Film Club
Join the RSC Film Club, all you need to do to join is take part as often as you want.
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Welcome to the RSC Film Club A chance to watch and discuss films, maybe your favourites, maybe something you’ve never heard of before, with all your favourite crew mates. We will be watching one film per month, hopefully giving everyone a chance to watch the film and to have a decent discussion about it before moving on to the next one. How do we choose what to watch? There will be a different theme/genre every month to keep things fresh, which will be announced in this thread. Everyone is free to nominate a film in this thread, all of which will be put in a random draw and chosen by good ol’ trustworthy @Con (it’ll just be luck that his films …
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Monty Python and the Holy Grail [RSC Film Club 55]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 1.6k views
This month's film club selection, thanks to @djw180, is Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the first feature length film from the legendary British comedy troupe made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. Directed by the two Terrys, Jones and Gilliam - both of their directorial debuts - the film is a spoof of Arthurian legend in the Python's own surreal and slapstick style. Chapman stars as King Arthur (I didn't vote for him) who, after assembling his knights of the round table, is given a quest by god, to seek out the Holy Grail. Their journey sees them face off against animated monsters, rude Frenchmen and…
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The Reader [RSC Film Club 53]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 1k views
The first half of our awards season double-bill, nominated by @djw180, is the 2008 drama The Reader, for which Kate Winslet won the Oscar for Best Actress. This is a film I know nothing about, but the synopsis sounds interesting, with Winslet playing a guard at a concentration camp. It co stars the always brilliant Ralph Fiennes as well as Bruno Ganz and Lena Olin. As well as Winslet's win, the film was nominated for Best Film, Director, Adapted Screenplay and Cinematography. it doesn't matter what i feel, it doesn't matter what i think. the dead are still dead
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Leaving Las Vegas [RSC Film Club 54]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 708 views
The second half of our Oscar double-bill is the film that got Nicolas Cage a Best Actor award, Leaving Las Vegas, as nominated by @omarcomin71. Cage plays suicidal, alcoholic screenwriter Ben Sanderson who, when he feels like he has nothing left to live for, resolves to go to Las Vegas and drink himself to death. While there he meets prostitute Sera, plated by Elisabeth Shue and the bond they form may be enough to bring him back from the brink. As well as Cage's win, the film was nominated for Best Director, Actress for Shue, and Adapted Screenplay. i don't know if i started drinking 'cause my wife left me or my wife left me 'cause i st…
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Akira [RSC Film Club 39]
by LimeGreenLegend- 2 followers
- 3 replies
- 1.1k views
The first film of 2022 will be our second animated film, and that is Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, nominated by @djw180. An absolute landmark in the history of animation, Akira is a cyberpunk film about a biker gang getting involved in military experiments exploring the limits of telekinetic power. Incredibly detailed backgrounds of the towering, neon drenched Neo-Tokyo set the standard of what cyberpunk looks like and the soundtrack, a mixture of the traditional and the futuristic, perfectly sets the mood. And then there's the finale, which I'll leave you to experience for yourself. I only watched this recently but I'm glad for an excuse to re-watch it as this w…
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Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles [RSC Film Club 52]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 1 reply
- 978 views
Our first film of 2023 is the winner of the latest once-a-decade Sight and Sound poll to determine the greatest film of all time, Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles by Chantal Akerman. The film stars Delphine Seyrig as the titular Jeanne Dielman, a middle aged widow who lives a quiet, orderly life with her teenage son Sylvain (Jan Decorte), while also entertaining the occasional gentleman caller for some extra money. The film follows her over three days where you can watch her slowly unravel in the most subtle way. This isn't a film that everyone will enjoy, being nearly three and a half hours long and consisting of minutes long stat…
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The Muppet Christmas Carol [RSC Film Club 51]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 788 views
