We have some good movies to talk about- from the blockbusters: The Amazing Spider-Man, to the indies: Wes Anderson's highly anticipated Moonrise Kingdom, with Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Edward Norton & Bruce Willis. Also hear about the delightfully filmosophical The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the ribald, low brow Ted and more. We're The Filmosophers, "where we give our filmosophy of the movies and have filmosophical discussions", with Chris Busch, Bruce Miller and summertime junior sidekick Shane Miller. Fridays at 12:30 PM, repeat Sundays, 9:00 AM.

Jiminy cricket, he flew the coop!- Moonrise Kingdom

We first learned just how enjoyable The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is from good friend and guest host Big Al Green, who saw it in Iowa City- reporting there were a fair amount of others there from Fairfield. The feedback was enthusiastic. Since then we've received several requests for it to be shown locally. Theatre Manager Marilou Parsons heard us, and forwarded on the requests.

We're delighted to tell you The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel opens in Fairfield, Friday, 6/29. "A dream cast led by Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Maggie Smith, and Bill Nighy lights up John (Shakespeare in Love) Madden's film- a story of late-life awakenings and self-discovery in India. Its ace in the hole is its pungent depiction of Jaipur's teeming streets, which gives a blinding splash of color. Impossible to resist."   

We'll tell you about the new releases and what we've seen on video, including Jeff, Who Lives At Home a film by the Duplass brothers, which junior reviewer Shane Miller described as "a spiritual comedy". We're the Filmosophers, with Chris Busch and Bruce Miller, "where we give our filmosophy of the movies and have filmosophical discussions." Fridays at 12:30 PM Central, and again Sundays at 9:00 AM. Live stream @kruufm.com

This weekend we'll talk about new films in theaters, including Brave, the 13th release from Pixar; Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, a "mashup of history lesson and monster flick" and the (possibly!) filmosophical Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Sometimes we're not sure what to say about a film if we haven't seen it. You'll usually get a feel from critic's consensus. But as you're aware (and awareness is the key), the spiritual or filmosophically inclined movie fan's experience of films can be quite different from mainstream perceptions. This may be true about Seeking a Friend... and especially so for the documentary- Kumaré. "The true story about a false prophet. Kumaré follows American filmmaker Vikram Gandhi as he transforms himself into a Indian guru, hoping to prove the absurdity of blind faith. Instead, he finds himself forging profound connections with people from all walks of life."

We'll alert you to small gems that may get lost amongst the "blockbusters", including Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom; Safety Not Guaranteed and Beasts Of The Southern Wild, which sounds fascinating! "An exceptional American independent feature that deserves the best efforts to tap audiences that would surely embrace it." "Few more brazenly cinematic pieces will come our way this year." We're the Filmosophers, with Chris Busch and Bruce Miller "where we give our filmosophy of the movies and have filmosophical discussions." Fridays, 12:30 PM Central repeated Sundays 9:00 AM. "I fake so much I forget who I was" - Kumaré

Friday, May 25, 2012 is the 35th Anniversary of the opening of the iconic film Star Wars. It's also the day filmmaker Patrick Read Johnson (Spaced Invaders) will depart Wadsworth, Illinois, "in my 1975 Ford Pinto, on a 30-day, cross-country, road-trip Kickstarter campaign to finally bring 5-25-77 to the screen." There will be a test screening of 5-25-77 Saturday night at the Sondheim. We'll talk with Mr. Johnson about his film and his current adventure, soon to be known as Hearts of Dorkness: A Filmmaker's Oddyssey.

We'll also talk about the much anticipated opening of Men In Black 3; the highly praised Moonrise Kingdom, the latest from one of our fave filmmakers- Wes Anderson (Rushmore) and more. We're the Filmosophers, "where we give our filmosophy of the movies and have filmosophical discussions", Friday at 12:30 PM Central, rebroadcast Sunday at noon. Live stream @solar powered kruufm.com

- The Death Star would take out the Enterprise with one shot.

- The Enterprise has deflector shields!! - 5-25-77

Moving closer to summer is an exciting time for movie and film fans curious about the big deal, big bang, big budget blockbusters coming soon. Chris Busch and I will begin our annual summer movie preview which, at 28 minutes a show, will take  a few weeks to cover. Our most joyful once-in-a-while co-host Big Al Green will join in next week. We'll also begin our annual box office handicapping. What will be the box office champ for 2012? At first glance it's easy to label The Dark Knight Rises "The epic conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy" the clear fave. But as friend and theater owner Jim Nicholas replied:  "I agree with you that Batman will be #1, but I’m not sure it’s a slam dunk."

Also hear about the new releases, DVDs and what we've seen. Oh and, what's the difference between a movie and a film? It's all subjective of course, but two examples for this Filmosopher: Jaws is a very good movie; To Kill A Mockingbird a very good film. We usually see more movies released in the summer and more films in the fall (awards season). We're The Filmosophers Movie Talk show, "where we give our filmosophy of the movies and have filmosophical discussions", Fridays at 12:30 PM Central, repeated Sundays at noon. Live stream @kruufm.com

"Boo was our neighbor. He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a knife, and our lives." - Scout, To Kill A Mockingbird 

 "You're gonna need a bigger boat." - Brody, Jaws  

This weekend Big Al Green joins us in the studio. We'll start with last week's box office. Will you be surprised to hear the incredible numbers Hunger Games is putting up?

