly, these two films were not alike at all.

The first film we discussed was Nuts starring Barbra Streisand and Richard Dreyfus. Selected by Ron the film explored the meaning of sanity, competency and who had the right to make decisions about a person's state of mind. Ron said he chose it because the issues highlighted in the film are more prevalent today then they were in 1987 when the film was made and because he felt "we look at people as being 'nuts' but we don't know what brought them to that place." Unfortunately only three of us actually had the chance to see the movie, so discussion was limited but here are the ratings it received:

Lori - B+
Ron - B+
Hope - B

Not hard to do the math here so Nuts ends up with a strong 3.33 rating which rounded up makes it a B+.

Our second choice for this month was American Gangster. Lori chose the movie because she wanted to see it herself, but also with the ulterior motive of pleasing Zanetta, who hosted last month's meeting, so that she could leave with a doggie bag of Zanetta's delicious picadillo which she served us at the meeting.

Starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, some felt the movie focused too much on Russell Crowe's character and not enough on Denzel's. Others felt the movie was either too long or too short, (it was 2 hours, 37 minutes long) and still others felt that, while it was a good movie, the reviews which called it great were a long ways off.

Of course there was discussion about whether or not the film glorified the life of Frank Lucas who, without a doubt, was responsible for a good deal of misery and death. Those of us who remember those times in New York City, remember it as a sad time when stories of the destruction of families due to drugs was commonplace. None of us felt that movie cast him as a hero, but given the crimes he committed, 15 years wasn't enough. Looking at the movie dispassionately and judging it only on its merits as a film, no one was particularly blown away by it. I did ask whether folks thought it would stand as a classic 'gangster' film when compared to others in that genre, e.g. Goodfellas, The Godfather, Scarface, etc., and most people thought it would. I guess that remains to be seen.

We all felt that there were a few really good performances that deserved to be recognized. Most thought that Russell Crowe did a good job as Richie Roberts and that Josh Brolin as the crooked cop, Trupo, was also good. We were very mixed on Denzel's performance. Many people felt that it was another case of Denzel playing Denzel. Too many pat Denzel facial expressions and movements. Our resident actor, Stephanie, said that if she had the directed the film she would have asked him to try to show the particular emotion another way and that he is not challenged enough to really pull a great performance out of him. Don't get me wrong, we are Denzel fans, I certainly know I am and Zanetta, who unfortunately missed our meeting, is probably yelling at us as she reads this. We just wish that he was directed in such a way that his true talent is showcased better. He is a very good actor but sometimes falls back on tried and true methods rather than risking taking another track.

Here are the individual ratings for American Gangster:

Lori C+
Ron B
Sherry B-
UB B-
Stephanie C+ (B for the acting)
Zorah C+
Yvonne C+
Greg B
Damon C
Tiffany A
Carl B
Ed C
Harold C+
Ramona C
Robert B
Hope B -
Zanetta* A
David* B+

* Ratings were phoned in.

Have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.

hope

In the six degrees of separation category, Barbra Streisand is Josh Brolin’s stepmother