I'm pretty sure that Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is one of, if not the most adapted literary work of all time, and this right here is the best of the bunch. Directed by Brian Henson, son of the legendary Jim Henson, The Muppet Christmas Carol stars Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge with a supporting cast that includes Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy as Bob and Emily Cratchitt, The Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens and Rizzo the Rat as himself. Everyone knows this story, but if you've never seen this version before I think you'll be surprised at how faithful this is to the source material. Michael Caine is genuinely brilliant as Scrooge, playing it straight…
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Steve Jobs [RSC Film Club 44]
by LimeGreenLegend- 2 followers
- 4 replies
- 1.3k views
This month we're delving into the filmography of Oscar winning director Danny Boyle thanks to @Con's nomination. His is an incredibly varied filmography, from gritty drama to Bollywood musical through to sci-fi and feel-good family fare he's pretty much done it all. The film we'll be watching, nominated by @djw180, is a biopic, that of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, also the title of the film. Written by Aaron Sorkin of The West Wing fame, Steve Jobs stars Michael Fassbender in the title role. The film covers the period in his life from 1984 up to the release of the iMac in 1998. It co-stars Kate Winslet as Apple marketing exec Joanna Hoffman, Seth Rogen as A…
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Flash Gordon [RSC Film Club 50]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 874 views
Our fiftieth film for the film club is a cult classic and guilty pleasure, as per @omarcomin71's category nomination. That film is 1980's Flash Gordon, chosen by @djw180. Sam J. Jones plays Flash, football star of the New York Jets who has to defend the Earth from Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow). As well as Sydow there are a number of fantastic actors in supporting roles such as Topol, Timothy Dalton, and the shy and retiring Brian Blessed. I have vague memories of seeing this as a child but I couldn't tell you a thing about it apart from the legendary soundtrack by Queen, so I can't wait to watch this again. gordon's alive
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Rosemary's Baby [RSC Film Club 49]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 820 views
Our Halloween selection this year was nominated by our resident horror expert @Con, and that is Rosemary's Baby from 1968. It stars Mia Farrow as Rosemary Woodhouse, a young pregnant woman moving into a new apartment with her husband Guy, played by director John Cassevetes. But she soon starts to suspect that her elderly neighbours may have a less than innocent interest in her baby. Widely regarded as one of the great American horror films, it won several awards, including a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Ruth Gordan, who plays Rosemary's sinister neighbour Minnie. This is another classic horror film that I haven't seen yet, so I'm looking forward t…
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The Untouchables [RSC 48]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 927 views
We're diving into the world of organised crime this month with @djw180's nomination of Brian De Palma's The Untouchables. Based on a true story, this film stars Kevin Costner as by the book lawman Eliot Ness who is determined to bring down Al Capone (Robert De Niro) and his illegal bootlegging activities. He is helped by his crew of untouchables, so called because they can't be bribed, unlike most of the cops in Chicago. This group is made up of Charles Martin Smith, Andy Garcia, and, in an Oscar winning performance, Sean Connery. Throw in a classic Ennio Morricone score (my favourite of his), and you have one classy flick. It's been a while since I've…
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Old Henry [RSC Film Club 47]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 1.1k views
Our second film for this month's double feature is @omarcomin71's nomination of the recent western, Old Henry. The film stars the always excellent Tim Blake Nelson in a rare leading role. He plays the titular character, a widowed farm owner who must protect it, and his sons, from local outlaws. Not having even heard of this film, let alone seen it, I don't have much to say, so here are some quotes from favourable reviews. From TheWrap, Steve Pond said he wished parts of the film were "more expansive" but overall described it as a "beautiful elegy" with a finale that feels "just right." Writing for The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney described the direc…
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Bad Luck Banging or Loony p*rn [RSC Film Club 46]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 1.3k views
