The Lunchbox

The Lunchbox (2013) Directed by Ritesh Batra

I loved this film. It got me heart and soul…wonderful protagonists, lots of thoughtful, considered dialogue filled, lots of emotion without being sickly sentimental, and delicious food. What’s not to love? This one was nominated by CJ because he liked the trailer and the storyline of letters being passed back and forth between the two protagonists. (Hmm, not unlike a certain Club Moofie romance, methinks!)

Overall it got a positive response, so much so that the slightly ambiguous ending provoked outrage in some who felt that the protagonists must meet! Initially, I felt the same, but later thought that it was a good way to leave it…and I still believe they met anyway. All agreed that the lunch delivery service was fascinating.

Quotes:

CJ: Not Hollywood, that’s what I liked about it. It was a nice film, but not ‘nice’ in an awful Hollywood way.

CJ: The ending disappointed me. I wanted a bit more certainty that they really would meet.

CJ: It wasn’t the kind of movie that it had to have that uncertainty. Not like Inception or the Sopranos.

Renny: The ending was enough me. No one’s telling me they’re not going to meet so I was happy with that.

 

Paul, on the ending: It became quite heated between us (Jodi and him). I had the ending explained beforehand, that it wasn’t clear, so I was expecting a vague ending. It was actually less open then I expected, so I was happy.

Jodi: I felt like CJ. I wanted to get to the end and have them meet.

Jodi: I enjoyed the film – but I felt like CJ about it. I was reassured though they would be able to meet later because he knew where she was going.

 

Sylvia: I just assumed they were going to meet…

CJ: So the ending got you too?

Sylvia: Yes!

 

Han: I liked the interaction with the apprentice.

Unknown: I was over-thinking the apprentice’s role: whether or not he was lying to get where he needed to go.

Paul: The letters were good, some philosophical.

Paul/Sylvia?: After watching it I thought ‘I have to have a curry soon’.

 

Note: for some reason, no comments were recorded from Wendy and Ray – please feel free to contribute!

 

Sylvia              5

Andy               abstain

Wendy            4

Paul                4

Jodi                 4

CJ                   4.25

Renny             5

Beck                abstain

Ray                  3.5

Hanna             4

 

 

August 2019 Rams

Thank you Beck for hosting that night! A lovely Mexican dinner as well as chocolate & raspberry brownies. Sylvia also contributed to the culinary delights with a great passionfruit slice.

This August 2019 session was a one moofie night – Rams.

Rams (2015)

What a strange but remarkable film. It is so refreshingly opposite to anything that Hollywood would produce. I loved the long silences, the quirkiness. The amazing Icelandic landscape is a feature too, but the film remains about the people who live on the land. There is no slick veneer. These are just humans … and the sheep, who they love and care for. It is never banal and uninteresting. It’s reaffirming to see people on the other side of the world also have issues and faults, complex relationships. I love it when a film you never expected pops up out of nowhere and takes you so skillfully to another place.

Scores:

• Ray: 2.5
• Wendy 3.5
• Paul 3.5
• Jodi 3.0
• Sylvia 4.5
• Andy 3
• Beck TBA
• Renny: 4
• Hanna: 3
• CJ 4

Quotes:
Sylvia to Beck: Why did you nominate it?
Beck: Because I really liked the poster.

Beck: Iceland has a small budget and they can’t make big blockbuster films so they do ones on day-to-day life… about sheep

Beck relieved that it was not a bad choice: So it wasn’t a disaster then?
Group: No!

Beck: It was incredibly slow but I did enjoy the bits I was awake for.
I saw him washing the sheep in the bath. I saw about 70% of it.

Sylvia: I did find it slow. I was mesmerised.
I found it quite devastating at the end. They (the brothers) finally have a connection. They go up the mountain, to me that indicated they still loved each other. Did he die?
Paul: Wiki said he did
Sylvia: But it’s uncertain
Ray: What happened to the sheep?…
Beck: What happened to the dog?

Andy: I thought it was a story that would build to violence
Paul: I thought that too.

Sylvia: It was filmed with a filter that they use in westerns – to give that sort of feel.

Sylvia on the nudity: There’s a lot of ‘shrinkage’ involved

CJ on the ending: It’s so not Hollywood. I liked that.

Paul on the ending: I should have known. I rolled my eyes.

Andy on the ending: CJ’s gonna hate it…
CJ: it’s a bit abrupt!.. Could the sheep make it? The dog could have taken them the rest of the way? The ending forced you to only see the reconciliation of the brothers, but what about the rest of the stories? The rest was important to me.

Wendy: It was voted the second most popular Icelandic film of all time.

