Cinema Lounge, a film discussion group, takes place at 7:00 PM at Barnes and Noble, 555 12th St., NW in Washington, DC (near the Metro Center Metro stop). The group meets informally on the second floor in the open dining area, seated at round dining tables. You do not need to be a member of the Washington DC Film Society to attend.

Cinema Lounge is moderated by Daniel R. Vovak.

Spring/Summer Movie Review and Fall/Winter Movie Preview

On September 14, 2009, the attendees of the Cinema Lounge discussed "Spring/Summer movie review and Fall/Winter movie preview." The meeting began with some questions about Shutter Island (2010). Why was it pushed back to February? Is there an anti-Martin Scorsese movement brewing? He wasn't working with Paramount much before. The conclusion was that many of his other movies have been pushed back, so this is following a similar trend.

One of the men in the group commented that in Star Trek (2009) the women's roles were weak and the new Kirk was too young. A unique comment was: "Spock's mommy bites the big one." There have been 11 films within the series, which is impressive.

District 9 (2009) had many previously-used elements in it, though they were nicely compiled into a suspenseful movie. It certainly beat expectations and is worth watching.

The bro-mance genre has run its course with I Love You, Man (2009). My Life in Ruins (2009) was nothing more than a repackage of My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). The script for X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) was bad. In The Proposal, Sandra Bullock played the same character as she does in every movie. Easy Virtue (2008) was a great movie, especially with the music of Cole Porter. My Sister's Keeper (2009) was good, though the book was much better. Regardless, it didn't make sense that it was released in summer, since it seems like more of a December picture. Up (2009) had natural emotion in it. The first five minutes were better than most whole movies. Many people liked Julie & Julia (2009), though they thought that either Amy Adams was miscast for the movie (as Julie) or that her performance was just dominated by Meryl Streep. 500 Days of Summer (2009) was sweet, charming, and intelligent. Inglourious Basterds (2009) was good, but not a movie for everyone. 9 (2009) was released on September 9, 2009 and was pretty good, and a nice surprise. The Hangover (2009) was okay, but it's better to watch when drunk because it doesn't make much sense if you're sober. Moon (2009) was well acted, especially for a low budget film.

There was a also long discussion about a change in the Academy rules that, now, Oscar picks will be ranked from "one to ten" by voters. In addition, there will now be ten nominees, instead of five. Under the old system (with five nominees), voters simply chose one film, with the winner simply being the top pick for everyone. With the new method, weight will also be given to voters' second and third picks. Under the old system, the best-picture prize conceivably could have gone to a film with barely 10-percent of the vote.