August 20, 2008

Special Screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark at the Coolidge

The Coolidge Corner Theatre will launch a brand-new season of its popular Science on Screen series on Monday, September 1 at 7:00 p.m. with a special presentation of Steven Spielberg’s classic adventure tale, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Before the film, archeologist Curtis Runnels will speak about the realities of archeology versus how it is portrayed in the movies.

Harrison Ford stars as Dr. Jones, a world-renowned professor of archaeology hired by the U.S. government to track down the Ark of the Covenant, a supremely powerful (and deadly) Biblical artifact. With his trusty leather fedora and all-purpose whip, Jones sets out on a journey across the continents. But he isn't the only one after the Ark. With a little help from his friends and his old flame, Marion (Karen Allen), Jones must fend off unscrupulous SS officers eager to get their leather-clad mitts on the Ark and harness its power for their evil cause.

Curtis Runnels is professor of archeology at Boston University. He taught at Stanford University from 1981 to 1987 before moving to BU, where he is also editor of the Journal of Field Archaeology. He has carried out archaeological research in Greece, Turkey, and Albania since 1973 and has published numerous articles and books.

With Science on Screen, the Coolidge Corner Theatre presents a feature film or documentary with a basis in science along with exciting introductions by notable figures in scientific fields. This monthly series is co-presented by the Museum of Science, Boston and New Scientistmagazine.

All Science on Screen programs are $7.75 for students and Museum of Science members and $9.75 regular admission. Events are free for Coolidge Corner Theatre members. Tickets are available in advance at the box office or online at www.coolidge.org/science.

The Coolidge Corner Theatre is located at 290 Harvard Street in Brookline. For more information, visit www.coolidge.org or call 617/734-2500.



Posted by grahams at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

April 4, 2007

Same-Day Updates

For the longest time I've been trying to figure out a way to use SMS (Text Messaging) to get in contact with club members for a number of reasons. Some examples:

I'm going to be experimenting with Twitter to accomplish this goal. Once you create a twitter account, you can add boston_snfc to your 'follow' list. If you then verify your phone you can receive these updates directly on your cell phone. It's somewhat complicated and completely nerdy, but I'm hoping that it's just another way to improve club communication...

I'll also add anyone I see "following" the club account as a friend, so you can use Twitter's direct text capability to contact me directly if you, say, can't find anyone from the club.

Posted by grahams at 3:27 PM | Comments (0)

February 8, 2007

Welcome Back Washington D.C.!

Back in late 2002, when Max started recruiting people in other cities to replicate his successful San Francisco Sunday Night Film Club, several people jumped at the opportunity. In addition to the Boston chapter, which we all know and love, chapters were started in several other cities (LA, Salt Lake, and Washington D.C., to name a few). Unfortunately, none of the other chapters seemed to reach critical mass and died off after a bit... Sadly, even the original SF chapter passed away when Max moved to the other side of the country.

Recently, however, we were contacted by some people in Washington D.C. who were interested in bringing the chapter in that city out of suspended animation. After some discussion and technical setup, that chapter is ready to go, and will be "officially" meeting for the first time this Sunday! So if you know anybody in D.C. who might be interested, tell them to go check the club's site over at http://dc.sundaynightfilmclub.com/!

Posted by grahams at 2:36 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2006

Borat Lawsuit -- High Five!

Chuck thought that people who have seen Borat might get a kick out of this article.

Two anonymous plaintiffs are suing 20th Century Fox and One America Productions, claiming members of their college fraternity were interviewed to become part of the smash "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" film.

Posted by grahams at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

August 1, 2006

SNFC in the Boston Metro


Me in the Boston Metro
Originally uploaded by seangraham.
The Boston Metro, a free Monday-Friday paper, gave a plug to the Sunday Night Film Club last friday. They even used a dorky picture of me that I link to in the newsletter to help people find me. It's nice to have my picture in a section of the paper that isn't the police blotter.

Posted by grahams at 2:45 PM | Comments (0)

July 6, 2006

Advance/Free Screening Resource

Chuck passed along a link to Wild About Movies, which has a great listing of Advance and Free screenings around the country (including, obviously, Boston).

