Author: grahams

A look at the career of consumer advocate Ralph Nader from wannabe presidential candidate to public pariah. Once upon a time not a long ago, Nader was one of the most admired Americans and the leader of the modern Consumer Movement. Without ever holding public office, Nader built a legislative record over the last thirty years rivaling that of any contemporary president. Many things we take for granted including seat belts, airbags, product labeling are largely due to the efforts of Ralph Nader and his citizen groups. Yet today, when most people hear the name “Ralph Nader,” they think of the man who split the vote in the 2000 election gave the country George W. Bush. As a result, despite his impeccable reputation, Nader has become a pariah even among former friends and allies. How did this happen? AN UNREASONABLE MAN traces the life and career Nader, one the most unique, important and controversial political figures of our time.

“In Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, a young Hannibal watches as his parents violently die, leaving his cherished young sister in his care. This horrific moment will soon pale in comparison to the atrocities he is forced to witness and perhaps survive as a result of. Alone and without any means of support, he is forced to live in a Soviet orphanage that once served as his familyÂ’s beloved home. He flees to Paris to find his uncle has died but his beautiful and mysterious Japanese widow, Lady Murasaki (Gong Li) welcomes him. Showing a cunning aptitude for science, he is accepted into medical school, which serves to hone his skills and provide the tools to exact justice on the war criminals that haunt him day and night. This quest will ignite an insatiable lust within a serial killer who was not born, but made.”

“A 1920s love story about an English couple—Walter (Edward Norton), a middle-class doctor and Kitty (Naomi Watts), an upper-class woman—who get married for the wrong reasons and relocate to Shanghai, where she falls in love with a local playboy (Liev Schreiber). After uncovering Kitty’s infidelity, Walter accepts a job in a Chinese village ravaged by a deadly epidemic and takes her along. The journey brings meaning to their relationship and gives them new purpose in a remote and dangerous place. Written by Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia), based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham. Directed by John Curran (We Don’t Live Here Anymore).”

“Sleazy entertainer Buddy ”Aces” Israel (Jeremy Piven) incurs the wrath of crime boss Primo Sparazza when he agrees to testify against the Las Vegas mob. Two FBI agents (Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta) have the difficult task of protecting him from a motley assortment of bounty hunters, hit men and nefarious vixens who are converging on his Lake Tahoe encampment to rub him out and collect a hefty reward.”

“The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore the Imperial Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack. General Kuribayashi, however, does not favor the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester among his staff. In the lower echelons, a young soldier, Saigo, a poor baker in civilian life, strives with his friends to survive the harsh regime of the Japanese army itself, all the while knowing that a fierce battle looms. When the American invasion begins, both Kuribayashi and Saigo find strength, honor, courage, and horrors beyond imagination.”

On November 18, 1978, over 900 members of Peoples Temple died in the largest mass suicide/murder in history. What drew so many people across racial and class lines to the Peoples Temple? And how could such a diverse group be convinced to commit suicide? Using never-before-seen archival footage and survivor interviews, director Stanley Nelson and writer Marcia Smith tell the story of the people who followed preacher Jim Jones from Indiana to California and finally to the remote jungles of Guyana, South America, in a misbegotten quest to build an ideal society and rid the world of injustice.

“Children of Men” envisages a world one generation from now that has fallen into anarchy on the heels of an infertility defect in the population. The world’s youngest citizen has just died at 18, and humankind is facing the likelihood of its own extinction. Set against a backdrop of London torn apart by violence and warring nationalistic sects, “Children of Men” follows an unlikely champion of Earth’s survival: Theo (Owen), a disillusioned ex-activist turned bureaucrat, who is forced to face his own demons and protect the planet’s last remaining hope.

Good-hearted dreamer Larry Daley (Ben Stiller), despite being perpetually down on his luck, thinks he’s destined for something big. But even he could never have imaged how “big,” when he accepts what appears to be a menial job as a graveyard-shift security guard at a museum of natural history. During Larry’s watch, extraordinary things begin to occur: Mayans, Roman Gladiators, and cowboys emerge from their diorama to wage epic battles; in his quest for fire, a Neanderthal burns down his own display; Attila the Hun (Patrick Gallagher) pillages his neighboring exhibits, and a T-Rex reminds everyone why he’s history’s fiercest predator. Amidst the chaos, the only person Larry can turn to for advice is a wax figure of President Theodore Roosevelt (Robin Williams), who helps our hero harness the bedlam, stop a nefarious plot, and save the museum.

Please Note: The club will not be meeting the last two Sundays of 2006 (December 24th and December 31st). We hope to see you in the New Year when we return on January 7th, 2007!

Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990’s Sierra Leone, Blood Diamond is the story of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) – a South African mercenary – and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) – a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but their histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives. While in prison for smuggling, Archer learns that Solomon – who was taken from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields – has found and hidden the extraordinary rough stone. With the help of Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist whose idealism is tempered by a deepening connection with Archer, the two men embark on a trek through rebel territory, a journey that could save Solomon’s family and give Archer the second chance he thought he would never have.