This month the film club was open choice, and the first of the two films selected is Radu Jude's confrontational and explicit Bad Luck Banging or Loony p*rn. This film stars Katia Pascariu as teacher Emi whose s*x tape that she makes with her husband is somehow leaked online. Kids in her class see it and she is quickly summoned before a group of teachers and parents who are to decide if she's fit to be a teacher. Told in three distinct acts, this is the very definition of confrontational cinema, with it opening with the McGuffin of a s*x tape in all of its glory. But the real meat of the film is the meeting to decide Emi's fate, things getting more and…
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Young Frankenstein [RSC Film Club 45]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 779 views
This month we are celebrating the work of the legendary Mel Brooks by watching one of his films, namely Young Frankenstein, as nominated by @djw180. Gene Wilder stars as Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, grandson of the infamous mad scientist who re-animated a corpse. After inheriting his estate, Frederick takes up his grandfather's work and makes a monster of his own (the brilliant Peter Boyle). This is peak Brooks, with the jokes coming thick and fast - the first joke happens before a single word is said, just count how many times the clock tolls over the opening credits - all delivered perfectly by an incredible supporting cast including Marty Feldman, Cloris Le…
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Strictly Ballroom [RSC Film Club 43]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 1.1k views
This month's film club selection, nominated by @djw180, is the Australian rom-com Strictly Ballroom, directed by Baz Luhrmann. This is the first part of an unofficial trilogy, followed by Romeo + Juliet in 1996 and Moulin Rouge in 2001. The film sees talented dancer Scott Paul Mercurio) team up with beginner Fran (Tara Morice) as no one else will dance with him due to his unconventional style which has seen him denounced by the Australian Dancing Federation. I've not seen this before, but having had seen Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge I'm expecting something bold and brash and oozing with style and energy and melodrama. i'm not danci…
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Citizen Kane [RSC Film Club 42]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 3 replies
- 1k views
The second half of our Oscar special, a winning Best Screenplay film, is the legendary Citizen Kane, arguably the greatest film ever made, easily the most influential. When elderly, reclusive billionaire media mogul Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) dies in his palatial estate, dogged reporter Jerry Thompson (William Alland) sets out to discover the meaning behind his enigmatic last word, "Rosebud". He interviews people who knew him and we get to see Kane's entire life from childhood through to his lonely death. This is Orson Welle's debut film, and as well as starring in the lead role he also directed, produced and co-wrote the screenplay with Herma…
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Fargo [RSC Film Club 41]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 858 views
To celebrate this years Oscars, and Will Smith's mental breakdown, we're rounding out the 'big five' by watching films that won the award for Best Actress and Best Screenplay. @omarcomin71will be pleased with the results of the Best Actress pick, Frances McDormand's winning performance as Marge Gunderson in the Coen Brother's Fargo, something he's been nominating for months 😉 A pitch-black crime comedy, McDormand plays the sweet natured yet ruthlessly efficient cop investigating a kidnapping case for car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) and a series of murders committed by the psychopathic Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stomare) and his quick talking partne…
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The Long Kiss Goodnight [RSC Film Club 40]
by LimeGreenLegend- 2 followers
- 5 replies
- 985 views
This month we are celebrating the long career and extensive filmography of Samuel L. Jackson, the highest grossing actor of all time whose films have made a worldwide total of over 20 billion dollars. Billion. The film we'll be watching is the 1996 spy film The Long Kiss Goodnight. The film stars Geena Davis (whatever happened to her?) as amnesiac teacher Samantha who may have been a spy before she lost her memory. With the help of our man Jackson as private detective Mitch Henessey she attempts to put together the pieces of her past. Directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger) and written by Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, The Last Action Hero, The Nice…
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Barton Fink [RSC Film Club 37]
by LimeGreenLegend- 2 followers
- 3 replies
- 1.1k views
