Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jan 10th at 6:50p for Sherlock Holmes at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“After finally catching serial killer and occult “sorcerer” Lord Blackwood, legendary sleuth Sherlock Holmes and his assistant Dr. Watson can close yet another successful case. But when Blackwood mysteriously returns from the grave and resumes his killing spree, Holmes must take up the hunt once again. Contending with his partner’s new fiancée and the dimwitted head of Scotland Yard, the dauntless detective must unravel the clues that will lead him into a twisted web of murder, deceit, and black magic - and the deadly embrace of temptress Irene Adler.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jan 17th at 4:30pm for La Dolce Vita at the Brattle Theatre . Look for Dan wearing a multicolored shirt in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“With all of the hubbub surrounding Rob Marshall’s Oscar-baiting musical Nine, based on Federico Fellini’s 8 1/2, we can’t think of a better time to celebrate cinema’s greatest maestro - and it also happens to be the 50th birthday of one of his masterpieces. In LA DOLCE VITA, Fellini’s frequent collaborator Marcello Mastroianni plays a member of the paparazzi - back when that was a cool thing to be. From the first shot of a helicopter carrying a Christ statue over Rome, Fellini fills his film with portentous symbols but he never allows them to take away from the pleasure of watching Marcello track the highs and lows of the stars, playboys, and aristocrats of Rome - getting caught up in the lifestyle most of the time. Fellini’s deft and gorgeous filmmaking brings the life of swinging Rome onto celluloid with exuberance and finesse, and then the music of Nina Rota (who composed most of Fellini’s films) pulls it all together.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jan 24th at 7:20pm for A Town Called Panic at the Kendall Square Cinema . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“Hilarious and frequently surreal, this stop-motion extravaganza has endless charms and raucous laughs. Based on the Belgian animated cult TV series (which was released by Wallace & GromitÂ’s Aardman Studios), A Town Called Panic stars three plastic toys named Cowboy, Indian and Horse, who share a house in a rural town that never fails to attract the weirdest events. Cowboy and IndianÂ’s plan to give Horse a homemade barbecue backfires when they accidentally order 50 million bricks. Whoops! This sets off a perilously wacky chain of events as the trio travel to the center of the earth, trek across frozen tundra and discover a parallel underwater universe of pointy-headed (and dishonest!) creatures. With panic a permanent feature of life in this papier-mâché burg, will Horse and his equine paramour—flame-tressed piano teacher Madame Longray—ever find a quiet moment alone? A non-stop whirlwind of inspired silliness that will leave you smiling. Voices by co-directors Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, as well as Jeanne Balibar and Benoit Poelvoorde. Please note: Despite occasional bad language in the subtitles, the French-language film is entirely appropriate for children.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jan 31st at 6:45pm for The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus at the AMC Harvard Square 5 . Look for Dan wearing a multicolored shirt in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“Dr. Parnassus (Christopher Plummer), the leader of a traveling show, has a dark secret. Thousands of years ago he traded the soul of his daughter, Valentina, to the devil. Now the devil has come to collect his prize. To save her, Parnassus must make a final wager: Whoever collects five souls first will win Valentina. Tony (Heath Ledger), a man saved from hanging by Parnassus’ troupe, agrees to help collect them, with his eye on marrying Valentina.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Feb 7th at 6:35pm for Crazy Heart at the Kendall Square Cinema . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who’s had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad canÂ’t help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Feb 14th at 7:05pm for The Most Dangerous Man in America - Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers at the Kendall Square Cinema . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