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Thats it for now.
The next moofie club will be on October 2019 and we are reviewing Three Billboards outside of Ebbing, Missouri and Touch of Evil. for now, all the best!
CJ

June 2019 Dirty Rotten Zuchinni

Hello moofies. I believe this one was hosted by Renny and myself up here in Winterfell. I believe it was enjoyable for all who attended – well, I hope it was. We made lamb shanks, with cauliflower mash and beans for dinner, followed by an orange syrup polenta cake. We then had a nice night chatting away.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988)

This one is just fun and easy to swallow down. Even if it doesn’t stand out in your personal favourites list as exceptional for one thing or another, for most people I think it would be a reasonably satisfactory one to settle on for the night if you’re flicking though channels.

For me, while Steve Martin is the known comedian, it is Michael Caine who really makes this film shine. Apparently this movie was originally meant to be a vehicle to put Mick Jagger and David Bowie together after their successful “Dancing in the street” video, but somewhere along they both dropped out and Steve Martin and Michael Caine were brought in in their place. I think that was the right decision. An extra piece of trivia: this is Frank Oz’s first movie that does not feature any muppets, although you’re getting close with Ruprecht.

Anyway, I enjoyed watching it again. It seems it was moderately liked by many in Moofie club … with a few exceptions.

Scores:

• Ray: 4
• Sylvia 3.5
• CJ: 3.5
• Renny: 2.5
• Andy: 2
• Wendy: 3
• Beck: 2

Quotes:
Paul: I remember watching it when I was younger. It was just funny
Jodi: Easy watching

Ray: It’s got all the ingredients of the type of movie that I like

Wendy: I think I had seen all the key scenes before seeing the film. Ray would re-enact the scenes for me

Sylvia: Something I didn’t recall from previous viewings, Steve Martin’s choice of swim wear. Hes a hairy guy. He was decisively unattractive in this

Beck: It had dated a bit. I find the Ruprecht schenes very funny. I almost think of it as a precursor to those Dumb and Dumber films. It didn’t resonate as much as the first time.

Beck: I like the bit when the plane flies away and Michael Caine says “Well done”
Ray: He just appreciated the “art of the con”

Renny (on the Ruprecht character): It seems a bit too much. It’s funny, but I shouldn’t be laughing at this.

Andy: It’s fluff, but good fluff, top shelf fluff

Andy on Steve Martin: I hated him. Hideous loudmouth

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My Life as a Zuchinni (2016)

Aka My Life as a Courgette (Ma vie de Courgette), this is a stop motion comedy drama. It has a sobering and dark story masquerading as a colourful stop motion animated film with sort-of cute characters (cute isn’t the word… they’re not cute). It’s become a ‘thing’, films NOT for kids.
Zuchinni was highly praised by some in Moofie club, while for others it could only gain a lukewarm response. While I can certainly appreciate the ideas explored and the techniques displayed, at the end of the day I did not feel the level of satisfaction necessary to be worthy of the time I gave to watch it (It was only 1 hour and 6 mins long but I don’t mean it like that!!). Look, I didn’t hate it, I just didn’t really love it.

Scores

• Sylvia 5
• Paul abstain
• Beck 5
• Renny 3
• Andy 4.5
• Jodi abstain
• CJ 3.5
• Ray 2.5
• Wendy 3.5

Quotes
Renny to Sylvia: how did you find out about the film?
Sylvia: from the book that I gave to Andy

Beck on the film: loved it loved it loved it!

Andy: did he kill his mum?
Ray: He didn’t have a lot of guilt either

Sylvia (on killing his mum): I had no idea he did that

CJ: you’re really asking for trouble doing a stop motion film
Renny: You’re creating a lot of work for yourself

Sylvia: you really see the ark of the characters developing
It was very adult. It didn’t skirt around the issues
Sylvia: I liked the animation
Sylvia: I particularly loved the policeman

Ray: very dark themes

Andy on the party: That party was so ‘Disco’!
Andy recapping the kids ideas of sex: His willy explodes! And she agrees with everything he says, ‘yes yes!’

Renny on CJ having to stand up while watching to stay awake: He had to stand otherwise he’d fall asleep!
Sylvia: that’s dedication

Renny on the policeman adopting both kids: do you think the ending was appropriate?
Sylvia: yeah I loved it

Sylvia: did you like the film?
Ray: Not really. Bit depressing. Too dark for me. Who was this film aimed at? Too dark for kids, and not interesting enough for adults

Beck on the bully and it’s appropriateness for kids: I’d show ‘Zuchinni’ to my kids. Just because he’s behaving that way (the bully), you don’t know what’s going on in their lives. It would help understanding through the eyes of others

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The next club moofie in the timeline would be hosted by Beck on 31st August 2019. It was a one film night, Rams.
Thats all for now. All the best,
CJ

Moscar goes to Wairarapa

It was February 2019 and the Gold Moscar went on another adventure to Wellington (second time there),

and also to the Wairarapa to see the airshow

The Gold Moscar and a Catalina

Now why do we need to see this, you ask? Well why not?….