Posted by grahams at 1:01 PM

January 15, 2006

Boston SNFC's 3rd Anniversary!

On January 12th, 2003, Heather hosted the first meeting of the Boston Sunday Night Film Club. 3 years later the club is still going strong and some of the members that attended on that first meeting still come today! From time to time over the years people have said they would like to have a list of all the movies the club has seen over the years. I thought that a nice celebration of this anniversary would be to pull this together. It took some digging through the scraps of the old website, my personal email archives, and even some Google cache spelunking. Hope you enjoy it!

Posted by grahams at 12:16 AM | Comments (0)

October 7, 2005

Brattle Theatre Needs Your Help!

I try not to spam this site or the newsletter much, but this announcement from the Brattle Film Foundation seemed important enough to merit it. If you are in the position to help out this cause, please visit the Brattle's online donation form.

The Brattle Film Foundation (BFF), the nonprofit organization that programs and operates the Harvard Square's landmark cinema, the Brattle Theatre, announced the most important fundraising effort in its 52-year history. The PRESERVE THE BRATTLE LEGACY CAMPAIGN is a two-year fundraising effort that is necessary to sustain repertory film programming at the Brattle. The Phase One goal is to raise $400,000 by the end of 2005; the Phase Two goal is to raise another $100,000 by the end of 2006. If BFF is not successful at meeting the goals set by Phase One of the campaign, BFF will be forced to cease operations at the Brattle Theatre, effectively ending the 52-year legacy of repertory film programming at the Brattle. The Brattle Theatre has outlasted most arthouse cinemas in the country. While landmarks like St. Mark's and Bleeker Street in New York closed their doors long ago, the Brattle has survived. Of the Brattle's current situation, Creative Director Ned Hinkle had this to say: "Repertory film programming at the Brattle simply cannot survive without significant community support. Our current challenges can only be overcome with the involvement of community members who want to keep the tradition of film programming alive at the Brattle Theatre."

What are those challenges? The Brattle has experienced the same drop in attendance that has been plaguing cinemas over the past several years. Operating costs - including film rental and facilities management - have increased by 30%. Government, corporate, and foundation funding for cultural organizations have diminished. Furthermore, BFF and the Brattle are feeling the pinch of the changes in Harvard Square's make-up. As Harvard mainstays like Wordsworth Bookstore, Brine's and HMV close their doors, the Brattle's surroundings have lost much of their draw as a vibrant, independent destination. Empty storefronts lead to a decrease in foot traffic, which leads to a decrease in ticket sales.

It is with these challenges in mind that BFF launches its PRESERVE THE BRATTLE LEGACY CAMPAIGN. If Cambridge's only independent cinema is to remain open, this campaign must be successful. Just as a ballet company or a museum must be subsidized by donations, so must repertory film programming at the Brattle. By definition, ticket sales are an inconsistent and unreliable source of income. Every other independent repertory cinema in the country relies heavily on public and donation support to solidify their budgets. BFF board president Mike Bowes says, "We cannot sustain and further our repertory programming tradition, or stay in business for 52 more years, without major local investment."

Board member Siobhan O'Riordan continues, "We are running more than just a movie theater, we are operating a community landmark, a historical legacy, and a cornerstone of American film history. The Brattle Theatre's strong reputation for artistic quality, nationally-recognized film programming and enthusiastic audiences, are vital, but without deeper community commitment and greater financial support, it is not enough."

Repertory film programming at the Brattle Theatre holds personal meaning for many members of the community. Ned Hinkle is hopeful that the Brattle community will come together in response to the crisis. "If ticket sales alone can't support us then we hope the larger community of Brattle patrons and film lovers will. And honestly," says Hinkle, "that only seems appropriate since we are a non-profit organization presenting films for the benefit of the community."

The PRESERVE THE BRATTLE LEGACY CAMPAIGN's goal, in addition to financially stabilizing the BFF's programs, is also to increase community engagement in Cambridge's nationally renowned Brattle Theatre and secure the Foundation's efforts to maintain the quality and consistency of creative film programming at the theater. Phase One will get BFF out of debt, fund an expanded marketing budget, and support the development of more community programs. Phase Two will move BFF to the next level as an organization, enabling the Foundation to work towards goals created by the strategic plan that BFF is currently developing.

