ON THIS DAY in 1897, author J. R. R. Tolkien published his novel, The Hobbit, or There and Back Again. In 1978, Tolkien’s book was adapted for the Rankin-Bass animated film, THE HOBBIT, narrated by John Huston.
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Book Clubs continue to thrive. People gather face-to-face and around the world via the Web to connect over the written word.
Why don’t Movie Watching Clubs get the same love and respect as Book Clubs do?
It was a smart move when booksellers started to leverage the concept of the Book Club to promote their wares. (And Book Clubs that champion reading are good things, of course. There was a time when booksellers promoted the installation of built-in book cases in new housing construction so people would buy more books. Never mind the reading part.)
But maybe booksellers are a little hungrier. There are less than 1 trillion books sold every year. In contrast, almost 3.5 trillion videos will be viewed through on-line streaming alone this year. The movie industry doesn’t really need to create and nurture an audience. The audience is already there, willing, ready, and able, remote control in hand.
Movie Watching Clubs are simple to organize, especially with the help of online tools like Facebook, where you can easily create an event notice and a group to facilitate communication. All a movie watching club needs is a host who enjoys selecting the programming and creating the event. It doesn’t matter if the movies are shown on a plain old tv or in a high-end home theater. The key element is the shared human experience. (Cue the Home Projectionist credo: It’s More Than a Movie.)
Johnny C., fellow Home Projectionist blogger, hosted his first group watching experience on his big-screen television back in the day when a big screen tv weighed about the same as a refrigerator. The night was a hit. “Let’s face it: SHOWGIRLS is an absolutely bust if you ever watched in the theater or on tv. But when I watched with a group, it was absolutely fabulous.”
He hosted a Sunday Dark Shadows group, which was featured on NPR’s This American Life. Listen Here: Dark Shadows
“Once I bought my first LCD projector and installed a 10-foot screen, I would just say ‘I’m watching this tonight and if anyone wants to come over….’ And it turned into a situation where a lot of people would come over.”
Fast forward, and the group of John’s movie-watching friends institutionalized their group with the name (courtesy of club member Daniel Starr), the “The ‘Bleeping’ Ravenswood Manor Film Society,” also affectionately known as the TBRMFS.
The first season of the Film Society featured only made-for-tv movies from ABC’s Friday Night at the Movies because, according to John, “They were only 72 minutes a piece. We could show more than one on a week night and it wouldn’t always turn into a late, late evening. But then again, we did watch SECRET OF HARVEST HOME, clocking in at three hours long, which was crazy.”
In those early days, the TBRMFS crew convened to watch a number of eighties’ treasures like DAWN: PORTRAIT OF A TEENAGE RUNAWAY followed up with THE OTHER SIDE OF DAWN; SAVAGES; DUEL; PRAY FOR THE WILDCATS ; THE LEGEND OF LIZZIE BORDEN; TRAPPED; SATAN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS; DYING ROOM ONLY; and CURSE OF THE BLACK WIDOW.
In its current iteration, the TBRMFS features Random Noir Nights for smaller groups and Saturday Night Themed Double Features such as “Women in Trouble Night” featuring Doris Day in JULIE and Barbara Stanwyck in JEOPARDY.
We humans are social animals who have a need to share collective experiences. Movie Watching Clubs deserve a little more attention and a little more love.
Gloria Bowman is a writer, storyteller, blogger, movie lover, freelance editor,
and author of the novel, Human Slices.
Access her blog at www.gloriabowman.com; on Twitter @GloriaBow
ON THIS DAY in 1973, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in “The Battle of the Sexes” tennis match at the Houston Astrodome. The 2001 made-for-TV movie, WHEN BILLIE BEAT BOBBY, with Holly Hunter and Ron Silver, documented this event.
IT’S “TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY”, mateys, and if you didn’t hoard enough Pieces of Eight to enroll in Essential Pirate-ese this fall, there’s still hope for you! Aye, that’s right! Pirate movies!
