The Movie Club

[JohnSBA]

Not having found it elsewhere I'd like to invite your help with this thread (maybe it could grow into a Topic like the Book Club). My wife and I have a 93" HDTV (ok, it's only a front projection unit), and after buying a plane recently we moderated the pain of giving up membership in the Santa Barbara Flying Club by starting an Aviation Film Series.

Now we're looking for a few good films. I found a list here: http://www.coastcomp.com/av/fltline2/avmovie.htm

I'll share the list we come up with once everyone in our group has chosen their top ten, and if there's interest I might also offer reviews of some I enjoy (or not).

 

[SCCutler]

John:

What a resource your list is!

Thanks for sharing; I can only hope I may be able to offer suggested additions.

 

[JohnSBA]

OK, we've watched a few with our small group and some others on our own. Here's a summary so far. Ratings include cinematic values, but with bias toward aviation-related factors.

Airplane - Rating:6.2 - Silly, lots of laughs.
Air Force - Rating:6.5 - WWII hokey effects & plots, some good flying.
Battle of Britain - Rating:7.5 - Some great aircraft/flying shots.
Flying Lady - Rating:7.5 - Good WWII carrier documentary & gun camera film.
Midway - Rating:6.8 - WWII carrier flick for watching with non-aviacs.

We probably won't watch more for a while, choosing instead to fly the U.S. and Canada.

 

[steingar]

There was an IMAX movie called Skydance on hulu. Lousy script, no characters, in other words a normal hollywood movie. But outrageously gorgeous, IMAC quality aircraft footage.

 

[OffCenter]

There was an IMAX movie called Skydance on hulu. Lousy script, no characters, in other words a normal hollywood movie. But outrageously gorgeous, IMAC quality aircraft footage.

+1000!
My wife (who has no interest in aviation at all) found it on Hulu and loved it. I found it on DVD at Amazon and bought it for about $10. We've both watched it several times so far.

 

[steingar]

Glad to help out.

 

[Jay Honeck]

Since 2007 we have hosted "Tuesday Night Aviation Movie at the Inn", at our aviation themed hotel in Iowa City, IA, the Alexis Park Inn & Suites.

We have now shown over 200 aviation flicks in that little theater, always free, always open to the public. It has evolved into a weekly pot-luck dinner, including a cookout at poolside, with local pilots and aviation enthusiasts bringing snacks and beer. If there is one thing I miss terribly about living in Iowa, it is hanging with all of our pilot friends every Tuesday for "Movie Night"!

After we acquire and show each movie, the DVD goes into our collection, freely available for our hotel guests to "check out", just like a library. (Each aviation themed suite has a DVD player.) It is a very popular amenity at our hotel.

One word of caution for you: Be sure to apply for a license to the Motion Picture Licensing Association (MPLA) and pay their dues, or you will be slapped with a threat of lawsuit. Luckily, if you aren't charging admission, the fee is nominal (like, $2 per week).

If you charge admission, though, they will nail you, hard.

And don't think you can get away without paying it. Some jerk-ass from rec.aviation ratted us out, back in 2008-ish, when I proudly announced that we were showing aviation movies at the hotel. I truly had never even HEARD of the "MPLA" before, but their certified letter threatening a brazillion-dollar lawsuit scared the bejeesus out of me. Now that you've let the cat out of the bag to this group, the same fate awaits you.

No good deed goes unpunished, ya know...

 

[JohnSBA]

Be sure to apply for a license

It's such a delight how the film and music industries are reaffirming my appreciation for the Fair Use Doctrine. Since this is in our home, often just us, and we don't advertise the series, we might make for an interesting Supreme Court case. Anyway, thanks for sharing your tale of woe. Hope you connect with some of the great pilots in TX and find a way to enjoy DVDs that doesn't attract lawyers.