pseudohistorian (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} pseudohistorian) wrote,@ 2008-04-13 16:10:00 |
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| Current mood: |  vulnerable |
| Entry tags: | noncon 2008, übergroup |
Wouldn’t You Like to Get Away?
From 1998 to 2005, I would periodically invite some of my friends (and sometimes their friends, and even their friends) out to see some new franchise movie in a group, since I thought they'd get more out of that sort of experience if they shared it with a bunch of like-minded people. I'd arrange for all the tickets and coordinate everything by email, we'd check out the movie, then go out for food and/or drinks and analyse the hell out of it.
It all started with Star Trek: Insurrection, and I really didn't think at that point that it would turn into a habit...but every year, there'd be some film candidates that fit the bill, whether it was as highly anticipated as The Phantom Menace or The Matrix Reloaded, or as schlocky as Freddy vs Jason.
Each outing of the übergroup, as it came to be called, had its own surprises. Sometimes it could be fun in spite of the movie itself (Highlander: Endgame), or lacklustre in spite of some choice opportunities for mockery (Alien vs Predator). The response could be overwhelming (Attack of the Clones, still a record with 38 people, even though it turned into something of a fiasco) or tepid (The Fellowship of the Ring, oddly enough, which is why I didn't attempt an übergroup outing with the other two films in that trilogy).
It was cool, and often unpredictable, and I enjoyed organising it.
By 2005, though, it seemed like that franchise era was fading. A lot of the trilogies and other series were winding down, and other franchises weren't coming in quickly enough to take their place. When I invited people out to Serenity, and announced that the übergroup might be having its last hurrah, I wrote the following:
If they release a Star Trek XI, or a Highlander 5, or if that fourth Indiana Jones movie ever gets made, I might revisit this, but at this point, the übergroup will go on an indefinite hiatus after the release of Serenity.Well, all of those things have now come to pass. Highlander: The Source isn't that relevant, since it went direct-to-video...though it is supposed to be a real stinker, and I recently got a copy as a gift, so I'm considering having some people over to throw some snark at it (if I can drum up the interest, but I'm getting to that). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is less than six weeks away (!), and Star Trek is growing on the horizon. There are other movies, like The X-Files 2 and even The Clone Wars, that might also benefit from the übergroup treatment--provided there is anyone left who'll respond to that treatment.
I've pondered and agonised over this, going back and forth constantly, but when it comes to Indiana Jones, I'm basically out of time. I would've already sent out the invitation by this point, back when I was doing this on a regular basis...
Is there enough interest to justify trying for a return of the übergroup? Can I really get the band back together again?