There will be many opportunities for the community to be involved in the campaign. There will be a movie watch-a-thon, a special members-only drive, house parties hosted by Brattle supporters, as well as continued solicitations for direct donations from local businesses, foundations, and individuals. BFF is organizing a gala benefit event with a world-renowned filmmaker and a series of musical event fundraisers. Executive Director Ivy Moylan explains: "It is our hope that through raising awareness of the community asset that the Brattle Theatre has become year after year and screening after screening, we will be able to reach, if not exceed, our goals for the year."

The BFF is committed to carefully curated programming, driven by presenting films based on quality, diversity and cultural value not by garnering high-ticket sales. Nationally, virtually every similarly programmed, independent cinema is in crisis, and those that are not rely heavily on community support to balance their budgets or are part of a larger nonprofit with access to deep pockets, like a university or museum. "The only way that our peers throughout the country are making it is through significant community support," says Hinkle.

The BFF believes that viewing film is a community as well as personal experience. Many of the directors that the Brattle Theatre is famous for introducing to greater Boston never wished for their films to be screened on television or on a computer. Their expectation was that their films would be seen in an auditorium on a large screen with an audience of strangers surrounded by the sounds and feel of a traditional movie theatre. It is exactly this type of movie-going experience that the Foundation is working to retain. The Brattle Theatre's legacy of repertory film programming will not continue without significant and immediate community support.

Posted by grahams at 1:29 PM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2005

Mailing List Change

Our old listserv at finkelhedron.org went down again, so I took this opportunity to move the mailing list to the host of the webpage (warped.net). So from now on all mailing list subscription/unsubscription can be handled here. I believe I have updated all of the links on this webpage to reflect the new mailing list, but if you see one I forgot let me know.

Unfortunately, the last backup I had of the mailing list subscriptions was from early March, so if you've subscribed since then you will have to re-subscribe. Sorry for the hassle..

Posted by grahams at 8:49 PM

February 24, 2005

Audra's 2004 Top Ten

Audra presents her 2004 "Top 10".

I saw about 80 new films this year

A) Top Films of 2004:
1 & 2 (tie) touching the void & hotel rwanda – Both of these films are so good they turned me into a proselytizer. So for those of you that I failed to convert… Both films are true stories of men who unexpectedly experienced something horrific. Both films feature men taking great risks upon themselves to benefit others. Both turned the phrase “edge of your seat” literal. And hearteningly, both films highlight forgiveness and don’t shirk from personal responsibility. But more importantly these films aren’t just ”good for you” they are both really entertainingly regardless of your interest in the subject matter.

3 million dollar baby – I heard it was great. I had high expectations, and I STILL managed to be pleasantly surprised
4 the incredibles – Fun, and with depth, but mostly fun. And just sooo good. A good film for families, and about families, and existential angst, and why capes are a bad idea. And the fight scenes were unexpectantly thrilling. Brad Bird kicks ass.
5 shaun of the dead – It’s a working class british comedy, WITH ZOMBIES! Or as they called it: a rom-zom-com. And it works on all levels (ok, except the romance – but I’m cutting it slack there because they managed to make it actually sad & upsetting when characters are killed.)
6 spiderman 2 – the first one was like popcorn, this was like a good steak, with a side of fries. And I really enjoyed the pointed Christ imagery on the train.
7 hero – gorgeous. worth watching even without the mythic plot, plus good fights, & Maggie Cheung.
8 supersize me – disturbing, but good.
9 eternal sunshine of the spotless mind - guaranteed to bring on a wave of past relationship nostalgia both the good and bad parts.
10 lost skeleton of Cadavra – Ahh the rarest of creatures: the good-bad film. Bad but consciously, hilariously, and consistently bad. Without those annoying lulls of mere mediocrity that most bad films fall prey to. Not recommended for non-genre fans.

