Like book clubs that swept North America over the past decade, movie watching clubs are the next big thing. It just makes sense. More and more people are putting in high-end home theatres, with screen sizes that might be a fraction of theatres, but sound systems that rival them. Too many of us just don’t have time to get through the next book club title, despite our best intentions. But to show up just to watch and discuss a movie? Easy. And no prep required. Where book clubs would often get sidetracked by onerous demands for food and wine that impress, movie clubs mean that popcorn is de rigeur. 

So how to go about the new Home Film Festival? Here are a few suggestions. For a group of friends or just your own, singular pleasure, try watching a series of films that have a common link and prompt discussion. A small series – just two or three titles – will allow the movies to be watched over a few nights, or will let you while away the next bad-weather weekend. These series will allow you to go back over old chestnuts that you might have missed. The video rental outlets are getting better and better at carrying the other-than-mainstream movies – you know, the category of movie a friend calls, “the little gems” or my husband calls, “movies no one has ever heard of.” So your club or movie weekend can feature many of the nominated documentaries or foreign movies that stretch way beyond the Hollywood formula. 
Here are some suggestions.

Five Card Stud: For mixed audiences, try the three best gambling movies ever made. “Rounders” (1998) with Matt Damon and Edward Norton was under-rated and offers some very quotable lines and excellent acting. “Croupier” (2000) with Clive Owen and Alex Kingston is a terrific movie that became a latent hit in US theatres a year or two after its original release. And “Owning Mahowny” (2003) with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Minnie Driver captures the mind of an addicted gambler like no movie ever before. All three share a slow and intense pace that allow you to savour every moment.

Bob Fosse Tribute: It might sound like a line-up of chick flicks, but three (plus one) movies to best capture the gift that was Bob Fosse are very watchable, multi-layered musicals. None of the Oklahoma! corniness here. Bob Fosse, the choreographer and movie-maker, had a very identifiable dance style and an even more unique movie-making point of view. His work is all over the look and feel of “Chicago”, the Oscar Best Picture for 2003, although he choregraphed the original stage show but died long before the movie was made. 

The second Fosse title to watch is “Cabaret” (1979) with Liza Minelli and Joel Grey. It is beautifully filmed, with memorable music and dance and an absolutely creepy capture of the beginning of Naziism in the 1930s. Interestingly, “Cabaret” won 10 Oscars, losing Best Picture to “The Godfather.” You’ll see the similarities between “Chicago” and “Cabaret” which will make you curious about Fosse himself: enter “All that Jazz” (1979). Starring Roy Scheider and Ann Reinking, the movie is Bob Fosse’s autobiography – and he directed, too. It’s off-beat like so many movies made in the 70s, but it offers great insight into the talented hoofer. 

After those three, if you’ve still got a Fosse appetite, take a look at “Sweet Charity” (1969). Watching to the end, you’ll know why this movie flopped at the box office. But the first half offers three of the best-ever musical numbers, featuring Shirley Maclaine. It’s no wonder the revival on Broadway is doing well – trademark Fosse moves are evident and highly entertaining until the story and direction fall apart. It doesn’t have the unusual, darker undercurrent that make “Chicago” and “Cabaret” so strong, but you’ll be singing the songs for days after watching.

Journalism 101: If I were putting together a curriculum for a journalism program, I’d make these three movies required viewing – “All the President’s Men” (1976), “The Pentagon Papers” (2003) and “Shattered Glass” (2003).

“All the President’s Men” is solely responsible for thousands of applications to journalism programs in North America. Unfortunately for all of those aspiring reporters, this is a once-in-a-century story. The movie is long, thorough and fairly faithful to the story. It is impossible not to want to be a reporter after watching the impact Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman have in the roles they portray. In case Watergate is a faded memory for you, this is worth revisiting. 

Next, “The Pentagon Papers” starring James Spader and Alan Arkin is a made-for-television production now available to rent. Not only is Spader terrific, but this is a story that was as just as significant as Watergate, yet was over-shadowed and is much less well known. The role the media plays in the story is key and another example of how crucial a free media is to a democratic society. 

So what happens to those idealistic, wanna-be Woodward and Bernstein’s when their stories just aren’t quite as interesting as Watergate? They make them up. There’s been a series of unethical journalists in the news in recent years and one of the more shocking examples was Steve Glass at “The New Republic.” The movie portraying his fall from grace – he’s since become a lawyer -- is good with strong performances from Hayden Christensen and Peter Sarsgaard. Made in 2003, it reflects a striking contrast to the Watergate era and shows the shift in cultural values. Once reporters had the most respected profession and now it tops the list of most reviled. These three movies, their controversies and contrasts, should spark good conversation. 

So from gambling, to musicals, to ethics and journalism, these three mini-festivals will have you feeling like the smart filmistre. Get the popcorn popping, call in some friends, and enjoy!