While the veracity of pirate-speak in these films cannot be confirmed, and while not all of these suggested films will shiver your timbers, they’re all highly pirate-esque. And most of them are available somewhere on the high, streaming seas (or via disk). In no particular order:
PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003; Johnny Depp) Faithfully based on the very popular Disney park attraction. Tongue-in-cheek, non-stop action; followed by two sequels, this is the best of the three. “Excels in such departments as buried treasure, pirates’ caves, pet parrots and walking the plank, although there is a shortage of eye patches and hooks.” –Roger Ebert 
THE SEA HAWK (1940; Errol Flynn, Claude Rains) Quintessential pirate movie. Terrific score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. “As good an old-time adventure as you’ll find. It has great ships, sea battles, swordplay, spies, slaves, Spaniards, even a little smooching.” –Danny Peary 
THE PRINCESS AND THE PIRATE (1944; Bob Hope, Virginia Mayo) Walter Slezak was born to play a stereotypical swashbuckler. Hope… was not, but he and Walter Brennan are both hilarious in one of Hope’s best movies. “One of Bob’s wackiest; great closing gag.” –Leonard Maltin 
THE PIRATE MOVIE (1982; Kristy McNichol, Christopher Atkins) Yet another failed attempt to revive the pirate movie only set back the genre even further. Rated a paltry 9% on RottenTomatoes.com 
CAPTAIN BLOOD (1935; Errol Flynn, Basil Rathbone) Fantastic swordplay and pirate clichés in this spirited Michael Curtiz film have never been equalled. “Flynn has the smile and dash.” –Pauline Kael
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE (1983; Kevin Kline, Linda Ronstadt) OK adaptation of the Gilbert and Sullivan musical. “Pirate King Kline is definitely the most dashing thing since Errol Flynn swung from his last chandelier.” –Time Out
SWASHBUCKLER (1976; Robert Shaw, Peter Boyle) This is a so-so attempt at reviving the spirit of Errol Flynn. “Better technically than the classics of the 1930s, but in terms of vision, it’s a blood relative of, well, ‘Captain Blood.’” –Roger Ebert
YELLOWBEARD (1983; Graham Chapman, Cheech Marin, James Mason) Embarrassing effort at a spoof should have been much better, considering the writers were Graham Chapman and Peter Cook. “BOMB; Appalling waste of talent” –Leonard Maltin 
THE PIRATE (1948; Judy Garland, Gene Kelly) Colorful Vincente Minnelli musical with a Cole Porter score, plus an appearance by the wonderful Nicholas Brothers dancing duo. “Though it doesn’t quite work, and it’s all a bit broad, it doesn’t sour in the memory. ” –Pauline Kael
TREASURE ISLAND (1950; Bobby Driscoll) There may never be as perfect a pirate as Robert Newton in this fun, lively Disney adaptation. “The best film version of the familiar Stevenson story.” –TV Guide
Ahoy! A few more: AGAINST ALL FLAGS, HOOK, LONG JOHN SILVER, MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND, CAPTAIN KIDD, BLACKBEARD’S GHOST, and, of course, PETER PAN.
An estimated 10,000 people attended this summer’s first annual Cat Video Film Festival, presented by the Walker Art Center of Minneapolis. Indeed, we love to watch our kitties.
Yet, there is a certain dearth of full-length movies that actually star our furry friends. Among the short list of films with felines in leading roles are THAT DARN CAT (1965) with Hayley Mills; the absolutely wonderful and overlooked gem HARRY and TONTO (1974) starring Art Carney; THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE (1978) with Dean Jones and Sandy Duncan; and RHUBARB (1951) with Ray Milland.
Perhaps because they can be known to be a bit diva like, cats can capture starring roles when they take on animated forms in classics such as FRITZ THE CAT,(1972); THE ARISTOCATS (1970); GAY PURR-EE (1962); and GARFIELD (2004).
A few compelling creatures that have found one-hit-wonder fame in co-starring roles like Pyewacket in BELL, BOOK & CANDLE (1958); Cat from BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (1961); and Baby from BRINGING UP BABY (1938).
And some cats get screen credit and celebrity by not doing much of anything at all but be fascinating to look at (true to their inner cat personalities), like Mr. Bigglesworth from the AUSTIN POWERS movies.
A home theater night featuring a lineup of cat movies (tuna anyone?) would be a definite crowd pleaser. On the positive side, the limited choices make deciding what to watch an easier task.
I wonder what cats think of being marginalized by Hollywood. It seems to me there’s gold to be made if someone can come up with the right script for a feature film starring our most beloved cat characters on YouTube.
Gloria Bowman is a writer, storyteller, blogger, movie lover, freelance editor,
and author of the novel, Human Slices.
Access her blog at www.gloriabowman.com; on Twitter @GloriaBow
ON THIS DAY in 1952, Charlie Chaplin’s re-entry permit to the United States was revoked as a result of arrangements between FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and the Immigration and Naturalization Service. This part of Chaplin’s life was dramatized in the 1992 biographical film, CHAPLIN, starring Robert Downey Jr.
ON THIS DAY in 1975, heiress, kidnap victim and Symbionese Liberation Army member Patty Hearst was arrested by the FBI in San Francisco. In 1988, director Paul Schrader’s film, PATTY HEARST, dramatized the events leading to Hearst’s arrest.
- Birthday: September 18, 1905
- Grew up in: the slum neighborhoods of Stockholm, Sweden
- Real name: Greta Lovisa Gustafsson
- First job: soap-lather girl in a Stockholm barbershop
- First spoken words in a movie (video, below): “Give me a whiskey, ginger ale on the side, and don’t be stingy, baby.”
