What's Ahead...

Beginning this January 2012, my meetup is gonna go through some major changes we will continue our series with a selection of films from renouned distributors like: The Criterion Collection and Janus Films but that is only the start.  From now on, we will explore lost classics, experimental cinema, underground oddities, feature films that have been long forgotten, until now.

Hey, I'm always interested and fascinated about your suggestions on future screenings, e-mail me with your thoughts at filmfanatic9966@yahoo.com

• The Criterion Collection (pick one -- e-mail me your choice):

1. Lord of the Flies, (1963)

2. Brief Encounter, (1945)

3. L' Avventura, (1960)

4. The Hidden Fortress, (1958)

5. Wild Strawberries, (1957)

• Out of Print:

1. Grand Illusion

2. Forbidden Games

3. Last Holiday

4. Gervaise

5. Mayerling

6. Le Jour Se Leve

• Who We Are:

(UPDATED)

Originally, began On The Cutting Edge for showcasing the harder-to-find documentaries from Werner Herzog's "Wheel of Time" and "White Diamond," (2005) to Errol Morris "Capturing Reality: The Art of Documentary, (2008)". The purpose behind this group is to discuss and reveal some of cinema's lesser known titles (for an example: "Henri Langlois: Phantom of the Cinematheque") never made a wider audience other then a few art house's across the country.

In the group will open an invitation to feature filmmakers, authors, historians, film critics and the movie fanatic give thoughts and critisims about the films that never get any notice from the general mainstream press. Over the years, I've provided a particular small media forum (A Time to Review on BATV) for filmmakers that get under our radar screen.

The meetup itself is based around the subject(s) on the program (including the works of Eric Rohmer, etc.). Hey, if you are a true Documentarian and want to see those 'underground treasures' of yesteryear? So, join us and let's talk movies together.

(IN ADDITION:)

• Meeting Up on Location:

Another new feature to our gathering is movie screenings at the Coolidge Corner Theater, Kendall Square Cinema, and the Brattle Theater, etc. If you see in the local newspaper a top-rated film and want to add it to our schedule, let me know, as soon as possible.

• One Week Only:

During the month of October, the Kendall Square Cinema will be featuring several feature films that will only screen for one week only. Once the October calendar is distributed, I'll send notice to all members with times, dates and movie titles for the next four weeks in advance of upcoming screenings available.

• Film Festivals: 

Attending local Boston film festivals at various locations (at movie theaters...) around town will be added to our calendar of events. 

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• Polls:

(FREEDOM OF CHOICE)

In the past, haven't used this feature very often giving moviegoers the opportunity to choose the films they want to see on the big screen. From now on, this will be essential for picking the current must-see films (by documentarians only...). Hey, you should be able to have the freedom to select what you want to see in the video screening room.

• Small Press:

(OUR READING MATERIAL)

Now in theatrical release, in paperback editions of Before The Hollywood Backlot, On Auto-Pilot, and Coming Soon to a Theater Near You can be found at Nuggets Record Store, Kenmore Square, Boston.

• Facing The Facts:

(MOVIE RECOMMENDATIONS: COMING SOON)

I'm looking forward to watching, debating, contemplating, and remembering those films of yesteryear with you. Folks, we are facing a new year filled with possibilities take for example(s):  (see Rotten Tomatoes for full descriptions and reviews)

(Special Event) Fright Night Theater: October, 2012  

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A Banner Year for Independent Doc Film -- 'Ten Best Named'

(*) Selected Picks)

1. *Cold Weather (2010)

2. You Don't Like the Truth: 4 Days Inside Guantanamo (2011)

3. The Father of my Children (2008)

4. Hideaway (2009)

5. The Four Times (Le Quattro Volte, 2011)

6. *Living In Emergency: Stories of Doctors without Borders (2008)

7. Mugabe and the White African (2010)

8. *My Dog Tulip (2009)

9. Politist, adj. (Police, Adjective, 2009)

10. A Somewhat Gentle Man (2010)  

2011 Film List:

1. *The Art of the Steal (2009)

2. *The Golden Age of Television (2009)

3. Rachel (2010)

4. *Rabbit A La Berlin (2010)

5. Phar Lap: Heart of a Nation (1983)

6. *Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey (1993)

7. Last Train Home (2009)

8. *Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987)

9. The Trials of Darryl Hunt (2007)

10. *My Voyage to Italy (2001)

Archival Footage:

1. Sicilian Girl

2. The Scenester 

3. *Ward No. 6

4. Until The Light Takes Us

5. Winter In Wartime 

6. A Man Within 

7. Public Speaking 

8. The Human Resources Manager 

9. Incendies 

10. Eichmann 

Future Screenings:

• Freedom Riders
• Smash His Camera
• Waiting for Superman

Contact: Lauren Prestileo, WGBH Project Manager

E-mail: lauren_prestileo@wgbh.org  

The Kennedy Administration:

(The following information was obtained at the American Experience online)

Despite two earlier Supreme Court decisions that mandated the desegregation of interstate travel facilities, black Americans in 1961 continued to endure hostility and racism while traveling through the South. The newly inaugurated Kennedy administration, embroiled in the Cold War and worried about the nuclear threat, did little to address domestic Civil Rights.

“It became clear that the Civil Rights leaders had to do something desperate, something dramatic to get Kennedy’s attention. That was the idea behind the Freedom Rides—to dare the federal government to do what it was supposed to do, and see if their constitutional rights would be protected by the Kennedy administration,” explains Raymond Arsenault, author of Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice, on which the film is partially based.

Organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the self-proclaimed “Freedom Riders” came from all strata of American society—black and white, young and old, male and female, Northern and Southern. They embarked on the Rides knowing the danger but firmly committed to the ideals of non-violent protest, aware that their actions could provoke a savage response but willing to put their lives on the line for the cause of justice.