This month's film club selection comes from the filmography of Ethan and Joel Coen, as nominated by @djw180. The winning film is their lesser known 1991 thriller/comedy/noir film Barton Fink, selected by @Con. Set in the early 40s, Barton Fink stars John Turturro as the titular character, a hot new playwright who goes to Hollywood to start working on movies. However, upon arriving he finds that he is being told what to write, and has to stay at the rundown Hotel Earle, which may in fact be hell. This film has a great, and terrifying, supporting turn from John Goodman as Charlie Meadows, his hotel neighbour, and smaller but memorable roles for the likes of St…
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Die Hard [RSC Film Club 38]
by LimeGreenLegend- 3 followers
- 4 replies
- 1.2k views
It's taken three years, but we're finally celebrating Christmas at the Film Club with Die Hard thanks to @TheFox2000unit's nomination. Directed by John McTiernan (Predator, The Hunt for Red October, The Last Action Hero), Die Hard is a holiday classic about family, friendship and a terrorist takeover of a Los Angeles skyscraper. Bruce Willis stars as blue-collar New York cop John McClane, in town to visit his estranged wife and kids at Christmas. But soon after he goes to meet her at Nakatomi Plaza, the skyscraper in which she works, it is taken over by a group of terrorists led by Hans Gruber, played by Alan Rickman in a fantastically hammy scene-stealing …
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La Strada [RSC Film Club 34]
by LimeGreenLegend- 2 followers
- 6 replies
- 1.1k views
This month we are going international as the film club watches a movie in a language that we've not yet covered, as suggested by @djw180. So no films in English, French, Norwegian, Korean or Japanese could be nominated. The winning film, nominated by me, is Federico Fellini's neorealist drama, La Strada (The Road). It stars Giulietta Masina as Gelsomina, a naive and simple young woman whose mother sells her to a travelling circus to be the wife and assistant of the brutish strongman, Zampanò (Anthony Quinn). She soon falls in love with the circus's clown, Il Matteo (Richard Baseheart) and considers leaving her jeasous and violent husband for him. I…
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Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror [RSC Film Club 35]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 4 replies
- 1.1k views
It's spooky season and that can only mean one thing here at the film club, time for horror. Just like last year we are having a double bill with a classic and a modern horror film. For our classic selection we have F.W Murnau's legendary German expressionist vampire film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. Starring Max Schreck as Count Orlok the film is an unauthorised retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula, the names all changed to avoid lawsuits, but other than that it is a pretty faithful version of the story. It was so faithful that the estate of Bram Stoker sued the production company and won, putting the company out of business and having a judge rule that al…
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The Shining [RSC Film Club 36]
by LimeGreenLegend- 1 follower
- 2 replies
- 988 views
The modern half of our horror double bill was nominated by @PretendWereDeadand is Stanley Kubrick's haunted house masterpiece, The Shining. The film stars Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall as Jack and Wendy Torrance, a couple charged with looking after the isolated Overlook hotel during the winter months. Along with their young son Danny (Danny Lloyd) the soon discover that they may not be alone. I don't think I have to say much more about this film here, it's so legendary that even the carpet is iconic. It is interesting to note that Stephen King, author of the book on which this is based, hated this film so much that he made his own TV miniseries ver…
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American Graffiti [RSC Film Club 33]
by LimeGreenLegend- 2 followers
- 6 replies
- 1.1k views
The genre for August's Film Club selection, as nominated by @Conwas school/college films. The winning entry, nominated by both @djw180and @Squirrelis George Lucas's ode to his teenage years, American Graffiti. Set over the last night of summer vacation, the film follows a group of teenagers as they hang out for the last time, cruising in their hot rods, trying to pick up girls and looking to the future. It stars Ron Howard (Happy Days) before he became an Oscar winning director and Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws), with an expansive supporting cast that includes Harrison Ford (you know who he is). Not only did the film fuel the wave of 50s/60s rock 'n' roll nostalgia…
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A Bronx Tale [RSC Film Club 32]
by LimeGreenLegend- 3 followers
- 8 replies
- 1.6k views