The new releases includes The Three Stooges, a project the Farrelly Brothers (There's Something About Mary) began working on over a decade ago. As a fan when I  was a youngster, I wish the buzz was just a little better. We'll alert you to other new films of note, including Here, starring Fairfield's Ben Foster (pictured w/ Lubna Azabal). I love road films and this one sounds intriguing- "Set against the gorgeous landscape of Armenia, Here chronicles a brief but intense relationship between an American satellite-mapping engineer (Foster) and an expatriate photographer (Azabal) who impulsively decide to travel across the remote countryside. (click "Read More")

On this weekend's Filmosophers, we'll talk about the energetic box office- two films did over $40 million, very good for February; we'll talk about new releases, including another well reviewed animated film from Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki's studio that gave us Spirited Away; an Oscar nominated documentary that sounds like familiar football turf, but is about so much more; a "chilly thriller" that looks like Fargo lite, and others. We'll discuss films we've seen on DVD, including the documentary Project Nim- "from the team behind Man on Wire comes the story of Nim, the chimpanzee who in the 1970s became the focus of a landmark experiment which aimed to show that an ape could learn to communicate with language if raised and nurtured like a human child"; Himalaya, a stunningly photographed fiction film about the forgotten people of Tibet; Paris, a love letter to the titular city we discovered after seeing the radiant Melanie Laurent in Beginners; and These Amazing Shadows: The Movies That Made America, which "tells the history and importance of The National Film Registry, a roll call of American cinema treasures that reflects the diversity of film, and indeed the American experience itself."

We're the Filmosophers, with Chris Busch and Bruce Miller "where we give our filmosophy of the movies and have filmosophical discussions". Fridays at 12:30, rebroadcast Sundays at noon. Live stream @kruufm.com

"The last scene of a movie should occur on the sidewalk outside of the theater. What film and art can do best, is to continue to live after the experience is over." - These Amazing Shadows

The world of movies is moving into the awards season. Sunday evening the Golden Globes gets things rolling toward Oscar night. The Artist leads the contenders with six nominations. This silent film has charmed critics, including our own Chris Busch and is the Oscar frontrunner. We'll alert you of films you may want to see by Oscar time, February 26.

The Los Angeles Times predicts Martin Scorsese's Hugo will win the Golden Globes Best Picture Drama. I hope so because we're hoping to bring Hugo 3-D to the wonderful State Theatre in Washington (photo by Craig Swift). As said before, Hugo 3-D's a diamond of a film which may be getting away before you’ve had a chance to experience it in 3-D, as it must be, to be fully appreciated. [Click on "Read more" below.]

Friday night is free film night at the Fairfield Public Library. For "contractual reasons" they cannot tell you the film's title- but we can. It's The Music Never Stopped starring the wonderful character actor J.K. Simmons as "an overly critical father who gets a unique opportunity to reconnect with his estranged son, if he can only embrace the music that once divided them in this uplifting family drama inspired by Dr. Oliver Sacks' case study "The Last Hippie." It's a "Touching story about the emotional uplift of music, the tenderizing of a family member's heart, and a father-son reconciliation like nothing you've ever seen before; one of the best films of 2011. - Spirituality And Practice "This is the kind of warm, uncluttered, feel-good film that you take your parents to see, and I absolutely mean that in a good way." - Film.com There's free organic popcorn and you're welcome to bring in your own street-legal bottled drink. Say "Hi" and "Thank-you" to the delightful Jan Carey, who volunteer's her time to show these films and pop the popcorn. She'll gladly take your suggestions for future films. Fairfield Library Director Rebecca Huggins will join us on the show to talk about the film, the new music display now available at the library and more.

Also hear about new theater and DVD releases, what we've seen and more. We're The Filmosophers Movie Talk show, with Chris Busch and Bruce Miller: "Where we give our filmosophy of the movies and have filmosophical discussions" Friday over lunch, at 12:30 Central. Live stream @kruufm.com

"Caesar is home" - Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

Happy spring, film fans. We know the blockbuster movie season is on it's way. We're seeing more and more releases every week, some 14 or more today. Unfortunately the one we've anticipated the most- Sucker Punch from 300 director Zach Synder is "getting KO'd by the critics. It's technically impressive and loaded with eye-catching images, but without characters or a plot to support them, all of Sucker Punch's visual thrills are for naught." - RottonTomatoes.com The good news is Cedar Rapids has come to Fairfield!

There's a very good film out we mentioned last week, Win-Win from the director that made the small gems Station Agent and The Visitor (starring Richard Jenkins). "Rich, wonderful characters and strong performances populate Win Win, with writer/director Thomas McCarthy continuing to emerge as a great American humanist." - RT.

We'll talk about Fairfield's new independent movie theater- Stage Door Cinema. Visit StageDoorCinema.com

Hear about other new theater releases, box office results and films we've seen. Junior film fan Shane Miller is on spring break so he'll join us in the studio. We're The Filmosophers, with Chris Busch and Bruce Miller, "where we give our filmosophy of the movies and have filmosophical discussions." Friday at 12:30.