““The Most Dangerous Man in America” is the story of what happens when a former Pentagon insider, armed only with his conscience, steadfast determination, and a file cabinet full of classified documents, decides to challenge an “Imperial” Presidency-answerable to neither Congress, the press, nor the people-in order to help end the Vietnam War. In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg shook America to its foundations when he smuggled a top-secret Pentagon study to the New York Times that showed how five Presidents consistently lied to the American people about the Vietnam War that was killing millions and tearing America apart. President Nixon’s National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger called Ellsberg “the most dangerous man in America,” who “had to be stopped at all costs.” But Ellsberg wasn’t stopped. Facing 115 years in prison on espionage and conspiracy charges, he fought back. Ensuing events surrounding the so-called Pentagon Papers led directly to Watergate and the downfall of President Nixon, and hastened the end of the Vietnam War. Ellsberg’s relentless telling of truth to power, which exposed the secret deeds of an “Imperial Presidency,” inspired Americans of all walks of life to forever question the previously-unchallenged pronouncements of its leaders. “The Most Dangerous Man in America” tells the inside story, for the first time on film, of this pivotal event that changed history and transformed our nation’s political discourse. It is told largely by the players of that dramatic episode-Ellsberg, his colleagues, family and critics; Pentagon Papers authors and government officials; Vietnam veterans and anti-war activists; Watergate principals, attorneys and the journalists who both covered the story and were an integral part of it; and finally-through White House audiotapes-President Nixon and his inner circle of advisors.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Feb 21st at 7:15pm for Shutter Island at the Regal Fenway Stadium 13 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“The project centers on a U.S. marshal (Mark Ruffalo) who along with his new partner (Leonardo DiCaprio) travels to a Massachusetts island to investigate the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane. During their inquiry , the two encounter a web of deceit, experience a hurricane and become involved in a deadly inmate riot that leaves them trapped on the island. Ben Kingsley will play Dr. Cawley, the hospital’s enigmatic chief physician who must reluctantly play host to the two U.S. marshals.”

I wanted to take this opportunity to ask you a favor as well as let you know about some upcoming events.  Hopefully these infrequent bulletins, outside of the normal weekly newsletter, don’t rub you the wrong way.  (And this week’s newsletter is still to come, either later today or tomorrow)

First off, I’d like to let all of you know that our local non-profit theaters need your support:

1. The Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square is probably our greatest repertory resources in the area.  Aside from their repertory runs, they are also a popular location to premiere first-run indie films.  Add to that a fantastic balcony, beer and wine served at the concession, and an awesome location, and it really is one of my favorite places in the city to catch a film.  Membership details and benefits are available here.
2. The Coolidge Corner Theatre is another beautiful non-profit theatre, with several screens featuring first-run independent films as well as classics.  It is a favorite destination of the club, and have a membership level that may be of special interest to film club members:  If you join at the Cinematographer level you get FREE admission to regular films on Sundays after 6pm!  Membership details and benefits are available here.

Along with the usual in-theatre benefits you get to joining either of these features, you will also get discounts at area stores and restaurants as well as special member offers from time-to-time.  But more important than any hard benefits, you will be supporting two truly independent area venues.

I also wanted to mention that the 2010 Independent Film of Boston ( IFFBoston) is approaching!  It will run from April 21st to the 28th, so save the dates!

Finally, I have heard about a few upcoming screenings you may be interested in:

1. The Coolidge continues it’s long-running “Science on Screen” series on March 15th with Christopher Guest’s classic, “Best in Show”.  Before the film, Dr. Nicholas H. Dodman, BVMS, MRCVS, one of the world’s most noted veterinary behaviorists, explores the sometimes curious bond between people and their dogs.  More information is available here.

2. IFFBoston has two of their “year-round” screenings coming up:

3. THE ART OF THE STEAL  - A chronicle of the long and dramatic struggle for control of the Barnes Foundation, a private collection of Post-Impressionist and early Modern art valued at more than $25 billion, told in as gripping a style as any crime thriller. - Wednesday, March 3 - 7pm at the Kendall Square Cinema. (Director Don Argott in person). Learn more and download a pass for two.

4. TERRIBLY HAPPY - Official Danish selection for the Academy Awards. A Copenhagen police officer is transferred to a small provincial town and subsequently gets mixed up with a married femme fatale. Thursday, March 4 - 7pm at the Somerville. Learn more and download a pass for two.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Feb 28th at 7:40pm for The Crazies at the Somerville Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“David Dutten (Timothy Olyphant) is sheriff of Ogden Marsh, a picture-perfect American town with happy, law-abiding citizens. But one night, one of them comes to a school baseball game with a loaded shotgun, ready to kill. Another man burns down his own houseÂ…after locking his wife and young son in a closet inside. Within days, the town has transformed into a sickening asylum; people who days ago lived quiet, unremarkable lives have now become depraved, blood-thirsty killers, hiding in the darkness with guns and knives. Sheriff Dutten tries to make sense of whatÂ’s happening as the horrific, nonsensical violence escalates. Something is infecting the citizens of Ogden Marsh…with insanity. Now complete anarchy reigns as one by one the townsfolk succumb to an unknown toxin and turn sadistically violent. In an effort to keep the madness contained, the government uses deadly force to close off all access and wonÂ’t let anyone in or out – even those uninfected.”

