Let's Go to the Movies!

Greenwood men's group members like viewing movies. While we occasionally go to a theater, mostly we view movies in our meeting room and the senior center.

On every third Tuesday, we view movies on our big screen TV at the senior center, accompanied with optional popcorn or refreshments. 

And time permitting, we'll have a discussion about it afterwards. Or, we may adjourn to a local restaurant for a meal and talk.

Why Movies for Mature Guys?

Older men frequently enjoy watching movies, both new and old, and often choose films with themes of maturity, past events, and relatable characters. They may also enjoy reality-based content like documentaries and biopics. 

Watching movies with others can be a positive way to bond, socialize, and engage in meaningful conversation. 

Do Any of these Movies Look Interesting to You?

Below are a few movies that might be "watchable" for senior men. Of course, there are tons of other movies that could be interesting. Also, click here for a short list of documentaries.

Do you have any great movies you would like to suggest? Let the webmaster know.

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A Fish Called Wanda

The central themes of the movie A Fish Called Wanda are the clash of cultures, particularly between repressed British formality and overbearing American greed, and the comedic chaos caused by betrayal and lust among thieves. 

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Land Ho!

The primary theme of the movie Land Ho! is the struggle with aging, disillusionment, and a desperate search for meaning in the face of significant life changes, as two middle-aged friends embark on a trip to Iceland hoping to escape their personal problems and reclaim their lost youth. The film explores the idea that no matter how far you travel, you cannot escape yourself, and that it's possible to find moments of change and happiness even in later life. 

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Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot is a classic 1959 American comedy film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon. Set in 1929 during the Prohibition era, the film is about two jazz musicians who go undercover in an all-female band to escape from mobsters. Praised for its witty script and performances, it is widely considered one of the greatest films of all time and is particularly lauded as the best comedy ever made by the American Film Institute. 

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Dr. Strangelove

The central theme of Dr. Strangelove is the absurdity and danger of nuclear war, as seen through its biting satire of the Cold War's political and military establishments. The film uses dark humor and grotesque characters to explore the fragility of humanity and the terrifying incompetence of those in power who hold the fate of the world in their hands.

A classic starring Peter Sellers.

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About Schmidt

About Schmidt is a 2002 American comedy-drama film starring Jack Nicholson as Warren Schmidt, a retired insurance executive who, after his wife's death and his daughter's hasty marriage, seeks meaning in his life and tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter and his life. The film explores themes of life, death, divorce, and the search for purpose.

The film received acclaim for its poignant portrayal of aging and the search for purpose, with Nicholson's performance being particularly praised for capturing Schmidt's internal struggles.

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Superman

Matt in the men's group says:

"Some critics might consider this version of Superman too close to what is happening in the USA today. But guess what?  There are large portions of the dialog and story that are right in line with what really IS happening in our democracy today.

I think that the original creators of the Superman comic strip, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, first born men from Jewish immigrants, would be happy to see that aliens and immigrants in this movie are a prominent part of the story."

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Breaking Olympia

A powerful documentary about the resiliency of the human spirit colliding with the complexity of a bodybuilding career. It's the gripping tale of Phil Heath, a world champion bodybuilder. He is a native of Seattle. Want to know what would motivate someone to build a body like the one below? Watch this movie! It’ll fire you up, and probably make you do a push up.

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The Best Years of Our Lives

Fred, Al and Homer are three World War II veterans facing difficulties as they re-enter civilian life. Fred (Dana Andrews) is a war hero who, unable to compete with more highly skilled workers, has to return to his low-wage soda jerk job. Bank executive Al (Fredric March) gets into trouble for offering favorable loans to veterans. After losing both hands in the war, Homer (Harold Russell) returns to his loving fiancée, but must struggle to adjust.

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Old Goats

Old Goats is a comedy that features three elderly men playing themselves, but within a fictional framework. The story blends fiction and reality. Britt lives alone on a boat and searches for excitement and romance in his life. Bob writes a book of memoirs about his life as a soldier, para-trooper, and bush pilot, but is uneasy about revealing his sins as a younger man. David is struggling to adapt into retired life while living with his bossy wife. The story is about each man's attempt to change his ways.

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The Straight Story

A retired farmer and widower in his 70s, Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth) learns one day that his distant brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton) has suffered a stroke and may not recover. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. Then he hits on the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.

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Secondhand Lions

A shy adolescent boy, Walter (Haley Joel Osment), is taken by his greedy mother (Kyra Sedgwick) to spend the summer with his two hard-boiled great-uncles, Hub (Robert Duvall) and Garth (Michael Caine), who are rumored to possess a great fortune. At first, the two old men, both set in their ways, find Walter's presence a nuisance, but they eventually warm up to the boy and regale him with tall tales from their past. In return, Walter helps reawaken their youthful spirit.

