In Memoriam - Millie Gordon

We've lost one of our favorite film club members. I'm sure you'll all remember Millie Gordon. She was the board member who sat at the table before the films - she either hugged you or gave you a compliment on what you were wearing. You might have been on her phone list and were lucky to receive a cheery phone call from her reminding you of the next film.

Millie lived in Oceanside at the time of her death, but she's actually traveled all over the world. Did you know she was a doctor? She received her credentials at the University of Guadalajara and was very proud to display her diploma on the wall of her apartment. Being a general practitioner made her a very popular resident of a small rural village in Mexico where she delivered babies, set broken legs and save many lives.

Her son, Brendan visited the village about 5 years ago and said people came out in droves to shake his hand and tell him stories about his mother.

One of Millie's friends, Ian Strashoon met her while in Sichuan, China. They became lifelong friends. Millie helped Ian with a book he was writing and he dedicated this poem to her from the book:

Gone,

Go fast, be safe, keep eyes peeled,

Eyes watch, winds blow, mirages reel,

Tomorrow dawns, as a maybe chance,

Eyes wait, eyes watch, life reels,

Winds blow dust rises, life is a mirage of tomorrow

Gone,

Dry dusts of Africa settle to wait, pensive,

Tomorrow’s chances, in a crimson sunset,

Gone!

Millie is survived by a brother and three sons, Morlan, Romel and Brendan. 

Besides being on the board of our film club for several years, Millie also volunteered at the Oceanside Museum of Art.

She loved everyone she met, and believed hugs had to last 10 seconds to be valid.

Millie would have loved the next film we will be showing:

Fanie Fourie's Lobola

This film will be shown Sunday, June 14 at 3:00. It's the story of the complications that ensue when an Afrikaans man and Zulu girl fall in love, especially when the traditional custom of "lobola", or dowry, makes things very complicated for them. Sounds fascinating. 

Hope to see you all there.

I'll attach the photos I took at the memorial.  She is survived by her only brother, her three sons, probably her ex husbands, and one daughter-in-law.  I know she was very close to one grandson, and I think she had a few more grand kids around.

The Other Son - Sunday, May 17

The Other Son

Come and see what happens when an Israeli and a Palestinian are switched at birth.  That's the theme of the amazing film we will be seeing on May 17. The film brings up the nurture or nature question. Is your genetic makeup more important, or the influence of your environment? This film by French director, Lorraine Levy points out that despite everything else, people are just people. 

The film shows at 3:00 pm, Carmike Theater (formerly Digiplex), Oceanside (Mission at College).

Magic Money from the Riviera

I found this little bit of information while doing some further reading about Magic in the Moonlight. After I saw this Woody Allen film, I was wondering where it was filmed. I was pretty sure that it was the south of France. But the scenes looked too gorgeous to be true. Could it have been special effects that made those scenes so beautiful or was it really filmed on the Cote d'Azur? Well, it turns out that The Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur invested 200,000 euros in the production. They were hoping to showcase the region to filmgoers around the world.  Christine Mirauchaux, vice president of the Regional Council for Culture, said that the region is "extremely proud of the collaboration."

I hope they got their investment back. But even if they didn't, I'm sure that the film produced a lot of would be travelers to the region. Didn't you just want to get on a plane immediately and jet there after seeing the film? I know I did. The scenery was the best part of the movie.

Our Next Season

The board is working diligently on the film selections for next season. Hopefully the films with the most votes will all be available. Thanks to all of you who nominated films and then voted. We'll be announcing the new schedule as soon as it's tied down. Stay tuned.

In Memoriam

It wasn't a movie star that we lost April 30th. But it was someone who certainly contributed to our film history. I'm talking about Ben E. King who gave us the iconic song "Stand by Me". We will miss that wonderful voice, but thankfully through film and recordings we will have it forever. Check out this video - a couple minutes into it you'll see River Phoenix and Wil Wheaton bopping away with Ben. It's too cute. Reminds me how much I miss River Phoenix also.