In our annual observance of the Academy Awards ceremony, we will be not meeting this Sunday, March 7th. We will resume our normal schedule next weekend, on March 14th.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Mar 14th at 7pm for Prodigal Sons at the Kendall Square Cinema . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Prodigal Sons tells the story of three fascinating siblings: filmmaker Kim, a transgender woman; Todd, a gay man; and Marc, their adopted brother who discovers heÂ’s the grandson of Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth. The bond between longtime rivals Marc and Kim, which defies both KimÂ’s gender and MarcÂ’s pedigree, exists as the fascinating heart of the film, and is orbited by a colorful, articulate cast of characters, including jailhouse chaplains, Montana farmers, intrigued high school classmates, and Orson WellesÂ’ soul-mate Oja Kodar, among others. Carol, the remarkably resilient mother who accepts her childrenÂ’s surprises with grace and optimism, provides a strong backbone for the family, as well as a clear-eyed entry-point to this drama of Wellesian proportions. All along the way surprising revelations abound: MarcÂ’s innate savant ability to play the piano, KimÂ’s smooth acceptance from schoolmates and community, and their younger brother ToddÂ’s well-adjusted attitude about being gay. After pulling for this family through its trials and tribulations, we learn that a poignant sense of hope will carry them through

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Mar 21st at 4:30p for Akira Kurosawa’s Ran at the Coolidge Corner Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

A masterpiece in the beautiful main theater at the Coolidge with a new 35mm print. ’nuff said.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Mar 28th at 6pm for The Ghost Writer at the Stuart Street Playhouse . Look for Dan wearing a multicolored shirt in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

When a successful British ghostwriter, The Ghost, agrees to complete the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang, his agent assures him it’s the opportunity of a lifetime. But the project seems doomed from the start-not least because his predecessor on the project, Lang’s long-term aide, died in an unfortunate accident. The Ghost flies out to work on the project, in the middle of winter, to an oceanfront house on an island off the U.S. Eastern seaboard. But the day after he arrives, a former British cabinet minister accuses Lang of authorizing the illegal seizure of suspected terrorists and handing them over for torture by the CIA-a war crime. As The Ghost works, he begins to uncover clues suggesting his predecessor may have stumbled on a dark secret linking Lang to the CIA-and that somehow this information is hidden in the manuscript he left behind

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Apr 4th at 7:10pm for Hot Tub Time Machine at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Howard wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Four pals are stuck in a rut in adulthood: Adam (John Cusack) has just been dumped, Lou (Rob Corddry) is a hopeless party animal, Craig (Craig Robinson) is a henpecked husband, and Jacob (Clark Duke) does nothing but play video games in his basement. But they get a chance to brighten their future by changing their past after a night of heavy drinking in a ski-resort hot tub results in their waking up in 1986.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Apr 11th at 7:30pm for The Runaways at the Coolidge Corner Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning star in this music-fueled story of the ground breaking, all girl, teenage rock band of the 1970’s: The Runaways. The film follows two friends, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, as they rise from rebellious Southern California kids to rock stars of the now legendary group that paved the way for future generations of girl bands. With it’s tough-chick image and raw talent, the band quickly earns a name for iteself.

The Independent Film Festival Boston 2010 is just around the corner, April 21st through the 28th!  The lineup this year is ambitious as always, and deciding which films I’m going to attend is already a challenge.  You can see the schedule and buy tickets here, and as last year that site features the “Festival Genius” which helps you create a schedule and resolve conflicts.  It’s a great tool.

The festival film I’ve selected for the club this year is “Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields”, and as Stephin is from the area I’d would be surprised if this wasn’t a popular show.  I’d recommend buying tickets in advance. Even better, you save a buck by buying your tickets in advance!

