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, March 15: The Wrong Trousers + Flow—Amazon rental
“The Wrong Trousers” is a stop-motion Wallace and Gromit short film. “Flow” is a feature-length animated film from Latvia about a cat coping with a great flood. There are no humans and no dialogue, just animal sounds and a score. Nominated for Best International Feature.
2024 Animated films 30 min. + 1 hr 25 min
Saturday, March 22: Lee—Amazon rental, Hulu
The story of photographer Elizabeth 'Lee' Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II. With Kate Winslett (nominated for Best Actress at the Golden Globes), Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgård; directed by Ellen Kuras.
2024 Historical drama R 1 hr 57 min
Tuesday, March 25: Close Your Eyes—Amazon rental—Start Time: 6:30
A film director’s career was damaged when, during the shooting of his second film, his leading actor disappeared. Many years later, he has been asked to talk about it on an “Unsolved Mysteries” program. Directed by Victor Erice, with Manolo Solo, Mario Pardo, Jose Coronado. In Spanish, with subtitles.
2023 Drama 2 hr 49 min plus intermission
Saturday, March 29: Sing Sing—Amazon rental
Based a true story about the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program at Sing Sing Maximum Security Prison. Colman Domingo plays Divine G, imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit, who finds purpose staging an original play with a group of other prisoners. The film has a mix of professional actors and formerly incarcerated men. Directed by Greg Kwedar.
2023 Drama R 1 hr 47 min
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Saturday, April 5: The Last Showgirl—Amazon rental
Shelly Gardner, a middle-aged Las Vegas showgirl, is faced with an uncertain future after learning that the revue she has performed in for three decades is scheduled to close. Directed by Gia Coppola, with Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dave Bautista.
2024 Drama R 1 hr 29 min
Tuesday, April 8: Nickel Boys—Amazon rental
Chronicles the powerful friendship between two young Black teenagers navigating an abusive reform school in Florida. Based on the novel by Colson Whitehead. Directed by RaMell Ross, with Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
2024 Drama PG-13 2 hr 20 min
Saturday, April 12: No movie
Saturday, April 19: Crossing Delancey—Criterion Channel, Amazon rental
Isabelle, a Manhattan single, meets a man through her Jewish grandmother's matchmaker, but is more attracted to a married writer. Directed by Joan Micklin Silver, with Amy Irving, Peter Riegert.
1988 Romantic comedy PG 1 hr 37 min
Tuesday, April 22: Anora—Amazon rental, Hulu
Anora is a young sex worker who, after briefly dating the son of a Russian oligarch, agrees to marry him. When the family hears of the marriage, they mobilize to annul it. Directed by Sean Baker, with Mikey Madison, and Mark Eydelshteyn.
2024 Drama/Comedy R 2 hr 19 min
Saturday, April 26: A Complete Unknown—Amazon rental
The film portrays Bob Dylan through his earliest folk music success up to the controversy over his use of electric instruments. Directed by James Mangold, with Timothée Chalamet, Edward Norton, Elle Fanning, Monica Barbaro.
2024 Music biopic R 2 hr 21 min
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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