B) Bottom 5 films of 2004 (Worst Films):
1 Van Helsing – I’d like to apologize to the world for my contribution towards reinforcing Hollywood’s impression that filmgoers have no taste. It was bad-bad.
2 young adam – another film with the guy who has sex with ever woman he comes into contact with, yay. Well at least the characters behave bizarrely for no reason.
3 godsend – why don’t scientists ever graft the genes/psyche/hand of a normal person? Are serial killers the only possible donors? Anyway this was also a big snore.
4 house of flying daggers – so pretty…and yet… kinda dull and you probably don’t root for the death of all major characters in good movies…
5 osama – now this was not actually a Bad film, a case could definitely be made that it was a very good film, I however, hated it. I wanted to smack the main character so badly that it distracted me from the anti-old school muslim theme. You want an interesting pro muslim reform film? Go see Moolade.

(shockingly I actually saw all the films on my bottom ten this year)


C) Best Reissue: Battle of Algiers – wow that would have made my top five were it not a re-release. As Eddie Murphy said “Damn! That still holds up.”

C+) Best Remake/Reworking: Dawn of the Dead – I missed the anti-consumer message of the original but a worthy & worthwhile addition to the genre, with it’s own vibe.

D) Best Director: touching the void – they start by interviewing the people involved and yet you still spend the whole film thinking “what a horrible way to die”. You know they survived and you still can’t believe it! Because you are right there with them: alone, freezing, exhausted, and faced with a horrifying moral dilemma. It’s an exciting documentary, how cool is that?

E) Best Actress: hilary swank – million dollar baby – Boys don’t cry was her sweater role (beautiful hollywood actress throws on a frumpy sweater & gets oscar appreciation) I took it as a fluke, and wasn’t terribly impressed either. But in this I totally believed her, she seemed utterly real to me, like someone who had a life and experience offscreen too.

F) Best Actor: Don Cheadle –hotel rwanda - managed to portray a normal man behaving heroically even though every step of the way you feel his anxiety and doubt. And while he looks and sounds nothing like Paul Rusabagina, when I saw Paul I recognized him and recognized his quirks and strengths.

G) Best Supporting Actress: Why is this always the toughest choice? There is always a glut of outstanding performances… This year I’m going to have to go with Sophie Okonedo – Hotel Rwanda. Manages to portray the person, the mother, the lover, co-mingled.

Runners up: the girls of Sideways. I’ve always been a fan of Virginia Madsen, so I am not surprised she was good. But Sandra Oh? that part should have been a nothing floozy bit – but she was great: sexy & interesting & touching. Hurray for nepotism! And points to Alexander Payne for showing women so realistically.

H) Best Supporting Actor: Tie here not for performance quality but quantity. Jamie Foxx in Collateral –great job but really a lead performance. I’m mentioning him here because he deserves props, but Don was better. For actual supporting performance, I’m gonna go with Bill Nighy – shaun of the dead – weirdly menacing and deadpan & annoying but (Spoiler alert) by the end it’s genuinely upsetting when he dies and the character is consistent throughout

I) Best Ensemble: So if I were gonna go straight I’d go with sideways (see supporting actress comments) but no, I’m gonna go with Lost skeleton of Cadavra, cause, damn, they sold it!

J) Best Original Screenplay: Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind, natch.

K) Best Adapted Screenplay: hotel rwanda, because there’s subtlety where you least expect it

L) Best Art Direction: Million Dollar baby, dude here apartment was the most depressing, lowered expectation room ever, right down to the “artwork”

L+) Best set design- life Aquatic w/Steve Zissou- gotta dig the cross section ship…

M) Best Soundtrack: Tarnation

M+) best use of song – johnny cash, opening credits, dawn of the Dead

N) Most Alarming Cinematic Trend: The overtly partisan political documentaries that play fast & loose with facts.

