Film forum Monthly Film Discussion Club

johnny_ultimate

So I vaguely remember proposing such an idea a year or two ago, but never following through with it. Anyway, here's a proposal for a new sort of event for this forum.

What: Every month, a member of the forum picks a film that they feel is worthy of discussion. Everyone who wants to participate goes off, watches the film, and comes back to talk about it.

How: A poster is randomly picked from the previous month's contributors (logistics TBC). They pick their film, and ensure it's easily (and preferably cheaply) available on DVD or online (Netflix, iTunes etc...). Not talking about the same old classics here, there's no fun in that! People would need to put quite a bit of thought into their choices, hopefully a film most people won't seen before and one that is likely to incite some level of in-depth discussion. Might even be a good idea to pick a film you've never seen, but always wanted to get around to. Polarised opinions are, as ever, encouraged

When: Well since some sort of holiday is coming up people will likely have a bit of time on their hands, so December might be the best time to kick it off.

Why: Help encourage more in-depth community discussion. The cinema club that used to go down was inevitably restricted to Dublin - this gives the opportunity for everyone to get involved if they so wish.

Is this a thing people would be interested in? If so, reply below and if there seems to be enough people interested we can kick it off soon

krudler

Nay!

That'd be a cool idea, will generate discussion past the usual whatevers in the cinema or the netflix/recently seen thread just in dedicated threads.

So in essence it would be a discussion on here as opposed to meeting in person?

Sad Professor

Nay!

All great in theory. But how do we stop this going down the same path as old Film of the Week? People (especially if they are chosen at random) will almost inevitability choose the same old films. Fight Club, Memento, Batman Begins, Die Hard, etc. Films which there's nothing to talk about except to say "yeah, classic, here is my favourite quote", etc.

If someone picks a genuinely less well known film (like some little Japanese or South Korean film) there's a risk that nobody will bother participating. Trying to get people to watch something so everyone can talk about is very difficult, as I discovered in the Lost forum when I tried to encourage a re-watch of certain key episodes on the run up to the last season. Most people just re-read the synopsis and I spent most of the threads correcting their memory of the episode.

Anyway, I don't mean to shoot the idea down. But I think the logistics is everything when comes to making something like this work. Karl was never able to crack it which is why Film of the Week was failure.

pixelburp

Nay!

I'd buy that for a dollar; yeah, sounds lile a good idea worth trying - would certainly have the potential to generate some decent discussion / arguments

krudler

Nay!

Sad Professor wrote: »

All great in theory. But how do we stop this going down the same path as old Film of the Week? People (especially if they are chosen at random) will almost inevitability choose the same old films. Fight Club, Memento, Batman Begins, Die Hard, etc. Films which there's nothing to talk about except to say "yeah, classic, here is my favourite quote", etc.

If someone picks a genuinely less well known film (like some little Japanese or South Korean film) there's a risk that nobody will bother participating. Trying to get people to watch something so everyone can talk about is very difficult, as I discovered in the Lost forum when I tried to encourage a re-watch of certain key episodes on the run up to the last season. Most people just re-read the synopsis and I spent most of the threads correcting their memory of the episode.

Anyway, I don't mean to shoot the idea down. But I think the logistics is everything when comes to making something like this work. Karl was never able to crack it which is why Film of the Week was failure.

I wouldnt mind discussing well known stuff in detail, sometimes its cool to go back to an old favourite and see others people's opinions on it. Think if its all stuff nobody's seen before or heard of they'd be less inclined to do it. I'm trying to broaden my horizons lately so am all for suggestions past the normal blockbuster/well known stuff though so I dont mind either way.

pixelburp

Nay!

Sad Professor wrote: »

All great in theory. But how do we stop this going down the same path as old Film of the Week? People (especially if they are chosen at random) will almost inevitability choose the same old films. Fight Club, Memento, Batman Begins, Die Hard, etc. Films which there's nothing to talk about except to say "yeah, classic, here is my favourite quote", etc.

If someone picks a genuinely less well known film (like some little Japanese or South Korean film) there's a risk that nobody will bother participating.[...]

