Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jan 9th at 7:10p for True Grit 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.

A 14-year-old girl (Hailee Steinfeld) joins an aging U.S. marshal (Jeff Bridges) and another lawman (Matt Damon) in tracking her father’s killer into hostile Indian territory in Joel and Ethan Coen’s adaptation of Charles Portis’ original novel. Sticking more closely to the source material than the 1969 feature adaptation starring Western icon John Wayne, the Coens’ True Grit tells the story from the young girl’s perspective, and re-teams the celebrated filmmaking duo with their No Country for Old Men screenwriting partner Scott Rudin. Josh Brolin co-stars.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jan 16th at 7:30p for The Green Hornet 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.

Britt Reid (Seth Rogen), the heir to the largest newspaper fortune in Los Angeles, is a spoiled playboy who has thus far been happy to lead an aimless life. After his father dies, Britt meets Kato (Jay Chou), a resourceful company employee. Realizing that they have the talent and resources to make something of their lives, Britt and Kato join forces as costumed crimefighters to bring down the city’s most powerful criminal.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jan 23rd at 6:50p for Somewhere 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.

Academy Award-winning writer/director Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides, Marie Antoinette) returns with Somewhere, a witty, moving and empathetic look into the orbit of actor Johnny Marco (played by Stephen Dorff). You have probably seen him in the tabloids; Johnny is living at the legendary Chateau Marmont hotel in Hollywood. He has a Ferrari to drive around in, and a constant stream of girls and pills to stay in with. Comfortably numbed, Johnny drifts along. Then his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) from his failed marriage arrives unexpectedly at the Chateau. Their encounters encourage Johnny to face up to where he is in life and confront the question that we all must: Which path in life will you take? Winner of the Golden Lion Award for Best Picture at the 2010 Venice International Film Festival. Original music score by the Grammy-winning French band Phoenix.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jan 30th at 7:15pm for The Mechanic 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.

Arthur Bishop is a ‘mechanic’ - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. When his mentor and close friend Harry is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed - he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry’s son Steve approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop’s trade. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.

I needed to move the Google/iCal calendars around, so if you subscribe to them, you’ll want to update.  You can find the new links on the About page.

Â

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Feb 6th at 7:30p for William S. Burroughs - A Man Within 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.

William S. Burroughs: featuring never before seen footage as well as exclusive interviews with his closest friends and colleagues. Born the heir of the Burroughs’ adding machine estate, he struggled throughout his life with addiction, control systems, and self. He was forced to deal with the tragedy of killing his wife and the repercussions of neglecting his son. His novel, Naked Lunch, was one of the last books to be banned by the U.S. government. Allen Ginsberg and Norman Mailer testified on behalf of the book. The courts eventually overturned their decision in 1966, ruling that the book had an important social value. It remains one of the most recognized literary works of the 20th century. William Burroughs was one of the first to cross the dangerous boundaries of queer and drug culture in the 1950s, and write about his experiences. Eventually he was hailed the godfather of the beat generation and influenced artists for generations to come. However, his friends were left wondering, did William ever find happiness? This extremely personal documentary breaks the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest authors of all time. “William S. Burroughs: A Man Within” is the first and only posthumous documentary about this legendary figure.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Feb 13th at 6:40p for Another Year 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 married couple who have managed to remain blissfully happy into their autumn years, are surrounded over the course of the four seasons of one average year by friends, colleagues, and family who all seem to suffer some degree of unhappiness.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Feb 20th at 7:10p for 2011 Oscar Live Action Shorts 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.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see all five Academy Award nominees in the category of Best Live Action Short! Program includes: The Confession (UK), the story of a quiet and sincere 9-year-old boy who is worried about making his first confession; The Crush (Ireland), the story of an 8-year-old schoolboy, in love with his Second Class teacher, who challenges her boyfriend to a duel-to the death; God of Love (USA), in which a lounge-singing darts champion finds his prayers are answered-literally-when he receives a mysterious package of passion-inducing darts; Wish 143 (UK), the story of a 15-year-old boy with only months to live who asks for one wish from the Dreamscape Charity: an hour alone with a naked woman; and Na Wewe (Belgium), which relates a sadly frequent episode of Burundi’s fratricidal conflict in the 1990s: the attack by rebels of a minivan carrying ordinary citizens. With emotion, suspense and humor it exposes the absurdity of ethnic and racial strife.

