Portland Movie Club

Join Movie Club members Robin & Nick to kick off the first in a new series on Apocalypse films with The Day After Tomorrow!!

Here's how it works:

1. We will be meeting at Breakside Beaverton at 4pm
2. Grab some food and drinks and we'll spend some time discussing this masterpiece. (NOTE: Just like a book club, we watch the movie before we meet, streaming links below)

Apocalypse, Again: “It’s the End of the World As We Know It …”
Since the beginning of the age of movies, filmmakers have captured our attention by telling us all the various ways human civilization could come to an end. From space threats to catastrophes of our own making, we cannot look away. Is it about all the ways that it could end, or is it really about how individual humans deal with the impending end of their world (or how they handle a future without much in the way of overarching human society)?

And let’s be honest, not every film with something interesting to say on the topic was very good. But a fair number of those are still worth talking about. So bring the popcorn, your “bug out bags”, and your opinions. How do people rise to the occasion or devolve? And what makes a good apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic movie?

About The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow (2004) imagines civilization brought to the brink when abrupt climate catastrophe triggers a new ice age. Giant storms, devastating floods, and rapidly advancing cold transform familiar cities into survival zones, forcing ordinary people to confront extraordinary choices. How do people respond when the systems they depend on suddenly fail? Who rises to the occasion, who panics, and what remains of society when survival becomes the only priority?

The film was a major box office success and remains one of the most recognizable modern disaster movies. It won the BAFTA for Best Visual effects and set a standard for large-scale cinematic destruction. Whether viewed as a cautionary tale, a disaster adventure, or an apocalyptic character study, The Day After Tomorrow provides plenty of fuel for discussing what makes an end-of-the-world movie memorable and what these stories reveal about human nature under pressure.

Tips:

Join Movie Club member Oktay to kick off the first in a new series on Mockbusters, Rip-offs and Schlock films with Turkish Star Trek.
Here's how it works:

1. We will be meeting at Flying Pie at Friday at 6pm
2. Grab some food and drinks and we'll spend some time discussing this 'masterpiece'. (NOTE: Just like a book club, we watch the movie before we meet, streaming links below)

Shlock Therapy: Glorious Trash
What can a bargain-bin monster movie, an unofficial Turkish Star Trek, or a mockbuster about battling giant sharks teach us about ourselves? Schlock Therapy is a film discussion group dedicated to exploring the strange, joyful world of cult, exploitation, and "so-bad-it's-good" cinema. Tiny budgets, outlandish premises, questionable acting - Schlock Therapy explores part of the film world where quality and enjoyment are not the linked.

About Turkish Star Trek
Turkish Star Trek is a 1973 science fiction comedy that emerged during a period when Turkey was producing fast, low-budget adaptations and unofficial versions of popular foreign films and television series. The movie was built around the already popular comic character Tourist Ömer, and borrows extensively from the Star Trek franchise.

Historically, Turist Ömer Uzay Yolunda occupies an important place in discussions of schlock. Originally made as mainstream entertainment for Turkish audiences rather than as an intentional parody of bad filmmaking, international cult-film fans later embraced it as a striking example of the creativity and resourcefulness of low-budget genre production. The film demonstrates how global pop culture was adapted to local tastes long before the era of worldwide media franchises and synchronized international releases.

Streaming Options
This movie is a bit hard to find:

Film Noir Meetup: Pickup on South Street (1953)
Let’s talk about movies! Join Portland Movie Club member Jenna M. for Pickup on South Street (1953), starring Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, and Thelma Ritter. Skip McCoy (Richard Widmark) is a pickpocket working the New York subway when he steals a woman's wallet and unknowingly takes something far more valuable than cash: a piece of microfilm containing secret information. Suddenly, Skip finds himself caught between the FBI and a group of Communist spies who desperately want the film back. With double-crosses, blackmail, murder, and romance thrown into the mix, Skip's latest score turns into a much bigger problem than he bargained for.

Here’s how The Portland Movie Club meet-ups work:
Just like a book club, we watch the movie on our own time before we meet. We'll meet at Flying Pie Pizzeria in Montavilla at 4pm on the scheduled date. We'll typically have a sign at our table(s), but at least we'll try to be obvious and identifiable. Grab some food and drinks to support our generous hosts and spend some time socializing and discussing this movie with us.

A Few Notes About the Film:
Samuel Fuller wrote and directed Pickup on South Street, bringing his background as a crime reporter into a story that mixes classic film noir with the paranoia of the Cold War. Richard Widmark's Skip McCoy is a classic noir protagonist: cynical, self-interested, distrustful of authority, and perfectly comfortable operating outside the law. He isn't motivated by patriotism or ideology; he's motivated by money and survival. Thelma Ritter plays Moe, a streetwise informant who makes a living selling information on the streets, and her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The film also reflects the very real political tensions of its time: Fuller was reportedly told that the film's Communist villains should be portrayed as more sympathetic, but refused, while the film's famous line about not caring whether the microfilm goes to the FBI or the Communists became one of its most controversial moments. Despite its Cold War subject matter, Fuller insisted that he was making a crime picture first and foremost.

Viewing Options for the film:
As of the date of this posting, the film is available to stream for free on Tubi, Plex, FlixFling, and Mometu. For physical viewing, Movie Madness has two copies available to rent. If anyone knows of any additional streaming or viewing options, please comment on the event.