Happy Thanksgiving, Film Lovers!
I’m amazed at the lack of new indie releases out there this week, and I’m tempted to tell you all to stay home and rent foreign films that you haven’t seen so you can finish off your Top 25 foreign films lists to contribute to the Chlotrudis Top 100 Foreign Films of All Time list. However, on Monday night, we will head out to the Coolidge Corner Theatre for the 7:00 p.m. screening of Bill Condon’s KINSEY. I loved GODS AND MONSTERS, so I have a passing interest in KINSEY, plus I’ve heard Peter Sarsgaard is quite good in a supporting role, so why not? Plus, it’s supposed to be controversial (although I’m sure it’s nothing compared to ANATOMY OF HELL!)
Kinsey
dir. Bill Condon w/Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O’Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard, Timothy Hutton, John Lithgow, 2h5m
Director Bill Condon (GODS & MONSTERS) tells the remarkable true story of Alfred Kinsey (Liam Neeson), the scientist who created a media sensation with his 1948 book Sexual Behavior in the Human Male. The son of a sternly religious father, Kinsey fell in love and married his assistant Clara (Laura Linney of YOU CAN COUNT ON ME), and on their wedding night the couple became aware of their ignorance about sex. After realizing that most adults had the same problem, Kinsey decided to embark on a scientific study of human sexuality. He went about it the same way that he studied nature – by collecting data from the largest sample possible. Through interviews with thousands of people about the most intimate aspects of their sex lives, he discovered that what most people did in the bedroom was completely different from what was thought to be “normal”. Kinsey had an amazing drive to uncover the truth, and his methods lead to indiscretions, incited scandal, and involved a lifetime of struggle. But in the end his findings lifted the weight of doubt and shame about sexual practices and irrevocably changed American culture.
There will be no Sunday Eye Opener this week, but do check back next week for the December 5 film. Speaking of the Sunday Eye Opener, don’t miss your chance to see the phenomenal SCREAMING MEN at the Coolidge Corner this week. It may only last a week, and you won’t want to miss this amazing and downright hysterical film. Or stop by the Brattle and catch their celebration of Peter Sellers. Scot and I recently watched one of Sellers’ lesser known film, THE WORLD OF HENRY ORIENT and it was quite darling. Of course, TARNATION is still playing and that’s sure to be in contention for the Chlotrudis Best Documentary Award. And if you’re in the mood for something a bit “bigger,” Chlotrudis members are raving about THE INCREDIBLES.
Make sure you read all the way to the end of this news piece to find out about some of the great events planned by Gerald Peary’s BU Cinematheque and the Boston Jewish Film Festival. Even during a slow movie week in Boston, there’s plenty going on!
See you at the movies!
Playing this week, November 26 – December 2.
Brattle Theatre, Cambridge
Being Peter Sellers
The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark Double Feature! (Fri. & Sat.)
I Love You, Alice B. Toklas! & The World of Henry Orient Double Feature! (Sun.)
Murder By Death (Mon.)
The Party & What’s New Pussycat Double Feature (Tue.)
Being There (Wed.)
After the Fox (Thu.)
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Free Screening! (Thu)
Midnite Madness
Shaun of the Dead (Fri. & Sat.)
Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline
Kinsey
Sideways
Tarnation
Screaming Men
Midnites!
DiG! (Fri. & Sat.)
Once Upon a Time in China 4 (Sat.)
Facing History & Ourselves presents: (Wed.)
Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin
Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge
Contemporary Turkish Documentaries
Take Me and Use Me! ‘ Portrait of an Actor: Necdet Mahfi Ayral and The Collector (Fri. & Sun.)
The Hittites (Fri. & Sat.)
The Songs of Nazim Hikmet (Sat. & Sun.)
Contemporary Hollywood Cinema
Titanic (Mon.)
Film Architectures
Aelita: Queen of Mars (Tue.)
Remembering Truffaut
Mississippi Mermaid (Wed.)
The Moving Image and Visual Representation
Russian Ark
Hollywood Hits Theatre, Danvers
I Heart Huckabees
Being Julia
Sideways
Landmark Theatres
Kendall Square, Cambridge
Overnight
Callas Forever
Short Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela
Sideways
Kinsey
The Motorcycle Diaries
Embassy Cinema, Waltham
Sideways
The Motorcycle Diaries
What the #$*! Do We Know
Loews Theatres Copley Place, Boston
Kinsey
I Heart Huckabees
The Motorcycle Diaries
Garden State
Harvard Square, Cambridge
I Heart Huckabees
Ray (Not eligible, but co-starring Kerry Washington!)