Well that's the trick, finding films that have enough of a catch to get people watching them & engaging in a discussion (though I don't think there's any harm in picking mainstays like those you mention, so long as they're not recent films with their own nearby threads). Perhaps the selected films could come with a discussion point: instead of just saying "lets all watch X", that the thread has a motion or subject based on the film's themes / characters etc.

Mickeroo

Nay!

I'd be up for this. Would also be a good way to give me a kick up the arse and watch films I keep meaning to watch but never get around to or watch films I normally wouldn't think to go near

I get where Sad Professor is coming from, but I think it's worth a try at least. Worst that can happen is it doesn't work out and the thread fades into obscurity, no damage done really.

Fysh

Nay!

I like the idea, but as per Sad Professor's comment's I think it's important to make sure that there's some way of keeping discussion interesting.

My suggestion on how to do this is for the person nominating the film to pick something that they have already seen, and post one or more discussion points for that film.

For example, if I were to pick Timecrimes I might suggest contrasting the scale and stakes presented in the film to what we more often get in time-travel or science-fiction films, with my personal feeling being that the film is much more powerful by being intensely personal and not being a bombastic Terminator-style "battle for the future of all humanity" but instead being about a man trying to protect his family after stumbling into the path of some dangerously powerful technology.

It will be difficult to ensure that we get discussion that goes beyond "Yeah, deadly show! Loved the bit where he says blahblahblah", and it probably won't have loads of people taking part, but it could be an interesting way of providing a deeper level of discussion for those who're interested.

For the logistics, I suggest something like:
1) To start with, people who want to participate make themselves known (Eg voting "Yes" on a public poll with the question "would you take part in a monthly film discussion club?")
2) Name is picked out of a hat from previous month's participants for the first/next film proposer.
3) They propose a film they have seen and one or more topics for discussion/examination.
4) Johnny_ultimate and/or the previous film proposer either second or reject the proposal; if rejected, return to either step 2 or 3.
5) New thread is posted, specifying film title and a discussion start date (eg 2 weeks after thread start).
6) ???
7) Profit!

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

Im going to let the discussion play out a bit before weighing in further (all valid suggestions / concerns) but I do like the idea of themed dicussion a lot. Im even tempted to suggest a two film per month structure for contrast and comparisons sake - but that may be too crazy!

Oh, and I totally agree it will be problematic trying to encourage folk to particpate, but I think the ever improving digital selection of films could help in that regard - if each 'announcement' post includes links to access the film in a variety of ways.

Mickeroo

Nay!

Fysh wrote: »

I like the idea, but as per Sad Professor's comment's I think it's important to make sure that there's some way of keeping discussion interesting.

My suggestion on how to do this is for the person nominating the film to pick something that they have already seen, and post one or more discussion points for that film.

For example, if I were to pick Timecrimes I might suggest contrasting the scale and stakes presented in the film to what we more often get in time-travel or science-fiction films, with my personal feeling being that the film is much more powerful by being intensely personal and not being a bombastic Terminator-style "battle for the future of all humanity" but instead being about a man trying to protect his family after stumbling into the path of some dangerously powerful technology.

It will be difficult to ensure that we get discussion that goes beyond "Yeah, deadly show! Loved the bit where he says blahblahblah", and it probably won't have loads of people taking part, but it could be an interesting way of providing a deeper level of discussion for those who're interested.

For the logistics, I suggest something like:
1) To start with, people who want to participate make themselves known (Eg voting "Yes" on a public poll with the question "would you take part in a monthly film discussion club?")
2) Name is picked out of a hat from previous month's participants for the first/next film proposer.
3) They propose a film they have seen and one or more topics for discussion/examination.
4) Johnny_ultimate and/or the previous film proposer either second or reject the proposal; if rejected, return to either step 2 or 3.
5) New thread is posted, specifying film title and a discussion start date (eg 2 weeks after thread start).
6) ???
7) Profit!

