Entertainment & Film   

Aren’t dysfunctional families fun! From a distance perhaps. But some cultures accept, let’s say, the eccentric uncle, while others put him on a bus to the shrink’s office for further review. Let’s look at films from Asia, Europe, and America — as well as some “behind the scenes” movie making and cultural peculiarities — while we’re entertained by movies with a high IMDb rating. I’ll send you questions that serve to highlight significant plot points each week for the films.   We'll choose from: "Ordinary People," "Kramer  vs. Kramer," "Squid & the Whale," "Moonstruck," "Fancy Dance," "So Long My Son," "Everything Everywhere All at Once," "Shoplifters," "Marriage Story," "The Judge" & "What's Eating Gilbert Grape"  -- or any you suggest & we vote on. We can never learn too much about our international neighbors. Maybe, it will make us humbler. New remote course. Format includes lecture, discussion, and film.

This class continues our friendly, non-judgmental approach for students who completed Improving Beginner Bridge Skills I or who are somewhat advanced as beginners. We will learn some simple bidding conventions, improve our declarer play techniques, and explore how to defend more effectively. Students will be encouraged and enabled to play online and face-to-face games. Students may not have mastered, but should already be familiar with, the following terms and point requirements: “opener,” “responder,” and “overcaller.” As responder, they should be able to determine if game is certain, impossible, or possible and what to bid accordingly. Repeat remote course. Format includes hands-on learning.

SUGGESTED BOOKS: Modern Bridge Conventions, William Root and Richard Pavlicek, ISBN 9780517884294; Bridge Basics I, Audrey Grant, ISBN 9780939460908; Bridge Basics II… Competitive Bidding, Audrey Grant, ISBN 9780939460915

Strong, smart, stylish, and sassy, their work ethic made them memorable, their glamour made them stunning, and their talent made them stars. For this course, we look at the films of seven of the most hard-working women of the studio era and marvel on what made them so great. Included will be the films of Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Rita Hayworth, and four others. Class will run long for discussion. New in-person course. Format includes film.

How can 7-minute cartoon episodes about a dog family in Brisbane, Australia be loved by 3-year-olds, their 30-year- old parents, and 60+ year-old grandparents? How has this show become an international phenomenon since its debut in October 2018? What can kids, parents, and seniors learn about life from this non-glitzy, colorfully animated cartoon series? Come and spend a couple hours learning a little about its beginnings and discussing/ analyzing some of its “special” episodes. If you don’t know anything about Bluey, here’s a short video on why adults love it: THE CARTOON THAT BROKE ADULTS: Why Bluey Works This workshop will be mostly discussion — not lecture — and is a “pilot” for a possible 8-week course in the Spring of 2027. New in-person workshop. Format includes lecture, discussion, and film.

This course is a history class with a laugh track. We will analyze the significant periods and players of the 20th and 21st Centuries against their historic context and legacy, using humor as the platform. We will discuss how comedy was shaped by and responsive to American society, and how comedians influenced and shaped American life. We will cover Silent Films, Vaudeville, Radio, Screwball and Romantic Comedies, Comedy Teams, and the Golden Age of Television. We will study how America laughed in each generation, and how the change in American character and persona shaped how they laughed and what (and whom) they laughed at.

This course examines royal succession through acclaimed British films that explore power not as ceremony, but as moral and political crisis. We will trace the monarchy’s evolution from personal rule to institutional authority, beginning with the Plantagenet struggles in Becket (1964) and The Lion in Winter (1968). We will then examine the moral costs of kingship and the performance of national leadership through two Shakespeare adaptations: Chimes at Midnight (1965) and Henry V (1989). The course will conclude with the Tudor rupture: A Man for All Seasons (1966) and the consolidation of legitimacy Elizabeth (1998).

This course continues our journey into how music becomes the emotional engine of film. This is not film school—it is a celebration for film lovers who want to experience how music shapes story, character, and unforgettable moments. We will explore how instrumental scores and songs with lyrics work together to drive narrative, define identity, and capture cultural shifts. We will focus on films where songs take center stage, from iconic franchise themes to pop- and rock-driven storytelling. Spanning genres and eras, we will see how composers, songwriters, and performers expanded the language of film music.

The road movie uses physical travel to explore psycho logical, social, and moral movement. These films ask what happens when characters leave familiar structures behind—and whether motion itself is liberation, escape, illusion, or transformation. This course explores seven road movies as modern myth. Across these films, travel becomes a way to question national ideals, challenge inherited roles, and confront cultural boundaries of gender, class, race, and belonging. Some journeys seek liberation; others drift, flee, perform, or play. Some end in reckoning, others in transformation, and some refuse resolution altogether. New in-person course. Format includes film.

This series explores seven film narratives that portray strikingly impressive human resilience, achieved only after the protagonists allow themselves to experience relatedness deeply and directly, rather than through detached observation. Two films feature explorers who seek deep immersion into the lives of animals, resulting in temporary isolation from fellow humans, but leading to recognition of an equally meaningful life-fabric (Octopus Teacher, Never Cry Wolf). The remaining five films examine the aftermath of challenging circumstances: divorce and resultant deep cynicism and apathy that is later overcome (Penguin Lessons); grief following loss of a loved one (C.S. Lewis, Shadowlands, Fly Away Home); childhood abandonment (Saving Mr. Banks); and the perils of warfare (Der Fuchs). Background information will be provided about each film and the discussions will be uplifting and hope-filled. New in-person course. Format includes discussion and film.

This course is the same format as the Spring 2026 course, “Star Trek the Original Series & What It Says About Us” but will feature different episodes. You do not have to have attended the previous course to participate. The best science fiction always holds a mirror up to its audience and allows issues to be considered from a safe distance. Star Trek was no exception, so we’ll take a look at seven episodes from the original series that had something to say and discuss whatever aspects we see in the mirror. We will watch a complete episode and then spend the rest of the class in discussion each week. New in-person course. Format includes discussion.