Choose Your Own Movie Showing

"Good gosh, Nick! You're talking more about movies than books these days."
"Well, uh....yeah, I've got nothing to say."
Our Choose a Movie Showings have been pretty successful, so I figured we'd talk about them a little. Typically we've held these (we've held about three) as one of our Summer Reading events, but you could do it any time of year.

Our basic thought was, "Wouldn't it be fun to have a movie premiere at the Hayden Library?" Now the licensing fees and logistics of making that happen are a little bit difficult, so we figured we would show a movie that had already come out.

But how do you get middle and high school students to come to something like that? Wouldn't they just watch it on Netflix? Promise them pop, popcorn, candy, and the chance to choose the movie they want to watch! Want it to be even more special? Hold it later at night (say 11pm), so it feels more like a movie premiere (well what a movie premiere used to feel like. Why is it that midnight showings are more like 7pm or 8pm showings now?)

The way I figure it, you could choose the movies in a couple of ways:
1) Ask your members to bring their favorite library appropriate film, and have your attendees vote for their favorite favorite.
2) Choose five films that you think they'll enjoy and have them vote for their favorite.
3) Do a mixture of both ideas (what we do). Have some pre-selected films for the group, but leave it open so someone could bring a suggestion if they wanted.

P.S. Here are a couple of suggestions: The A-Team, Back to the Future, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Dark Knight, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Maverick, Oblivion, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, The Princess Bride, Star Trek Into Darkness...just to name a few.

P.S.S Make sure you have the rights to show the film. Even if you aren't doing it for profit, movie companies (and the law) don't smile on organizations that show a company's work without permission. We use Movie Licensing USA, and you can purchase a one-time license, or a subscription to show available movies for a specified amount of time.

Why Do We Watch Movies Like The Fault in Our Stars?

Disclaimer: I'm cheating this week. I read a book that I could talk about, but I'd much rather talk about the movie that I just watched last night. I figure I'm not cheating too much (as the movie is based on John Green's The Fault in Our Stars), but I'm definitely cheating at least a little (as I haven't read the book yet).

Let me begin by saying that I loved the movie (and once again mention that I haven't read the book yet. I can't comment on how good of an adaptation it was. But, I have on good authority from my sister that it is an excellent adaptation of the novel). The story was powerful, the acting was incredible, and you couldn't help but keep thinking about the theme, characters, and catharsis of the film.

But, I also couldn't help but wonder; why we do this to ourselves? Why do we watch movies like The Fault in Our Stars? Why do we read books like The Fault in Our Stars? Do we like to be sad? Do we enjoy watching other people suffer? Do we not have enough troubles in our lives that we have to go experience the fictional struggles of made-up characters?

I don't think that is it at all. I think there are plenty of reasons to go see and experience these types of books and movies, and they aren't near as cynical and cruel as my last paragraph. I think some of it is curiosity, some of it is having our own experiences and suffering validated and experienced on the silver screen, and some of it is because these movies and books are typically put together better than others.

However, the main reason I came up with last night is this; we watch these stories about dying because it reminds us to get living, and to do it better than we have been. This motif has been told, sung, and retold, and resung a million different ways; but it hit me afresh last night.

We go to see movies like The Fault in Our Stars because we need that reminder that life is painful, unfair, and twisted. We go to see movies like The Fault in Our Stars because we need that reminder that life is beautiful, unexpected, and worthwhile. We go to see movies like The Fault in Our Stars because we need to be removed from our routines for an hour and a half and actually evaluate how we've been living, rather than just what we've been doing. We go to see movies like The Fault in Our Stars because our pain is real, but so is the truth that life is worth living anyways.