Not sure about the rejection thing, people might not want to take part if their suggestion gets shot down. It's likely on occasion people are going to pick films not everyone else will want to watch, which is part of the fun imo as it could get people to watch stuff they usually wouldn't. So for example if johnny_ultimate picks a 3 hour long silent japanese movie from the 1920's (:P) I might not be overjoyed about sitting through it but I'll still do it so help me god.

The Recliner

Nay!

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

Im going to let the discussion play out a bit before weighing in further (all valid suggestions / concerns) but I do like the idea of themed dicussion a lot. Im even tempted to suggest a two film per month structure for contrast and comparisons sake - but that may be too crazy!

I think it sounds like a good idea tbh, might take effort but worth it, just putting up a single movie will probably lead to lots of one line comments as mentioned previously

Don't necessarily have to be compare and contrast either but themed or linked in some way is a good idea, either something like 2 from the same actor/director or two movies which have similar subject matter but explore it in different ways

Mickeroo wrote: »

So for example if johnny_ultimate picks a 3 hour long silent japanese movie from the 1920's (:P) I might not be overjoyed about sitting through it but I'll still do it so help me god.

Agreed and also highly likely

e_e

Nay!

Sounds like a great idea, so long as users are willing to step out of their comfort zones. The more esoteric (while still being relatively easy to find) the better, I'd say.

e_e

Nay!

Mickeroo wrote: »

3 hour long silent japanese movie from the 1920's (:P)

Funny you should say that, this would be my first choice.

Fysh

Nay!

Mickeroo wrote: »

Not sure about the rejection thing, people might not want to take part if their suggestion gets shot down. It's likely on occasion people are going to pick films not everyone else will want to watch, which is part of the fun imo as it could get people to watch stuff they usually wouldn't. So for example if johnny_ultimate picks a 3 hour long silent japanese movie from the 1920's (:P) I might not be overjoyed about sitting through it but I'll still do it so help me god.

That bit's there to try and provide a workaround for any "No, seriously, Meet The Spartans is totally a film that merits deeper analysis and deconstruction" type bollockery like we got with the Films Of The Week threads.

I'd hope it would very rarely if ever have to be used, but reserving the right to nix a suggestion would be, I think, a useful thing to have as an up-front rule. Hopefully if this goes ahead we wont ever need it though

Sleepy

Might work well as a sub-forum?

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

OK so. I definitely agree with Sad Professor that this may not work out the way we hope, but there seems to be enough interest in the idea to at least give it a go. As Mickeroo said, the worst that can happen is it doesn't work, and we all move on with out lives accordingly

I have added a poll to the thread to gauge interest in an efficient, numerical and visual manner. Only vote 'aye' if you're willing to actively participate - you may well eventually be called upon to pick a film.

Also, I do think it would beneficial to go with two films a month - as said above, it has the potential to lead to more dynamic, in-depth conversation. Anyone have a problem with that?

Sleepy wrote: »

Might work well as a sub-forum?

Let's just make sure it works first

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

Sorry folks, I didn't make the first poll public which leads to all sorts of website related shenanigans (no edit option), so all the posts have been moved to a new thread and a public poll started.

adox

Nay!

I`d be up for it too. Sounds like an interesting idea.

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

Just giving this a bump to gauge any residual interest. Should be good to go ahead with December's picks then! Shall we jump straight into random selection from the poll results?

Fysh

Nay!

I say let's get things going, it's more likely to attract further interest once it's under way

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

OK so I have conducted the first randomised pick based on the eleven current respondents to the poll - listed 1-11 alphabetically - and the result is...



Which corresponds to Fysh!

So how this will work:

1. Fysh will pick two films, and suggest a specific topic to discuss in relation to them. This topic can be thematic, stylistic etc... Again, the more unusual the choices the better!

2. Drop me a PM and I'll just double check the films are suitable choices in terms of availability etc...

3. Fysh posts a thread outlining his two films, and links to where they're available. I'll sticky and lock the thread for a week or so.

4. After a week, the thread will be reopened and we can start the discussion!

5. All goes well, Fysh will conduct a random pick for next month's 'curator'. We'll eliminate previous curators from the list until every participant has had a chance to pick (if we get that far of course )

Anyone have any problems with any of that? This is a trial run - hoping it all works out, but no harm if not. Preferably we can get it kickstarted over the next few days so people will have a chance to check out the films before or during the holidays

403 Forbidden

Nay!