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Love is Strange - Film for April 12 - North County Film Club

Our next film is Love is Strange starring John Lithgow as Ben and Alfred Molina, George. After four years together they finally decide to get married. But then George loses his job and they have to sell their apartment. Not being able to find another apartment in New York they have to live apart. George moves in with two cops and Ben lives with his nephew. This situation weighs heavily on all involved.

This film will be shown Sunday, April 12 at 3:00. A discussion group will follow after the film.

The Carlsbad Library and Soroptimist Club of Carlsbad will be presenting a film festival featuring films by, for and about Women. Here's the link with information about this interesting event:


http://www.sioceansidecarlsbad.org/lunafest



I was surfing around the web and accidentally came across a site that piqued my interest. It was about the 10 most accurately historical films. What do you think? Any additions to this list?

Downfall
Lincoln
Milk
12 Years a Slave
Master & Commander: Far Side of the World
Saving Private Ryan
Das Boot
Band of Brothers
A Night to Remember (about the Titantic)
Lion in Winter

The Lunchbox - Showing March 29th

 

A middle class housewife in Mumbai is trying to add some spice to her marriage through her cooking.  She prepares special lunchboxes to be delivered to her husband at work, but, unbeknownst to her, they are mistakenly delivered to another office worker, a lonely man on the verge of retirement. She puts little notes in the lunchboxes which begins a series of communication and an unexpected friendship.

The Lunchbox will be showing this Sunday, March 29 at the Carmike theater, Oceanside (College and Mission) at 3:00pm. 

You might want to read up on the lunchbox delivery system in India. It's really fascinating.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dabbawala

If you enjoyed Stories We Tell and want to know more, here's an interview which was done with filmmaker Sarah Polley:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/23/sarah-polley-stories-we-tell-interview


In Memoriam

Albert Maysles (with camera) died March 5, 2015. He was 88. He and his brother, David were award-winning documentarians. They made intensely talked-about films, including Grey Gardens and Gimme Shelter, with their American version of cinéma vérité.

Mr. Maysles departed from documentary conventions by not interviewing his films’ subjects. As he explained in an interview with The New York Times in 1994, “Making a film isn’t finding the answer to a question; it’s trying to capture life as it is.”

TCM played four of the Maysles films this week including Grey Gardens, Salesman, Gimme Shelter and an interview with Marlon Brando. What a treat to see these interesting documentaries.

Stories We Tell - March 15

Next Sunday, March 15, we'll be seeing the acclaimed documentary, Stories We Tell.

Sarah Polley received an Oscar® nomination for this documentary where she acted as both filmmaker and detective. She questions family and friends about family secrets and discovers that the truth depends on who's telling it. Each tells their version of the family history leaving lots of unanswered questions. She finds that the story of the family can be complicated, messy and yet loving. This is a very personal film, a funny and poignant version of the larger human story.


The Zong Slave Ship
A lot of you may want to read more about the Zong that was featured in the film Belle that we saw on March 1st. What an interesting film about an incident in history that I've never heard of and probably some of you hadn't either. So I'm listing a couple of links in case you want to read more about it:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-2030135/Massacre-slaves-did-die-vain-THE-ZONG-BY-JAMES-WALVIN.html 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cUQi6RSiZQ
 

William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield

So interesting, and so sad. What a terrible time in history.

And here's an interesting article about Belle:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/02/27/insideout_abolition_special_feature.shtml

See you on the 15th.
 

Words and Pictures Next Film for the Film Club

What's more important - words or pictures? This is the question asked in the film we will be seeing next Sunday, Feb. 8, 3:00. The film stars Clive Owen as a flamboyant English teacher and Juliette Binoche as the stoic art teacher. I think we know who thinks pictures are more important. Both teach at an upscale prep school where a high-spirited courtship begins. Juliette finds herself enjoying the battle. The true war, however is against their own demons, as the two troubled souls struggle for connection. 




