Once again, fun to watch To Kill a Mockingbird with everyone! Before I get to the voting this week, though, I have something on my mind.
Now, it has basically been the same group watching the movies since we started this, and while I wish there were more people, I'm nonetheless grateful to have anyone else with me in there at all. And I know holding this when I do probably excludes a fair amount of people -- hell, my bizarre schedule has given me the same problems with Anime Club and Movie Sign, both of which I would absolutely attend each week if I could. But, as Rowsdower would say, those clubs have their schedule, and I have mine.
I'd hate to turn into a dirty, exclusionary bastard, and I realize very well that there's a hell of a lot of stuff coming up in people's lives more important than watching movies, but at the same time, I don't see the point in public votes if the same few people are the only ones who end up watching. Movie Sign gets along just fine with TC and Kat calling the shots about what to watch, and we'd be fine too. That said, it's a tad early for me to think about switching to that method completely, and I honestly do like the idea of people choosing for themselves what we watch each week. This is just something I've been thinking about lately.
Anyway, blah blah blah, whatever. Here are this week's movies.
1. Sunset Boulevard (1950): Struggling young screenwriter Joseph C. Gillis happens upon the mansion of faded silent film star, Norma Desmond, after blowing a tire in front of it driving away from repossession men. Because he has no other work and no prospects, he becomes Norma's kept man as she lavishes attention upon him in exchange for Joseph writing her comeback script. But their mutual dependence -- his financial, and her emotional -- warps their reality as Norma becomes more obsessed with her return to the silver screen. Directed by Billy Wilder, starring Gloria Swanson, William Holden and Erich von Stroheim.
2. The Hustler (1961): "Fast Eddie" Felson is a small-time pool hustler with big-time skill. He dreams of being the greatest pool player of all time and travels to challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats but loses badly due to his arrogance. Eddie retreats and meets alcoholic Sarah Packard, who reluctantly takes him as he works his way up to challenge Fats once again, even as he plunges further into the dark world of underground pool. Directed by Robert Rossen, starring Paul Newman, Piper Laure, George C. Scott and Jackie Gleason.
3. Singin' in the Rain (1952): Don Lockwood is a popular silent film star who is soon to make the transition to talking pictures after The Jazz Singer becomes a huge hit. But Lockwood's normal co-star, Lina Lamont, does not make the transition well due to her screechy, annoying voice. He comes up with a solution, though, when chorus girl Kathy Seldon shows herself to have a knockout voice and agrees to dub Lina's lines. They slowly fall in love as Lina grows more jealous of the attention Kathy receives. Also, Lockwood's friend, Cosmo Brown, is awesome. Directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Debbie Reynolds and Donald O'Connor.
4. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948): In the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution, three men -- the aged, wise Howard; the even-keeled Bob Curtin; and the paranoid Fred C. Dobbs -- band to seek out gold in the Sierra Madre mountains. But not only do they have to deal with ruthless bandits, they also must contend with the greed and hatred that gold lust fosters within each of them. Directed by John Huston, starring Walter Huston, Tim Holt and Humphrey Bogart.
5. Cool Hand Luke (1967): Luke Jackson is a restless man who is arrested for cutting the heads off a few parking meters after downing a few too many drinks. He's sentenced to two years in prison and is sentenced to a Georgia prison camp, where the Captain attempts to wear him down both physically and mentally. But Luke refuses to bow to the system and flouts the Captain's authority at every turn, even as the punishment he endures grows ever more harsh. Directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Paul Newman and Strother Martin.