Since many of us will be watching the Oscars this Sunday, the Boston Sunday Night Film Club will not be meeting this weekend.  We will next meet on March 3rd.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Mar 6th at 7:30p for The Adjustment Bureau 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.

Just as he is on the brink of winning a senate seat, politician David Norris (Matt Damon) meets a ballerina named Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt). Though David is smitten, mysterious men conspire to keep him away from the beautiful dancer. David learns he is up against the powerful agents of Fate itself, and, glimpsing the future laid out before him, must either accept a predetermined path that does not include Elise, or defy Fate to be with her.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Mar 13th at 7:10p for Phil Ochs: There But for Fortune 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.

As our country continues to embroil itself in foreign wars and pins its hopes on a new leader’s promise for change, Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune is a timely and relevant tribute to an unlikely American hero.

Over the course of a meteoric music career that spanned two turbulent decades, Phil Ochs sought the bright lights of fame and social justice in equal measure - a contradiction that eventually tore him apart. From youthful idealism to rage to pessimism, the arch of Ochs’ life paralleled that of the times, and the anger, satire and righteous indignation that drove his music also drove him to dark despair. In this brilliantly constructed film, interview and performance footage of Ochs is illuminated by the ruminations of Joan Baez, Tom Hayden, Pete Seeger, Sean Penn, Peter Yarrow, Christopher Hitchens, Ed Sanders, and others.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Mar 20th at 7:30p for Robocop 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.

Note: The Somerville is showing Robocop as part of a double-feature with The Terminator. While the 5:30p showing of The Terminator may not be an ‘official’ club film, there may be some of us there.

“Detroit - in the future - is crime ridden, and run by a massive company. The company have developed a huge crime fighting robot, which unfortunately develops a rather dangerous glitch. The company sees a way to get back in favour with the public when a cop called Alex Murphy is killed by a street gang. Murphys body is reconstructed within a steel shell and named Robocop. The Robocop is very successful against criminals, and becomes a target of supervillian Boddicker”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Mar 27th at 7:30p for Sucker Punch 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.

An action fantasy set in the vivid imagination of a young girl whose dream world provides the ultimate escape from her darker reality. Unrestrained by the boundaries of time and place, she is free to go where her mind takes her, and her incredible adventures blur the lines between what’s real and what is imaginary. She has been locked away against her will, but Babydoll (Emily Browning) has not lost her will to survive. Determined to fight for her freedom, she urges four other young girls – the outspoken Rocket (Jena Malone), the street-smart Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens), the fiercely loyal Amber (Jamie Chung) and the reluctant Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish) – to band together and try to escape their terrible fate at the hands of their captors, Blue (Oscar Isaac), Madam Gorski (Carla Gugino) and the High Roller (Jon Hamm). Led by Babydoll, the girls engage in fantastical warfare against everything from samurais to serpents, with a virtual arsenal at their disposal. Together, they must decide what they are willing to sacrifice in order to stay alive. But with the help of a Wise Man (Scott Glenn), their unbelievable journey – if they succeed – will set them free

For several years, film promoters have contacted me with free passes to local screenings of upcoming films.  Often these passes come in paper form, and I bring them to the club meeting on Sunday and distribute them there.  But increasingly the promoters are using email to distribute these passes.  I’ve always been REALLY reluctant to pass this information on to the newsletter list because I know not everyone is interested.

I decided to create a second mailing list called “noise”, to which I will forward these pass opportunities as well as some news about other small film events around Boston (such as the Coolidge’s “Science on Screen” events).  If this is something you are interested in, there are two ways to subscribe:

1. Send an email to snfc-bos-noise+subscribe@googlegroups.com and follow the directions in the auto-response you receive.

2. Visit https://groups.google.com/group/snfc-bos-noise/ and click “Join this group”.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Apr 3rd at 7pm for Source Code 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.

An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Apr 10th at 7:10p for Hanna 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.

Hanna (Ronan) is a teenage girl. Uniquely, she has the strength, the stamina, and the smarts of a soldier; these come from being raised by her father (Bana), an ex-CIA man, in the wilds of Finland. Living a life unlike any other teenager, her upbringing and training have been one and the same, all geared to making her the perfect assassin. The turning point in her adolescence is a sharp one; sent into the world by her father on a mission, Hanna journeys stealthily across Europe while eluding agents dispatched after her by a ruthless intelligence operative with secrets of her own (Ms. Blanchett). As she nears her ultimate target, Hanna faces startling revelations about her existence and unexpected questions about her humanity.

