Opening for the 1965 Movie Year Oscars

Posted online by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences are excerpts of the (first) color presentation of the 38th Annual Academy Awards of April 18, 1966 honoring the movies made in 1965. Click on the image above to watch arrivals and Bob Hope’s opening monologue of the now-historic broadcast.

* Bob Hope begins with, “How do you do ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the “Agony and the Ecstacy,” Santa Monica version…”

Watch the 87th Annual Academy Awards tonight on ABC, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris!

Laramie Film Society 1965 Movie Poll

The Laramie Film Society is conducting a poll of its members of the greatest films of 1965.

When movies reach their 50th anniversary, the time is ripe for an evaluation of their merits.  With an eye on creating discussion of classic films, the Laramie Film Society annually polls its members on the greatest films celebrating their golden anniversary.

This year, the LFS will examine the films of 1965— a year that saw such now-classic films as: Doctor Zhivago, The Great Race, Help!, The Hill, Othello, A Patch of Blue, Simon of the Desert, The Sound of Music, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold, Thunderball, and The War Game.

Criteria to include: entertainment value, influence on later movies, endurance in popular culture, artistic cinema technique, and re-watchability.

See voting rules in the left hand column of this blog.

National Film Registry Picks Include Four LFS Choices

In September, the Laramie Film Society polled its members on nominations to submit to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry Picks of 2015. Four of our choices ended up being chosen for this year! These included: Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971), Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), and The Big Lebowski (1998).

The full list of 25 new additions to the National Film Registry can be found here.

Legendary Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s Kagemusha Wraps Up the Foreign Film Series

Sunday December 7 at 7 PM at the Albany County Public Library, join us for Kagemusha (1980), from Japan, the final film of the “Sundries of the World” foreign film series. We’ll be bringing more foreign films to you in 2015, in co-sponsorship with the Albany County Public Library. To be added to our email list visit the Laramie Film Society’s website here (scroll down for the link).

Akira Kurosawa, in order to film Kagemusha, won the financial support of longtime admirers Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas. The film is set in the 16th century, when powerful warlords competed for control of Japan. It offers examinations of the nature of political power and the transience of identity. For some time, Warlord, Shingen Takeda has been able to stay removed from the heat of battle by using his brother Nobukado Tsutomu Yamazaki as a double. Nobukado offers another option when he discovers a condemned thief bearing an uncanny resemblance to the warlord. After he insists on witnessing the fall of an enemy in person, Shingen falls victim to a sniper’s bullet, forcing his advisers to present the thief as the fallen warrior. At first awkward in his new position and plagued by dreams in which the spirit of his double confronts him, he slowly grows into the role even as his enemies begin to advance on his kingdom. Kagemusha: The Shadow Warrior, was the winner of the Palm D’Or at The Cannes Film Festival. In Japanese with English subtitles, running time 162 minutes. IMDB rating, 8.0/10.

Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers” at the ACPL Sunday

Sunday November 23rd at 7 PM at the Albany County Public Library, join us for The Dreamers (2003), part of the “Sundries of the World” foreign film series.

Veteran Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci directs the erotic drama The Dreamers, adapted from the novel The Holy Innocents: A Romance by Gilbert Adair. American student Matthew (Michael Pitt) is studying in Paris during the politically turbulent late ’60s. The story begins in 1968 with the firing of Henri Langlois, the founder of the French Cinematique. At a protest demonstration, Matthew meets cinema-obsessed Isabelle (Eva Green) and her twin brother, Theo (Louis Garrel). When their Bohemian parents (Robin Renucci and Anna Chancellor) leave for the summer, the twins invite Matthew to live with them. While the revolution rages on outside, the three young people stay in the comfortable flat filling their time with hedonistic games and discussions of film. Bertolucci incorporates clips from classic films like Queen Christina, Band of Outsiders, and Breathless. After showing at several European film festivals, The Dreamers made its U.S. premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. Spoken languages, French and English, with English subtitles. Rated NC-17, running time 115 minutes. IMDB rating, 7.2/10.

“Oldboy” is the Next Foreign Film in Our Series

Sunday November 16th at 7 PM at the Albany County Public Library, join us for Oldboy (2003), from Korea, part of the “Sundries of the World” foreign film series.

South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook directed this violent and offbeat story of punishment and vengeance. Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is a husband and father whose reputation for womanizing is well known. One day, for reasons he doesn’t understand, Oh Dae-su finds himself locked up in a prison cell, with no idea of what his crime was or whom his jailers may be. Oh Dae-su struggles to keep his mind and body intact, but when he learns through a news report that his wife has been killed, he begins a long and difficult project of digging an escape tunnel with a pair of chopsticks. Before he can finish — and after 15 years behind bars — Oh Dae-su is released, with as little explanation as when he was locked up. Emotionally stunted but physically strong after 15 years in jail, Oh Dae-su struggles to unravel the secret of who is responsible for locking him up and how to best get revenge against his captors. Oldeuboi was screened in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and won the coveted Grand Prix. In Korean with English subtitles, rated R, running time 120 minutes. IMDB rating, 8.4/10.

“Ringu” — Foreign Films Series Pick for Halloween Week– Screening Sunday

Sunday, October 26 at 7 PM at the Albany County Public Library. Free pop and popcorn! Ringu (1998) A TV reporter investigates a strange video linked to the death of several young people who watched it just before they died. The reporter feels she must solve the mystery before she falls victim to the video’s deadly curse. Ringu won six awards in international film competitions. It was a box-office success in its native Japan and a surprise blockbuster in Hong Kong. It led to the American remake starring Naomi Watts in 2002. In Japanese with English subtitles, running time: 96 minutes Sponsored by the Albany County Public Library and the Laramie Film Society. For more information about the foreign film series visit the LFS web page for ratings, reviews, longer synopses of each film and a schedule of upcoming films in this series.

Foreign Film Series Continues with “12:08 East of Bucharest” on Sunday

Sunday, October 19 at 7 PM at the Albany County Public Library. Free pop and popcorn!

12:08 East of Bucharest (A fost sau n-a fost?, 2006): Sixteen years have passed since the revolution, as three men prepare for the Christmas holidays they wonder: “Was it or wasn’t it a revolution in their town?” 12:08 East of Bucharest was a surprise hit across Europe, where it was nominated and won several awards, including Best Screenplay and Best Film at the Copenhagen International Film Festival. In Romanian, with English subtitles. Running time: 89 minutes. IMDb rating: 7.4/ 10.

Sponsored by the Albany County Public Library and the Laramie Film Society. For more information about the foreign film series visit the LFS web page for ratings, reviews, longer synopses of each film and a schedule of upcoming films in this series.

Foreign Film Series at the County Library Has Good Showing

Last night, 28 Albany County Public Library patrons/ Laramie Film Society members attended the first film in the “Sundries of the World” foreign film series, The Spanish Apartment.

Left, audience members begin to arrive and fill the seats in the ACPL’s meeting room.

Click here for information on the rest of the series. Up next: La Dolce Vita

 

Foreign Language Film Series Starts Tonight at the County Library

The Albany County Public Library and the Laramie Film Society present, “Sundries of the World: Foreign Film Series,” screenings Sunday night at 7 PM through December 7.

Tonight’s film is L’Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment) (2002). The rest of the schedule is as follows:

October 12: La Dolce Vita (1960)

October 19: 12:08 East of Bucharest (2006)

October 26: Ringu (1998)

November 2: The Girl on the Bridge (1999)

November 9: Face to Face (1976)

November 16: Oldboy (2003)

November 23: The Dreamers (2003)

December 7: Kagemusha (1980)

For full details on the series including film ratings and descriptions, click here.