If that film doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, there are many other interesting films showing that evening, so hopefully you can find something else you are interested in.  If you want to be a true IFF degenerate like myself, may I recommend obtaining a festival pass.  I find that even if the math of money on tickets and money on a pass is close, the convenience of having a pass and getting into the theatre first removes much of the pressure of trying to see lots of movies.  Last year I believe I saw 18 or 19, so I certainly got my value out of it.  And this year they’ve added an additional day to the festival, so it should be even easier!

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Apr 18th at 7:30pm for Kick-Ass at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

KICK-ASS tells the story of average teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a comic-book fanboy who decides to take his obsession as inspiration to become a real-life superhero. As any good superhero would, he chooses a new name – Kick-Ass – assembles a suit and mask to wear, and gets to work fighting crime. ThereÂ’s only one problem standing in his way: Kick-Ass has absolutely no superpowers. His life is forever changed as he inspires a subculture of copy cats, meets up with a pair of crazed vigilantes – including an 11-year-old sword-wielding dynamo, Hit Girl (Chloë Moretz) and her father, Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) – and forges a friendship with another fledgling superhero, Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). But thanks to the scheming of a local mob boss Frank DÂ’Amico (Mark Strong), that new alliance will be put to the test.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Apr 25th at 7:30pm for Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and The Magnetic Fields at the Brattle Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

The Magnetic Fields have never made it easy for those who would categorize their music. Originally labeled “art pop” musicians when their first album contained no guitar, they have since continued to befuddle genre watchdogs with a quirky blend of synth, strings, experimental percussion, pop overtones, folk undertones, and, of course, that magical special ingredient: Stephin Merritt’s deep, lulling vocals. Merritt’s tone massages a catalog of richly poignant lyrics that are quite the rare find in the pop-music thicket—often most notable for their delicate simplicity.

On the other hand, Merritt himself has never made it easy for those who would categorize him. His intense demeanor has been the subject of many a sour rumor over his 20-plus-year career. Some of these ill reports he may indeed have earned through antisocial behavior. Some, however, were bitter and undeserved cuts—the price he suspects he must pay for being “a high-profile sitting duck.”

Directors Kerthy Fix and Gail OÂ’Hara provide us with comfortable, homey access to Merritt and the most important, grounding influence in his life: his decades-long friendship with his chipper musical collaborator Claudia Gonson. On his home turf, in the apartment that has doubled as the studio for the lionÂ’s share of his recordings, Merritt is anything but prickly or uncooperative. He is a reflective, passionate, and even playful artist who is producing many of the great songs of his generation.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, May 2nd at 7pm for Exit Through the Gift Shop at the Kendall Square Cinema . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Banksy is a graffiti artist with a global reputation whose work can be seen on walls from post-hurricane New Orleans to the separation barrier on the Palestinian West Bank. Fiercely guarding his anonymity to avoid prosecution, Banksy has so far resisted all attempts to be captured on film. Exit Through the Gift Shop tells the incredible true story of how an eccentric French shop keeper turned documentary maker attempted to locate and befriend Banksy, only to have the artist turn the camera back on its owner. The film contains exclusive footage of Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Invader and many of the world’s most infamous graffiti artists at work, on walls and in interview. As Banksy describes it, “It’s basically the story of how one man set out to film the un-filmable. And failed”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, May 9th at 6:15pm for Iron Man 2 (IMAX) at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Dan wearing a multicolored shirt in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

With the world now aware of his dual life as the armored superhero Iron Man, billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) faces pressure from the government, the press, and the public to share his technology with the military. Unwilling to let go of his invention, Stark, along with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) at his side, must forge new alliances – and confront powerful enemies.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, May 16th at 7:30pm for Please Give at the Coolidge Corner Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Please Give is writer-director Nicole Holofcener’s (Friends with Money, Lovely & Amazing) perceptive—and devastatingly funny—take on modern life’s contradictions, good intentions and shaky moral bearings.

Kate (Catherine Keener) has a lot on her mind. There’s the ethics problem of buying furniture on the cheap at estate sales and marking it up at her trendy Manhattan store (and how much markup can she get away with?). There’s the materialism problem of not wanting her teenage daughter (Sarah Steele) to want the expensive things that Kate wants. There’s the marriage problem of sharing a partnership in parenting, business and life with her husband Alex (Oliver Platt) but sensing doubt nibbling at the foundations. And there’s Kate’s free-floating 21st century malaise—the problem of how to live well and be a good person when poverty, homelessness, and sadness are always right outside the door.