The 9th Annual Independent Film Festival of Boston runs from April 27th through May 4th, and tickets and passes are now on sale!  This festival is truly great and anyone who is a fan of movies really should head over to the schedule and learn about what is showing.  Many other cities have their own film festivals, but IFFBoston is really catered to the general moviegoing audience in Boston.  Many of the screenings often have special guests and Q&A sessions, and there are also some panel discussions and parties.  Of course, if you’re like me, you’ll feel like the parties are just distracting you from seeing more movies.

The official club selection for the festival is “Another Earth” at 7:30pm on Sunday, May 1st.  I’ll send out the usual newsletter that week, but I wanted to give those of you who are interested a head start, as tickets often sell out.

Hope to see you at the festival!

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Apr 17th at 6pm for Win Win 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.

Disheartened attorney Mike Flaherty (Giamatti), who moonlights as a high school wrestling coach, stumbles across a star athlete through some questionable business dealings while trying to support his family. Just as it looks like he will get a double payday, the boy’s mother shows up fresh from rehab and flat broke, threatening to derail everything.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Apr 24th at 6:35p for The Conspirator 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.

Robert Redford directs the riveting thriller The Conspirator, the powerful story of a woman who would do anything to protect her family, and the man who risked everything to save her. In the wake of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice President and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (Robin Wright), owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth (Toby Kebbell) and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous backdrop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy), a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt, her own son, John (Johnny Simmons). As the nation turns against her, Surratt is forced to rely on Aiken to uncover the truth and save her life. Also starring Kevin Kline, Evan Rachel Wood and Colm Meaney.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, May 1st at 7:30pm for Another Earth 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.

Rhoda Williams (co-writer Brit Marling) has just been accepted at MIT to study astrophysics and has her whole life ahead of her. John Burroughs (William Mapother, Ethan from Lost) is a noted composer about to have his second child with his loving wife. While the world is entranced by the discovery of a duplicate Earth, Rhoda’s and John’s lives become tragically intertwined.

The film is evocative of other recent, low-budget science fiction films like MOON, in that characters and storytelling take precedence over special effects. The relationship between the two leads is the focus, but the prospect of an alternate planet, potentially home to alternate selves, looms at the edges of the story. Like the best science fiction, ANOTHER EARTH uses a fantastical setting to ask questions that confront us in the here and now: Could a new world provide redemption? Or was that within us all along?

Note: This film is part of the Independent Film Festival of Boston 2011, and may sell out. If you are interested in coming please buy tickets in advance.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, May 8th at 7:30p for Thor: 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.

“As the son of Odin (Anthony Hopkins), the king of the Norse gods, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is soon to inherit the throne of Asgard from his aging father. However, on the day that he is to be crowned, Thor reacts with brutality when the gods’ enemies , the Frost Giants, enter the palace in violation of their treaty. As punishment, Odin banishes Thor to Earth. While Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor’s brother, plots mischief in Asgard, Thor, now stripped of his powers, faces his greatest threat yet.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, May 15th at 7pm for Incendies 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.

When notary Lebel (Remy Girard) sits down with Jeanne and Simon Marwan (Melissa Desormeaux Poulin, Maxim Gaudette) to read them their mother Nawals will (Lubna Azabal), the twins are stunned to receive a pair of envelopes one for the father they thought was dead and another for a brother they didnt know existed.

In this enigmatic inheritance, Jeanne sees the key to Nawals retreat into unexplained silence during the final weeks of her life. She immediately decides to go to the Middle East to dig into a family history of which she knows next to nothing.

Simon is unmoved by their mothers posthumous mind games. However, the love he has for his sister is strong, and he soon joins her in combing their ancestral homeland in search of a Nawal who is very different from the mother they knew.

With Lebels help, the twins piece together the story of the woman who brought them into the world, discovering a tragic fate as well as the courage of an exceptional woman.

An adaptation of Wajdi Mouawads hit play, INCENDIES is a deeply moving story that brings the extremism and violence of todays world to a starkly personal level, delivering a powerful and poetic testament to the uncanny power of the will to survive.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, May 22nd at 6:35p for Cave of Forgotten Dreams 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.

