Difference between revisions of "Theater Discussion Night"

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Theater Discussion Night

"Theater Discussion Night" (TDN) is a bi-monthly (twice a month) event for adult members and non-members to get together to enjoy a range of fictional movies for educational purposes and discuss the movies afterward.

• What: This event is for the educational watching, appreciating and discussing a variety of fictional movies.
• When: Every second and fourth Friday of every month at 9PM (21:00) Yes, that's twice a month! - Please see the FamiLAB calendar for date information: FamiLAB Calendar
• Where: FamiLAB Classroom
• Why: It's just fun to watch movies together and discuss them with people.
• How: We watch them in the classroom with the projector, duh.  :)
• Who: Anyone who wants to come who's an adult (18+). This event is open to members and non-members. Non-members should be accompanied by a member.
• Food: Food and drink may be brought and enjoyed privately or to be shared but is entirely voluntary.
• Who organizes this event: Dustin and LloydBlack organize this event. Lloyd primarily runs this event.

Movie selection process:

1. Movies to be shown are not voted upon by attendees or outside parties. Movies for showing are decided upon by the organizers of the event, Dustin and Lloyd.
2. If someone has a strong desire to see a specific movie they may request it by speaking to Dustin and/or Lloyd. However, no promise can be made that the movie will be shown.
3. The decision making process has other factors involved which may not be apparent to others.
4. All movies being considered for showing are previewed first by the organizer(s).
5. All movies being considered must be legally obtained by Lloyd before being shown. Only original DVDs will be used, copies will not be considered.

Movies may be shown more than once if there's a desire and request to do so. Please contact Lloyd if you wish to have a movie shown again.

During the movie:

• During the movie, there is to be NO discussion or talking for the comfort of everyone watching the movie.
• Anyone objecting to the movie being shown, in part or in whole, at any of the events may leave the classroom during the movie as it's not mandatory for anyone to stay for the duration of the movie.
• This event is adults only due to the potential for the content of the movies to be of an adult nature (Non-Rated, Rated R, Rated NC-17, and Unknown).

Mini-Schedule Calendar

Movies with a strikethrough ("Movie") means it's been shown.

Next Movie

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Discussion

Basic Discussion Rules:

• Please use some common sense when discussing the movie.
• Please keep discussions peaceful, no arguments are to start. The whole experience is to be educational and enjoyed by everyone.
• If the discussion is political due to the politics in the movie, please keep it reasonable.
• Do not bring current day real politics into the discussion unless they're relevant to the movie.

This is not a platform for anyone's opinion of our current political state.

If an argument does start you will be required to leave immediately.

• Do not bring your ego into the discussion. Nobody is right or wrong in discussing fictional movies.

Possible general discussions could include the following:

• Compare the ethics that existed in the fictional reality of the movie to ours.
• Compare the fictional reality to our actual reality we're dealing with currently, is it better or worse.
• How would the movie reality would evolve in it's future.
• Compare the technology they have to ours. Is it better, worse, totally fictional, a joke, etc..
• (Optional:) Compare the types of people. Are they even comparable in intelligence, etc..
• Are the main characters likeable? Do you identify with the antagonist or the protagonist?

Apocalyptic Movies:

• In an apocalypse movie, what could've changed to prevent the apocalypse that occurred.
• What will happen to that world after the apocalypse. (Providing the world still exists in some capacity.)
• Could one person have been instrumental in changing the course of events.

AI (Artificial Intelligence):

Example Movies: "2001: A Space Odyssey", "2010", "Colossus: The Forbin Project"

• What type of AI was featured in the movie.
• What did the AI have in mind for the humans and could it have been changed.
• What kind of OS could it have been running on or was it totally fictional.
• Was the AI actually sentient and at what point did it become sentient.
• Did it have assistance from a human to become sentient.
• How did the AI evolve over the course of the movie and how long did it take.

Androids (also related to AI):

Example Movies: "Android", "Automata", "Bicentennial Man", "Ex Machina"

• If androids looked similar to real people would you accept them as other people or just machines?
• For men: If there were female looking androids that could pass for human (and anatomically correct) would you date them or avoid any romantic involvement?
• For women: If there were male looking androids that could pass for human (and anatomically correct) would you date them or avoid any romantic involvement?
• Do you believe androids can achieve sentient status or do you believe they can't obtain that status because they're not organic?
• Could androids obtain sentient status by being sufficiently complex to obtain a soul?
• Have you considered the implications of AI in androids becoming equal to or better than humans in intelligence?

Aliens (if applicable):

• Are they even realistic? Too human? Too alien?
• Would you accept them into our society if they were real?

False reality situations:

Example Movies: "The Matrix", "The Truman Show", "Dark City"

• If you were to find out that your perceived reality was fake how would you feel about it?
• If the situation was favorable to you, would you leave it anyway or stay?
• Would you try to find out who made the environment you live in or stay away from them?

Additional discussion questions for this list are welcome. Please submit them to Lloyd Black on Slack @lloyd.black

The Suggested Movie List

Movies to be suggested should be primarily from the 80's science-fiction genre but can also range to other eras and genres as well, depending on the content of the movie.

Just because a movie is in the list doesn't mean it will be selected to be shown. This list is just to give options to pull from.

Current movies in the list being considered are in not of any particular meaningful order or priority.

"Unrated" and "Unknown" movies will be considered "Rated R" unless other information can be provided indicating what it should be rated as or equivalent to.

About the list table:

• Movie titles are linked to their IMDb pages.
• Movies are listed alphanumerically for ease of searching.
• The additional information listed is for those who wish to look for certain ratings and genres.
• Movie titles with a 'strike through' are movies which have been shown. They remain on the list for reference purposes to track what movies have been shown.

