October Pick: The Dressmaker

For our October outing, Movie Club members will be seeing The Dressmaker at the Varsity Cinema (ManuLife Centre, Bay & Bloor) for the 12:25 screening. As always, we'll try to meet near the box office about 20 minutes earlier and if you don't spot me or other club members, just go in and watch the film. If you plan to nosh & natter downstairs afterwards at Scaccia, either meet us near the escalators or go directly to the restaurant.

SYNOPSIS, WRITER, DIRECTOR & PRINCIPAL CAST:

Wikipedia: The Dressmaker is a 2015 Australian revenge comedy-drama film directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse, based on the novel of the same name by Rosalie Ham. It was produced by Sue Maslin, with a screenplay by Moorhouse. It stars Kate Winslet as a femme fatale in the titular role of the dressmaker, Myrtle "Tilly" Dunnage, who returns to a small Australian town to take care of her ailing, mentally unstable mother. The film explores the themes of revenge and creativity and was described by Moorhouse as "Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven with a sewing machine."

The project was first developed in 2000, and Ham wrote a treatment herself. After initial attempts failed, Maslin bought the rights to the novel and hired Moorhouse to direct and write the screenplay. Production took place in Melbourne and across Victoria, Australia in late 2014. The film had its world premiere at 2015 Toronto International Film Festival on 14 September 2015 and had a theatrical release on 29 October 2015 in Australia and New Zealand. It opened at the number 1 spot at the Australian and New Zealand box offices and became the second highest-grossing Australian film of 2015 and eleventh highest-grossing film of all time at Australian box office.

The film led the 5th AACTA Awards with thirteen nominations, including Best Film, Best Direction, Best Production Design, Best Original Music Score, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Cinematography^[17][18] and won Best Lead Actress,Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Costume Design and People's Choice Award for Favourite Australian Film.

Starring: Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth
Writer: Rosalie Ham (novel) and P.J. Hogan (screenplay)
Director: Jocelyn Moorhouse

TRAILER:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMEu-1CIB_I

More about our September pick: Sully

Whether or not you're joining other Movie Club members next Tuesday to see Sully, you might enjoy this interview with the real Captain Chesley Sullenberger, who performed the "Miracle on the Hudson" by landing his disabled airliner on the river in 2009.

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/movies/2016/09/09/chesley-sully-sullenberger-talks-about-that-day-he-landed-plane-in-the-hudson-river.html

Toronto Star film critic Peter Howell, who did the interview, also made this intriguing remark about what underlies the drama that happened after the safe landing and survival of all aboard the plane: "What emerges from Sully is unexpected yet cogent comment on society's growing reliance on machinery over human knowledge, experience and adaptability."

September Pick: Sully

Our Movie Club's September outing will be to see Sully on Tuesday, September 13, at the Varsity Cinema (Manulife Centre, Bay & Bloor). Screen time is 12:15, so let's meet near the box office about 20 minutes earlier. If you don't see club members, just go in and watch the film and afterwards, if you wish to eat/snack with us downstairs at Scaccia, join us near the escalators or go down on your own.

SYNOPSIS:  On Jan. 15, 2009, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) tries to make an emergency landing in New York's Hudson River after US Airways Flight 1549 strikes a flock of geese. Miraculously, all of the 155 passengers and crew survive the harrowing ordeal, and Sullenberger becomes a national hero in the eyes of the public and the media. Despite the accolades, the famed pilot now faces an investigation that threatens to destroy his career and reputation. Directed by Clint Eastwood.

TRAILER:  http://www.cinemaclock.com/ont/toronto/movies/sully-2016/videos/205521

REVIEWS:  

New York Daily News:  http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/survivors-miracle-hudson-review-sully-trailer-article-1.2695844 

Deadline.com:  http://deadline.com/2016/09/sully-review-tom-hanks-clint-eastwood-sully-sullenberger-1201813539/

The Guardian:  https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/03/sully-review-clint-eastwood-and-tom-hanks-turn-a-mile-high-miracle-into-middling-drama

August Pick: Florence Foster Jenkins

Florence Foster Jenkins, starring Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant and directed by Stephen Frears, is that rare film opportunity for which the Movie Club postpones its monthly outing from the first Tuesday of the month to later. We'll be seeing FFJ on August 16, but the venues and times hadn't been announced when I wrote this blog post. So watch for an email by the end of this week with the where and when details.. 

SYNOPSIS: The true story of Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep), the legendary New York heiress and socialite who obsessively pursued her dream of becoming a great opera singer. The voice she heard in her head was beautiful, but to everyone else it was hilariously awful. Her "husband" and manager, St Clair Bayfield (Hugh Grant) an aristocratic English actor, was determined to protect his beloved Florence from the truth. But when Florence decided to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944, St Clair knew he faced his greatest challenge.