Werner Herzog gains exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France, capturing the oldest known pictorial creations of humankind in their astonishing natural setting.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, May 29th at 7:20p for Midnight in Paris 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.

Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams star as a young engaged couple traveling to Paris with her parents on a business trip in Woody Allen’s new romantic comedy. Once in Paris, however, this couple must confront the fact that perhaps the life that they are living is an illusion.

Gil (Wilson) is a man who is comfortable with the basic pleasures of every-day life, but when he and his fiancee arrive in Paris, Inez (McAdams) is swept off her feet by the charm of the city, including a visit by an old acquaintance, Paul (Michael Sheen). As Gil becomes the curmudgeon of the group, not wanting to take part in the Parisian night-life, he ends up taking midnight strolls along the streets of Paris, alone, and finds a completely new twist on life. Wanting to find out where her fiance goes at night, Inez and her father hire a private detective, but when he goes missing after following Gil on one of his midnight strolls, is the marriage in trouble?

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jun 5th at 7pm for The Tree of Life 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.

From Terrence Malick, the acclaimed director of Badlands, Days of Heaven and The Thin Red Line, comes The Tree of Life, an impressionistic story of a Midwestern family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith. Through Malick’s signature imagery, we see how both brute nature and spiritual grace shape not only our lives as individuals and families, but all life. Winner of the Palme d’Or (top honors) at this year’s Cannes International Film Festival.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jun 12th at 7:30p for Nostalgia for the Light 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.

For his new film, master director Patricio GuzmA!n (The Battle of Chile, The Pinochet Case) travels 10,000 feet above sea level to the driest place on earth, Chileas Atacama Desert. There, atop the mountains where the sky is so translucent that telescopes can see right to the boundaries of the universe, astronomers from all over the world gather to observe the stars. Meanwhile, at the base of the mountains, the harsh heat of the sun preserves secrets from the past: the remains of Pre-Columbian mummies; 19th-century explorers and miners; and the remains of political prisoners adisappeareda by the Chilean army in the 1970s. So it happens that, while astronomers examine the most distant and oldest galaxies above, women, surviving relatives of the disappeared, search below for the remains of their loved ones.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jun 19th at 7:05p for Submarine 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.

“Fifteen-year-old Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) has two big ambitions: to save his parents’ marriage via carefully plotted intervention and to lose his virginity before his next birthday. Worried that his mom (Sally Hawkins) is having an affair with New Age weirdo Graham Purvis (Paddy Considine), Oliver monitors his parents’ sex life by charting the dimmer switch in their bedroom. He also forges suggestive love letters from his mom to dad. Meanwhile, Oliver attempts to woo his classmate, Jordana (Yasmin Paige), a self-professed pyromaniac who supervises his journal writingespecially the bits about her. When necessary, she orders him to cross things out. Based on Joe Dunthorne’s acclaimed novel, Submarine is a captivating coming-of-age story with an offbeat edge.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jun 26th at 7:15p for The African Queen 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.

East Africa during World War I: after British missionary Robert Morley dies in the wake of a German attack, his prissy spinster sister Rose (Hepburn) hitches a ride on the African Queen, a rundown riverboat operated by gin-sodden Canadian Charlie Allnut (Bogart) who later finds shes got a formidable agenda: whip up a few homemade torpedoes to get revenge on a German gunboat floating on a lake, with only a hair-raising ride down the rapids, an enemy fort, and Deutsch officer Theodore Bikels noose in the way. Shot on location in the Belgian Congo and Uganda by Technicolor specialist par excellence Jack Cardiff (The Red Shoes), THE AFRICAN QUEEN had its own set of off-camera adventures: Mrs. Bogie, Lauren Bacall, came along on the trip as probably the most glamorous waitress in the world; the boat sank in the river and had to be salvaged; Huston kept the camera turning when a hippo nearly capsized it during the final scene; and virtually the entire crew came down with dysentery, except for the strictly whiskey-imbibing Huston and Bogart. Oscar nominations to Hepburn, Huston, and screenplay with Bogart winning for Best Actor, beating out Fredric March, Montgomery Clift, and Marlon Brandos Stanley Kowalski. Seen for decades only in washed-out prints (the original 3-strip Technicolor negatives had long since shrunk), THE AFRICAN QUEEN, in this new 35mm restoration, once again looks magnificent, with deep, burnished browns and yellows and a level of detail that picks out every drop of sweat on Bogarts brow (Dave Kehr). Restored by ITV Global Entertainment and Paramount Pictures. notes adapted from the Film Forum, NYC

The Sunday Night Film Club (SNFC) is taking this Sunday, July 3rd off to celebrate the national holiday.  We will return the following Sunday, July 10th.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jul 10th at 7:30p for Horrible Bosses at the AMC Harvard Square 5 . Look for Corinna 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.

