Tortellini at Noon

This week we’re back with the 1986 scifi body horror film The Fly. Directed and co-written by David Cronenberg it is based on the 1957 short story of the same name. The film tells the story of an eccentric scientist who, after one of his experiments goes wrong, slowly turns into a fly-hybrid creature. The film stars Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis, and John Getz. Come join us!! Website :  https://...

This week we watched the 2023 sci-fi comedy drama film Asteroid city. Written, directed, and produced by Wes Anderson, Its plot mostly presents a stage play which follows a Junior Stargazer convention and the unexpected arrival of extraterrestrials and UFOs. The ensemble cast includes Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Ad...

This week we’re starting our Summer Blockbuster Month and we watched the 2014 animated fantasy film How to Train Your Dragon 2. Written and directed by Dean DeBlois it is set five years after the events of the first film, and follows Hiccup and his friends as they encounter Bludvist, a madman who wants to conquer the world by use of a dragon army. It stars Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Gerard But...

This week we saw the new horror film based on the creepypasta of the same name Backrooms. Directed and co-scored by Kane Parsons in his directorial debut, in the film, a furniture store owner and his therapist discover a dimension of seemingly endless liminal spaces accessed through the basement of the store. It stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Renate Reinsve, Mark Duplass, Finn Bennett, and Lukita Maxwell...

In kind of an Epic Month pick we watched the 2025 horror film Sinners. Directed by Ryan Coogler set in 1932 in the Mississippi Delta, it stars Michael B. Jordan in dual roles as criminal twin brothers who return to their hometown where they are confronted by a supernatural evil. The film co-stars Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, a...

Taking a break from Epic Month watched the first Star Wars movie in seven years The Mandolorian and Grogu. Directed by Jon Favreau, who co-wrote the film with Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor it tells the story of Din Djarin and his apprentice Grogu are enlisted by the New Republic to rescue Rotta the Hutt in exchange for information on a target. The film stars Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White...

Continuing Epic Month we watched the 1971 musical drama Fiddler on the Roof. Directed by Norman Jewison, the film centers on Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman, who is faced with the challenge of marrying off his five daughters amidst the growing tension in his shtetl. It stars Chaim Topol, Norma Crane, Leonard Frey, Molly Picon, Paul Mann, Rosalind Harris, Michèle Marsh, Neva Small and Paul Michael Gla...

Continuing Epic Month we watched the 1962 biograpohical drama Lawrence of Arabia. Directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel it is based on the life of T. E. Lawrence and his 1926 book Seven Pillars of Wisdom (also known as Revolt in the Desert). It stars Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Anthony Quinn, Omar Sharif, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains, Jose Ferrer and Arthur Kenne...

This month begins Epic Month and to kick it off we watched the 2009 superhero film Watchmen. Directed by Zack Snyder, and written by David Hayter and Alex Tse, it tells the story of a group of mostly retired superheroes who investigate the murder of one of their own before uncovering an elaborate and deadly conspiracy with which they are all connected.  The film stars Malin Åkerman, Billy Cru...

Concluding this year’s Decades Month at the end pf the 60’s with the 1969 Western buddy comedy Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of outlaws Butch Cassidy and his partner the Sundance Kid, who are on the run from a crack US posse after a string of train robberies. The film stars Paul Newman,...

Moving along in Decades Month to the 50’s with the 1954 crime drama On the Waterfront. Directed by Elia Kazan it tells the tale of an ex-prize fighter turned New Jersey longshoreman who struggles to stand up to his corrupt union bosses. It stars Marlon Brando, and features Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Pat Henning and Eva Marie Saint in her film debut. Come join us!! Website :  https...

Rolling along into the 40’s for our Decades Month with the 1944 black comedy Arsenic and Old Lace. Directed and produced by Frank Capra, the story follows a Brooklyn writer of books on the futility of marriage who risks his reputation after he decides to tie the knot.. The film stars Cary Grant, Raymond Massey, Jack Carson, Priscilla Lane and Peter Lorre. Come join us!! Website :  https://tor...

This month we’re calling Decade’s Month where each week will be a different decade and we’re starting in the 30’s with the 1933 film King Kong. Directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, the story follows a giant primate dubbed Kong who feels affection for a beautiful young woman offered to him as a sacrifice. The film stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot. Com...

