Serious movie fans have a new way to connect with other moviegoers and seriously talk about what they watch on the big screen.
“This Movie Club” is a new weekly group meeting for free movies and chats at the Electric Theater in downtown St. George, and Beau Stucki, who hosted the club, says the new event offers a real way to watch movies that might not be in the great St. George theaters.
“They don’t really get into foreign things unless they do and Oscar nods maybe,” Stucki said of typical local film offerings. “I just wanted to open up those options and show people foreign movies, classics and all kinds of things.”
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Each month in 2020, this Movie Club will pick a theme and then screen movies at the Electric Theater on Tuesday evenings, along with food and concessions provided by local restaurants and shops.
This Movie Club has been run online by Stucki for the past six years and once he connected with the city and the theater he was able to start strong with over 100 people every week for the first few weeks of January. .
“We were talking about doing a series of repertory film screenings and then it seemed like the city and the Electric Theater wanted that to happen too, so we thought that would be great,” Stucki said. “We got together and thought we could do it as a weekly program.”
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Showing the films at the Electric Theater was important to Stucki as he says he wanted to restore the theater’s reputation as a location for cinema and not just for the performing arts, although he appreciates them as well.
“When I was younger I remember coming to the Electric Theater when it was just an ordinary cinema, but it closed years ago and was bought by the city and restored as a that historic theater, ”Stucki said. “It has mainly been used for the performing arts, musical theater and things like that. It’s all great and I’m a fan of theater and musical theater, but we’re really excited about the idea that theater electric to have cinema in it again to bring this aspect back.
The January theme for movie night was “Behind the Screen: Movies at the Movies” and this week they screened Millennium Actress, a 2001 animated drama film that blurs the lines between reality and filmmaking and takes it to the next level. its viewers on an unexpected journey through time.
Stucki says he tries to choose the theme for each month and the movies it contains based on the discovery, diversity, and engagement he has with audiences.
“I want to have an element of discovery and films that I know are compelling and can fit into the discussions that we want to have,” Stucki said. “Movies that have a bit of diversity and then add titles that people recognize as well, which is why I wanted the program to be free as well so that nothing is stopping people from coming out.”
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The February theme for This Movie Club screenings is “The Course of Love Has Never Been Smooth,” and as Stucki mentioned, films are chosen based on discussions that may take place after the shows. movies.
After each screening, moviegoers can head to one of the nearby conference rooms where Stucki and other This Movie Club members have open dialogue about the movie they just saw, a factor that Stucki says surprised him with his level of interest.
“The discussions went really well so I was very happy with that because you never know if it’s going to be awkward or if people won’t want to speak, but it’s been great,” said Stucki. “There was a lot of back and forth and different ideas and perspectives after every movie showing.”
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Whether you’re coming for the post-movie chats, the food and concessions from the local grocery stores, or the movies themselves, the Electric Theater is the epicenter of cinema in Southern Utah.
“Famous movie critic Roger Ebert has always called movies ’empathy machines’ and I think that’s an important aspect of it,” Stucki said. “It’s that common experience that you can have at the movies and it’s rare that we get people together in one place and they put their phones away for a few hours and they just share that experience together.”
Follow reporter Terell Wilkins on Twitter, @SpeedyVeritas, call him at 252-367-8463 or email him at [email protected].
