Movie News
The Movie Committee has announced that movies are now showing every Saturday evening at 7 p.m In the Auditorium and on Tuesdays twice a month.
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Saturday, Dec. 20: The Baltimorons—Amazon rental
A newly sober man's Christmas Eve dental emergency leads to an unexpected romance with an older dentist as they explore Baltimore together. Directed by Jay Duplass; with Michael Strassner, Liz Larsen. 2025 Comedy R 1 hr 41 min
Tuesday, Dec. 23: The Holly and the Ivy—Kanopy, Amazon rental
The pull of love, independence, and duty in the family of an English clergyman. An outstanding British cast: Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson, Margaret Leighton. 1952 Drama 1 hr 20 min
Saturday, Dec. 27: The Magic Flute—Start time: 2 p.m.
The Metropolitan Opera abridged version, in English. With giant puppets as well as singers. Designed by Julie Taymor; conducted by James Levine. Papageno (Nathan Gunn) steals the show. Suitable for older children. 2008 1 hr 52 min
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and in January:
Saturday, Jan. 3: A House of Dynamite
An international ballistic missile of unknown origin is headed to the United States with 20 minutes until impact. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, with Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso.
2025 Apocalyptic thriller R 1 hr 52 min (Netflix)
Saturday, Jan. 10: The Thursday Murder Club
Four retires who solve cold cases for fun encounter a real murder. Based on the novel by Richard Osman. With Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie.
2025 Mystery/Comedy PG-13 1 hr 58 min (Netflix)
Tuesday, Jan. 13: It Was Just an Accident
A group of former Iranian political prisoners face the question of whether to take revenge on a man they believe may have brutalized them in prison. Directed by Jafar Panahi. Won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. In Farsi, with subtitles.
2025 Drama PG-13 1 hr 43 min (Amazon rental)
Saturday, Jan. 17: Train Dreams
The life of Robert Grainier, a logger and railroad worker in Idaho in the early 20th century. Based on a novella by Denis Johnson. Directed by Clint Bentley; with Joel Edgerton (nominated for a Golden Globe).
2025 Drama PG-13 1 hr 42 min (Netflix)
Saturday, Jan. 24: Jay Kelly
An aging movie star looks back at his life and tries to repair his relationships with his daughters. Directed by Noah Baumbach; with George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern.
2025 Drama/Comedy R 2 hr 12 min (Netflix)
Tuesday, Jan. 27: The Left-Handed Girl
A single mother and her two daughters move back to Taipei to open a noodle stand at a night market. Directed by Shih-Ching Tsou and co-written with Sean Baker. In Mandarin with subtitles.
2025 Family drama R 1 hr 48 min (Netflix)
Saturday, Jan. 31: Wake Up Dead Man
The third installment of the “Knives Out” series. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is back on the scene. Father Jud (Josh O’Connor), a newly arrived priest, becomes a murder suspect.
2025 Mystery/Comedy PG-13 2 hr 24 min (Netflix)
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The Movie Committee always appreciates feedback. Thank you to all the residents who have suggested movies for future showings. These suggestions are always welcome.
Streaming Movies
Many residents prefer to watch movies at home for a variety of reasons, or they miss a particular movie because they have other plans for that night.
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Almost all the movies now shown at Broadmead are available from streaming services. (See the end of this post for the services used for this month’s movies.)
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For most services you sign up on your computer or phone. Newer TVs have the apps for Amazon and Netflix already on them and may have others as well. Of course you can also use Roku and similar devices.
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Amazon rentals are the major source of our movies. You need an Amazon account but you don’t need Prime to rent movies. The Prime service includes a number of new movies; they are available free for a limited period of time and then they move to rentals. Oppenheimer, for example, is now free on Amazon Prime, and costs $6 as a rental. At the end of January, Amazon is raising the cost of a Prime subscription if you want to see movies without ads.
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Most Amazon rentals are $4 to $6, except when the movies are brand new and popular. (They can be as much as $20 at first, but after a while the price drops.) You have 48 hours to watch a rented movie once you start to stream it.
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Kanopy is a free service sponsored by libraries and has increased the number and depth of its offerings. You sign up online using your Baltimore County library card. Kanopy has always regulated the number of movies you can watch each month. It used to be 15 movies; they have now moved to a different method. You get 45 “tickets” a month, and each movie “costs” 2 to 4 tickets. Again, once you start streaming, you have a limited time to complete the movie.
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Netflix is a subscription service with various levels: ads, no ads, etc. There are no restrictions on the number of movies you watch or a limited time in which to complete them. But Netflix doesn’t carry many older movies and its focus is shifting to series.
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An excellent source for locating movies is the website www.JustWatch.com.
JustWatch - The Streaming Guide All your streaming services in one app.
It tells you which streaming services are carrying the movie and the cost (not always accurate, but close). I use JustWatch to track movies that are still playing in theaters. I’m then notified when they become available for streaming.
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The Voice movie listings will now indicate the streaming source (if available) for each movie.
Movie Reviews
For those looking for movie reviews, most major movies are reviewed on the Roger Ebert site, which has a rotating group of reviewers. The reviews give a detailed plot summary. Four stars is the highest rating.
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Wikipedia has entries for most movies. In addition to a very detailed plot summary (including spoilers), the entries give the production history, cast, summary of critical reviews, and awards for which the movie was nominated or won.
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The Guardian, one of the few major newspapers without a pay wall, also has reviews.
If you have access to the New York Times, their reviewers are excellent, and their recommendations are noted as “Critics’ Choice.”
Movie History
For those interested in movie history, MIT, in its Open Courseware program, has a series of recorded lectures by David Thorburn, with an associated list of suggested films. The lectures include some movie clips. Thorburn has a very animated style of lecturing. His approach is particularly interesting because he places cinema in the context of society and points to connections with the other arts. His lectures are carried on YouTube, so you can view them on your TV, but you have to search for them. You can find information about the lectures at https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/21l-011-the-film-experience-fall-2013/video_galleries/lecture-videos-notes/
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