Next up in his week of 4 episodes is the new film The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, in the film Mario and Luigi with their friends adventure into outer space, where they face off against Bowser and his son, Bowser Jr. It star Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Day, Jack Black and Keegan-Michael Key, Benny Safdie, Donald Glover, Glen Powell, and Brie La...

The third episode of this week of 4 episodes is the 1993 video game adaptation Super Mario Bros. Directed by the husband-and-wife team Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, it follows the brothers Mario and Luigi in their quest to rescue Princess Daisy from a dystopian parallel universe ruled by the ruthless President Koopa. The film stars Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Samantha Mathis and Denn...

Next up in his week of 4 episodes and the conclusion Foreign Film Month is the 1985 drama Kiss of the Spider Woman. Directed by Héctor Babenco, set in a Brazilian prison, the film centers on a dialogue between two very different cellmates, a hardened leftist revolutionary and an apolitical gay man. It stars William Hurt, Raul Julia, Sônia Braga, José Lewgoy, Milton Gonçalves, and Denise Dumont. Co...

4 new episodes are coming this week and first up is the continuation of Foreign Film Month with the 2025 black comedy No Other Choice. Directed by Park Chan-wook and based on The Ax by Donald Westlake, the film follows a desperate paper industry expert who decides to kill off his competition to be assured of the job he seeks to maintain his way of life. It stars Lee Byung-hun, Son Ye-jin, Park Hee...

Back with another Foreign Film Month pick this week we watched the 1961 black comedy Divorce Italian Style. Directed by Pietro Germi the film tells the tale of an impoverished Sicilian nobleman who is trapped in a loveless marriage and fantasizes killing his wife. It stars Marcello Mastroianni, Daniela Rocca, Stefania Sandrelli, and Leopoldo Trieste. Come join us!! Website :  https://tortelli...

THE UNDERTONE – Feature Film. February, 2025. Photo by Dustin Rabin #2935 Breaking from Foreign Film Month, we saw the new A24 horror film Undertone. Written and directed by Ian Tuason, in his directorial debut, the film tells the tale of two podcasters who are sent recordings by a married couple experiencing paranormal noises in their home. It stars Nina Kiri and Adam DiMarco. Come join us!...

After a 3 year hiatus Foreign Film Month finally returns and to kick it off we watched the 2009 surrealist comedy Symbol. Directed and starring Hitoshi Mastumoto the film is about a man who wakes up in a white room with buttons on the walls and he must find out which button to push to get what he wants. Come join us!! Website :  https://tortelliniatnoon.com/ Instagram:  https://www.insta...

Our third and final film this week is the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians. Directed by Jon M. Chu it follows a Chinese American professor, Rachel, who travels to Singapore with her boyfriend Nick and is shocked to discover that Nick’s family is one of the richest families in Singapore. The film stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Gemma Chan, Lisa Lu, Awkwafina, Ken Jeong, and Michelle Yeoh. Come...

Movie number 2 this week is the 1987 film The Princess Bride. Directed by Rob Reiner it tells the story of a swashbuckling farmhand named Westley who must rescue his true love Princess Buttercup from the odious Prince Humperdinck. It stars Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, André the Giant, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, Peter Falk, Fred Savage, Billy Crystal and Carol Ka...

This week we watched the new 2026 slasher Scream 7. Directed by Kevin Williamson the film follows a new Ghostface killer who targets Sidney Prescott’s daughter. The film stars Neve Campbell, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard, and Courteney Cox. Come join us!! Website :  https://tortelliniatnoon.com/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/tortelliniat...

This week we watched the 2004 romantic drama film The Notebook. Directed by Nick Cassavetes, from a screenplay by Jeremy Leven and Jan Sardi, and based on the 1996 novel by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s. Their story is read from a notebook in the modern day by an elderly man telling the tale to a fellow nursing home...

This week we watched the 2002 romantic comedy film My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Directed by Joel Zwick and written by Nia Vardalos it follows a young Greek-American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek man and struggles to get her family to accept him. It stars an ensemble cast led by Vardalos, John Corbett, Lainie Kazan, Michael Constantine, Gia Carides, Louis Mandylor, Andrea Martin, and Joey F...