What’s your favourite movie?
It’s a question that can get just about anyone talking; whether you’re a toddler or a middle aged cinephile, you can likely offer a definitive answer.
Anyone who knows me knows I would place The Big Lebowski in that prized spot, and would be happy to talk your ear off about why it’s the best. But, I’m not a cinephile. I’m just a guy who likes movies.
Brenden Woods, creator of the Fantastic Cinema Club, is a serious film buff, though, and I’ve just asked him his favourite flick of all time. And it truly surprised me. I don’t think you’d guess it. But before you take a stab in the dark, know that Brenden is a big genre guy.
“Horror, science fiction, fantasy, foreign films are what I love,” he says. “But I’m realizing I have to lure people in with a wide variety. One of our biggest screenings last year was Thelma and Louise.” Classic flick.
He’s keeping all kinds of movie-goers in mind for his cinema club, including the kiddos, so families can come experience the screenings together. For his incoming season, he wants some classics from the 60s; cult films from the 80s and 90s and some new stuff too. “I’ve got a few lined up that are just leaving the cinema and will be available for a rep cinema screening.”
If you don’t know what rep cinemas are, they’re also known as revival houses that show classic or cult films, and are popular in Toronto where Brenden was living before he bought a house in Ravenna.
“The rep cinemas in Toronto were a big deal to me when I moved from North Bay to Toronto,” he says. “They were really important.”
“When I moved up here [to Beaver Valley] I noticed there were a lot of film festivals – the Meaford Film Festival, the Blue Mountain Film Festival, but I wanted something on a regular basis where you had a continuous community. A place where you could go on a Tuesday night.”
Enter the Marsh Street Centre.
“I was doing this in my back yard with friends,” he says. “But I wanted to get more people involved with it, so I thought the next step would be finding a space. And the Marsh Street has been very accommodating, very helpful and very encouraging. And it’s an awesome space – their screen is great, the sound is amazing, and there’s a bar.”
He wants to watch cool films, sure, but he also wants to create community. After all, it is a ‘club’, even though it’s in no way exclusive. It’s open to everyone and the hope is that they show up early, grab a drink, some popcorn and hang out. Make a night of it. Watch a film as a group, stick around and chat about it after.
“It’s a fun screening. Many people will have not seen a lot of these films in the theatre. For example, Die Hard is one of my favourite films, I’ve seen it countless times, but I’ve never watched it in a theatre with a crowd,” he says. It makes me realize that I never got to see The Big Lebowski in the theatre.
“Another example is Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes,” says Brenden. “That film was released 75 years ago. I’ve always wanted to see it, but it’s not the type of film I would just throw on, on a Saturday night. But gather a large group of folks together and you create an experience, not just a viewing.”
He waxes poetic about the big action movies from the 80s and 90s when the explosions were all real. There’s something more tactile about a film set that is fake but not digitally created. And just like the return of vinyl and the continued desire for physical books and magazines over Kindle and Issuu, people are craving the more tactile movies from before the turn of the century.
But Brenden worries that a lot of older films will become lost if they’re not available on streaming platforms, lost forever to the almighty algorithm. And it’s a shame because these older films are exactly the ones he wants to show to his son.
“It’s important to show kids these older movies, so they understand the progression of film. My mom raised me on Hitchcock films,” he says.
If there’s a film that you want to see, you can have your say through online votes he holds periodically. With a season pass, you get one dedicated vote, but he also puts some votes on his social platforms @fantastic_cinema_club. This year he’s planning an 80s vote and a 90s indie vote.
He’s careful to make sure he’s choosing films that he thinks everyone will enjoy and not just choosing his favourites. “I really want to see House Party with Kid n Play, but maybe no one else does,” he says and laughs. “So I’m not going to play it. I do my best to play stuff people will want to see.” I’m ashamed to admit that I have not seen House Party myself even though I remember it coming out on VHS. If he does play it, he’ll have at least one guy there. I’ll also show up for The Big Lebowski of course, and really any Coen Brothers film. Also, I’m a big Richard Linklater fan and have been since I can remember. As a kid, I remember loving movies like Honey I Shrunk the Kids and Big Trouble Little China, which Brenden actually screened last winter he tells me.
This winter, his first screening is Die Hard, which is a classic holiday film and one that is sure to get a good crowd out, at the very least to hear the unedited ‘yipeekiyah’ line that was one of my favourites to say as a teen. It’s one of Brenden’s favourite movies of all time, but not his number one fav. What’s that you ask? I know you’ve been wondering.
“Robocop by Paul Verhoeven is probably my favourite film,” he says after labouring over the question for awhile. He doesn’t like picking just one but feels very confident in his choice once he starts explaining its significance.
“The satire in that film is perfection; it’s the American Jesus; it’s a Dutch filmmaker looking at America and giving his perspective on how insane it is.”
I now have to watch Robocop. It’s one I never saw growing up, but I think after hearing Brenden’s explanation, I’d appreciate it more as an adult. It sounds like a piece of art, which we take a second to reflect on in our conversation.
“Art is important; and it’s never not going to be important,” he says and I couldn’t agree more.
If you want to attend the screening of Die Hard on December 9 or buy a season’s pass, visit marshstreetcentre.com
Written by Jesse Wilkinson
