Oak Lawn based film discussion group marks 20th anniversary

Chicago Tribune

4 days ago

For 15 years, Erik Martin had a pretty good thing going.
Starting with showing the film 'Citizen Kane' on June 1, 2005, he founded the CineVerse group, which would meet at the Oak View Center in Oak Lawn. People from the area would drop by on Wednesday nights, watch a movie and discuss it.
Roughly 10-20 people would show up each week for entertainment, conversation and sometimes lively debate.
Then the pandemic hit.
The best Martin could offer was to have members watch films on their own and then have a Wednesday night discussion via the online Zoom platform.
'It was like a book club,' Martin said. 'I thought Oak View would eventually reopen and we would go back to in-person each week.'
But the group never went back to in-person.
The dynamic of the club changed dramatically and five years later, CineVerse is still using Zoom as its platform.
The group celebrated its 20th anniversary in June and the in-person format has become a distant memory.
'When we met in person, if we had three hours, two-plus would be spent watching the movie,' Martin said. 'There were typically 40 or 45 minutes to discuss.
'Now we have 90-plus minutes and, as you can imagine, there is much more robust and dynamic conversation.'
Alsip's Janet Pierucci has been a member since the early days of the club and enjoyed the old format. She likes the new format just as much.
'This is working a lot better than I suspected,' she said. 'I didn't think Zoom would capture the magic of being able to watch the movie together. But you never knew how long you would be able to talk about a movie. It was nice watching the movie together, however, we now have a longer opportunity to be able to speak to each other.'
The Zoom format allows people from across the country to interact. While it's still a small, exclusive group, it brings out people who are serious about film.
'It's open to a wider group of people,' Pierucci said. 'We get some strong aficionados. These people really know their films. They are so knowledgeable and have such incredible insight.'
Among the group members are Barna Donovan, a professor of communications and media studies at St. Peter's the Jesuit College of New Jersey, and former New York Times film critic Ken Chanko.
There is a former movie studio publicist, an author, a teacher and an attorney.
'We have some very bright people who are passionate about movies,' Martin said.
The group celebrated 20 years of watching movies on June 11 by not watching a movie.
'I told everybody I would like them to complete a survey, and I was able to talk to each survey respondent about everything from their favorite movies, to their favorite snack at the theater,' Martin said.
'We spent a couple of hours as a commemoration of the 20 years. Everyone was better acquainted with everyone's tastes and talked about goals for the group.'
Through June, the group has met 1,360 times and viewed 1,330 films. There have been 116 people who attended in person and 30 on Zoom over the years.
Pierucci, 62, said that some of the contrary 'discourse' that arises during discussions is enjoyable to her. She said it's not as fun when everyone has the same opinion.
She liked playing tennis in Oak Lawn and saw a notice from the Oak Lawn Park District about the group.
'I thought it looked interesting,' she said. 'I liked movies. I went on a Wednesday. And I've been with them ever since.'
Martin is a freelance writer who is also known around Oak Lawn for his Halloween displays at his house. Over the last two decades, it's grown to 120 life-size figures.
Aside from serious movies, he is a fan of monster movies.
But it was a science fiction classic that ratcheted up his love for cinema.
'The film that changed my life was Star Wars in 1977,' Martin said. 'It was my Beatles on the 'Ed Sullivan Show' moment. I had never had that much fun in a movie theater. I realized movies were a transcendent experience, even at age eight.
'They can be fun and escapist. They can be deep and resonant and meaningful.'