This month's category, chosen by @djw180 was play adaptations with the winning film being @omarcomin71's selection of A Bronx Tale. The directorial debut of Robert De Niro, A Bronx Tale is based on the 1989 autobiographical play of the same name, which was a one man show by Chazz Palminteri, who also adapted the play for the screen. The film is a coming of age story where the young Calogero (Francis Capra/Lillo Brancato, Jr. as child and teen Calogero respectively) is torn between his father Lorenzo (De Niro) and local gangster Sonny (Palminteri). This is another film club choice that I haven't seen yet so there's not much more I can say. I'm really …
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253Rate the Last Film you Watched 2: Electric Boogaloo
Emily (2022) dir Frances O'Connor Emma Mackey stars as the Victorian, Yorkshire, author Emily Bronte in a partly fictional story of her short adult life. She only wrote one novel, Wuthering Heights, before she died aged 30 from something like tuberculosis. Her sisters Charlotte (Alexandra Dowling) and Anne (Amelia Gething) were also published novelists. They live with their father (Adrian Dunbar), who was the village priest, brother Branwell (Fion Whitehead), and Aunt (Gemma Jones), their mother having died some years earlier. This story portrays Emily as being a trailblazer, a woman author in a very male dominated world, who led the way for her sisters to follow (which is not quite the order things actually happened in). But that is fine, it does not claim to be history. It's historical fiction. Mackey is very good in the lead role. The only other thing I have seen her in is Netflix's s*x Education and I wouldn't have pictured her as Emily Bronte based on that, but she is perfect in this. She really does a great job of portraying a very intelligent but troubled woman, who refuses to confirm to what society expects her to be, writing a novel that was controversial, depicting domestic abuse and challenging the traditional ideas of Victorian morals. She is portrayed as very uncomfortable around strangers, preferring her own company and escaping into a fantasy world. She has an affair with the church curate, William Weightman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). Those aspects of the plot are also fictional, as far as I am aware. William actually married her sister Anne. But who is to say what else might have happened before that? It's a very good story, quite bleak at times, just like Wuthering Heights, and there are some similarities between the Emily-William relationship and that of Kathy-Heathcliffe in the novel, though without the violence. 8 / 10 Before I Go To Sleep (2014) dir Rowan Joffe A somewhat lacklustre psychological thriller with a very good, and I would say wasted cast. It stars Nicole Kidman as Christine, and 40 yr old English woman who wakes every day with no recollection of what happened the day before nor anything from the last 14 years or so. This is due to a traumatic event coupled with a serious head injury that happened 10 years earlier. Colin Firth plays her husband, Ben, who every morning has to explain this to her, helped by various sticky notes and photos left around their house. Mark Strong plays the neurologist treating her and Anne-Marie Duff here best friend. The neurologist is trying a new treatment, that over the course of the couple of weeks the film spans seems to make an improvement and Christine starts to remember things from her past as well as holding on to some recent memories. What she starts to remember does not exactly match she is being told by Ben. He is able to explain why; that some memories have come back before and caused more trauma and stress, and that he too finds this all very difficult, naturally, so for his own sanity he has to be economical with the truth sometimes. But then as the story unfolds there are clear contradictions between what the various others characters are telling or not telling Christine, especially with respect to the incident that triggered all this; why did it happen? was it an accident or was she attacked? This is all exactly what you expect from a thriller film of course. It's not that original a premise, think of Memento for example. That does not matter, if its done well, but this just seems not that good a script. Some of the lines sound a bit banal and I was left wondering why it had such high-profile cast members. In fact at the end there is a scene with unknown (to me) actor, and he actually seems better than all the rest of them, because it just has the feel of a low budget film that you would expect a cast of unknowns to be in. And if it had been that I would probably have liked it more. When the inevitable big twist came, it was something I had seen coming from early on. The music is fairly lame too and felt like the sort of thing you would get in a made-for-daytime-TV movie. There's nothing really wrong with it, just nothing noteworthy for me. 5 / 10- 1
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