Thursday, June 26, 2008

Movie Buzz! (June 2008)

Tameshk Interactive Film Club:

Tameshk film club contains four sections/categories each month: we will choose four films monthly, one in each category. The categories are Animation and Documentary, Recent films (from 2006 to present), Cinema History and Film Genre, Miscellaneous and Suggested Film. You can follow one section or all of them depending on your schedule. You can also jump through the movie section each month depending on your access to the films, your plans, your mood, etc. The important thing is for everyone to see at least one of the four suggested films, so everyone can contribute to the discussions. This idea of interactive film club works the best if all of us participate in it. So please do not hesitate in sending in your suggestions. For our first time I fished out some of your suggestions from your old comments. So here are our June-July Films:

Animation and Documentary: Kung Fu Panda (2008) directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson

Recent films (from 2006 to present): Volver directed by Pedro Almodóvar (2006) (proposed by Mersedeh)

Cinema History and Film Genre: Tretya Meshchanskaya (Bed & Sofa, 1927) directed by Abram Room is a silent Russian film. Its story was very confrontational for the Soviet Union era and I think it is still very courageous film. You can find Bed & Sofa along with Chess Fever on one DVD on Netflix. You can also watch it online on Netflix instant viewing. Bed & Sofa is a great example of interesting silent films and also a great example of Russian cinema.

Miscellaneous and Suggested Film: Daddy Long Legs (1955) directed by Jean Negulesco and based on Jean Webster's novel of 1912 (proposed by Hossein). Please note that there is a 1919 movie based on Jean Webster's novel directed by Marshall Neilan but we want the 1955 movie for now.


And here is a brief description of these four sections:

Animation and Documentary: one animation or documentary film will be suggested for this section each month. Documentary film is a category as old as cinema itself. And in general, people do not tend to watch them often; perhaps some recent popular documentaries are among the exceptions these days. So it is good to have them as part of the film club. Animations are even older than Cinema and I know there are many like me who enjoy animation pictures regardless of their age. And for those of us who have kids watching an animation cartoon can be considered a family activity.

Recent films (from 2006 to present): This category will contain both the films that has just come out on the big screen and the new films (from 2006) that we might have missed their screenings and now are available on DVD.

Cinema History and Film Genre: This category covers various genre films as well as the important films in the history of cinema. Each month we will have a short description and history about the film, its creators and its genre, movement or school. This is the closest we get to a general course in the history of cinema and although I am very excited about it I know it may be the hardest section to keep interesting for everyone. The films such as the Battleship Potemkin (1925) by Sergei Eisenstein will be in the Cinema history films part; and the films such as Ossessione (Obsession-1943) by Luchino Visconti (genre: Italian Neorealism) will be part of the film genre section. Although I will contribute mostly to this section, I will be grateful if you also give your suggestions.

Miscellaneous and Suggested Film: This part will be the most exciting category and will contain the films that cannot be put in other categories but we still like to see them. They can be recent or old, well made or not, from famous directors or newcomers, they can be Iranian films that we could not fit in the other categories or non-Iranian films from anywhere in the world.

We should keep in mind that these categories may overlap for example: Kung Fu Panda (2008) is both an animation and a newly released film. We’ll try to work around these overlaps and in a way take advantage of them so they don’t limit our choices .



Charlie Chaplin on a wall in Boston



5 comments:

Nava said...

Hi Tameshk jan!
Great and exciting! Thanksfor starting this club. Just one question, Where (as in "where" in cyber world) is the club?
Looking forward to the discussions.

Unknown said...

Dear Roja, I like to be part of your Film club as watching movies is one of my favorite hobbies. The section I select is "Recent Films" as it's easier for me to access but I have already seen "Volver", so this time I'll switch to the "Animation and Documentary" and will watch "Kung Fu Panda".

P.S. Thanks for making this club :)

Daisy said...

Hello Tameshk,
That is a very exciting idea!
Just have a question. Do you expect everyone to participate actively? I usually watch more movies during the summer because of my schedule so I have more idea to share.

Mersedeh said...

Faaaabulous!

I love the sign and logo and I move to make this thing official and print T-Shirts! [ok...I'll wait until we celebrate our 6-month anniversary first :P ]
My obvious choice for this month is Pedro Almodovar's movie and thank you for including it...I'm all over it!
Can't wait to see you!
Mersedeh

Tameshk said...

Dearest Nava
Thanks for asking: Since I have a journal on Rotten Tomatoes, I thought of making a group there, but Rotten's journal section is not as practical as I want it to be. Then I thought of Facebook, but there are somethings that I should check before I open the club there. So, for a couple of a weeks I think of holding the Film Club here in Tameshk and for discussions we can use the commentary part.

Dearesr N.J.
Thanks for participating and good choice. I hope to hear what you think of the animation soon. Also please join in the discussion for Volver since you have seen it.

Dear Daisy
Of course it will be great if everyone can participate; but feel free to adapt your activities according to your schedule, so it is alright if you are more active in summer and less active during the year, Please, tell us about your suggestions and choices.

Dearest Mersedeh,
I am looking forward to hear your next suggestion.