| |  In This Issue:December 2011What's New on DVDA Thousand Clowns (1965)Comedy. Moving/Offbeat/Witty. Black & White. 118 mins. Unrated. Directed By Fred Coe. Starring Jason Robards, Martin Balsam, Barry Gordon, William Daniels and Barbara Harris. Nominated for four Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Screenplay) and winner of a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Balsam, who's fabulous as Murray's long-suffering older brother, the long ... Read More > | |  |
Bridesmaids (2011)Comedy. Farr-cical/Fast-paced. Color. 132 mins. Rated R. Directed By Paul Feig. Starring Chris O'Dowd, Jon Hamm, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, Wendy McLendon-Covey and Jill Clayburgh. Though its comic set pieces are anything but subtle, "Bridesmaids" is still screamingly funny- but to its credit, the movie also offers an honest, unsentimental look at female relationships and one ... Read More > | |  |
David Holzman's Diary (1967)Documentary/Drama. Brainy/Farr-cical/Offbeat. Black & White. 74 mins. Unrated. Directed By Jim McBride. Starring L.M. Kit Carson, Lorenzo Mans and Eileen Dietz. This enthralling puzzle of a movie appears at first to be a cinema vérité documentary, but look closely, and read the credits: it's a completely constructed, fictional world. McBride's truly ... Read More > | |  |
Leon Morin, Priest (1961)Drama/Foreign. Brainy. Black & White. 117 mins. Unrated. Directed By Jean-Pierre Melville. Starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Emmanuelle Riva and Nicole Mirel. In a marked change of pace from his usual roles as rakish, cigarette-chomping thieves and lotharios, here Belmondo is a cerebral, unflappable paragon of faith, but no less magnetic. This heady drama ... Read More > | |  |
My Dog Tulip (2009)Comedy. Moving/Witty. Color. 81 mins. Unrated. Directed By Paul Fierlinger and Sandra Fierlinger. Starring Christopher Plummer, Lynn Redgrave and Isabella Rossellini. Beautiful to behold and always worthy of its literary source, the delightful, charming "Tulip" is that all-too-rare phenomenon: an animated film for grown-ups. Refreshingly restrained and decidedly ... Read More > | |  |
Poetry (2010)Drama/Foreign. Brainy/Intense. Color. 139 mins. Unrated. Directed By Chang-dong Lee. Starring Da-wit Lee, Nae-sang Ahn, Jeong-hee Yoon and Hira Kim. Director Chang-dong Lee (Secret Sunshine) has been acclaimed as one of the most important voices in the "New Wave" of Korean cinema, and this subtle, multi-layered work gives ample evidence why. This ... Read More > | |  |
Secret Sunshine (2007)Drama/Foreign. Intense/Spine-tingling. Color. 142 mins. Unrated. Directed By Lee Chang-dong. Starring Song Kang-ho, Seon Jung-yeop and Jeon Do-yeon. Don't let the sunny sounding title fool you- this psychological thriller is one intense ride. Jeon Do-yeon was awarded the Best Actress Prize at the Cannes Film Festival for an astonishing ... Read More > | |  |
Theme of the Month: We've just emerged from Thanksgiving when families and friends convene to celebrate and give thanks. And within weeks, many of us will repeat this ritual during Hanukkah and Christmas. Sometimes little and big tensions come with these extended reunions.
Guess what? There's a clever solution to those tensions that come with these get togethers. This December we list our favorite Christmas movies that diminish all conflicts by reminding us why we're all together in the first place.
