Taking a Break this Season

Movie Club Members (past and present),

I’m writing you to let you know that the Movie Club will be taking a break this season (2010-2011). During the 2010 season we found that attendance was noticeably dwindling, and, for the first time, we were no longer covering our exhibition costs.

As a non-theatrical venue doing licensed exhibition, our choice of mainstream artistic films has been limited to a small subset of those already available on DVD. Our distributors also restrict the types of advertising that we may do. Operating within these limits, it is hard to imagine what we could do differently to ensure that we cover our expenses in the future.

With this in view, our board has voted to donate the balance of the Ouray Movie Club’s checking account and our capital items (movie screen and popcorn machine) to The Friends of the Wright Opera House.

It is our hope that the Movie Club finds a new home in future years under the auspices of “the Friends of the Wright.” If you would like to make sure that the tradition of the Movie Club continues in Ouray, I urge you to step up and make a donation to Friends of the Wright, if you haven’t already done so. (www.savethewright.org)

Once the Friends have acquired the Wright, I will gladly provide guidance to them with regard to screening movies in the future. If you would like to help with a future movie club at the Opera House, please drop me a line by email and I will create a list of interested volunteers to provide to the Friends.

Thanks to all of you who have supported us over the years and to Dan King and Sandra Boles who helped get the Movie Club off of the ground many years ago. Also thanks to everyone who volunteered their time operating popcorn machines, selling tickets, sweeping up, helping us assemble or disassemble the screen, etc. Special thanks to the following volunteers (in no particular order): Myrna Spaulding, Sandra Boles, , Kathleen Norris Cook, Carla Deger, June Kirchner, Suzie Jones, and John Draper. Forgive me if I’ve overlooked anyone.

In the meantime, I will be maintaining the official Movie Club websites:

ourayfilm.com
Find us on Facebook

Please feel free to use these sites, especially the Facebook site, to continue to keep up on regional movie screenings, provide reviews of movies you’ve just seen, etc.

Season Finale Pirate Radio - Friday April 23rd

April 23rd, 2010
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Staring: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans
Director: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Runtime: 135 min.
Categories: Documentary

Eric Notes: This is our season finale. A fun film, filled with great music, especially for anyone who came of age in the sixties.


Synopsis:
Celebrated filmmaker Richard Curtis brings audiences his most personal comedy to date. Writing and directing the story of a band of rogue deejays who captivated British radio listeners in the ’60s, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that, incomprehensibly, preferred jazz, Curtis welcomes us aboard The Boat That Rocked.
[IMDB Entry]
[Trailer]
[Add to my calendar]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.

The Garden - Friday April 9th

April 9th, 2010
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Director: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Runtime: 80 min.
Categories: Documentary

Eric Notes: An excellent Oscar nominated documentary.


Synopsis:
This film is an engaging and powerful look at the famous political and social battle over the largest community garden in the U.S (located in south central LA). The politics of power and greed tragically intersect with working class families who rely on this communal garden for their livelihood. This film exposes the fault lines in American society and raises crucial and challenging questions about liberty, equality, and justice for the poorest and most vulnerable among us.
[IMDB Entry]
[Trailer]
[Add to My Calendar]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.

Precious - Friday March 26th

March 26th, 2010
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Starring: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’ Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Care, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz
Director: Lee Daniels
Runtime: 109 min.
Categories: Drama

Eric Notes: Winner of two Oscars. This film was the highest rated in our pre-season evaluations and, for a while, it looked like we couldn't get it this season. So we are very pleased to present the Oscar winner for best supporting actress and best screenplay. See it on the big screen in Ouray.


Synopsis:
Set in Harlem in 1987, it is the story of Clareece “Precious” Jones, a sixteen-year-old African–American girl born into a life no one would want. She’s pregnant for the second time by her absent father. Precious may sometimes be down but she is never out. She finds her answer when she is asked to join a special school that will lead her from darkness to light.
[IMDB Entry]
[Trailer]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.



Precious Trailer - The most amazing bloopers are here

The Country Teacher - Friday March 12th

March 12th, 2010
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Director: Bohdan Sláma
Runtime: 113 min.
Categories: Drama, Czech Republic

Eric Notes: This is this year's Movie Club selection from the film festival circuit. This Czech film was an official selection in Toronto and Venice and a winner of the Czech Oscar®. It is a beautifully crafted film. Special thanks to the film's distributor, Film Movement, for helping to make this screening in Ouray possible.


Synopsis:
A gifted and well-qualified young teacher takes a job teaching natural sciences at a grammar school in the country. Here he makes the acquaintance of a woman and her troubled 17-year old son. The teacher has no romantic interest in the woman but they quickly form a strong friendship, each recognizing the other's uncertainties, hopes and longing for love.

