Beau Brannan

Current: Visiting Professor | Consulting

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List of Films to Watch for a Film Club

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From 2012-2013, I hosted a movie night every Monday night. This is the list of the 70+ films we were able to watch & discuss. Selections tended to be older films with philosophical or human themes.Blow
American Beauty
Donnie Darko
The Wrestler
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Stranger than Fiction
Saved!
Se7en
Frailty
Boiler Room
Memento
Argo
Training Day
Being John Malkovich
Flight
The Imposter
American History X
Django Unchained
A Clockwork Orange
We Need to Talk about Kevin
City of God
The Graduate
Last King of Scotland
Reservoir Dogs
The Intouchables
Into the Wild
Eastern Promises
The Usual Suspects
Pi
Swingers
I Heart Huckabees
Magnolia
Rushmore
Requiem for a Dream
Legends of the Fall
Lives of Others
High Fidelity
Amadeus
Trainspotting
12 Monkeys
Tombstone
Fargo
Good Will Hunting
Election
Boondock Saints
Out of Sight
Mud
The Matador
Adaptation
Fresh
Searching for Bobby Fischer
Pump up the Volume
Falling Down
American Psycho
Donnie Brasco
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Fugitive
Tootsie
Dead Man Walking
Mr. Nobody
Punch Drunk Love
Unforgiven
Blade Runner
Roadhouse
Badlands
To Live and Die in LA
Manhunter
Blow Out
After Hours
Witness
Blood Simple
No Country For Old Men
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2020 FRIDAY FILM CLUB. DUE TO THE QUARANTINE, I DECIDED TO REPLAY FILM NIGHT. USING ZOOM, A GROUP OF STUDENTS AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING THROUGH SOME FILMS TOGETHER. WITH A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT CURATION, HERE IS OUR PROGRESSION.BOILER ROOM – I started here because it is a solid above average film. Like a good DJ set or mixtape, you don’t want to go crazy up front. It is enjoyable to see young Vin Diesel and Ben Affleck. The film has some great lines and good themes to discuss. Abby is by far the most tragic character and the reconciliation between father and son is admirable. Other questions such as ethics and even the ending is quite gray.MEMENTO – Boiler Room uses FBI agents to move the plot forward and so I thought the next film should include a cop moving the plot forward, hence Memento. Christopher Nolan’s first film is genius. The group watching are deep thinkers and this film engages you the whole time. There are subtleties I missed the first viewing that they were able to pick up on. It was a fun discussion on how the film was laid out and figuring out the role certain characters played and of course Sammy Jankis.USUAL SUSPECTS – The mind games of Memento naturally led to Usual Suspects. The film does just enough to keep you focused and while on first viewing you are starting to wonder why everyone talks about it, the ending is worth the watch. On a practical level it opens up a discussion about the ease of lying and how can we really know someone.SE7EN – The connecting piece was going from Spacey as villainous Soze and his “the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing the world he did not exist” line to playing John Doe and “Wanting people to listen, you can’t just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with a sledgehammer.” The concept of the film is so intriguing and well thought out. The film paces well, but aims to develop characters.FIGHT CLUB – Moving from a David Fincher flick to another. The film is topic rich. So much to discuss. Watching with younger people who knew about the film, but had never seen it they were understandably expecting a movie filled with fighting. The discussion about who is real and who is not dominated the conversation, but also discussions about manhood and consumerism were apropos.DONNIE DARKO – After exploring a character with mental illness, this film also explores a character with psychological problems. There are great lines and characters. This film produced fun banter during the film. Most interesting is how the bullying in the film, which seemed par for the course from my experience was viewed as harsh by a younger set of eyes. This is a good thing. Again, rich conversation about the plot and magic.
ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND – Another great plot twist film. Love the themes about memory, the past, and relationships.BLOOD SIMPLE – Classic Coen Brothers film. How difficult can a murder for hire get?AMERICAN BEAUTY – This is a film you either love or hate. It won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Spacey…yet again. A lot of themes about family, the American Dream, and love.AMERICAN HISTORY X – We watched this in the midst of the protests. This film had the Rodney King trial and riots in view. Very striking to hear some of the same arguments. The film is heavy but worth the watch.CHILDREN OF MEN – Absolutely brilliantly shot. The content becomes more relevant with each passing day. Set in a dystopian future, the plague is that no children have been born in 18 years. Will there be any hope or future left?

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