Best Of MetaFilter

Sunset Boulevard by www.brevestoriadelcinema.org (cc by-nc)

Many classic movies are famous and important without being very entertaining to contemporary viewers. But others feel surprisingly fresh, in the sense that they still hold up as entertainment ... Which oldies successfully make you laugh/scream/cry/think on their own terms, without you having to put yourself in the shoes of bygone audiences?

In AskMe, Beardman asks about Oldies that don't feel like homework viewing, while in FanFare, Old Timey Film Club is announced, and Sunset Boulevard is posted as the group's debut thread (So they opened their big mouths and out came talk. Talk! TALK!).

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

In Ask Me, phunniemee asks Give me your recommendations for creeping, meandering, dream-like movies! Meanwhile, back at FanFare something's brewing with naju ... and Strange Club ("strange & sublime, bizarre & beautiful, arthouse-leaning, unclassifiable") lurches to ecstatic life, with a first viewing set for Aug 12 and first post Aug 17.

Raymond James Stuart illustration 'Chaw Beef'

Weirdly, I accidentally discovered a lot more about one of the central mysteries today: What the heck sort of prank is knotting a shirt?

In FanFare, maxsparber delves into a riddle, wrapped in an enigma, inside a Mystery Show podcast and unknots the origins of what turns out to be the "Chaw Beef" prank.

Hipsters by idealisms (cc by)

In case anyone's missed it, here's a reminder that FanFare's newish "Watercooler" page offers a quick look at what discussions have been most active recently (and you can see recently added TV and films on the FF front page sidebar), and FanFare Clubs has some fun things going on, including:

The Criterion on Hulu Club has added a second film per week, voted on from Criterion's selection of films available for free to non-Hulu subscribers

The Bond Club has been having a good time love/hate/grudge-watching smoove ol' 007, and is about halfway through the oeuvre; not too late to join in and possibly be shaken, if not stirred.

The Mefi Horror Club has been busily skulking and scurrying around the dark places, and just posted Killer Klowns from Outer Space. brrrr.

(also, psst, you can start your own club, and discuss it first in FanFare Talk, if you'd like)