Well guys, I think I’m safe to say that both the Premiere events were hits, and I'm very happy to say than I’m now looking forward to future meetings more than ever. So, without further ado:
Group Thumbnail
Of the many surprises that came from analysing the results of our survey, this wasn’t one of them and I’m sure it’s not for most of you. Of the 33 who voted on this, 24 chose Brad and Edward, 8 chose the scene from Goodfellas and 1 chose the woman. No, it wasn’t me and yes, the now legend who did so will be revealed at this event.
Group Name
Despite the overwhelming preference for the Film Club image, I’ve left our name as Perth Film Lovers because every time I’ve use the term Film Club people have jumped to the conclusion that we’re film makers which of course we’re not. We’re lovers of film with Brad and Edward as our new poster boys.
Weeknights
Thursday and Friday nights were the most popular, so I thought we’d start with alternating between them every fortnight and see how that goes. In this way, those who only wish to come once a month can settle into whichever night suits them best. I’m hoping though that everyone will just come to every meeting they can. As such, I thought the more meetings, the more options.
Start Time
With two exceptions, start times ranged from 6:00pm to 7:00pmm with 6:26pm being the average so I think we aim to start arriving around 6:00pm to sort out food and drinks, and start discussions on the movie at 6:26pm sharp. Pretty much like we did for both the Premiere events. 😉
End Time
We’ll have the room till 9:00pm so I’m thinking we rate the film discussed at around 8:30pm to put a formal end to discussions and see where things go from there. Two hours to discuss one movie is probably way too long but at least this gives us some structure to work with.
The venue closes at 1:00am so there'll be plenty of time to continue socialising after the event for those who wish to. As I did for both the Premiere events, I'll be staying so long as there's conversation to be had, after which I'll start my nightshift as Batman.
Venue
Whilst we find our feet, I think it best we stick to one venue and that it be Johnny Fox’s. Once we’re settled on numbers, we can start exploring other venues. I have a few in mind and there are some good ones that were suggested at the Premiere event. Thanks to all those who made them.
First Film
Now… for the moment we’ve all been waiting for… I thought it best to kick things off with a movie chosen randomly from those suggested. As chance would have it, the movie randomly selected by my computer was actually my suggestion of Fight Club.
For those who don’t know about this cult classic, below is a link to a synopsis and trailer. Note, I won’t be presenting synopsises in these announcements as I know some people like to watch movies without knowing anything about them.
https://letterboxd.com/film/fight-club/
The movie is available for streaming on Netflix, Disney and Stan. As it's not available for rent, I've put a link below to a naughty copy that can be watched for free. 🤫
https://1drv.ms/v/c/1679737092c263e0/IQAvmt5AWgFsQo9BXlQBtEHhAYvmgUiYHarxBnWSeyjj0zQ?e=J7L0gl
Sorry guys, it had to be done and yes Goodfellas would’ve been our first movie had it got up. Had the woman gotten up, I don’t know what we’d be watching.
Ratings
I ask that you refrain from looking at Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB scores before watching the film to not be biased by them.
The group’s rating together with these two scores will be posted in the discussion section of the event the day after the meeting. As film lovers, I am very curious to see whether we rate films more generously or harsher than the masses.
If you can't make the event, I encourage you to still watch the movie; let me know whether or not you liked it; and pass on your rating out of 10.
Movie List
The most popular movie of the list voted upon (and by some margin I must add) was Everything Everywhere All at Once with 21 of the 35 who voted wishing to watch it. I’ll soon be posting this as our next event which'll be on Thursday, 28 May. The next 9 movies had between a third and half of us wishing to watch them. Surprisingly, they're spread over different genres which was great to see. With such an outcome, I think these 9 films can happily form our democratically elected watchlist for the year to be watched in order of popularity as planned.
Movies Suggested
The list of movies suggested by everyone is magnificent! I honestly could not have assembled a broader spread of popular and obscure movies from all over the world and almost every decade from the 1940s to the present. All the movies I know on it are considered to be amongst the best of all time. I’ve watched a few trailers of the ones I’ve never heard of before and they all looked very interesting indeed. Guys, it really is awesome.
Selection going forwards
With two very solid watchlists, I’ll be alternating between them each fortnight as conceived. To reward those attending meetings and incentivise others to do so, the movies picked randomly will only be done so from those suggested by people who have attended meetings.
Soap Bars
As time consuming as it was, I had a lot of fun collating everyone’s votes and in fact had lots of giggles along the way. So many in fact, that I’m going to give out soap bars to all those responsible for them who don’t already have one.
So, if you missed the Premiere events but still filled out the survey, I suggest you come to this event for the chance to take home one of 6 extra soap bars. After this event, there’ll be no more… until next year.
For those who came to the Premiere events, please bring along your soap bars so our group photographer Gigi can have a photo taken with everyone holding them.
Final Words
Guys, I am so excited about all of this. The whole thing has so far well exceeded what I imagined and if the Premiere events are anything to go by, breaking down Fight Club is going to be a lot of fun. As such, I’m very much looking forward to seeing everyone again and meeting those who I haven’t yet. 👋