The Boston Sunday Night Film Club will not meet this Sunday, May 23rd.  Whether we meet on Memorial Day Weekend (May 30th) has yet to be determined.  We’ll let you know as soon as a decision has been made.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, May 30th at 4:35pm for George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead at the Kendall Square Cinema . Look for Dan wearing a multicolored shirt in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

On an island off the coast of North America, local residents simultaneously fight a zombie epidemic while hoping for a cure to return their un-dead relatives back to their human state.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jun 6th at 6:50p for Holy Rollers at the Kendall Square Cinema . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Holy Rollers is inspired by actual events in the late ’90s when Hasidic Jews were recruited as mules to smuggle ecstasy from Europe into the United States. Sam Gold (Jesse Eisenberg), a young Hasid from an Orthodox Brooklyn community, reluctantly follows the path his family has chosen for him, awaiting a pending arranged marriage and studying to become a Rabbi. A charming neighbor, Yosef (Justin Bartha), senses SamÂ’s resistance and propositions him to transport ‘medicineÂ’ for Jackie (Danny A. Abeckaser), an Israeli dealer, and his girlfriend, Rachel (Ari Graynor). Sam quickly demonstrates his business skill to his bosses, who instantly take Sam under their wing. Now exposed to the exciting and gritty worlds of Manhattan and Amsterdam nightlife, Sam begins to spiral deeper into their detrimental lifestyle, experimenting with ecstasy and then falling for Rachel. As the business grows, SamÂ’s double life begins to rip his family apart and the community becomes suspicious of his illegal activities. Sam slowly comes to realize the façade behind the easy money and parties. Caught between life as a smuggler and the path back to God, Sam goes on the run, forced to make a fatal decision that could bring the entire operation crashing down

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jun 13th at 7:10pm for The A-Team at the Regal Fenway Stadium 13 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“1980s TV action gets a reboot with this new version of The A-Team, which shifts the Vietnam vet backstory to a group of Iraq War vets who become mercenaries for hire. Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces) directs from a script by G.I. Joe’s Skip Woods. Liam Neeson heads up the crew as Hannibal, the brains of the operation, with Bradley Cooper as Face, UFC star Quinton “Rampage” Jackson filling in for Mr. T as B.A. Baracus, and District 9’s breakout star, Sharlto Copley, inheriting the unhinged role of “Howling Mad” Murdock. Jessica Biel also co-stars”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jun 20th at 7:20pm for Winter’s Bone at the Coolidge Corner Theatre . Look for Howard wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Seventeen-year-old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) sets out to track down her father, who put their house up for his bail bond and then disappeared. If she fails, Ree and her family will be turned out into the Ozark woods. Challenging her outlaw kin’s code of silence and risking her life, Ree hacks through the lies, evasions and threats offered up by her relatives and begins to piece together the truth.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jun 27th at 7:30pm for Knight and Day at the AMC Harvard Square 5 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“June Havens (Diaz) finds her everyday life tangled with that of a secret agent (Cruise) who has realized he isn’t supposed to survive his latest mission. As their campaign to stay alive stretches across the globe, they soon learn that all they can count on is each other.”

The Boston Sunday Night Film Club will not be meeting this July 4th due to the holiday.  We will return the following Sunday, July 11th.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jul 11th at 7:15p for Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work at the Kendall Square Cinema . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

The highly acclaimed documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work takes the audience on a year-long ride with legendary comedian Joan Rivers in her 76th year of life - peeling away the mask of an iconic comedian and exposing the struggles, sacrifices and joy of living life as a ground breaking female performer. The film is an emotionally surprising and revealing portrait of one the most hilarious and long-standing career women ever in the business. Directed by Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg (The Devil Came on Horseback).

Thanks to one of our mailing list members, I have just been informed that the Kendall Square Cinema is presently closed due to a flooding-related power outage.  They don’t know when they will be able to reopen.

I will make a final decision at 5pm as to whether or not tonight’s club meeting has been cancelled, but things aren’t looking good.  Check our webpage or twitter after 5pm for the final verdict.