When the teacher's ex-boyfriend comes to visit from the city, he quickly realizes that nobody in the village knows that the teacher is gay and harbors a secret affection for the teenage boy. His jealous actions set in motion a series of events that will test the inner strength and compassion of the teacher, the woman and her son to a breaking point. A beautifully shot, powerfully acted, profoundly moving story of desire, responsibility, forgiveness and the need to belong, from the internationally-acclaimed director of Something Like Happiness and Wild Bees.
[IMDB Entry]
[Trailer]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.




Sponsor:

filmmovement.com

A Serious Man - February 26th

Friday, February 26th, 2010
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Director: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
Runtime: 105 min.
Rating: R|Parental Guide
Categories: Comedy, Drama

Eric Notes: This year's selection from the Coen Brothers. Who else could make this modern take on the Book of Job (why bad things happen to good people) into a seriously entertaining and thoughful comedy?


Synopsis:
This dark comedy centers on Larry Gopnik, a Jewish college professor in the Midwest during the 1960s. He watches his life unravel as his wife prepares to leave him for his pompous colleague, his deadbeat brother won't get off the couch, his son is having problems at school and his daughter is stealing money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job.
[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.

Elegy - February 12th

February 12th, 2010
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Director: Isabel Coixet
Stars: Penélope Cruz, Ben Kingsley, and Dennis Hopper
Runtime: 112 min.
Rating: R|Parental Guide
Categories: Romance, Drama

Eric Notes: This is an excellent romance/drama for the weekend before Valentine's Day. Bring your date or significant other.


Synopsis:
Elegy charts the passionate relationship between a celebrated college professor and a young woman whose beauty both ravishes and destabilizes him. As their intimate connection transforms them-more than either could imagine-a charged sexual contest evolves into an indelible love story. With humanistic warmth, wry wit and erotic intensity, this film explores the power of beauty to blind, to reveal and to transform.

[IMDB Entry]
[Trailer]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.


Thanks to The Blue Pear for their sponsorship of this showing.

Sundance!

Sundance 2010 is in full swing and you can watch for Sundance news at the lower right of this site. Learn more about last year's Sundance audience award winner and Friday's (Jan 21st) Movie at the Wright- The Cove in this short interview presented by the Sundance Channel.

Coming Soon

Elegy - 2/12
A Serious Man - 2/26

Visit our Events listing at Facebook for more info. on upcoming features.

The Cove - January 22nd

January 22nd, 2010
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Director: Louie Psihoyos
Runtime: 92 min.
Rating: PG-13|Parental Guide
Categories: Drama

Synopsis:
This film begins in Taiji, Japan, where former dolphin trainer Ric O’Barry has come to set things right. In the 1960s, it was O’Barry who captured and trained the dolphins that played the title character in the television show “Flipper.” He has now discovered a terrifying secret in a secluded cove where thousands of dolphins are hunted for meat and underhanded dealing to the entertainment industry.

[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.

The Cove Trailer

Wendy and Lucy - January 8th

January 8th, 2010
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Director: Kelly Reichardt
Runtime: 80 min.
Rating: R|Parental Guide
Categories: Drama

Synopsis:
Wendy Carroll is driving to Ketchikan, Alaska, in hopes of a summer of lucrative work at the Northwestern Fish cannery, and the start of a new life with her dog, Lucy. When her car breaks down in Oregon, however, the thin fabric of her financial situation comes apart, and she confronts a series of increasingly dire economic decisions, with far-ranging repercussions for herself and Lucy.

[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards. Come early and purchase a season membership for $60; membership includes a punch card valid for for 10 admissions during the 2009-2010 season.

Wendy and Lucy trailer

COMING SOON: The Cove - January 22nd - Thriller Documentary - a terrifying secret in a secluded cove where thousands of dolphins are hunted for meat and underhanded dealing to the entertainment industry.

Paper Heart- SATURDAY - DAY AFTER CHRISTMAS SHOW

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Paper Heart
December 26th, 2009
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Director: Nicholas Jasenovec
Runtime: 88 min.
Rating: PG-13|Parental Guide
Awards: Nom. Grand Jury Prize - Sundance 09 (more)
Categories: Romance-Drama-Comedy


NOTE:This is a Saturday show.


Synopsis:
Charlyne embarks on a quest across America to make a documentary about the one subject she doesn’t fully understand, love. She meets a boy after her own heart and he becomes the object of her affection. Weaving together reality and fantasy, the film combines elements of documentary and traditional storytelling to bring a fresh perspective to the modern romance

[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards. Come early and purchase a season membership for $60; membership includes a punch card, valid for 10 admissions during the 2009-2010 season.

