Groups and pairs stroll into the front doors of Columbia’s Cafe Berlin on a quiet October evening. Some stop to play cornhole or chat outside, but most waltz inside, where they can purchase a raffle ticket for a VHS tape, or get Cafe B’s themed drink, a bloody mary. Most did both.
Really, they’re here to see this month’s Moving Pictures Club screening.
This new organization is working to bring the joy – and sometimes the cringe – of B-movies and other forgotten films to the screen in Mid-Missouri.
"I think it's also important to have a like, not, I wouldn't say sloppy, but like a sillier, more casual way of watching films, where people can just be rowdy and raucous and hang out and watch a B movie."Phoebe Gadsden
Tia Sarkar founded the club along with her roommates, Roman Wolfe and Phoebe Gadsden, and Ragtag’s lead projectionist Steve Ruffin. She picked this month’s film, Messiah of Evil.
“There's parts that are really, really good, and it was really not appreciated when it came out, and over the years, has developed a cult status,” Sarkar said. “That’s becoming the films that we program, films that are looked over, or feature kind of campy scenes or star a lot of weirdos. That's kind of the vibe that we go for.”
Gadsden said following a trip she took to Los Angeles this summer, the four started talking more seriously about the project. She went to film screenings with a friend and was inspired by the space the city offered for niche movie gatherings.
“It felt like an unrealistic wish for a while, because it's Missouri, and the Midwest,” Gadsden said. “And then I was just like, ‘Why not though?’”
Traditionally, B movies were low-budget attractions shown as the second half of a double feature. Now, they take on a broader meaning within the context of the club. Sarkar and Wolfe describe it as usually being campy, goofy, and conducive to a casual movie watching experience.
Sarkar says Messiah of Evil, in particular, is “spoopy” – a mix of spooky and silly, but it also has some good filmmaking elements, such as a cutting-edge plotline and dreamy visuals. Essentially, it’s not definitively a B-movie but fits the club’s aesthetic and Sarkar’s personal tastes.
Gadsden said they wanted to create a casual space where people could watch a movie they may not be able to see elsewhere in town.
“I think it's also important to have a — I wouldn't say sloppy —but like a sillier, more casual way of watching films, where people can just be rowdy and raucous and hang out and watch a B movie,”Gadsden said.
Each founder brings their own tastes to the screen.
Richard Linklater’s Slacker is a movie that follows a series of misfits on an average day in 1990s Austin, Texas. Wolfe says the choice for the club’s debut was both strategic and reflective of her own movie journey.
“It was like the movie that made me really like movies and get into film. And it just made sense,” Wolfe said. “It's considered a quintessential Austin, Texas film, but so much of the vibe of that film just reminds me so much of Columbia and living in Columbia.”
Columbia is uniquely situated to accommodate movie-lovers. Gadsden, who grew up mostly in Columbia, and Wolfe, a Columbia native, credit the college-town atmosphere and True/False for offering spaces to watch good films.
Sarkar says they aren’t confining the films to any one genre, but the environment will stay the same – casual and lighthearted.
“There's a lot of people in this town that love the arts, but we have a way of finding each other, because there's nothing more fun than watching good or bad movies with people that you really love,” Sarkar said.
In November, the club will be changing locations and showing a film at Uprise Bakery, projected onto the wall by the bar. They’ll be screening Eegah, which follows a prehistoric caveman who has made it to the 1960s. Wolfe describes it as so bad it’s good.