The Suggested List:

Note #1 Information:

|Note #1: This movie contains some strange sexual assault scene(s). Viewer discretion is strongly advised. Please talk with Lloyd regarding this if you require additional information before viewing. |- | Lloyd is previewing all movies before they're being shown. So, any questions about the videos being shown that have questionable adult content may be addressed by speaking directly with Lloyd. So, please feel free to contact Lloyd if you have concern about any movie. However, there's no promise that the movie will be removed from the list or not shown. This event is for adults and there are some movies which may feature some content that not everyone will agree with. So, individuals with objection to movie content will simply be asked not to attend for those movie showings. |}

(List table is maintained carefully by Lloyd. Please do not edit it.)

Star Wars Night

"Star Wars Night" was merged into Theater Discussion Night and therefore the Star Wars series will be shown occasionally during TDN events.

These movies include:

• Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)
• Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002)
• Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005)
• Star Wars: Rogue One - A Star Wars Story (2016)
• Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
• Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)
• Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

The animated series shown on TV are a TV show and therefore will not be shown during TDN events.

Suggesting A Movie

Movies can be suggested but the movie needs to be previewed by one of the organizers to know the nature of the movies before its selected to be shown.

These movies are for the enjoyment of viewing of traditional fictional movies for the masses.

If you have a movie you'd like to be considered, you may suggest it via the below methods:

1. Post it in the Slack channel #theater_discussion and post it as "Movie Suggestion: (movie title)"
2. Send a Slack DM (direct message) to @lloyd.black with the message "TDN-Movie Suggestion: (movie title)"
3. Email Lloyd at lloyd.black999@gmail.com.
4. Or manually email lloyd.black999@gmail.com, with the subject "FamiLAB - TDN" and in the message: "Movie Suggestion: (movie title)"

There's no promise it will be selected for watching, it's just to be suggested.

Lloyd Black organizes which movies are to be selected and the suggestions in general. You may reach him on Slack at @lloyd.black .

Please send suggestions to him and discuss suggestions with him.

If you are unable to reach Lloyd, please contact Dustin via Slack by Direct Message him @dustinbcox

Some restrictions when it comes to suggestions:

• I've taken over "Star Wars Night". So, contact me regarding "Star Wars" movies. They will be figured into the TDN schedule but TDN will not be just for "Star Wars" films.
• The MPAA movie rating would be beneficial when suggesting a movie so it may be properly listed. However, it's accepted that some movies, such as "direct to video" types, may be "Unrated".
• Historical or "Based on true events" movies are likely to be rejected as this event is for fictional movies only.
• TV shows will NOT be accepted into the suggested movie list. This event is for movies only. However, Dustin and Lloyd may override this for special situations.
• Very short 'made for TV' series (TV movies) are allowed, like 2-6 episode for the entire series, like many 'Stephen King' TV movies. "Rose Red" is a good example as it's split into two segments.
• Romantic and romantic comedies are extremely unlikely to be accepted.
• Overly positive and 'feel good' movies are also extremely unlikely to be accepted.

Keep in mind, this event was originally supposed to be for fun 80's era Sci-Fi B-movies.

It has been expanded extensively but was never intended to be for uplifting movies.

Serious restrictions - (Movies that will NEVER be considered):

1. Actual porn, hardcore or softcore. Porn is totally unacceptable for our events, no exceptions are made for this. This includes hentai style anime, it will NOT be shown at all.
2. Any movies that are literal or approximate reenactments of real past events. Again, this event is for fictional movies only.
3. Any movies that are religious or have strong political themes. Example: "The Passion of the Christ" will never be shown.

Slack Channel for Theater Discussion Night

The Slack channel for Theater Discussion Night, #theater_discussion, is for general discussion of the event and movies in general.

It's also one of the best ways to contact Lloyd regarding the events, discussing the movies shown or to be shown, and talking about movies in general whether they're on the list or not.

Please do not monopolize the channel for discussing certain movies or a sequence of movies like Star Wars, Star Trek or any other movies that follow a specific theme or story line.

Movie Rating System Information:

Basic Movie Rating Information:

Rated G: General Audiences. All ages admitted. Nothing that would offend parents for viewing by children.

Rated PG: Parental Guidance Suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

Rated PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Rated R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Rated NC-17: Adults Only. No One 17 and Under Admitted. Clearly adult. Children are not admitted.

Not-Rated or Unrated: This means the movie has not been rated by the MPAA or is the "Unrated" version. Viewer discretion is advised.

For "Theater Discussion Night":

Unknown: No rating information was able to be found about the movie after many searches were conducted. Viewer discretion is advised.

The Fine Print (Disclaimer)

• All movies being shown are for educational purposes.
• Anyone objecting to the content of the movies are welcome to leave the event. (If you don't like the movie, don't watch it.)
• In no way will this event ever be for pirating or illegally sharing movies.
• For all events, the movie being shown will be coming only from Lloyd's laptop computer. (The only exception being if his laptop isn't functioning.)
• The movie, in whatever format it may be, will not be available for sharing/copying.
• All movies being shown are will be legally owned by Lloyd and will only come from his own DVD/Blu-ray collection.
• The contents of this page are subject to change frequently without notice.
• Last but not least, Dustin and Lloyd reserve the right to override anything stated on this page.

Some Informational Links Regarding Movies

IMDb (Internet Movie Database) - Popular Searchable Additional Movie information

MPAA Film Ratings Guide

FilmRatings.com (Searchable Movie Ratings)