Paper Heart Trailer

IMPORTANT NOTES: TITLES AND DATES SUBJECT TO CHANGE based on movie availability. We strive to show a very wide variety of types of movies outside of the Hollywood mainstream including independent, foreign, drama, documentary, etc. Tastes vary, and the descriptions and links at this site will help you decide if each of these movies fit your interest.

December 2009 - Season Kickoff - A duo of indie romances

Away We Go
December 11th, 2009
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Director: Sam Mendes (American Beauty)
Runtime: 98 min.
Rating: R|Parental Guide
Categories: Romance-Drama-Comedy

This is the first show of the 2009-2010 season. Welcome back to the Wright!


Synopsis:
A couple expecting their first child travels around the U.S. in order to find a perfect place to start their family once the parents with whom they were going to stay decide to move. Along the way, they have misadventures and find fresh connections with an assortment of relatives and old friends who just might help them discover "home" on their own terms for the first time.

[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards. Come early and purchase a season membership for $60; membership includes a punch card valid for for 10 admissions during the 2009-2010 season.

Away We Go Trailer

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Paper Heart
December 26th, 2009
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Wright Opera House
Director: Nicholas Jasenovec
Runtime: 88 min.
Rating: PG-13|Parental Guide
Awards: Nom. Grand Jury Prize - Sundance 09 (more)
Categories: Romance-Drama-Comedy


NOTE:This is a Saturday show.


Synopsis:
Charlyne embarks on a quest across America to make a documentary about the one subject she doesn’t fully understand, love. She meets a boy after her own heart and he becomes the object of her affection. Weaving together reality and fantasy, the film combines elements of documentary and traditional storytelling to bring a fresh perspective to the modern romance

[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Admission: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2010 Movie Club members may use their punch cards. Come early and purchase a season membership for $60; membership includes a punch card, valid for 10 admissions during the 2009-2010 season.

Paper Heart Trailer

IMPORTANT NOTES: TITLES AND DATES SUBJECT TO CHANGE based on movie availability. We strive to show a very wide variety of types of movies outside of the Hollywood mainstream including independent, foreign, drama, documentary, etc. Tastes vary, and the descriptions and links at this site will help you decide if each of these movies fit your interest.

2009-2010 Season Starts in December

The Ouray Movie Club is back at the Wright Opera House for our 2009-2010 Season. We are pleased to announce that at the end of the season, our profits will be donated to Friends of the Wright Opera House.

We will begin with two screenings in December (2009). Our premier will be on Friday December 11th followed by a second screening on the evening of Saturday December 26th. All other screenings are scheduled on the first and fourth Fridays of the month. There will be a total of ten movies shown through April, 2010. A season membership will once again be available.

We'll publish more details including movie titles shortly on this site and by our e-mail list.

See you soon at the Wright.

Friday May 15th - The Fall

May 15th, 2009
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Ouray Community Center, Ouray, CO
Director: Tarsem Singh
Runtime: 117 min.
Rating: R|Parental Guide


This is the last show of '09. Thanks for an excellent season!

Note: We have provided a link to the IMDB Parent's Guide and a brief plot synopsis of this movie. We strive to show a very wide variety of types of movies spanning independent, foreign, drama, documentary, etc. Tastes vary, and the descriptions and links at this site will help you decide if each of these movies fit your interest.

Synopsis:
Little Alexandria ends up in the hospital after breaking her arm in a fall. Roy, a fellow patient who is paralyzed, strikes up a conversation with Alexandria and begins to spin a fantastical tale to help her pass the time. His stories involve characters such as an Indian, a masked bandit, an Italian demolitions expert and Charles Darwin who change and shift at his whim as he pulls the young girl into his incredible imagination.

[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Note: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2009 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.

Frost/Nixon - May 1st

May 1st, 2009
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Ouray Community Center, Ouray, CO
Starring: Frank Langella & Michael Sheen
Director: Ron Howard
Runtime: 122 min.
Rating: R|Parental Guide

Eric's Notes: We will be in the Ouray Community Center for this show. In our recent survey, movie club members put this film at the top of their list.

Full Disclosure: We have provided a link to the IMDB Parent's Guide and a brief plot synopsis of this movie. We strive to show a very wide variety of types of movies spanning independent, foreign, drama, documentary, etc. Tastes vary, and the descriptions and links at this site will help you decide if each of these movies fit your interest.

Academy Award-5 Nominations

"The film begins as a fascinating inside look at the TV news business and then tightens into a spellbinding thriller." - Roger Ebert - Chicago Sun/Times - [Full Review]

This film is a dramatic retelling of the post-Watergate television interviews between British talk-show host David Frost and former president Richard Nixon. For three years after being forced from office, Nixon remained silent, but in 1977 he agreed to sit for one all-inclusive interview to confront the questions of his time in office and the Watergate scandal that ended his presidency.