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

OK so I have conducted the first randomised pick based on the eleven current respondents to the poll - listed 1-11 alphabetically - and the result is...



Which corresponds to Fysh!

So how this will work:

1. Fysh will pick two films, and suggest a specific topic to discuss in relation to them. This topic can be thematic, stylistic etc... Again, the more unusual the choices the better!

2. Drop me a PM and I'll just double check the films are suitable choices in terms of availability etc...

3. Fysh posts a thread outlining his two films, and links to where they're available. I'll sticky and lock the thread for a week or so.

4. After a week, the thread will be reopened and we can start the discussion!

5. All goes well, Fysh will conduct a random pick for next month's 'curator'. We'll eliminate previous curators from the list until every participant has had a chance to pick (if we get that far of course )

Anyone have any problems with any of that? This is a trial run - hoping it all works out, but no harm if not. Preferably we can get it kickstarted over the next few days so people will have a chance to check out the films before or during the holidays

I'm liking the sound of this

Mickeroo

Nay!

I am so relieved I wasn't picked first

Fysh

Nay!

Heh, guess I'll have to figure out what my films are going to be. Talk about hoist by your own petard , I was just thinking today I should work out what my films would be before saying "yeah, let's get started"...

Amirani

Nay!

Is it worth having a stipulation that the 2 films be linked in some way? Either thematically or through actors/directors?

I'd also suggest excluding 2 films from the same film series as it might make comparisons a lot more boring?

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

I'd hope people pick films that can be discussed and compared in a significant way anyway without having to specifically stipulate it, but yeah simply picking a film and its sequel isn't necessarily the kind of discussion we're aiming for. Still, I certainly wouldn't be against someone picking something like the Three Colours trilogy (yeah, that's three films rather than two :pac:), which do actually resonate with each other in intriguing ways.

Also, goes without saying but if anyone wants to participate without having to pick films that's a banning completely cool

Goldstein

What are those poll options again?

Yay!

or




Sounds like a nice idea to generate a bit of interest and share some lesser known personal favourites. It'll be the same semi-communal feeling you get when a film's on tv and you're on twitter! Don't know enough about critiquing films to be writing in depth analyses myself but would certainly enjoy watching the selections and reading the thread. Hopefully there'll be many divisive and polarising films in the mix instead of all universally acclaimed choices. Perhaps a couple of ye could have one selection veto each on the off chance that something is selected not many would be prepared to watch/would find hard to find but such a thing is not likely to be needed looking at the participants. When I read the thread the one film I immediately thought of was Dogtooth.

403 Forbidden

Nay!

So when will we have the two films? Im eager to voice my opinions but in a good way

Lets hope that this thread will work out as it has the makings of being very interesting

Fysh

Nay!

flowrider04 wrote: »

So when will we have the two films? Im eager to voice my opinions but in a good way

Lets hope that this thread will work out as it has the makings of being very interesting

I'm working on it, had two choices picked pretty fast (that I reckon I'll rewatch soon anyway even if they aren't the film club ones, they're both films I like) but Mr Ultimate has pointed out that availability (or rather, legal availability) may be problematic. I think I've found a solution to that, but I need to check it first.

Hopefully we should have the film selection nailed down by tomorrow (I mostly get time to watch demanding films at the weekend, so it'd suit me better that way ).

Fysh

Nay!

Thread with film choices is here. On the one hand they're both subtitled, but on the other hand they're probably still a bit less weird in terms of pure claustrophobic paranoi than my initial two films (which as it turns out are both unavailable through any legitimate channels at present despite being critically acclaimed).

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

Anyone who is put off by a two and a half hour long Russian film, no need to fear - Stalker is genuinely an intriguing and compelling sci-fi classic. The youtube version is just as good as DVD, so should look grand on a TV (remember that all games consoles offer a youtube viewer)!

