July Movie Club Notes

Wow! The July Movie Club Notes are almost on time. I wanted to make certain that we were up-to-date with our notes before the start of our 6th Movie Club season next month.


I should mention upfront that the movies selected for September are:


The Traitor starring Don Cheadle, opening in theaters on August 29 and The Notebook, starring Ryan Gosling which is on DVD. The September Movie Club meeting is scheduled for Saturday, September 13.


As mentioned in an earlier post, it's been a while since we held a meeting in July. Summer is a notoriously bad time for trying to pull people together. But this year because there were members who didn't get an opportunity to select a movie during the regular 10 month season, we decided to do a one month extension to allow them to share their movie choices with us. Surprisingly we had a pretty good turnout although a lot of folks didn't see both films.

The first selection reviewed was The Diving Bell and the Butterfly chosen by Stephanie our resident professional actor. She told us that the choice was made because she couldn't think of anything else and two friends whose opinions she respected had recommended it. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to see the film. I'm certain that after hearing our comments, she's rectified that situation.

With one exception, most of our members liked this movie a lot. Mona said that she didn't really expect to like it. She doesn't necessarily care for subtitles and therefore the movie started as a C which then moved to a C+, then to a B and then finally to her final rating as an A. Zorah also felt that the movie was beautifully made and loved the perspective from which it was shot. Zanetta thought that the relationships in the movie were done especially well. India, who gave the film it's lowest rating, thought that it was too long although she admitted that it captured the essence of what was like to be Jean-Do.

In writing this I realized that the main character's name is the French version of John Doe. I will have to remember to mention this fact at the next meeting. It might add some additional perspectives on what that might mean.


Here are the ratings for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly:


Puma B+


India C+


David B+


Zorah A-


Ed B


Zanetta A-


Carl A-


Mona A-


Hope A-


The second selection for July was also a subtitled movie. Lust, Caution set in Shanghai during WWII was chosen by Carl. I must say I think the film was aptly titled; there was a lot of lust and the need for a lot of caution. Zorah really enjoyed the film and thought it was suspenseful but she really liked the relationship between Mr. Yee and Mak Tai Tai. Rylona thought the movie showcased the idealism and the unrealisticness of youth. They were caught up by their passion to achieve their mission.
Zanetta was intrigued by the sex scenes and thought they were excellent. The way these scenes were shot made the viewer feel almost like a voyeur. There was a spirited discussion about whether Mr. Yee and Mak Tai Tai really loved one another. Ed felt that Mak Tai Tai did grow to have true feelings for the married Mr. Yee. She had been so betrayed by so many people in her life and he was willing to do more for her than anyone.

I think that our movies this month proved that subtitles don't detract from films that are well made and interesting.

The grades for Lust, Caution were:

Carl A+

Mona C

John B+

Rylona A+

Patrice C+

Puma A-

India B-

Stephanie B

Zorah A+

Zanetta A

Ed B-

David B+

Hope B-

Looking forward to the opening of our sixth season. See everyone on September 13.

June Movie Club Notes

I must apologize for the lapse in posting on this site. There is no excuse, I'm just lazy. But the vitality which has been exhibited by movie club members over the past five years deserves to be recorded. We've changed a lot over the past five and one-half years but the enthusiasm for film has remained.

The choices for June were The Visitor selected by Kathi and 3:10 to Yuma chosen by Harold.

I'll start with The Visitor which Kathi said she found while looking for another movie. She thought it sounded interesting and hoped that everyone would enjoy it. We all did. The lowest rating this film earned from the group was a B and that is a rousing success in Harlem Movie Club terms.

Ron gave the movie its B saying that he found it slow to start and a little too long. Puma admitted that there are few films she doesn't like but she particularly enjoyed the multiculturalness of the film and felt it was "very real' and "not contrived". She thought the slowness of the film helped give the viewer a chance to see and appreciate the way the main character (Walter) handled the stresses he felt. John felt that it was the "type of film that shows the reason people make films". All agreed that the characters were portrayed in a way that really made you care about them and that the movie was realistic and easy to relate to.

The ratings for The Visitor are as follows:

India B+

Lori A-

Nero B+

Kathi A

Zanetta A-

Ron B

Puma A+

Stephanie A

Zorah B+

Carl A

Mona A

David A

John A

Harold A-

Hope A

Patrice A

Gwen A-

Rita B

Tonique A

In contrast to The Visitor, 3:10 to Yuma was a real disappointment, although the grades it received weren't extraordinarily bad. Harold selected the film because, based on what he had heard of the western, he thought it would be much more interesting. David thought the movie was "cliched, corny, boring and irrelevant". "But for Russell Crowe, I would have given the movie an F", he said.

Puma, true to herself, gave the film an A+. Once again she saw the film in mythological terms. She also likes anything with Russell Crowe. Stephaine liked that Crowe's character was redeemed in the end by his relationship with Don Evans, the character portrayed by Christian Bale.

3:10 to Yuma grades:

India B

Lori B

Nero B

Kathi B-

Zanetta C

Ron B

Puma A

Stephanie B-

Carl C

Mona C

David C-

John C

Harold B-

Hope B

Patrice B

Gwen B-

May Movie Club Notes - Trying to catch up

Although I started writing this post in May, it is now August and I am really trying to take care of the backlog of Movie Club notes. Here finally are May's notes.

Our regular Movie Club season usually runs from September through June but we've acquired so many new members this year and we're having so much fun that at our May meeting on the 9th, we decide that this year we will continue meeting into July. (As a historical point, the first couple of years we met year round but had such poor showings during the summer we decided to suspend those meetings.) We have such a good time discussing the movies of the month and everything else under the sun that folks actually miss the social connection when there isn't a meeting.

This month's movies were The Mist, selected by Puma and The Forbidden Kingdom selected by John. I have to say that both films received mediocre ratings as shown below, but of the two The Forbidden Kingdom was probably the bigger disappointment. The first time that megastars, Jackie Chan and Jet Li, have been in a film together is big news for a lot of people. Unfortunately, most of the group agreed that the talent deserved a better vehicle. The film was beautifully shot and some of the martial arts scenes were incredible. Nevertheless the film did receive one A+ rating from Puma who said this is her "favorite kind of story", campy, hyped-up adventure. She said that she was "on the edge of her seat with delight". Unfortunately for the filmmakers she was the only one who felt that way at Movie Club and also it seems in the general movie viewing public.



Here are the Movie Club grades for The Forbidden Kingdom



Kathi B

John B

Puma A+

Zanetta B+

Stephanie F-

Ramona C+

Gwen D

David B+

Harold C

Gregg C

Carl B

Ed D+

Hope C

Patrice C


The Mist didn't fair much better. Most thought that the film was somewhat saved by its unexpected ending. Puma thought that the violence and gore was excessive and gratuitous. Harold thought that the best part of the film was its look at how people react when they are locked down together and have few choices. Carl was reminded of The Twilight zone and both he and Stephanie thought the film would have better if it had focused on the interaction that Harold mentioned. How diverse folks act when they are trapped together.

And the ratings for The Mist:

Kathi C-

Yvonne C+

John D-

Puma B

Tonique C

Stephanie B-

Ramona C-

Gwen D

David B+

Harold C+

Carl C

Ed C

Hope C

Patrice C

India A+

Next month's movie selections are: 3:10 to Yuma and The Visitor.