Portland Movie Club

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 Originally made as mainstream entertainment for Turkish audiences rather than as an intentional parody of bad filmmaking, international cult-film fans later embraced it as a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.

Portland Movie Club’s Cult & Psychotronic Meet-Up Halloween Special "CARNIVAL OF SOULS" (1962)

At a Portland Movie Club Meet-Up, just like a book club, we watch the movie before we meet.

Let's talk about movies! Join Movie Club Members and Co-Hosts David J, Victoria G. and Jake B for the underground classic “Carnival of Souls.” A spooky, dream-like gem of inventive, low-budget horror. The kind of urban legend you might spin around the campfire at midnight. A young woman survives a severe car accident, takes a job as a church organist, while a mysterious, ghostly figure beckons her on a journey to an eerily abandoned carnival. A perfect film for commencing Halloween festivities.

Here's how the Portland Movie Club Meet-Ups work

Join movie club member Crystal for the next film in her series on Musicals, Music and film with All That Jazz directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse.

"It's showtime!"

Movie Spotlight: All That Jazz
All That Jazz is a 1979 American musical drama film directed by Bob Fosse and co-written by Fosse and Robert Alan Aurthur. Loosely based on Fosse's own life and career, the film follows Joe Gideon, a talented but self-destructive Broadway director and choreographer who struggles to balance the demands of his professional success with a chaotic personal life. The film stars Roy Scheider in one of his most acclaimed performances - exploring themes of artistic obsession, mortality, ambition, and the personal cost of creative genius. Also starring Leland Palmer, Ann Reinking, Jessica Lange and Ben Vereen.

The film received widespread critical acclaim and is widely regarded as one of the greatest musical films ever made. All That Jazz earned nine Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Roy Scheider, and Best Original Screenplay, winning four Oscars for Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design. At the 1980 Cannes Film Festival, it shared the Palme d'Or and it also won BAFTA Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Editing. In 2001, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, and it continues to be celebrated for its innovative blend of musical spectacle, autobiography, and psychological drama.