Rudo Y Cursi

Hailed as "energetic and fun" by it's fans, Rudo Y Cursi (spanish for Rudo AND Cursi) follows the lives of two brothers from the slums of a Mexican "banana town" as they escape the gritty reality of poverty for the....uh....gritty reality of fame.

Our club had a pretty nice attendance, although the movie did not receive that great a reception from us. I personally liked it. I thought the film was successful in that we saw how different the two characters are, yet how alike they are, and how bonded they are as family despite their tension. The characters were also presented with a considerable amount of pathos. I felt for them, even though they are not exactly heroic characters. they are both extremely flawed, yet despite it, maybe even because of it, I liked them.

Thoughts? Comments? Fried Chicken Recipes?

Sin Nombre

Users on metacritic give it a 10 out of 10. The Washington Post gave it a perfect score: 100. "Sin Nombre" is pure filmmaking: a great story told in beautiful images.-- Dan Zak, Washington Post (April 3, 2009)

We're a young club, but we've already seen some very interesting films: The Class (French-documentary style), The Color of Money (old school Paul Newman), and Sin Nombre (Spanish by a first-time director).

My question to all of you is: what do you think the theme of the film was?

Take time to vote on our next film at Bethesda Row May 19th.

Thanks to everyone who came out last night.

Harper VS. The Color of Money

HARPER @ AFI. Tuesday March 31st @ 9:15 PM.
Hardboiled private detective Paul Newman is hired by smoky millionaire Lauren Bacall to find out what's happened to her uniformly despised missing husband. There is no short supply of suspects and double-crossers in this all-star cast: sexpot daughter Pamela Tiffin and her freeloading boyfriend Robert Wagner, drug-addicted musician Julie Harris, aging actress Shelley Winters and her unstable husband Robert Webber. Janet Leigh also has a turn as Newman's long-suffering wife.

THE COLOR OF MONEY @ AFI. Tuesday April 7th @ 6:30 PM.
Newman won the Best Actor Oscar for this Martin Scorsese-directed reprisal of pool shark "Fast Eddie" Felson, the character he vividly portrayed in THE HUSTLER. Twenty-five years later, Eddie is a Cadillac-driving, smooth-talking liquor salesman who hasn't touched a pool cue in decades until he sets eyes on up-and-comer Tom Cruise. Sensing his opportunity to break back into the big time, Eddie takes him and his ambitious girlfriend Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio under his tutelage for a shot at a big money tournament.

The Class

Hey everybody who came to the inaugural meeting of our film club! It was great meeting everybody, I hope you all had as much fun as we did. We had a pretty good turn out, considering the weather, and I think we all got on pretty well. So what did everyone think of the movie? I had some thoughts:

First off, I found this to be a fresh change of pace to what I'm used to seeing in movies. For one, as many of us mentioned after the film, there was no soundtrack. But there were many other aspects to the film that I thought merited attention. I liked the fact that there was a moral ambiguity pervading the film, which seemed to come to a header at the climax, when Souleymane lashes out at the class and the teacher. Here's some food for thought, you can comment on it if you like or you can mention whatever you like about the movie: How was the fight instigated at the climax of the movie? Who was at fault? Did Mr. Marin win or lose the argument in the playground?
---Tim S.

We like metacritic...

...better than Rotten Tomatoes because it seems to agree with us more ;)

Seriously, metacritic gives movies an average score based on all the reviews it can find.

We like it because it gives a numerical score and has a separate section for "limited release" films; we like those.

Here's the review of The Class; one reason why we chose it as our first Club film: http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/class

See you Tuesday.

Soundtrack's First Film

We (Tim and Lauren) started Soundtrack in search of film (named after one of our favorite mix CDs) because it seemed like the next logical step.

We'd been going to independent films for a year, meeting up for a beer beforehand to chat about other films we'd seen or to chat about our expectations for that night's film.

It had become such a regular thing, we thought "why not start a film club?" So we did and here we are.

The first members of Soundtrack in search of film will convene Tuesday, March 3rd at the Barking Dog in Bethesda. We'll get to know each other a bit before seeing the Club's first film at Landmark Bethesda Row: The Class.

If you're interested in joining, email us at soundtrackinsearchoffilm@gmail.com We hope you'll follow the blog, comment about the films we see, and share in our passion for good, (mostly) independent film.