Movie Club 2000

From winter 2000: various gloomy foreign movies (no one can remember their names) (Ayse); "Chasing Amy" (Andy), "Seven" (Joe)

several: "no one smiled in this movie!"

May 17, 2000 "Orgazmo" (Beth)

BH: "The trailer looked funny, and I remember that Michelle and Dan really liked it..."
TR (in an email to MT): "never, never, never, never, never, never watch "Orgazmo"- you heard it here-you may want to clean your mirrors when you get here...!"

June 1, 2000 "Citizen Kane" (Ayse)
The film classic by Orson Welles about the life of a newspaper mogul.

BH: "Borrrring!"
JD: "That was boring"

(it was also decided this time that two dogs are too much for the movie club!)

June 8 "Patton" (Andy)
Movie made in 1970 about the famed WW II US general George Patton, in an oscar winning performance by George C Scott.

AD: (after 2 minutes) "This guy is completely crazy!"
Generally agreed: "George C Scott was great in this movie"
MT: "the war must have ended while I was asleep!"

June 29 "The Birds" (Mark)
Classic 1962 Hitchcock film about unexplained bird attacks in a small northern California town. (We were going to watch "Ran" but noticed that it was 2 hours 40 minutes).

RJ: "I liked the Annie character"
MT: "I liked the mother"
AD: "They should do a re-make of this called 'The Dogs'. They're all over the place here in Woods Hole!"
JG: "I liked the DVD extra about How the Birds was Made - those special effects still looked really good after 40 years"

July 9 "Midnight Cowboy" (Beth)
Winner of the Best Picture Oscar for 1969. Jon Voight tries to make it in New York city and befriends Dustin Hoffman. The new Epson projector was tested and passed with flying colors.

AD: "That was a good movie, but it was too much"
TR: "it was a bit raw"
AG: "good, but it didn't beat "Orgazmo"!"
TR: "I give it an 8 out of 10"
MT: "much different than I thought it would be"
everyone: "what did the flashbacks mean?"

August 16 "Henry and June" (Joe)
Torrid french movie about Henry Miller, Anais Nin, various others.

TR: "There was a good deal of push pull in this one..."
TR: "I counted seven places where the movie could have gracefully ended by just putting up the words 'The End'"
TR: "First it showed Henry sleeping with Anais, then Henry sleeping with June, then Anais sleeping with June, then Anais sleeping with June's husband, then.... "
TR: "Maybe it was about throwing off Victorian sex hang ups"
JD: "My favorite movie of all time!"
MT: "I think June was in Pulp Fiction!"
AD: "It was too polished for Henry Miller, and definitely too long for me!"

August 25 "Topsy Turvy" (Mark)
Drama about how Gilbert and Sullivan almost didn't make "The Mikado". The new Epson projector didn't work. Preceded by pizza from Jimmy's - not so bad!

JZ: "That was great! It was SO authentic - it had all the types you see in a real production."
NZ: "zzzz"
MT: "I didn't understand a lot of what was going on, but you really got a good impression about what Gilbert and Sullivan were like. I also liked the rehearsal scenes."
TR: "Best movie I've seen in a long time! What did you think, Jim?"
JG: "uh... Hey, it was just another movie, well done. It did make me want to see a real Gilbert and Sullivan show"

September 3 "Star Wars" (Jen)
Remastered version of the original. Preceded by Tom's famous basil chicken.

JP: "I watch all three once a year..."
TR: "That was very good..."
everyone: "The sound was really great, Mark!!!"
MT: "Aw, shucks. Paul McNeil chose the subwoofer and center channel speaker."
WRS & SP: "bark bark bark Bark Bark Bark BARK BARK BARK!"

September 4 "The Empire Strikes Back" (Jen)
Second installment of the Star Wars saga (actually episode V of the grand scheme).

MT: "So, Tom, this was the first time you've seen this - did it surprise you that Darth Vader was Luke's father?"
TR: "What?!"
MT: "Weren't you listening?!"
TR: "I thought he was just pulling his leg!"
WRS & SP: "bark bark Bark Bark BARK BARK!"
TR: "I had the feeling of the development section of the first movement of a symphony, where the themes have already been stated in previous movie, and you want to hear the recapitulation"

September 16 "The Bicycle Thief" (Aravi / Mark)
Classic Italian neo-realist drama about life in post-world war 2 Rome.

AS: "That was sad"
RJ: "That was very depressing." " I wonder why this is such a famous film?"
MT: "I liked it a lot before, and still do, but I found myself falling asleep in places. Maybe it's becoming dated."

September 26 "Revenge of the Jedi" (Tom)
Once more into the breach! The third installment (episode VI) of the Star Wars saga. There was a walkout (AD) in the middle of the climactic ewok battle scene. Preceded by a dinner of blackened swordfish prepared by Tom.

AD: (as recalled by MT) "You didn't find that film racist? - it has the pygmies which they fed peanuts, Atta the Turk and his harem, and what else?"
AD: (as recalled by TR) "A veritable shibboleth of american jingoism!"
JP: "Ayse shouldn't get so upset, I don't think she realizes how dumb americans are"
TR: "Wow, is that Princess Leia!?"
TR: "Of the three, I liked the first one the best"
WRS: "I liked Luke Skybarker"

AD: Ayse Dosemeci
AG: Andy Giusti
AS: Aravi Samuel
BH: Beth Hinkle
JD: Joe DiGiorgis
JG: Jim Galbraith
JZ: Josh Zimmerberg
MT: Mark Terasaki
NZ: Nathan Zimmerberg
RJ: Rindy Jaffe
SP: Skye Petersen
TR: Tom Reese
WRS: Wicket Reese Smith