The Movie Lovers Club

March 15, 2006
A novel approach to viewing movies with friends is via a movie club. In this manual, Rountree ("The Writer's Mentor: A Guide to Putting Passion on Paper") shows how to set up and maintain such a group and discusses its benefits. She provides tips on how to select members, movie themes, and meeting locations and even suggests snacks to complement the film. Part 2 offers recommendations for four movies a month -classic, contemporary, independent, and foreign -over the course of a year. Summaries, settings, a behind-the-scenes look, and discussion questions are included for each film (their analytical and structured nature, however, may send people home early). This book, though well intentioned, is not likely to inspire one to start or join a movie club; Rountree chooses critically acclaimed movies like "Hotel Rwanda "and "About Schmidt" that were not box-office hits. It may be useful to teachers for student groups or to libraries that want to have movie discussions, but most movie fans would have more fun grabbing Roger Ebert's "The Great Movies", some friends, and a big bag of popcorn. A minimal purchase at best." -Rosalind Dayen, Broward Cty. South Regional Lib., FL"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.