Nick (Jason Bateman), Dale (Charlie Day) and Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) are workers who would like nothing better than to grind their oppressive employers into the dirt. Quitting their jobs is not an option, so – fueled by alcohol and dubious advice from a shady ex-convict (Jamie Foxx) – the men devise a complex and seemingly foolproof plan to permanently rid themselves of their terrible bosses. The problem is, any plan is only as clever as the brains behind it.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jul 17th at 7:20p for Project Nim 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.

From the Oscar-winning team behind Man On Wire comes the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child. Following Nim’s extraordinary journey through human society, and the enduring impact he makes on the people he meets along the way, the film is an unflinching and unsentimental biography of an animal we tried to make human. What we learn about his true nature - and indeed our own - is comic, revealing and profoundly unsettling.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jul 24th at 6:50p for Captain America: The First Avenger 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.

“After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America’s ideals.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jul 31st at 7:15p for Cowboys & Aliens 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.

(Note: We had talked last week about seeing Jaws at the Somerville this week. It turns out that Jaws isn’t showing this week, it’s next, so we’ll likely see it next weekend).

The Old West.. where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world. 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It’s a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents-townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors-all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Aug 7th at 4pm for Jaws 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.

How about we break up this streak of mediocre-at-best “Summer Movies” with the original blockbuster:

The peaceful community of Amity island is being terrorised. There is something in the sea that is attacking swimmers. They can no longer enjoy the sea and the sun as they used to, and the spreading fear is affecting the numbers of tourists that are normally attracted to this island. After many attempts the great white shark won’t go away and sheriff Brody, with friends Hooper and Quint decide to go after the shark and kill it.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Aug 14th at 7:15p for The Help 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.

Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter (Stone) is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives – and a Mississippi town – upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen (Davis), Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, is the first to open up – to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter’s life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories – and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly – and unwillingly – caught up in the changing times.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Aug 21st at 7pm for 5 Fingers at the Harvard Film Archive . 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.

Featuring one of James Mason’s standout roles as a dashing and immoral spy, 5 Fingers is a deliciously arch espionage thriller whose sharp satiric edge slices through the wonderful screenplay co-written by blacklisted writer Michael Wilson and Mankiewicz, who surrendered his screenwriting credit in order to direct the film. Mankiewicz is once again enamored by the lush yet fragile opulence of the upper class, peopling his films with fallen aristocrats such as Danielle Darrieux’s vanquished countess with questionable allegiances. Mankiewicz himself directed the stunning Ankara and Istanbul location shoots that strengthen the exotic mood expressed by Bernard Herrmann’s marvelous Orientalist-tinged score. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.

The Sunday Night Film Club (SNFC) will NOT be meeting this Sunday, August 28th.  The National Weather Service is predicting that Hurricane Irene will be hitting the Boston area some time Sunday evening, and I’d rather be overly cautious.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Sep 4th at 7:15p for Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search for a Kool Place 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.

Magic Trip is a freewheeling portrait of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters’ legendary LSD-fuelled cross-country road trip in the psychedelic Magic Bus (named “Further”). In 1964, 29-year-old Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, decided to drive across the country to the New York World’s Fair and film the trip. He was joined by a renegade group of counterculture truth-seekers, including Neal Cassady, the American icon immortalized in Kerouac’s On the Road, who drove the bus, fueled by Speed, talking a mile a minute. Much footage was shot on the eventful (and sometimes hilarious) journey, but the film was never finished and the footage has remained virtually unseen. Directors Alex Gibney (Gonzo: the Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson and the Academy Award-winning Taxi to the Dark Side) and Alison Ellwood were given unprecedented access to this raw footage. Restoring over 100 hours of film and audiotape, they have shaped an invaluable document of this extraordinary piece of American history. Narrated by Stanley Tucci.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Sep 11th at 7:40p for Contagion 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.

When Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns to Minnesota from a Hong Kong business trip, she attributes the malaise she feels to jet lag. However, two days later, Beth is dead, and doctors tell her shocked husband (Matt Damon) that they have no idea what killed her. Soon, many others start to exhibit the same symptoms, and a global pandemic explodes. Doctors try to contain the lethal microbe, but society begins to collapse as a blogger (Jude Law) fans the flames of paranoia. With Kate Winslet.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Sep 18th at 6:35p for The Interrupters 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.

The Interrupters tells the moving and surprising stories of three Violence Interrupters who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed. From acclaimed director Steve James and bestselling author Alex Kotlowitz, this film is an unusually intimate journey into the stubborn, persistence of violence in our cities. Shot over the course of a year out of Kartemquin Films, The Interrupters captures a period in Chicago when it became a national symbol for the violence in our cities. During that period, the city was besieged by high-profile incidents, most notably the brutal beating of Derrion Albert, a Chicago High School student, whose death was caught on videotape. The film’s main subjects work for an innovative organization, CeaseFire, which believes that the spread of violence mimics the spread of infectious diseases, and so the treatment should be similar: go after the most infected, and stop the infection at its source. The singular mission of the “Violence Interrupters” - who have credibility on the streets because of their own personal histories – is to intervene in conflicts before they explode into violence. In The Interrupters, Ameena Matthews, whose father is Jeff Fort, one of the city’s most notorious gang leaders, was herself a drug ring enforcer. But having children and finding solace in her Muslim faith pulled her off the streets and grounded her. In the wake of Derrion Albert’s death, Ameena becomes a close confidante to his mother, and helps her through her grieving. Ameena, who is known among her colleagues for her fearlessness, befriends a feisty teenaged girl who reminds her of herself at that age. The film follows that friendship over the course of many months, as Ameena tries to nudge the troubled girl in the right direction. Cobe Williams, scarred by his father’s murder, was in and out of prison, until he had had enough. His family - particularly a young son - helped him find his footing. Cobe disarms others with his humor and his general good nature. His most challenging moment comes when he has to confront a man so bent on revenge that Cobe has to pat him down to make sure he’s put away his gun. Like Ameena, he gets deeply involved in the lives of those he encounters, including a teenaged boy just out of prison and a young man from his old neighborhood who’s squatting in a foreclosed home. Eddie Bocanegra is haunted by a murder he committed when he was seventeen. His CeaseFire work is a part of his repentance for what he did. Eddie is most deeply disturbed by the aftereffects of the violence on children, and so he spends much of his time working with younger kids in an effort to both keep them off the streets and to get support to those who need it - including a 16-year-old girl whose brother died in her arms. Soulful and empathic, Eddie, who learned to paint in prison, teaches art to children, trying to warn them of the debilitating trauma experienced by those touched by the violence. The Interrupters follows Ameena, Cobe and Eddie as they go about their work, and while doing so reveals their own inspired journeys of hope and redemption. The film attempts to make sense of what CeaseFire’s Tio Hardiman calls, simply, “the madness”.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Sep 25th at 7:20p for Moneyball 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.

Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), general manager of the Oakland A’s, one day has an epiphany: Baseball’s conventional wisdom is all wrong. Faced with a tight budget, Beane must reinvent his team by outsmarting the richer ball clubs. Joining forces with Ivy League graduate Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), Beane prepares to challenge old-school traditions. He recruits bargain-bin players whom the scouts have labeled as flawed, but have game-winning potential. Based on the book by Michael Lewis.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Oct 2nd at 6:40p for 50/50 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.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars in this heartfelt comedy drama about a young man’s struggle with discovering that he has cancer in this Mandate Pictures production. Will Reiser provides the script, based on his own experience, with The Daily Show’s Evan Goldberg and Ben Karlin handling producing duties. Seth Rogen co-stars, along with Bryce Dallas Howard, Anjelica Huston, and Philip Baker Hall.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Oct 9th at 7:45p for The Ides of March 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.

