February 9, 2010

6:30 p.m.

The English Patient

Anthony Minghella directed this adaptation of Michael Ondaatje's novel about a tragic romance set against the backdrop of World War II.  When Allied nurse Hana (Juliette Binoche) devotes herself to caring for a horribly burned patient (Ralph Fiennes) in an abandoned monastery, the story of his love affair with a colleague's wife (Kristin Scott Thomas) begins to unfold in a series of flashbacks. Hana, meanwhile, faces her own demons and explores her attraction to a Sikh bomb expert (Naveen Andrews). Tensions escalate at the monastery following the appearance of Caravaggio (Willem Dafoe), a thumbless thief who knows the identity of the mysterious patient. This award winning epic is beautifully filmed with awe-inspiring scenery that includes sweeping desert vistas, crowded village markets, and serene Tuscany roads. The film won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actress. (162 min.)

March 9, 2010

6:30 p.m.

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

Dr. Strangelove is loosely based on Peter George's Cold War novel Red Alert (aka Two Hours to Doom). Stanley Kubrick's cold-war classic is a perfect spoof of political and military insanity, beginning when General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) mounts his singular campaign against Communism by ordering a squadron of B-52 bombers to attack the Soviet Union. The Soviets counter the threat with a "Doomsday Device," and the world hangs in the balance while the U.S. president (Peter Sellers) engages in hilarious hot-line negotiations with his Soviet counterpart. Sellers also plays a British military attaché and the mad bomb-maker Dr. Strangelove. George C. Scott is outrageously frantic as General Buck Turgidson. In addition to 4 BAFTA Awards, the film won the best written American comedy award from the Writers Guild of America, and a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation. (94 min.)

April 13, 2010

6:30 p.m.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Ray Bradbury adapted his 1962 novel for Something Wicked This Way Comes, Director Jack Clayton's horror fantasy about a mysterious carnival that comes to a small, Norman Rockwell-esque Midwestern town. Jonathan Pryce plays the handsome but demonic proprietor of Dark's Pandemonium Carnival, who preys upon the vanities, the delusions, and the regrets of the townspeople by granting their wishes at the expense of their souls.  Jason Robards, as the meek librarian Charles Halloway, becomes his unlikely nemesis when his son Will, with his best friend Jim Nightshade, discovers the secret of Dark's nightmarish carnival.  It won the 1984 Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film and was nominated for five others including best music for James Horner and best supporting actor for Jonathan Pryce. The film was also nominated for Best Picture at the Hugo Awards. (95 min.)