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Inherit the Wind

In the 1920s, Tennessee schoolteacher Bertram Cates (Dick York) is put on trial for violating the Butler Act, a state law that prohibits public school teachers from teaching evolution instead of creationism. Drawing intense national attention in the media with writer E. K. Hornbeck (Gene Kelly) reporting, two of the nation's leading lawyers go head to head: Matthew Harrison Brady (Fredric March) for the prosecution, and Henry Drummond (Spencer Tracy) for the defense.

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The World's Fastest Indian

New Zealander Burt Munro spent years perfecting his classic 1920 Indian motorcycle. The year is 1967, and Burt takes his machine to Utah's salt flats, where he attempts the impossible, using his dream bike to set a new world's record for speed. Based on a true story, the record Munro set more than three decades ago still has not been broken to this day.

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Million Dollar Baby

Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) is a veteran Los Angeles boxing trainer who keeps almost everyone at arm's length, except his old friend and associate Eddie "Scrap Iron" Dupris (Morgan Freeman). When Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) arrives in Frankie's gym seeking his expertise, he is reluctant to train the young woman, a transplant from working-class Missouri. Eventually, he relents, and the two form a close bond that will irrevocably change them both.

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Harry and Tonto

Harry Coombes (Art Carney) is a man in his seventies who is evicted from his Manhattan apartment when the building is set to be demolished. After staying briefly with his son Burt (Phil Bruns), Harry decides to travel across the country, accompanied by his cat, Tonto, to visit his other grown children. However, his visits to a former love (Geraldine Fitzgerald), his daughter, Shirley (Ellen Burstyn) in Chicago, and his youngest son, Eddie (Larry Hagman), in Los Angeles, defy his expectations.

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Seven Samurai

A samurai answers a village's request for protection after he falls on hard times. The town needs protection from bandits, so the samurai gathers six others to help him teach the people how to defend themselves, and the villagers provide the soldiers with food. A giant battle occurs when 40 bandits attack the village.

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Hoop Dreams

Shot over five years, this documentary follows two inner-city Chicago teenagers who dream of becoming professional basketball players. More than just a sports film, it is a moving chronicle of race, class, and family in America. 

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The Thin Blue Line

Errol Morris's groundbreaking film explores the case of a man wrongly convicted of murdering a police officer in Dallas. Its cinematic style and investigative approach are credited with helping to prove the man's innocence and pioneer a new form of documentary filmmaking. 

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Man on Wire

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary, Man on Wire is a thrilling account of Philippe Petit's high-wire walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. It blends archival footage, reenactments, and interviews to build suspense and wonder. 

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Grizzly Man

Werner Herzog masterfully uses the found footage of bear enthusiast Timothy Treadwell, who was killed by the bears he studied. Herzog's narration and interviews with Treadwell's loved ones provide a philosophical meditation on nature, humanity, and delusion. 

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My Octopus Teacher

This emotionally resonant film follows a filmmaker's year-long journey with a wild octopus off the coast of South Africa. It is praised for its stunning cinematography and its portrayal of the unlikely friendship that develops. 

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Inside Job

Narrated by Matt Damon, this Oscar-winning film offers a comprehensive look at the 2008 financial crisis. It details the systemic corruption within the financial services industry and its devastating global consequences. 

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Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Celebrating the life and legacy of Fred Rogers, the host of the children's television show Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, this documentary offers a moving portrait of kindness and compassion. It explores how Rogers' message of empathy remains relevant today. 

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Free Solo

A stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of the free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world’s most famous rock ... the 3,000ft El Capitan in Yosemite National Park ... without a rope. His climb was celebrated as one of the greatest athletic feats of any kind, Honnold set the ultimate standard: perfection or death.

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The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack

Ramblin' Jack Elliott, at age 91, is one of the last of the ’50s era folk music revivalists and beatniks who eschewed their parents’ conventions. He studied with Woody Guthrie, inspired Bob Dylan and hung out with Jack Kerouac.

Elliot had the talent but why wasn't he famous?

This documentary, produced by his daughter, is a poignant case study of a peculiarly American obsession: the mania for self-invention. The movie doesn't shy away from revealing the heavy price that such self-invention can entail. It's a devastating portrait of a man so consumed by living out his fantasy that he is unable to meet his most basic family responsibilities. 

President Clinton awarded Elliot the National Medal of Arts in 1998. But materially speaking, his life remains a struggle to make ends meet. 

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Other Movies You Might Like

• To Kill a Mockingbird (drama 1962)
• From Russia with Love, Goldfinger (Bond, 1963, 1964)
• The Good Bad and The Ugly (western 1966)
• The Graduate (drama 1967)
• Bonnie and Clyde (crime drama 1967)
• Rosemary’s Baby (horror 1968)
• Planet of the Apes (sci fi 1968)
• Easy Rider (drama 1969)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Western 1969)

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