Ellen Ternan

Ellen Ternan

I don't know about you, but I was very intrigued about the movie we saw last week - The Invisible Woman and I wanted to know more. So I looked up Ellen Ternan on Wikipedia and found a bit more information plus lots of reference material. If you want to delve into this interesting story, here's the link.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Ternan




Jewish Film Festival

Don't forget the Jewish Film Festival - Feb. 5 - 15. Here's the link with more information. Hopefully you picked up one of the programs at our last film showing, but if not, click on this link for the schedule:

http://www.sdcjc.org/sdjff/


Fun Movie Factoids

If you like movie trivia, you might be interested in the following:


http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/274qHG/JhMbvcXo:1RTM_t$j/inktank.fi/82-mind-blowing-movies-facts-you-probably-didnt-know/

Time to Purchase Seasons Pass

It's time once again to purchase season passes for the upcoming season. Passes can be purchased at the Mission Marketplace Theater Box office.

• See all ten films (listing of films below) for just $55, a savings of $35 off the regular price.

• Tickets and passes are available only from the theater box office.

• Tickets for individual films may be purchased on their show dates at the theater’s regular price

OR present your valid North County Film Club membership card for a $1 discount.

(The membership card costs only $5 for the entire 2015 year).

• North County Film Club memberships are available only from the North County Film Club.

• Each showing begins at 3:00 pm on its scheduled date.

At the Carmike Mission Marketplace Theater

431 College Blvd., Oceanside.


Film for Sunday, January 11, 2015

 

Our season starts off with a bang with Jon Favreau's Chef. You'll enjoy this film about food, about fun, about finding your dream. With an all star cast from Scarlett Johansson to Dustin Hoffman, you'll be delighted with the comedy, the ups and downs of the food business, and all the mouth-watering shots of fine food.

The other films in this upcoming season are:

Jan. 25 - The Invisible Woman

Feb. 8 - Words and Pictures

March 1 - Belle

March 15 - Stories We Tell

March 29 - The Lunch Box

April 12 - Love is Strange

April 26 - Magic in the Moonlight

May 17 - The Other Son

June 14 - Fanie Fourie's Lobola

Popcorn or no Popcorn

Jim Hamilton sent me this interesting article about how theaters really make their money:

Movie theaters only stay in business thanks to our popcorn and soda addiction. A previous Curio quoted a movie exec as saying that "cup holders are the most important movie innovation since sound." The explanation for this goes back to a 1948 Supreme Court case, United States v. Paramount Pictures. Until then, eight major Hollywood movie studios controlled nearly every movie theater in the US. The "Big Eight" decided where and when movies ran, forced theaters to book "blocks" of movies in advance, and set all ticket prices. Though this practice was ruled a clear monopoly by the Supreme Court in 1930, and again in 1938, the ruling was never enforced because of the Great Depression and the shadow of WWII. Finally in 1948, the Court ordered the Hollywood studios to divest their theater ownership and cease all anti-competitive practices. But the studios still controlled the movies, and negotiated favorable contracts, which still exist today. For example, during the first weeks of a movie’s run, the studio receives almost all ticket revenues. Towards the end of the run--when audiences are thin--the theater keeps most of the sales. So on average, the theater gets only a few dollars out of every $10 - $12 ticket. Over the years this arrangement has incentivized studios to make blockbuster movies that open with a bang. Since theaters have little room to negotiate, they commonly lose money on ticket sales alone. Hence ridiculously priced popcorn and soda, which carries a profit margin of over 90% and constitutes almost all of their profits. Yet another reason to love online streaming--or learn something instead! 

I think we all know that theaters charge way too much for anything from the refreshment stand. But maybe we should pay the high prices so that we keep our theaters going. Do we want them to be a thing of the past? Buying the high priced refreshments can be considered our charity du jour. I wonder if there's a tax deduction for that!

A fun film-related item from Twisted Sifter

http://twistedsifter.com/2014/11/austin-light-illustrates-movie-titles-with-one-letter-removed/