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Art on Film
Antonio Gaudi (Fri. & Sun.)
Israeli Cinema
Bonjour, Monsieur Shlomi (Fri. – Sun. & Thu.)
The 11th Annual Boston Festival of Films and Music from Iran
Boutique (Fri.)
Joy of Madness (Fri.)
At Five in the Afternoon (Fri.)
Canary (Sat.)
Beautiful City (Sat.)
10 on Ten (Sat.)
Tiny Snowflakes and Stop it, I’m Out (Sun.)
The First Letter (Sun.)
The Newburyport Screening Room, Newburyport
A Letter to True
UPCOMING EVENTS!
Boston Jewish Film Festival
If you’re staying in town this holiday weekend, or have out-of-town guests to entertain, don’t miss your chance to see a 16th annual BJFF favorite, BONJOUR MONSIEUR SHLOMI:
BONJOUR MONSIEUR SHLOMI by Shemi Zarhin (Ha’Kohavim Shel Shlomi, Israel, 2003, 94 min.), copresented with and at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Fri, Nov 26, 2:30 pm
Sat, Nov 27, 12:10 pm
Sun, Nov 28, 4 pm
Thu, Dec 2, 2:30 pm
Sun, Dec 5, 10:30 am
Also coming in December:
Two documentaries by well-regarded local filmmakers:
RINGL AND PIT, Special Screening on December 8, 6pm, at the Museum of Fine Arts, dedicated to the memory of Ellen Auerbach (Pit), who died last summer at the age of 98.
ANYA IN AND OUT OF FOCUS at the Museum of Fine Arts This charming film documents a daughter’s life, and extended adolescence, and screens as follows:
Sun, Dec 12, 11 am
Wed, Dec 15, 5:30 pm
Sat, Dec 18, 10:30 am
Sun, Dec 19, 3:40 pm
Gerald Peary’s BU Cinematheque
BU College of Communications, 640 Comm.Ave.
A Tribute to Budd Schulberg
The BU Cinematheque ends its fall series with the thrilling news that the acclaimed American novelist and screenwriter, Budd Schulberg, will spend several days on the BU campus, meeting with students and faculty and speaking about his cinema. Mr.Schulberg’s appearance coincides with the 50th anniversary of ON THE WATERFRONT (1954), featuring his masterpiece screenplay for the Oscar-winning film starring Marlon Brando, and directed by Elia Kazan.
Schulberg’s memoir, Talking Pictures, tells of his growing up in Hollywood, as the son of studio executive, B.P. Schulberg. Active in the Writers Guild, Budd Schulberg became famous as a writer of fiction, authoring, among other books, What Makes Sammy Run, the definitive Hollywood novel, and The Disenchanted, inspired by his friendship with F.Scott Fitzgerald. Humphrey Bogart’s final picture, THE HARDER THEY FALL, is based on Schulberg’s boxing novel.
In three BU nights, we will show the superb 1950s films made from Budd Schulberg’s finest screenplays. Mr. Schulberg will speak at the Thursday evening A Face in the Crowd screening.
Wednesday, Dec. 1 – Room 217, 7 pm
ON THE WATERFRONT (1954) – dir. Elia Kazan. Time has not blunted the marvelous performances elicited by Kazan. It’s the best Method ensemble in the history of cinema: Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Steiger, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb battling it out on the Hoboken docks. “Charlie, I could have been a contender” is a typical immortal line penned by Schulberg.
Thursday, Dec. 2 – Room B-05, 7 pm
A FACE IN THE CROWD (1957) – dir. Elia Kazan. Schulberg’s dark satire about the Faustian rise of a down-and-out heel (an astonishing Andy Griffith) into a powerhouse TV star is a prescient tale of media run amuck in America. With Walter Matthau, Patricial Neal, Lee Remick. (Budd Schulberg, in person)
Friday, Dec. 3 – Room B-05, 7 pm.