October 2019: Three Billboards and A Touch of Evil

October 2019: Three Billboards and A Touch of Evil

Thanks to Sylvia and Andy for hosting and providing a memorable feast – wow, what a selection of savouries and dessert!

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

This is easily one of the best films I’ve seen in ages. This is the story of Mildred, whose daughter is raped and murdered and with no progress in the police investigation, she puts up three billboards to stir the local police into action. Francis McDormand plays the foul mouthed gutsy female heroine who gets the best lines in the film. Sam Rockwell also won an Academy for playing a bigoted lazy small town policeman who learns to ‘let go of his rage’. Woody Harrelson plays the beloved police chief whose letters from the grave tell the future. With the themes of redemption and compassion, there are so many memorable characters, lines, scenes, plus plenty of hilarious moments (I missed the turtle on the lap totally) and touching moments.

 

Quotes

Beck: [getting excited] AND I didn’t fall asleep at any point.

Ray to Beck: I haven’t seen you this engaged in a film. You have to start watching movies during the day.

 

CJ: There’s tension between the characters. What I liked about it was they conflicted and clashed but they also cared for each other. No-one’s really a bad guy.

 

CJ: [On James’ speech to Mildred on their dinner date] His experience is for all dwarves in the world. Scenes like these add flavour to the film.

 

Renny: [on the ending] I wanted it to go for another hour. I wanted more.

 

Scores

Ray: 4.5

Beck: 5

CJ: 4.5

Renny: 4

Wendy: 5

Sylvia: abstain

Andy: abstain

 

Touch of Evil

Made late in Orsen Welles’ career, it seems he was scaping money to get this film made. That’s evident in the movie making which Club Moofie considered to be ‘scrappy’. The script was poor, the story inconsistent, editing jarring but stylistic, filmed with unusual angles and filled with memorable weird characters. Lots of big name stars and set in the 50s drug scene, it was definitely creepy to watch. Orsen plays a grotesque corrupt cop who is good at finding the right man, but it seems he also plants evidence to get this man. As a director, he’s not afraid to point the camera right up his bloated face.

 

Quotes

Andy: It’s a rough movie, rough and ready, grotesque, weird.

 

CJ: [on Orsen Welles] He had a padded suit to look bigger.

 

Sylvia: It was not the best of nights to see this film. I hated it. The mumbling, the eyeliner, makeup, I was irritated by it, it was very indulgent.

Beck: Did you like anything in the film? … Did you like the beautiful old cars?

Sylvia: Well, they blew them up.

 

Ray: [on the Dennis Weaver character] That was the weirdest character. I couldn’t believe it was Dennis Weaver.

CJ: He was bonkers.

 

Andy: I loved the grotesqueness, the bad toupees, the eyeliner, the pencil moustache. It was like watching a grotesque play. You felt dirty, like you needed a shower after.

 

Beck: [on Charlton Heston] He was heavy on the makeup. Apparently he was Mexican.

Sylvia: Apparently Marlene Dietrich was Mexican.

 

Beck: They were walking from Texas to Mexico, then Mexico to Texas, are we in Texas or Mexico?…

Ray: Trump would be horrified.

 

Beck: [on Orsen Welles character using stockings to strangle Toupee Man] Whenever you see someone put on black stocking on their hands, you know it’s not comedy.

 

CJ: The story stretched credibility sometimes. It was hard to watch.

 

CJ: I think Charlton Heston really annoyed me. He’s not Mexican!

Ray: But he had shoe polish on!

 

Scores

Andy: 3.5

CJ: 2.5

Sylvia: minus 1

Renny: 2

Beck: 1

Ray: 3

Wendy: 3

 

March 2019: Eye in the Sky and I, Daniel Blake

Eye in the Sky

We learned a lot about drone warfare from watching this film, from calculating the blast zone to the feasibility of beetle mosquito “micro-drones”. It’s not just the military involved in drone warfare – we see government, agencies, committees and lawyers in terse debate. And it seems the more people that are involved, the more it can paralyse decision making.

 

Quotes

Ray: Which one should we discuss first? The tragic one or the depressing one?

 

Renny: I enjoyed the different perspectives of it. I didn’t understand drone warfare.

 

Renny: Is this the future of how we’re going to fight?