Due to the ongoing power outage at the Kendall Square Cinema, tonight’s SNFC meeting is cancelled.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jul 18th at 6:45pm for Inception (DLP) at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“In a world where technology exists to enter the human mind through dream invasion, a single idea within one’s mind can be the most dangerous weapon or the most valuable asset.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jul 25th at 7:20pm for The Kids Are All Right at the Coolidge Corner Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“Lesbian couple Jules (Julianne Moore) and Nic (Annette Bening) have been together for almost 20 years, and have two teenage offspring named Joni and Laser, who were conceived via artificial insemination. Unbeknownst to their mothers, Joni and Laser are interested in tracking down Laser’s biological father. Reluctantly inquiring with the sperm bank, Joni leaves her number so the office can pass it along to Laser’s donor dad. Enthusiastic at the thought of meeting his long lost offspring, Paul (Mark Ruffalo) musters the courage to reach out, and the family tree grows a new branch.”

For a variety of reasons I have decided to move the mailing list to a Google Group.

IN ORDER TO CONTINUE TO RECEIVE THE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER BY EMAIL YOU MUST SUBSCRIBE TO THE NEW LIST!

If you have a Google (Gmail) Account you can subscribe to the mailing list here: http://groups.google.com/group/snfc-bos-announce (click on “Join This Group”)

Otherwise you can subscribe to the new list via email by sending a message to: snfc-bos-announce+subscribe@googlegroups.com

If you no longer wish to receive the newsletter, simply take no action, you will be automatically unsubscribed.

If you are still interested in the club, but aren’t interested in the email newsletter, there are several ways to keep track of us:

• RSS Feed
• iCal Calendar
• Google Calendar
• Twitter

Incidentally, Twitter is a great way to receive “same day” updates about the club. For instance, a few weeks ago a power outage took out the Kendall Square Cinema on Sunday and we had to cancel the club’s meeting, and Twitter was one of the primary ways to communicate this. The week of “Inception” the film sold out early, but anyone reading our twitter feed knew that several club members who didn’t get tickets went to see “Despicable Me” and the two groups met up afterwards. Twitter allows you to receive these updates on ANY cell phone which has SMS (“Text Message”) support.

Hope to see you at a Sunday soon!

sean

P.S. I know Murphy’s Law well, so in case there is any trouble getting the newsletter out to the new group, I’ll mention that we’ll be seeing “Valhalla Rising” this Sunday at the Brattle @ 7:30pm. :)

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Aug 1st at 7:30pm for Valhalla Rising at the Brattle Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Acclaimed Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (Bronson, The Pusher Trilogy) brings us this majestic and brutal arthouse Viking epic. For untold years, the fearsome warrior known only as One Eye (Mikkelsen, Casino RoyaleÂ’s bad guy and RefnÂ’s frequent collaborator) has been a prisoner forced to fight all challengers. He has defeated everyone he’s encountered, but is treated more like a fighting dog than a champion. The only person he has any relationship with is the young boy who brings him food and water daily. He takes the boy along with him when he eventually escapes and they quickly run across a new force sweeping the countryside and displacing the society’s leaders: Christians. Having no other prospects, One Eye joins up with a band of pilgrims who are setting off to liberate Jerusalem from the heathens – but the crew gets disastrously lost and ends up in a ‘new worldÂ’ that is utterly unfamiliar and hostile. A remarkable film that seems at once swathed in myth and mystery yet firmly rooted in the blood and guts of reality, VALHALLA RISING – and especially the outstanding performance of Mikkelsen as the completely mute One Eye – will entrance you and have you chomping at the bit to see more from this powerful creative team.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Aug 8th at 7pm for Get Low at the Coolidge Corner Theatre . Look for Dan wearing a multicolored shirt in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“Based on a true story of a hermit who lived for forty years in the Tennessee woods. Felix Bush decides it is time to plan his funeral. But his funeral will not be any old macabre occasion. Organized by a local undertaker played by Bill Murray and his sidekick played by Lucas Black, the funeral will be more party than memorial and an event to which anyone and everyone will be invited and at which Bush will reveal a long kept secret.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Aug 15th at 7pm for Scott Pilgrim vs. the World at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Howard wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