[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Note: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2009 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.

The Reader - April 17th

April 17th, 2009
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Ouray Community Center, Ouray, CO
Starring: Kate Winslet & Ralph Fiennes
Director: Stephen Daldry
Runtime: 124 min.
Rating: R|Parental Guide

Eric's Notes: We will be in the Ouray Community Center for this show. In our recent survey, movie club members put this film near the top of their list.

Full Disclosure: We have provided a link to the IMDB Parent's Guide and a brief plot synopsis of this movie. We strive to show a very wide variety of types of movies spanning independent, foreign, drama, documentary, etc. Tastes vary, and the descriptions and links at this site will help you decide if each of these movies fit your interest.


Academy Award-Won-Best Actress-Kate Winslet
Golden Globe-Won-Best Supporting Actress-Kate Winslet

"[Winslet's] fierce, unerring portrayal goes beyond acting, becoming a provocation that will keep you up nights." - Pete Travers - Rolling Stone - [Full Review]

Synopsis: When Michael is fifteen he has a brief but heated affair with Hanna, a woman in her mid-30’s who finds him sick and feverish in the street and cares for him. Nearly a decade later in Post-WWII Germany, Michael has become a law student and is astonished to find Hanna had become a Nazi prison guard and was on trial for murder. He discovers a secret that might affect her sentencing but is too ashamed of their affair to come forward.

[Official Site]
[Trailer/Short Feature]

Note: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2009 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.

Ben X- April 3rd

Ben X
April 3rd, 2009
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Ouray Community Center, Ouray, CO
Runtime: 93 min.
Rating: NR in US|Parental Guide
Language: Dutch with English Subtitles


Eric's Notes: We will be in the Ouray Community Center for this show (the Beaumont Hotel will be closed during this month). We are pleased to present this excellent festival film from the same distributor that brought us Arranged.

Grand Prize- Montreal Film Festival

"A provocative, exultant stunner. - Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times - [Full Review]

Synopsis: Ben is different and his life is a universe all unto itself. He has Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism that prevents normal communication, and while he is a courageous hero—BEN X—in the fantasy on-line gaming world that consumes him, in his daily life Ben is tormented by bullies and ignored by apathetic teachers.

As the bullies’ relentless attacks push him over the edge and out of control, his on-line dream girl, Scarlite, appears to him and helps him devise a perfect plan to confront the bullies and make them pay for their torment. Director Nic Balthazar’s dazzling debut blends fantasy and harsh social realism. Based on a true story, Balthazar brings us an utterly original and important film.

[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Note: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2009 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.

Cadillac Records-March 20th

Cadillac Records
March 20th, 2009
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Beaumont Hotel, Ouray, CO
Runtime: 109 min.
Rating: R
Cast: Beyonce Knowles, Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright

Dinner at Bulow's Bistro will be available starting at 5 pm. More info. about dinner: (970) 325-7040.

Golden Globe Nominee (2008)

"The music is good, the suits are sharp, but it’s the outstanding performances that wow. Walker is electrifying as Howlin’ Wolf and Beyoncé — playing Etta James — has never been so sultry and sexy. " Cosmo Landesman- Sunday Times (UK)[Full Review]

Synopsis: This period piece chronicles the rise and fall of influential R&B record label Chess Records which launched the careers of Muddy Waters, Etta James and Chuck Berry. Leonard Chess scoured the South, checking out the various blues scenes and selling records from the back of his Cadillac in this exciting and turbulent tale.

[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Note: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2009 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.

Sangre De Mi Sangre
March 6th, 2009
Showtime: 7 p.m.
Doors: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Beaumont Hotel, Ouray, CO
Runtime: 110 min.
Rating: Not Rated

Dinner at Bulow's Bistro will be available starting at 5 pm. More info. about dinner: (970) 325-7040.

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL - GRAND JURY PRIZE - WINNER

"Shot mainly in New York's meanest, murkiest streets, Sangre de Mi Sangre, is intricately and imaginatively structured, building to a powerful climax of complex irony." Kevin Thomas- LA Times

"The grimy elegance of this Sundance award winner elevates it well above the standard-issue immigrant drama." - John Anderson - Newsday

Synopsis: Young Pedro has lost his mother and is heading from Mexico to New York, where he hopes to find his long lost father. Pedro is smuggled across the border with a van full of other illegal immigrants, one of whom makes off with his backpack and tries to pass himself off as Pedro in this telling look at the desperation of Mexican immigrants.

[Official Site]
[Trailer]

Note: Everyone is welcome at $7.50 per ticket. 2009 Movie Club members may use their punch cards.