CineVerse film discussion group celebrates 20th anniversary

CineVerse, one of Chicagoland’s longest-running film discussion groups, recently marked its 20th anniversary. Since its launch in June 2005, CineVerse members have consistently met to talk about and analyze a different movie every Wednesday evening. That equates to around 1,360 meetings and 1,330 films covered, with nearly 150 different members joining over its two-decade run.

Led by founder and moderator Erik J. Martin, CineVerse thrived for its first 15 years as an in-person club that met weekly in Oak Lawn, Illinois. During that time, the group would congregate to watch a predetermined film followed immediately by a Q&A led by Martin. The pandemic forced it to shift to an online group in 2020, and since then CineVerse has convened weekly via videoconferencing. Now, members watch each week’s scheduled film on their own time and then assemble on Zoom for a 90-minute in-depth discussion.

Martin’s Q&A sessions delve into each film’s important aspects, including historical context, cultural and sociological significance, directorial choices, style and tone, and key themes. CineVerse was designed as a democratic community in which the members get to pick the movies discussed; Martin curates the monthly schedule from film lists his members provide.

"Watching a movie is fun, but interpreting it, talking about it, and sharing opinions and theories about it is even more satisfying," says Martin. "The real pleasure is in digging deeper to learn how and why a picture was made, the impact it’s had on culture, society, and other movies, why that film has the power to evoke a strong emotional reaction in each of us, and what it can teach us today.”

CineVerse is currently a closed group consisting of 14 members from across the country – including a film professor, a former movie critic, a previous film studio publicist, and a well-read author – who all share a passion for cinema. Martin says the advantages of meeting online versus in person are that the conversations are lengthier and there are no longer any geographical restrictions. In addition to the Chicagoland area, current CineVerse members hail from California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Oregon, Montana, Colorado, and Tennessee.

“I had been in search of an online film buff group for quite a while,” says member Kenneth Chanko. “I look forward every week to participating in this unique forum, which never fails to feature robust and smart discussions on a new movie each week with like-minded film aficionados.”

One of the club’s newest members, David Johnson, seconds those sentiments.

“CineVerse has completely expanded my movie-watching horizons. I’ve discovered films from around the world, across genres, and from voices I’d have never encountered otherwise,” he says.

Highlights from CineVerse’s past 20 years include:

• “Citizen Kane,” the subject of the very first CineVerse meeting and the group’s one-year anniversary.
• Celebrating Christmas in July one summer evening with a "It's a Wonderful Life.”
• An April Fool's Day prank in which Martin promised to show clips of classic films but actually presented two of the worst movies of all time: “Manos: The Hands of Fate,” and “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.”
• Watching a fellow member, present in the group the night of the screening, appear in the cast of “Mad Dog and Glory.”
• CineVerse’s Annual Movie Outing Field Trip, during which members gathered once a year to see a newly released film in a real movie theater.
• World Cinema Wednesdays, when a different foreign film is discussed.
• Occasional ongoing series that change themes, including the films of Akira Kurosawa, major works by Alfred Hitchcock, Minority Moviemakers Month, Cult Films Spotlight, Italian Neorealism Under the Microscope, and Shocktober Theater (the group’s foray into horror/thriller cinema every October).

Martin has also published the CineVerse blog (www.Cineversegroup.com) since 2009, which features hundreds of essays and articles on the various films CineVerse has examined as well as recordings of group meetings dating back to 2007. Additionally, he serves as host of the monthly Cineverse podcast (www.Cineversary.com), which celebrates a milestone anniversary of a movie classic.

“It’s a wonderful honor leading CineVerse over 20 years, and it’s incredibly gratifying knowing that we’ve endured as the only film discussion group of its kind,” adds Martin. “Our group is stronger than ever today, and our discussions are more extensive and thought-provoking than ever, too. It’s so much fun that I’d love to keep doing this for another 20 years.”