As the bass guitarist for a garage-rock band, Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) has never had trouble getting a girlfriend; usually, the problem is getting rid of them. But when Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) skates into his heart, he finds she has the most troublesome baggage of all: an evil army of ex-boyfriends who will stop at nothing to eliminate him as Ramona’s suitor.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Aug 22nd at 7:15pm for Piranha 3D at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Every year the population of sleepy Lake Victoria explodes from 5,000 to 50,000 for Spring Break; a riot of sun and drunken fun. But this year, there’s something more to worry about than hangovers and complaints from local old timers; A new type of terror is about to be cut loose on Lake Victoria. After a sudden underwater tremor sets free scores of the prehistoric man-eating fish, an unlikely group of strangers must band together to stop themselves from becoming fish food for the area’s new razor-toothed residents.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Aug 29th at 7:30pm for A Single Man at the Brattle Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Set in Los Angeles in 1962, A SINGLE MAN is the story of a professor (Firth) struggling to find meaning in his life after the death of his long time partner. A poignant, romantic tale of love interrupted. Adapted from Christopher IsherwoodÂ’s novel by fashion icon Tom Ford.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Sep 5th at 8pm for Machete at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“After being nearly killed during a violent fight with a powerful drug lord, a Mexican Federale known as Machete (Danny Trejo) roams Texas streets as a vigilante and sometime day-laborer. Hired by a corrupt senator to perform a covert hit, Machete is double-crossed and forced to go on the run. Machete may be down, but not out, and he carves a path of blood, bullets and broken hearts in a mission to settle the score.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Sep 12th at 7pm for Don’t Look Now at the Brattle Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

On vacation in Italy after the death of their daughter, John and Laura Baxter encounter a psychic who claims that she can see their recently deceased child, wandering the streets in her red cloak. John resists the idea until he starts having visions himself that, eerily, seem to coincide with a string of murders in the city. DON’T LOOK NOW is an audacious, frightening film that will haunt you long after the chilling conclusion.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Sep 19th at 7:30pm for The Town at the Somerville Theatre . Look for Howard wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

‘Gone Baby Gone’ director Ben Affleck adapts author Chuck Hogan’s Hammett Prize-winning novel concerning four thieves who are hunted on the streets of Boston by a determined FBI agent and a woman with the power to bring them all to their knees.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Sep 26th at 7:30 for Catfish at the AMC Harvard Square 5 . Look for Howard wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

In late 2007, filmmakers Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost sensed a story unfolding as they began to film the life of Ariel’s brother, Nev. They had no idea that their project would lead to the most exhilarating and unsettling months of their lives. A reality thriller that is a shocking product of our times, Catfish is a riveting story of love, deception and grace within a labyrinth of online intrigue.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Oct 3rd at 7:00pm for The Social Network at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Dan wearing a multicolored shirt in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history… but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Oct 10th at 7:20pm for Waiting for ‘Superman’ at the Coolidge Corner Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH) reminds us that education “statistics” have names: Anthony, Francisco, Bianca, Daisy, and Emily, whose stories make up the engrossing foundation of WAITING FOR SUPERMAN. As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Oct 17th at 7:20pm for Jackass 3D at the Regal Fenway Stadium 13 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Do you really need a Synopsis? :)

“The Jackass pranksters are at it again in this third outing, presented for the first time in 3D – an effect that will no doubt redefine the use of the in-your-face technology. Once again Jeff Tremaine returns to direct the MTV Films/Paramount Pictures production.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Oct 24th at 7:20pm for Inside Job at the Coolidge Corner Theatre . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

‘Inside Job’ is the first film to provide a comprehensive analysis of the global financial crisis of 2008, which at a cost over $20 trillion, caused millions of people to lose their jobs and homes in the worst recession since the Great Depression, and nearly resulted in a global financial collapse. Through exhaustive research and extensive interviews with key financial insiders, politicians, journalists, and academics, the film traces the rise of a rogue industry which has corrupted politics, regulation, and academia. It was made on location in the United States, Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Oct 31st at 6:45p for Stone at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Dan wearing a multicolored shirt in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Parole officer Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro) has only a few weeks left before retirement and wishes to finish out the cases he’s been assigned. One such case is that of Gerald “Stone” Creeson (Edward Norton), a convicted arsonist who is up for parole. Jack is initially reluctant to indulge Stone in the coarse banter he wishes to pursue and feels little sympathy for the prisoner’s pleads for an early release. Seeing little hope in convincing Jack himself, Stone arranges for his wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) to seduce the officer, but motives and intentions steadily blur amidst the passions and buried secrets of the corrupted players in this deadly game of deception.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Nov 7th at 6:50pm for Fair Game at the Kendall Square Cinema . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

