FOFC Movie Club, Jan. Movie: Chinatown

cthomer5000 · 01-02-2006, 11:22 PM

Alright, the inaugural selection for the FOFC Movie Club is Roman Polanski's Chinatown (IMDB link). It received multiple nominations, and is in IMDB's all-time top 50.

You've got 2 weeks to watch the movie. Discussion begins on Monday, January 16th!

Quote:

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

LETS GO

With thesloppy's blessing, I'm going to go ahead and push this ship into the water. Below is the charter design for the club, which will obviously be subject to change if we find something isn't working (the pace, participation, etc).

SCHEDULE

In general we'll run it monthly, or on a 4 week schedule. We can play that by ear. Here's the outline:

Week 1: Guest Host solicits suggestions from the rest of the club. I would say do it publicly in a thread, since those can always server as a pool of ideas we can dip back into later if needed.

Week 2: Guest Host announces his selection for that month. Club participants now have 2 weeks to get their hands on the movie, watch it, and think on it.

Week 3: nothing. this is the "get the movie in your hands time"

Week 4: Discussion. I'd hope the Guest Host will take the lead here and maybe even have a few prepared questions or something.

Week 5: Begin the whole process again.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Membership

Anyone is free to join at anytime! Simply participate in the threads! Come one, come all!

Guest Host Selection

I will serve as the first guest host. thesloppy will serve as the second. This is simply to get this thing off to a strong start.
Starting in month 3, a random group member will be selected to be the guest host for that month. We'll use a random number generator to pick the person. There will be two criteria to be eligible 1)The person must not have been guest host in the 2 prior months 2) The person must have participated in the last discussion (this is just to avoid the whole thing from collapsing if someone disappears)

Movie Selection

The Guest Host will take suggestions from the entire club for roughly a week before making a decision. While they are free to choose a film of their own, I would advise against it. The more genuine involvement we're getting, the more fun it will be for all involved.
Guest Host should ensure that the movie is widely available before selecting it.

Viewing Suggestion

I assume we're all watching on DVD. I would strongly encourage everyone to watch a Widescreen version when possible, and subtitled (rather than dubbed) when watching a foreign film. If you don't do this already, you should. It's really for your own cinematic good.

Suggestions

Please make them, this is your group.

What to do now:

Watch Chinatown

We'll then discuss it the week of 1/16.

TazFTW · 01-02-2006, 11:23 PM

Heh, one of the DVDs I gave to my dad for XMas was Chinatown.

cthomer5000 · 01-03-2006, 07:42 PM

one of many bumps (im sure).

cthomer5000 · 01-06-2006, 04:17 PM

MikeVic · 01-06-2006, 04:18 PM

I've seen it in my film class, and bought it as a result... so I might be chiming in with comments.

duckman · 01-06-2006, 04:22 PM

I should have it in my mailbox sometime tomorrow.

Passacaglia · 01-06-2006, 04:26 PM

Thanks for the bump...missed this first time around!

Lorena · 01-06-2006, 07:16 PM

Antmeister and I will skip this round since our Blockbuster doesn't carry it.

timmynausea · 01-06-2006, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Antmeister and I will skip this round since our Blockbuster doesn't carry it.

You mean your local blockbuster doesn't have it?

cthomer5000 · 01-06-2006, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timmynausea

You mean your local blockbuster doesn't have it?

If that's the case, that place is a joke.

Lorena · 01-06-2006, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timmynausea

You mean your local blockbuster doesn't have it?

Nope, not the one up the street. I asked if they were able to tell me which one had it and they couldn't. They must have an archaic system... I'll have to call around and see.

Lorena · 01-06-2006, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

If that's the case, that place is a joke.

Yeah, I was pretty shocked, I thought this was a very popular movie

Well, I called the 4 closest Blockbuster and NONE of them have it... WOW!

KWhit · 01-06-2006, 08:38 PM

That is why Blockbuster is teh suck.

thesloppy · 01-06-2006, 08:56 PM

Yay movie club!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dodgerchick

Yeah, I was pretty shocked, I thought this was a very popular movie

Well, I called the 4 closest Blockbuster and NONE of them have it... WOW!

This truly blows my freaking mind.....could it be some kind of reaction to Polanski and his somehwat criminal status or something? I'd say that sounds unlikely and outlandish...but not as unlikely as four large video stores not even carrying Chinatown.

Lorena · 01-06-2006, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Yay movie club!

This truly blows my freaking mind.....could it be some kind of reaction to Polanski and his somehwat criminal status or something? I'd say that sounds unlikely and outlandish...but not as unlikely as four large video stores not even carrying Chinatown.