N+) most encouraging cinematic trend: bad special effects put to good use – zatoichi, anchorman, harold & kumar go to white castle, lost skeleton of cadavra

N-) least alarming cinematic trend: embracing the downer ending – dawn of the dead, bang rajan, open water, noi albinoi

P) Most Memorable Line (please list from what film):

“I’m a scientist, I don’t believe in anything.” Lost skeleton of cadavera

“If you’re sad and you like beer, I’m your lady.” the saddest music in the world

“Meet me in Montauk.” eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

“y’know like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills… girls only want boyfriends who have great skills.” Napolean dynamite

“do it.” starsky & hutch

“if you can dodge a wrench you can dodge a ball” Dodgeball

Less memorable but worth repeating

“Why shouldn’t I be difficult?” the mother

“You know the Holocaust? Picture the exact opposite.” Harold & Kumar go to white castle

“Pearl Harbor sucked, and I miss you.” Team America world police

“See, there’s three kinds of people: dicks, pussies and assholes…” Team America world police

“Betty you know what this meteor could mean to science? It could mean actual advances in the field of science.” The lost skeleton of cadavra

“Stay on this road here, past Dead Man’s Curve, you’ll come to an old fence, called the Devil’s Fence. From there go on foot till you come to the valley known as the Cathedral of Lost Soap. Smack in the center is what they call Forgetful Milkman’s Quadrangle. Stay right on the path of Staring Skulls and you come to a place called Death Clearing. Cabin’s right there, can’t miss it.” The lost skeleton of cadavra

“Seriously, we’ll clean the dishes before we go” The lost skeleton of cadavra


Q) Any amusing write-in awards you feel inclined to dole out

Empire Stikes Back Award for surprising leap in quality in an already good series- harry potter & the prisoner of Azkaban, Lawrence Kasdan will be presenting this award to Alfonso Cuaron

Nice film, now fuck off – Lars Von Trier. Dogville. Lars you are such a good filmmaker but you can take your anti-American sentiment and shove it, you travel-fearing pansy.

Worst Director – Taylor Hackford. Ray really good performances & good timing carrying a distressingly mediocre film. It seemed like a high profile made for tv movie

Best Public Career Hari-kari – the costume designer for Catwoman c’mon Everyone was talking about how wretched that was….

Least Convincing Ingestion of addictive substances- coffee & cigarettes

Most gratuitous nudity- open water

Best color commentary – Jason Bateman’s hilariously spaced out analysis on CNN 8 – “The Ocho “ Dodgeball

Best extended cameo – Neil Patrick Harris as himself Harold & Kumar go to white castle

Most annoying failure to follow through with a threat – Man on Fire “I’ll kill anyone who profited from this”. Except, of course, if they are women… Pussy.

4 pages, compare & contrast, on my desk Monday – Dawn of the dead / Dawn of the dead, Ju-on / the grudge, manchurian candidate / manchurian candidate, Man on Fire / Man on Fire

best improvement on the original – Jocelyn Jordan no longer a pretty barbie doll, Eugenie Rose no longer aggressive & devoted from the get go. And dude that paranoid guy in the beginning was super creepy. Too bad the brainwashing scenes were so much less threatening and the ending was so drawn out. Eh. Manchurian Candidate

R) Most memorable images of the year


Newly Zombified husband booking after his wife’s car and then veering off after an unprotected neighbor – Dawn of the Dead
Woman socking her lover in the jaw –Intermission
Puss in boots making cute kittty eyes – Shrek 2
The heroine disappearing beneath the waves alone – Open Water
Green warriors in the forest – House of Flying Daggers
That fantastic pushup technique – Bad Education
Bill Pullman flipping over the balcony – The Grudge
Sophie Okonedo holding a shower head in a threatening manner – Hotel Rwanda
Jon Heder dancing well after a film’s worth of hee-larious spazzing – Napolean Dynamite

Posted by audra at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2005

Welcome!

Welcome to the new Boston Sunday Night Film Club webpage! Sorry for the generic-looking page, but my talents lie elsewhere... My goal for this page was to be functional and easy-to-use (for you as well as us). Our new easy-to-remember URL will make life easier as well. :)

There are a few things I'd like to point out to you:

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the new site, but if not, I hope it is at least useful to you. If you have any comments or questions, please drop me a line

Posted by grahams at 10:55 PM | Comments (1)