We Launched an Awesome Movie Club With Friends
Early 2024, my wife Kayo had the brilliant idea to start a movie club with some of our friends. The rules are simple: each month, one of us picks a movie. We all watch it in our own time and, since we’re all located in different locations all over the world, we do a group FaceTime to discuss and chat about the movie.
The best parts of this club are:
- You get to watch movies that you never would have picked yourself.
- It’s a great way to catch up with friends each month.
Quick rundown of 8 movies we watched so far with some of my personal notes:
Wendy and Lucy
The first movie of our club was one from a director I had never heard of. A somewhat low-budget movie about a girl and her dog living out of her car in Portland. Since Kayo and I live in the same city, it was really cool to see the typical scenery on our screen.
Perfect Days
Kayo picked this movie, and I’m so happy she did because it was an wonderful movie. A Wim Wenders flick about a blue-collar worker in Japan who has chosen to clean public toilets in Tokyo. The acting and the scenery were fantastic. Can’t wait to go back to Tokyo soon.
Rats
This movie was suggested as a joke, but somehow it became an official entry in the club. A documentary about rats and how they are perceived in different cultures. Many crazy images, pretty brutal sometimes. All of us in the club were pretty taken aback by it, and it led to some great discussions.
The Tree of Life
To be honest, this is the one movie that I don’t remember much from. It’s a non-linear movie set in the 50s about a dad (played by Brad Pitt) who is a total asshole to his kids. Very artsy movie.
Barbara
A movie picked by our friend Conny about East Germany in the 80s. Intriguing and tense story about how living in a state-controlled society affects people and their relationships with others.
The Phantom of the Open
Right before it was my turn to pick a movie, I got back into playing golf again and was joking we should all watch Happy Gilmore. Instead, I asked Siri what the highest-rated golf movie was. It came back with The Phantom of the Open. None of us had ever heard of it. It’s the real-life story of a golfer like myself (read: one who sucks at golf) that enters the British Open Golf Championship. It was an absolute joy to watch!
Hot Frosty
This movie was picked during the holidays and was a total bust. We all laughed at the fact that it was pretty bad, but that’s also what makes it a great holiday movie. We needed this to just turn our minds off and have a silly time.
Flow
Probably the movie that we all rated the highest. An animated movie about a cat and some other animals’ friends trying to stay alive from a wild flood. The story (without any dialogue) and the animation (done with open-source software Blender) were brilliant. Highly recommend!
What’s Next?
Follow me on Letterboxd and check the Movie Club List to see which movies we pick next.