It must be. I've never heard of the movie (I've been living under a rock apparently) but when I checked the movie, it was nominated for a ton of awards and Polanski won several of them.

Actually, let me take that back... Blockbuster Online has it, so that still doesn't make sense.

Raven Hawk · 01-07-2006, 10:34 AM

Since Blockbuster is a retail outfit, I'd guess that this is what's going on and why you can't find Chinatown on their shelves.

No Late Fees = Kicking Their Asses: They're losing a lot of revenue from their no late fee policy. When the current CEO decided to try to bitch slap Netflix, it was he who got bitch slapped. Corporate owned stores still have the policies, but I've heard that franchisees have done away with the policy because they can't make money. Since they aren't making money there, they need to make money on other high margin items - movie sales. Therefore rental inventory is reserved for new releases instead of classics. Most of the rest of the floor space goes to retail sales items.

oliegirl · 01-07-2006, 08:29 PM

Radii went to rent this today, the first store he went to didn't have it (or the other movie I wanted - Heathers), so he went to the other one close to our house and they had both.

We watched it earlier and are ready to discuss

cthomer5000 · 01-10-2006, 10:09 AM

JasonC23 · 01-10-2006, 01:05 PM

I own Chinatown on DVD. What a classic movie. One of those times when you're younger and your dad makes you watch an older movie with him, and it turns out the old man is really smart (the original The Manchurian Candidate is another "Dad classic" I really loved).

On the other hand, I'm still trying to figure out what in the hell was going on in The Two Jakes...

cthomer5000 · 01-12-2006, 02:17 PM

Did we single-handedly cause a run on this at netflix? It's now listed as "short wait" and I'm probably going to have to go rent it from my local Blockbuster. Argh!

duckman · 01-13-2006, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cthomer5000

Did we single-handedly cause a run on this at netflix? It's now listed as "short wait" and I'm probably going to have to go rent it from my local Blockbuster. Argh!

That sucks, Corey. I just watched it last night and I just put in the mail this morning. Probably too late though.

PackerFanatic · 01-13-2006, 12:33 PM

haha, I will see if I can find a copy and get involved

cthomer5000 · 01-13-2006, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by duckman

That sucks, Corey. I just watched it last night and I just put in the mail this morning. Probably too late though.

If I have to but it, im willing to. Don't worry, I will see the movie!

01-07-2006, 10:34 AM	#16
Raven Hawk College Starter Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Thunderdome	Since Blockbuster is a retail outfit, I'd guess that this is what's going on and why you can't find Chinatown on their shelves. No Late Fees = Kicking Their Asses: They're losing a lot of revenue from their no late fee policy. When the current CEO decided to try to bitch slap Netflix, it was he who got bitch slapped. Corporate owned stores still have the policies, but I've heard that franchisees have done away with the policy because they can't make money. Since they aren't making money there, they need to make money on other high margin items - movie sales. Therefore rental inventory is reserved for new releases instead of classics. Most of the rest of the floor space goes to retail sales items. __________________ Owner of The Shreveport Pride in The CFL

01-10-2006, 01:05 PM	#19
JasonC23 High School Varsity Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Huntley, IL, USA	I own Chinatown on DVD. What a classic movie. One of those times when you're younger and your dad makes you watch an older movie with him, and it turns out the old man is really smart (the original The Manchurian Candidate is another "Dad classic" I really loved). On the other hand, I'm still trying to figure out what in the hell was going on in The Two Jakes... __________________ "I'm A god. I'm not THE God...I don't think." Bill Murray, Groundhog Day

01-13-2006, 12:33 PM	#22
PackerFanatic Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Appleton, WI	haha, I will see if I can find a copy and get involved __________________ Commissioner of the RNFL

01-02-2006, 11:23 PM	#2
TazFTW Pro Rookie Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Honolulu, HI	Heh, one of the DVDs I gave to my dad for XMas was Chinatown.

01-03-2006, 07:42 PM	#3
cthomer5000 Strategy Moderator Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: North Carolina	one of many bumps (im sure).

01-06-2006, 04:17 PM	#4
cthomer5000 Strategy Moderator Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: North Carolina	bump

01-06-2006, 04:18 PM	#5
MikeVic Head Coach Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Hometown of Canada	I've seen it in my film class, and bought it as a result... so I might be chiming in with comments.

01-06-2006, 04:26 PM	#7
Passacaglia Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Big Ten Country	Thanks for the bump...missed this first time around!

01-06-2006, 07:16 PM	#8
Lorena Unregistered Join Date: May 2004	Antmeister and I will skip this round since our Blockbuster doesn't carry it.

01-06-2006, 08:38 PM	#13
KWhit Coordinator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Conyers GA	That is why Blockbuster is teh suck.

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