 

Ray: I didn’t enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the shorts.

 

Jodi: It was fascinating that you go home at the end of the say and go to your grand daughter’s birthday party.

 

Jodi: I struggled with the delay over one girl.

 

Paul: My problem was with the believability. I didn’t buy that the drone operators would cry.

 

Paul: I do like military style movies. I was excited to see it. I haven’t seen a movie for 3 years.

Beck: ….and you’re not going for another 3 years.

 

Jodi: It was good to see the politics.

 

Paul: I loved watching Alan Rickman but his reactions were comedic.

 

Paul: There was a drone movie to be made but the nit-picky bits got me down. It was unrealistic. It was missing on a few things for me.

 

Paul: [on the unbelievability of the movie] If that bug flew in here, I’d know.

Ray: You never know, those Kenyan bugs might be massive.

 

Beck: I didn’t mind it. I did like it. The political debate, the tension.

 

Beck: [on the girl selling bread]: I thought she was a goner.

 

CJ: [on the unbelievability] That didn’t strike me but now that you say it. I just watched it straight.

 

Scores

Jodi: 2.5

Paul: 2

Ray: 3

CJ: 3.5

Renny: 3.5

Beck: 3

Wendy: 3.5

Sylvia / Andy: abstain

 

I, Daniel Blake

Set in Newcastle, and directed by Ken Loach, this film illustrates the bureaucracy in the welfare system in its cringeworthy glory. We all related to it and could tell of recent similarly frustrating experience of waiting on call or using websites that don’t work or crash and could only imagine what it would like if your circumstances were dire, like for Daniel, a decent working class man who is out of work and Katie, a single mother. It’s the terrible system come about from a lot of cost cutting where even the social workers, even if they wanted to help, can’t. Grim, gritty, not exactly what I’d call an enjoyable experience to sit through.

 

Quotes

Ray: God, it was depressing.

 

Ray: I’m sure there are beautiful spots in Newcastle but they made sure they didn’t show it.

 

Ray: [on the depressing theme of the film]: I’m so glad I nominated a comedy.

Beck: We’ll judge if it a comedy

 

Renny: 3

CJ: 3.5

Jodi: 3

Wendy: 2

Ray: 2

Beck: 4

Paul: abstain

Sylvia / Andy: abstain

Jan 2019: Green Book and Running on Empty

Green Book

The Moscars evening was hosted by Beck who provided a delicious feast for us and it was made memorable by performances by Flossie and Billy.

Green Book, the winner of the Oscar for best movie for 2019, was the movie for discussion. Viggo Mortensen was nominated for Best Actor and Mahershala Ali won Best Supporting Actor award. I have to say, it’s challenging writing a review for a film I didn’t get to see but from what I gathered, it is set in 1962, the title refers to a tour guide for African Americans to stay at places in the Deep South and the hotels get worse and worse as they travel south. Based on the memoirs of Don Shirley, a child prodigy and pianist. ‘A man too black to be white and too white to be black’.

Quotes

Andy: (on Viggo Mortensen’s nomination for Best Actor] He went to the Christian Bale school of bulking up. He ate buckets of chicken.

Beck: He just folds up pizzas and eats it

 

Beck: It was a nice feel good story

 

Andy: [on the banter between the leads] It was an odd couple story. They remained friends until their 70s.

 

Andy: I really enjoyed it. It was actually fantastic.

 

Beck: It was very sweet which belied all the horror. It made it palatable.

 

Scores:

Sylvia: 4

Andy: 3

Beck: 4

Wendy / Ray / CJ / Renny / Paul / Jodi: abstain

 

Running on Empty

What a gem of a film this is. I watched it without knowing didn’t anything about the film but it was beautifully scripted and acted, especially River Phoenix as a sensitive and talented musician-to-be growing up in an unusual but loving family environment. A poignant coming of age film. Devine music score. What an ending. How did I never hear of this gem until now?

Quotes

Ray: The premise was a bit weak but good acting all around, River Phoenix. Generally, good but a bit dated.

 

Beck: [on it being dated], It dropped it a bit.

 

Ray: Shows what a tragedy losing River Phoenix was.

 

Sylvia: There was a lot of emotion behind the characters.

 

Ray: The father was very selfish, I thought.

Sylvia: But he comes around at the end

 

Beck: [on having a second child] It was a bit of a selfish choice.

 

Beck: I thought it was a surprisingly good story.

Andy: A good little film

Ray: A good little dated film

 

Scores

Beck: 3.5

Andy: 4

Sylvia: 4.5

Ray: 3.5

Wendy: 4.5

CJ / Renny / Paul / Jodi: abstain