Also, if you're going to order a DVD online, you'll be best ordering today or tomorrow and you'll hopefully get it before the onslaught of Festivus!

Nay!

Nice picks Fysh, actually picked up Stalker a few weeks back and have been saving it for over Christmas so now I have another reason to revisit one of the greatest films ever made.

I think that for this to work it would be best for the next person to be chosen sooner rather than later so as allow that person to put some thought into their choices aswell as ensure that everyone has time to acquire the selected films.

pixelburp

Nay!

Get out of here Stalker!

Good choices there Fysh, Tarkovsky's film has been on my list for some time now, so I guess now seems an apt time as any to watch it

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

Bumping this for anyone who might have missed it at the weekend, and ignore all stickies (you know who you are!).

Shall hopefully rewatch them both over the next night or two. Been years since I've seen them, and wouldn't have been as familiar with the unique stylings of Ki-duk or Tarkovsky back when!

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

Just to give this another bump - people will inevitably be busy Christmas week (the Internet in general tends to slow down for a week or so!), but if you get a chance to check out the two films before heading back to the grind do watch and start discussing Both films are magnificent, so well worth tracking down.

Discussion thread for first two films here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056832415

Fysh

Nay!

It's been 6 weeks since we picked the first two films, shall we move to the next set of films?

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

Disappointing response to the first attempt - oi, you 33 yes voters :pac: - but I'd be willing to give it one more go. I definitely think the films chosen need to be readily available from a wider range of sources this time (although surprised last time since Stalker was freely available on youtube and Spring... DVD was easily gotten). Probably should include at least one English language choice too. Hopefully there will still be interesting choices to be made with those restrictions.

I still think there is potential in the idea if more people commit to watching the films, but if there isn't a healthier response next time around it seems as if Sad Professor's prophecy may have rung true!

Corkfeen

This slipped underneath my radar the first time around. Christmas may have been a bad point to start it at but i'd happily have a crack with this. Just don't get me to pick the films.

403 Forbidden

Nay!

Sorry, but I forgot all about it

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

Sorry, let this slide. So second and last chance... trying to figure out fairest way to pick a 'picker' :pac:

1. Choose someone from the very small number of respondents to the first thread.

or

2. Allow Fysh do a random pick from the respondents to the above poll.

Without dragging such a discussion out, anyone feel one or the other is preferable? Shall make the call based on the first couple of responses.

Fysh

Nay!

I'm for the random pick, on the basis that it has a wider pool of people.

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

Fysh wrote: »

I'm for the random pick, on the basis that it has a wider pool of people.

Cool, go for it so

Sad Professor

Nay!

My name came out of the hat and the two films I've chosen for the next discussion club are Heavenly Creatures and Let the Right One In. The theme we will be discussing is "sympathetic killers". The thread is already up and will be opened for discussion in a week or so.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056889363

Fysh

Nay!

Sad Professor wrote: »

My name came out of the hat and the two films I've chosen for the next discussion club are Heavenly Creatures and Let the Right One In. The theme we will be discussing is "sympathetic killers". The thread is already up and will be opened for discussion in a week or so.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056889363

Excellent - it's been a good while since I watched Let The Right One In (and I've since read the book too, so a re-watch should be interesting), and I've never seen Heavenly Creatures. Should be an interesting discussion

krudler

Nay!

wahey, I was only going to watch Let The Right One In the other night and didn't, will now.

adox

Nay!

Good stuff. I've only seen one of the two - Let The Right One In but it's been a while so will look forward to watching it again.

Btw, both are available on US Netflix.

Mickeroo

Nay!

Been well over a decade since I watched Heavenly Creatures and there's no such thing as a bad reason to watch Let the Right One In again. Hopefully a few more people will contribute to the thread this time around.

podgemonster

Nay!

Hoping to commit to this also! Only seen "Let the Right One In" the once.

Sad Professor

Nay!

Thread is now open!

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056889363

johnny_ultimate

Nay!

Just a copy and paste from the sticky thread: Thanks to bnt in the TV Recommendation thread for pointing out that Heavenly Creatures is on TG4 tonight for anyone looking to watch it!