ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!

[memento]

Joan's parents want her to marry young Travis, but Joan has no interest in him. So on , she goes out to a club where she meets Bob. Things click and she rents an apartment in the city so that New Years Eve she can date Bob and he will not know that she is RICH. He works for the Peerless Window Cleaners, but hopes to soon have his own window cleaning company. The problems between Bob and Joan start when he see's Joan getting a check from an older man and also finds that she does not stay in her apartment after he drops her off.

[Fran]

Plot Keywords:  Christmas  | Coast  | Voice  | Sleep 

From IMDb:

I've seen this short on the Sundance Channel (USA) several times, and it's always a pleasure to watch again.

I don't want to say too much about the plot since I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't seen it yet. The heart of the story is about the loving relationship between a single father and his twin daughters. However... there is another very interesting element to the story which is supernatural, though never quite slipping into horror or sci-fi, if taken literally. Or... if taken figuratively... but that's part of the beauty here... much is left to the imagination or one's interpretation.

The cinematography is gorgeous, the mostly non-verbal acting performances are wonderful, the story is interesting, sweet and yet haunting, and the quiet beautiful music sets the perfect mood.

Definitely check this short film out if you get the chance.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjP3rjh_r6U[/youtube]
Time:  10:22

[oilgun]

Plot Summary:
It's the day before Christmas, the day before John's 21st birthday. He's a prostitute on Santa Monica Blvd in L.A., and he wants to spend that night and the next day at the posh Park Plaza Hotel. He's ripped off a local drug dealer to pay the bill, but as he's sleeping that morning, someone steals his shoes right off his feet, with the money in them. Meanwhile, Donner, a lad new to the streets, wants John to leave the city with him for Camelot, a theme park in Branson, MO, where they'll work as lifeguards. John spends the day trying to hustle the money for the hotel, avoid Jimmy the Warlock, keep his girl friend placated, and figure out how to deal with Donner's friendship.


NOTE:   I can't believe I never played this juicy 'J' title before but I didn't see it in the (new) archive of movies played.  Is that list still a valid reference?

[Fran]

NOTE:   I can't believe I never played this juicy 'J' title before but I didn't see it in the (new) archive of movies played.  Is that list still a valid reference?

Yes, Gil, the New Archive is where to check to see if the movie you're planning on posting has been played previously.  It is current up to the last complete round (the round before this one).

"J" movies are getting harder and harder to find -- especially when a particular theme narrows the limited choices -- so great find!

[memento]

AKA:  Carnival in Moscow



From IMDb:  

Karnavalnaya Noch was the first comedy made by the Russian director Eldar Ryazanov. Filled with music, dances and singing, it featured Ludmila Gurchenko in her first role and the renowned stage and film actor Igor Ilyinsky as Ogurtsov, an old-fashioned bureaucrat/stand-in director of the Culture Palace, where a team of young people is trying to put together a musical program to celebrate New Year's Eve.

[Fran]

Plot keywords include:  New Year's Eve

Plot summary from IMDb:  

A morality tale of xenophobia, religious prejudice, mob violence, poverty, and their effect on two children in Liverpool during the Depression. When a shipyard closes, Liam and Teresa's dad loses his job. Liam, who's about 8 and making his first Holy Communion, gets a regular dose of fire and brimstone at church. Teresa, about 13, has a job as a maid to the Jewish family that owns the closed shipyard. The lady of that house is having an affair, and Teresa becomes an accomplice. Liam stutters terribly, especially when troubled. Dad comes under the sway of the Fascists, who blame cheap Irish labor and Jewish owners. A Molotov cocktail brings things to a head.

[oilgun]

Synopsis

Claude Jutra’s evocative portrait of a boy’s coming of age in wintry 1940s rural Quebec has been consistently cited by critics and scholars as the greatest Canadian film of all time. Delicate, naturalistic, and tinged with a striking mix of nostalgia and menace, Mon oncle Antoine follows Benoit, as he first encounters the twin terrors of sex and death, and his fellow villagers, who are living under the thumb of the local asbestos mine owner. Set during one ominous Christmas, Mon oncle Antoine is a holiday film unlike any other, and an authentically detailed illustration of childhood’s twilight. —The Criterion Collection

[southendmd]

Tagline:  It all started three days before Christmas break with a prostitute and a large, French sausage...

[memento]

Gideon, a Christmas angel, is sent, by Santa, to help Ginny Grainger. Ginny is a cynic, and she hates Christmas. She and her family (husband, Jack and two kids, Caleb and Abbie) have fallen on hard times, making it even harder to believe in anything that can't be seen. With help from Abbie, and a trip to see Santa Claus himself, can Gideon find a way to make Ginny believe again?

[oilgun]

FromIMDb:
It's Christmas time in the twin cities. Billy's working a lot of overtime, running barges on the Mississippi. He calls his friend Eddie, whom he hasn't seen in six months, and asks a favor: to drive with him to see his pregnant girlfriend, Patti, because Billy hasn't told her he's married and already has two children. The road trip of guy talk becomes a night of truths exchanged between men and women.