WIND ACROSS THE EVERGLADES (1958) – dir. Nicholas Ray. A rare, rare screening of Schulberg’s early ecology preachment, about a Florida game warden (folk singer, Burl Ives) who takes it on himself to rid the swamp of poachers. “A remarkable achievement, years ahead of its time”-Geoff Andrews, Time Out
Michael R. Colford
Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, President
Many Chlotrudis members remember A.J. Schnack and Shirley Moyers fondly. The director and producer of the 2003 Chlotrudis Best Documentary Award-winning 
It’s been a couple of years since GIGANTIC wrapped, and Chlotrudis members were curious as to what the young director and his producer/wife Shilrey Moyers might be up to. Chlotrudis recently heard from Schnack, who brought us up to speed on their activities. “We are hoping to start a new feature project by the end of the year – and [I] am about to start editing a movie I shot this past year about the 
We’re back on a documentary groove, and we love it! This week’s Sunday Eye-Opener goes to Scandinavia for a documentary that’s sure to be a scream. You might remember the fun and revealing documentary from 2001 
Scot and I are also planning to catch up with 
Even as the 16th Annual 
On Sunday, the Eye Opener returns at the Brattle Theatre, 11:00 a.m. Caitlin should be happy, we’re back in the realm of the documentary, and this one comes from Sundance. Ron saw this and told he he was pretty intrigued. The feature debut of Mark Brian Smith and Tony Montana, OVERNIGHT had its world premiere at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, where its alternately horrifying and hilarious take on one man’s extraordinary misadventures in the screen trade had particular resonance for both industry insiders and aspirants. And, what makes this incredible tale even more scary and funny is that every single bit of it actually happened! OVERNIGHT begins as the classic Cinderella story when Boston-bred bartender and budding filmmaker Troy Duffy sells his screenplay, THE BOONDOCK SAINTS to Harvey Weinstein of Miramax Films. A bidding war gets Duffy much more than a hefty check; it also gets him the right to direct the film plus a deal for his band to produce and perform its soundtrack. Then, in a gesture straight out of a fairy tale, Weinstein offers to buy Duffy the very bar in which he works, turning the young man and his yet-to-be-made movie into overnight sensations. What happens next makes for a fascinating documentary. Don’t miss OVERNIGHT.
After a terrific kick-off at both the Museum of Fine Arts and the Coolidge Corner Theatre, the 
Get ready, because one of the best-organized film festivals of Boston is returning for its 16th year starting in November. The 
The BJFF kicks of with not one, but two opening nights! On November 3, the Museum of Fine Arts kicks things off with the Belgian comedy, THE RASHEVSKI’S TANGO (pictured right). The following night, the Coolidge Corner Theatre has its own opening night with WONDROUS OBLIVION, a beguiling British offering featuring Delroy Lindo. The festival closes at the Museum of Fine Arts on November 14 with a film by Daniel Burman, one of Argentina’s rising directorial stars, called LOST EMBRACE. One of the several films I hope to catch comes from Israeli filmmakers Lina and Slava Chaplin. Their latest film PAPER SNOW (above left) is a portrait of the crazy, romantic, early days of Israel’s Habimah Theatre, with actors and actresses whose personal lives were as passionate as the roles they played.
The Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film held its fourth seasonal cocktail party this past Saturday and it was a big hit! Billed as a “Swap Party,” members brought DVD’s they wanted to swap to the party. The party was also a membership drive, so members were encouraged to bring guests. All guests got a DVD whether they brought one with them or not! What a prize! And we’re not talking turkeys here either (well, not all of them… but then one man’s turkey, is another man’s award winner!) but some quality independent films. Some of the DVD’s available for swapping were 28 DAYS LATER, THE SWEET HEREAFTER and THE DEEP END. To the left, see Entertainment Committee member, Diane Young, show off a potential swap: BUBBLE BOY, starring Chlotrudis favorite Jake Gyllenhaal.
Of course, the point of this party was to increase membership, and Chlotrudis members were encouraged to bring potential member-guests. Carolyn (far right) did a great job, bringing two potential guests (Mary Ann, left, and Brooke, center) who had a great time and went home with a couple of great DVD’s. Another high point of the night was the “Guilty Pleasure” game. Each attendee was instructed to write down their “Guilty Pleasure” and put it in a hat. Then hostess extraordinnaire, Emily Neill, drew the names out of the hat and read the film’s title. Everyone else made a guess as to whose guilty pleasure it was, and the person who guessed the most correct won a prize. Congratulations, Marlin, on guessing the most correct answers!