- Marriages or children: None
- Turned down the leading role in: DARK VICTORY (taken by Bette Davis)
- How she described her final film, TWO-FACED WOMAN: “My grave.”
- Fun fact: Once modeled hats for a department store catalog
- Quote: “I never said, ‘I want to be alone.’ I only said, ‘I want to be let alone.’ There is a world of difference.”
“Garbo Talks!” was the advertising slogan for the 1930 film, ANNA CHRISTIE, in which Garbo spoke her first words…
ON THIS DAY in 1849, American abolitionist Harriet Tubman and her two brothers escaped from slavery. Tubman’s escape was depicted in the 1978 made-for-TV movie, A WOMAN CALLED MOSES, starring Cicely Tyson and narrated by Orson Welles.
If you spent most of your time watching movies this past week, you might have missed these articles here at Home Projectionist:
- Shoes and Sex and More Shoes
- Bond. Jerry Bond…
- “You make this very room a theater”: An Alfred Hitchcock Quiz
- Three Projectors + Blank Room = New Reality
- Algorithms: Hunters and Gatherers No More
- The Great Fred Astaire (clip)
- Rome, Romance, and the Aperol Spritz
- Reel History Archive
- Poetry in Motion: MAN ON WIRE
- A Perfect Double Feature: ZERO HOUR and AIRPLANE!
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ON THIS DAY in 1955, Juan Perón was ousted as President of Argentina when a nationalist Catholic group led the Revolución Libertadora. Perón’s tenure as President was dramatized in the 1996 film, EVITA, with Jonathan Pryce and Madonna.
I have never been obsessed with super spike heels that cost more than my monthly rent. Nonetheless, I have to admit that I have too many pairs of the hundred dollar or less variety stacked up in my closets. I am not immune to the power of the shoe.
In the new documentary GOD SAVE MY SHOES (2011), director Julie Benasra attempts to explore the meaning of some women’s obsession with the spike heel. The film provides an interesting and albeit sometimes wacky collection of interviews with celebrities, avid shoe collectors, sociologists, shoe designers, and cultural observers (one of whom seems to think that women never talked about sex and relationships before Sex & the City appeared on television).
Although uneven and oddly like an infomercial at times, the film does cover a wide range of subjects, providing some good fun facts to use at cocktail parties, such as shoes being a $40 billion industry and that you can take classes to learn how to walk in preposterous pumps.
Comments and clips featuring burlesque artist Dita Von Teese are designed to be titillating, and we learn of some compelling theories, one putting the forth the notion that the reason the spike is so sexy is that it forces the foot to emulate the shape it takes when a woman has an orgasm.
We hear from a plastic surgeon who specializes in fixing feet damaged by the hellish high heel. And the director of Toronto’s Bata Shoe Museum takes us into her archives for a look at the shoe’s place in history. Men smartened up and stopped wearing heels after a few years of doing so in the French court, but women have carried on the tradition thanks to cultural icons like Betty Boop.Shoe designer Pierre Hardy says, “I think women find some pleasure in the pain.” Why is that men who would never wear such contraptions are the leading designers?
I know many people will shake their heads while watching this, but it is entertaining and clever if you can ignore the disdain you may feel for some of the commentators. I will keep this documentary in my file for future use. Perhaps it would be a good opening piece when showing something like KINKY BOOTS.
Gloria Bowman is a writer, storyteller, blogger, movie lover, freelance editor,
and author of the novel, Human Slices.
Access her blog at www.gloriabowman.com; on Twitter @GloriaBow
ON THIS DAY in 2008, global financial services firm Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. The 2011 HBO movie TOO BIG TO FAIL recounted the events that led to the the largest Chapter 11 filing in U.S. history.
Good evening. A perfect time to take your favorite tuxedo out of mothballs, don your string of pearls or put on your top hat. It’s time to ring the chauffeur: you’re ready to be taken to the theater. Tonight’s performance has gotten killer reviews. As a matter of fact, we hear that the one critic who gave it a rather poor review has gone into an early and somewhat permanent ‘retirement’, so to speak. At any rate, the curtain is rising. Enjoy.
Good luck, Mr. Thornhill, wherever you are…
Take the Quiz!(*The quiz title was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest: “Something wrong with your eyes?” “Yes”, says the sunglass-clad Roger O. Thornhill (Cary Grant), “They’re sensitive to questions”. Vandamm (James Mason) dismisses Thornhill’s denials that he is George Kaplan: “With such expert playacting, you make this very room a theater.”)
ON THIS DAY in 1812, Napoleon’s French Grande Armée entered Moscow, causing the great Fire of Moscow as Russian citizens and troops abandoned the city. This series of events was dramatized in the 2002 European TV mini-series, NAPOLEON.
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