Film Series: Work (and Family)

All films start at 7:30 PM and will be followed by an informal discussion
Friday, March 6: Diamond Men (2000)
Starring Robert Forster
The best movie you’ve never seen stars the best actor you’ve never heard of, Robert Forster. Eddie (Robert Forster) has worked for over 30 years as a travelling jewelry salesman, but after he’s stricken with a heart attack, he discovers he’s no longer eligible for insurance. Given the fact that he routinely travels with a stash of goods worth up to a million dollars, this development means that he’s going to have to give up working on the road. Bobby (Donnie Wahlberg) is the young salesman who is first in line to take over Eddie’s route. Though Eddie doesn’t think much of reckless Bobby, he takes him on the road to show him the ropes. It’s the kind of movie that makes you glad you have a DVD!

Friday, March 13: Mafioso (1962, in Italian with English sub-titles)
Starring Alberto Sordi
What do you owe the people who made you what you are today? In this crime comedy … Antonio (Alberto Sordi) is a Sicilian auto plant worker who has almost completely forsaken his southern Italian roots by marrying a fair-haired girl from the north. As the movie opens, Antonio prepares to round up the family and take them on a vacation to his native town of Calamo, Sicily. Before he leaves, however, his boss summons him in and asks him to pass along a little gift to Don Vincenzo, a mob boss in Calamo. The movie was released in 1962 and barely seen in the United States, where distributors didn’t have a clue about how to handle its dark humor — before disappearing for 45 years, until its re-release in 2007.

Friday, March 20: The Big Clock (1948)
Starring Ray Miland, Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester
The ethical dilemma of a reporter assigned to investigate a murder only to find out that ——- his boss is the murderer! Well, it’s not really about the “ethical dilemma” at all, but it sure is fun. This very underrated example of film noir ”…is immensely rewarding for all viewers, but especially for those with an inclination for moody black-and-white cinematography, twisting convoluted plots, and snappy dialogue with a certain edge.”

Friday, March 27: The Lives of Others (2006, in German with English sub-titles)
Starring Ulrich Mühe and Sebastian Koch
This is one of the best and most accurate portrayals about life under Communism in the years before the Iron Curtain fell; it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2006. A man who has devoted his life to ferreting out “dangerous” characters is thrown into a quandary when he investigates a man who poses no threat. And the man’s target, a playwright and director, must himself come to terms with the compromises he has made with the system to achieve success in that most Orwellian state, East Germany.