TRAILER: http://www.cinemaclock.com/ont/toronto/movies/florence-foster-jenkins-2016/videos/204553 

REVIEWS:    

Variety: http://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/florence-foster-jenkins-review-meryl-streep-1201750112/

The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/13/florence-foster-jenkins-review-meryl-streep-hugh-grant-stephen-frears

July Pick: Our Kind of Traitor

In the mood for a moody plot from John LeCarre? Hope so because for our July outing, we'll be seeing Our Kind of Traitor at the Varsity Cinema (ManuLife Centre, Bay & Bloor) on Tuesday, July 5. Screen time is 1:30, so let's meet near the box office about 20 minutes earlier. As always, if you don't see Movie Club members when you arrive, just go in and watch the film. Afterward, if you've signed up for a nosh & natter downstairs at Scaccia, look for us near the escalator or just go to the restaurant. Below are the deets about the movie.

SYNOPSIS:  

While on holiday in Marrakech, an ordinary English couple, Perry (Ewan McGregor) and Gail (Naomie Harris), befriend a flamboyant and charismatic Russian, Dima (Stellan Skarsgard), who unbeknownst to them is a kingpin money launderer for the Russian mafia. 

When Dima asks for their help to deliver classified information to the British Secret Services, Perry and Gail get caught in a dangerous world of international espionage and dirty politics. The couple is propelled on a perilous journey through Paris and Bern, a safe house in the French Alps, to the murky corners of the City of London and to an alliance with the British Government via a ruthless and determined MI6 agent (Damian Lewis). 

TRAILER: http://www.cinemaclock.com/ont/toronto/movies/our-kind-of-traitor-2016/videos/204641 
REVIEW in The Guardian: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/our-kind-of-traitor-film-review-an-entertaining-but-lightweight-espionage-thriller-a7022931.html

June Pick: Love & Friendship

Love & Friendship, the movie version of an unfinished Jane Austen novel titled Lady Susan, is getting rave reviews and sounds like something many Movie Club members would enjoy. So that's our pick for our June outing.

We'll be seeing it at the Varsity Cinema (ManuLife Centre, Bloor & Bay) on Tuesday, June 7. Screen time is 2:40, so let's meet near the box office about 20 minutes earlier.


SYNOPSIS:  
Set in the opulent drawing rooms of eighteenth-century English society, Love & Friendship focuses on the machinations of a beautiful widow, Lady Susan Vernon (Kate Beckinsale), who, while waiting for social chatter about a personal indiscretion to pass, takes up temporary residence at her in-laws' estate. While there, the intelligent, flirtatious, and amusingly egotistical Lady Vernon is determined to be a matchmaker for her daughter Frederica -- and herself too, naturally. She enlists the assistance of her old friend Alicia (Chloë Sevigny), but two particularly handsome suitors (Xavier Samuel and Tom Bennett) complicate her orchestrations.


TRAILER:  http://www.cinemaclock.com/ont/toronto/movies/love-friendship-2016/videos/204639


REVIEW: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/love-friendship-20160512


 

Our May Pick: Hello, My Name is Doris

Again this month, I’ve chosen something that’s quite different from our usual fare of serious, issue-oriented films. It is: Hello, My Name is Doris, starring Sally Field.

Actually, you could say that it is issue-oriented because it’s a coming-of-age story for seniors. Watch the trailer (below) and you’ll see what this means. But the chief reason I chose Doris is that Sally Field decided to accept the starring role and I always trust her choices of roles and films. Plus, she brought along someone I’ve been missing from small and large screens: terrific Tyne Daly, whose best work, in my opinion, was on Cagney & Lacey, a TV breakthrough series about the partnership of a pair of female NYC police detectives.

Movie Club members will see Doris at the Varsity Cinema (ManuLife Centre, Bay & Bloor) on Tuesday, May 3, for the 1:40 screening. As always, let’s try to meet near the box office about 20 minutes earlier. If you don’t see me there, just go in and watch the film. Those of us who wish to nosh and natter afterwards will gather by the escalators and then descend to Scaccia. If you don’t see me/us there, just go down two escalator levels to the restaurant.

Here are the deets about Doris:

SYNOPSIS: 

After a lifetime of being overlooked and ignored, a woman of a certain age finds her world turned upside down by a handsome new co-worker and a self-help seminar that inspires her to take a chance on love in a witty and compassionate late-life coming-of-age-story.

TRAILER:

http://www.hellomynameisdorismovie.com/#trailer

REVIEW:

http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/hello-my-name-is-doris-20160311

INTERVIEW WITH SALLY FIELD:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/sally-field-on-her-new-dramedy-doris-and-finding-good-roles-for-women-over-50/article29717092/