A suspense-filled glimpse into the dark corridors of political power, Fair Game is a riveting action-thriller based on the autobiography of real-life undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), whose career was destroyed and marriage strained to its limits when her covert identity was illegally exposed. As a covert officer in the CIA’s Counter-Proliferation Division, Valerie leads an investigation into the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Valerie’s husband, diplomat Joe Wilson (Sean Penn), is drawn into the investigation to substantiate an alleged sale of enriched uranium from Niger. But when the administration ignores his findings and uses the issue to support the call to war, Joe writes a New York Times editorial outlining his conclusions and igniting a firestorm of controversy. From Doug Liman, director of The Bourne Identity.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Nov 14th at 7pm for 127 Hours at the Kendall Square Cinema . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Note: The original selection for tomorrow, “Four Lions” has disappeared off of the Kendall’s Schedule. We will be seeing “127 Hours” instead. Sorry for any confusion.

127 Hours is the true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston’s (James Franco, Pineapple Express) remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah. Over the next five days Ralston examines his life and survives the elements to finally discover he has the courage and the wherewithal to extricate himself by any means necessary, scale a 65 foot wall and hike over eight miles before he is finally rescued. Throughout his journey, Ralston recalls friends, lovers (Clemence Poesy), family, and the two hikers (Amber Tamblyn and Kate Mara) he met before his accident. Will they be the last two people he ever had the chance to meet? A visceral thrilling story that will take an audience on a never before experienced journey and prove what we can do when we choose life. From Danny Boyle, the Academy Award winning director of Slumdog Millionaire.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Nov 21st at 7:05p for Unstoppable at the Regal Fenway Stadium 13 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

“With an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train barreling toward a city, a veteran engineer and a young conductor race against the clock to prevent a catastrophe.”

The Boston Sunday Night Film Club is taking this holiday weekend off.  We’ll resume “normal operations” next Sunday, December 5th!  Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday!

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Dec 5th at 7:45p for Black Swan at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Nina (Portman) is a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her obsessive former ballerina mother Erica (Hershey) who exerts a suffocating control over her. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side - a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Dec 12th at 6:50pm for The Fighter at the AMC Boston Common 19 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

The Fighter, is a drama about boxer “Irish” Micky Ward’s unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO’d by drugs and crime.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Dec 19th at 7:30pm for Tron: Legacy (3D) at the Regal Fenway Stadium 13 . Look for Sean wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Sam Flynn (Hedlund), a rebellious 27-year-old, is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of his father Kevin Flynn (Bridges), a man once known as the world’s leading video-game developer. When Sam investigates a strange signal sent from the old Flynn’s Arcade – a signal that could only come from his father– he finds himself pulled into a digital world where Kevin has been trapped for 20 years. With the help of the fearless warrior Quorra (Wilde), father and son embark on a life-or-death journey across a cyber universe – a universe created by Kevin himself that has become far more advanced with vehicles, weapons, landscapes and a ruthless villain who will stop at nothing to prevent their escape.

The Boston Sunday Night Film Club will be taking this Sunday, December 26th off due to the Christmas holiday.  It is not yet clear if we will be meeting on January 2nd, so stay tuned for updates.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jan 2nd at 7:10pm for The King’s Speech at the Coolidge Corner Theatre . Look for Howard wearing a nametag in the theatre lobby about 15 minutes before the film. As always, after the film we will descend on a local establishment for dinner/drinks/discussion.

Based on the true story of the Queen of England’s father and his remarkable friendship with maverick Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue The King’s Speech stars Academy Award nominee Colin Firth (A Single Man) as King George VI, who unexpectedly becomes King when his brother Edward abdicates the throne. Academy Award Winner Geoffrey Rush (Shine) stars as Logue, the man who helps the King find a voice with which to lead the nation into war.