These titles always make the cut for a reason: they are long-standing crowd pleasers. So settle in with your favorite and not-so-favorite friends or relatives and enjoy! A Child's Christmas in Wales (1987)Family. Moving/Scenic/Wholesome. Color. 55 mins. Rated G. Directed By Don McBrearty. Starring Denholm Elliott, Mathonwy Reeves, Glynis Davies and Gwynyth Walsh. Inspired by a Dylan Thomas poem, Don McBrearty's lyrical, heartwarming " A Child's Christmas" is a simple, one-of-a kind piece originally produced for public television. Some of the language may be ... Read More > | |  |
A Christmas Carol (1951)Family. Moving. Black & White. 85 mins. Unrated. Directed By Brian Desmond Hurst. Starring Mervyn Johns, Alastair Sim, Kathleen Harrison and Hermione Baddely. Based on Charles Dickens's most widely read and enduring story, this definitive 1951 British version, better known as "Scrooge," outdoes all others for atmosphere and, of course, characterization. ... Read More > | |  |
A Christmas Story (1983)Family. Farr-cical/Moving/Witty. Color. 98 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Bob Clark. Starring Darren McGavin, Peter Billingsley and Melinda Dillon. Based on a Jean Shepherd short story, Bob Clark's irresistible, often hilarious 40's-era holiday tale benefits from an immense heart, rich period detail, and quirky comic characters. In certain ... Read More > | |  |
Frozen River (2008)Drama/Mystery/Suspense. Intense/Moving/Spine-tingling. Color. 97 mins. Rated R. Directed By Courtney Hunt. Starring Charlie McDermott, Melissa Leo and Misty Upham. Hunt's Oscar-nominated debut is a nailbiting affair, a cross-border thriller dramatizing Indian affairs, gender politics, and the controversial issue of illegal immigration. Set in upstate New York ... Read More > | |  |
Holiday Inn (1942)Musicals/Family. Wholesome/Tuneful/Witty. Black & White. 101 mins. Unrated. Directed By Mark Sandrich. Starring Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and Marjorie Reynolds. Conceived from an idea by composer Irving Berlin, Mark Sandrich's "Holiday Inn" is a humorous, festive Crosby/Astaire musical that finds both performers in tip-top crooning and toe-tapping form. ... Read More > | |  |
It's a Wonderful Life (1947)Cornerstone Titles/Drama/Family. Moving/Wholesome. Black & White. 130 mins. Unrated. Directed By Frank Capra. Starring James Stewart and Donna Reed. The quintessential Frank Capra film and a heartwarming holiday treat year in and year out, "Life" is the ultimate optimistic statement on the value of love, life, and community. Capra's masterful ... Read More > | |  |
Miracle on 34th Street (1947)Family. Moving/Wholesome. Black & White. 97 mins. Unrated. Directed By George Seaton. Starring John Payne and Natalie Wood. Was there ever a better big-screen Santa than Oscar winner Edmund Gwenn? This timeless Christmas fable about an elderly retiree who sets New York a-twitter with his claim to be the sleigh-riding ... Read More > | |  |
The Bishop's Wife (1947)Family. Moving/Wholesome/Witty. Black & White. 109 mins. Unrated. Directed By Henry Koster. Starring Cary Grant, David Niven and Loretta Young. Nominated for Best Film at the 1947 Oscars, Henry Koster's sweet, thoroughly charming "Bishop's Wife" was a big crowd-pleaser in its day, and has since become one of our more cherished holiday films. ... Read More > | |  |
The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1973)Family. Moving/Wholesome. Color. 100 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Fielder Cook. Starring Richard Thomas and Patricia Neal. Based on the autobiographical novel by Earl Hamner, Jr., Fielder Cook's heartwarming, award-winning TV drama "The Homecoming" spawned the long-running series "The Waltons." Patricia Neal is superb as ... Read More > | |  |
The House Without a Christmas Tree (1972)Drama/Family. Moving/Wholesome. Color. 75 mins. Unrated. Directed By Paul Bogart. Starring Jason Robards, Lisa Lucas and Mildred Natwick. You don't see "House" for production values- using simple sets, it was shot on video for TV over thirty years ago, and virtually forgotten since then, until some genius thought to re-issue it on DVD. ... Read More > | |  |
The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)Comedy. Witty/Farr-cical. Black & White. 113 mins. Unrated. Directed By William Keighley. Starring Monty Woolley, Ann Sheridan and Bette Davis. Based on George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's smash Broadway hit, Keighley's witty bad-guest comedy centers on Woolley, who grandly channels legendary Algonquin Circle curmudgeon Alexander Woollcott. ... Read More > | |  |
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)Family. Offbeat/Witty. Animation. 143 mins. Rated PG. Directed By Henry Selick. Starring Chris Sarandon and Catherine O'Hara. Produced by Tim Burton (who also co-wrote the story), Selick's Gothic holiday fantasy blends state-of-the-art stop-motion animation with an imaginative, light-heartedly eerie story about a clever ... Read More > | |  |
Spotlight • December 2nd – John hosts a movie night and screening of " The Lady Eve" at the Pound Ridge, NY Library. Call (914) 764-5085 for details. • December 3rd – John hosts a screening of " Rashoman" at a private home. • December 4th – Madison, CT, Madison Art Cinemas – John leads a conversation at the Cinema Club following a screening of the recently released film, "The Artist". • January 8th – John hosts a screening of " The Awful Truth" at a private club in New York City.  | | | |
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