As Ohios Democratic primary nears, charming Gov. Mike Morris (George Clooney) seems a shoo-in to win the nomination over his opponent, Sen. Pullman (Michael Mantell) . Morris idealistic press secretary, Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) believes in his candidates integrity and the democratic process. But, Meyers meeting with Pullmans campaign manager (Paul Giamatti) and a dalliance with a young intern (Evan Rachel Wood) set in motion a chain of events that threaten Morris election chances.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Oct 16th at 6:50p for The Guard 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.

Sergeant Gerry Boyle is a small-town Irish cop with a confrontational personality, a subversive sense of humor, a dying mother, a fondness for prostitutes, and absolutely no interest whatsoever in the international cocaine-smuggling ring that has brought straight-laced FBI agent Wendell Everett to his door.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Oct 23rd at 7:30p for Take Shelter 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.

“Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Oct 30th at 8pm for The Unknown (WITH LIVE SCORE) at the Brattle 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.

Note: This film is a $15 ticket with a live soundtrack, if you are interested in attending you should certainly buy tickets early!

An amazingly macabre film even by Brownings standards, THE UNKNOWN features the great Lon Chaney as Alanzo, an apparently armless circus knife-thrower, and Joan Crawford as his beautiful assistant, and the object of his obsession. Featuring a live score performed by Bostons own CIRKESTRA, a globe-trotting circus music band.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Nov 6th at 6:45p for Revenge of the Electric Car 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.

In 2006, thousands of new electric cars were purposely destroyed by the same car companies that built them. Today, less than 5 years later, the electric car is back… with a vengeance. In Revenge of the Electric Car, director Chris Paine (Who Killed the Electric Car?) takes his film crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM, and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to chronicle the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. Without using a single drop of foreign oil, this new generation of car is America’s future: fast, furious, and cleaner than ever. With almost every major car maker now jumping to produce new electric models, Revenge follows the race to be the first, the best, and to win the hearts and minds of the public around the world. It’s not just the next generation of green cars that’s on the line. It’s the future of the automobile itself. Featuring CEO and President of Renault and Nissan Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk, Former Vice Chairman of GM Bob Lutz and EV do-it-yourselfer Greg “Gadget” Abbott. Narrated by Tim Robbins.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Nov 13th at 7:25p for A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas 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.

“Six years after their Guantanamo Bay adventure, stoner buds Harold Lee and Kumar Patel cause a holiday fracas by inadvertently burning down Harold’s father-in-law’s prize Christmas tree.”

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Nov 20th at 7:30p for Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey 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.

(Note from Sean: This could my favorite film of 2011. Definitely my favorite from IFFBoston 2011.)

Beloved by children of all ages around the world, Elmo is an international icon. Few people, however, know the man behind the Muppet. In this entertaining and inspiring documentary, filmmaker Constance Marks introduces us to that man.

Kevin Clash grew up dreaming of one day working with his idol, master puppeteer Jim Henson. He began building puppets at the age of 10 and performed on Baltimore television as a teenager. Displaying incredible creativity and talent at a young age, Clash eventually attracted the attention of Muppet designer Kermit Love who introduced him to Henson and helped him find a home on Sesame Street.

This moving documentary, rich in rare archival footage and interviews, follows Clash from his early days in Baltimore to his current role voicing and performing one of the most famous puppets in the world, and along the way offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the world of the Muppets.

No movie this Sunday, happy thanksgiving!

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Dec 4th at 7:05p for The Muppets 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 vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, his brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Garys girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Dec 11th at 7pm for Shame 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.

Brandon (Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method and Jane Eyre) is a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. When his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan, Drive and An Education) moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon’s insular life spirals out of control. Winner of 3 awards at the 2011 Venice Film Festival, including Best Actor (Fassbender), Shame is an intense drama from award-winning British director Steve McQueen (Hunger). Co-starring Amy Hargreaves, Hannah Ware, James Badge Dale and Nicole Beharie.

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Dec 18th at 7pm for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 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.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the long-awaited feature film version of John le Carres classic bestselling novel. The thriller is directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In). The screenplay adaptation is by the writing team of Bridget OConnor & Peter Straughan.

See you next year!

Join the Boston Sunday Night Film Club this Sunday, Jan 1st at 7:20p for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) at the Somerville 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.

“A disgraced journalist and a computer hacker unravel a horrific family history when they investigate the case of a woman who disappeared 40 years ago. Daniel Craig stars in this film directed by David Fincher (The Social Network, Seven)”