Philadelphia Film Society

For a misanthropic cinephile such as myself, the Philadelphia Film Society is a godsend. I hate watching movies with other people. Loathe the very idea of it. There’s nothing worse in my estimation than a perfectly good film being ruined by a superfluous viewing companion. (Though, if I have seen it before and there’s no way it can be ruined, I may relent.)
Alas, even though I’m fine with the idea of seeing a movie by myself, a little bit of self-​loathing sets in when I buy just one (1) ticket, the cashier surely sitting in silent judgment of my solitary visage shambling into the theater.
This is where the film society comes in. With the frequent offers of free preview screenings, I get to make that transaction via a simple email RSVP. Only Jared the PFS Membership Coordinator knows my secret shame & I get to enjoy The Road, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, St. John of Las Vegas, et cetera in peace. And peaceful it is, since my fellow society members are a rather docile bunch.
On rare occasions where I will tolerate human interaction, PFS accommodates that as well. The near weekly screenings of repertory film – sometimes a one-​off showing of a classic or rare film, sometimes as part of a series e.g. recent ones on Billy Wilder and Stanley Kubrick – and the annual Philadelphia Film Festival are often accompanied by post-​film discussions. In general, this entails a few passionate but slightly ill-​informed old people arguing, which serves to confirm my instincts towards hermitry and is therefore comforting.
As a Philadelphian with a love of film and a deep-​seated mistrust of other people, the PFS is well worth the price of membership

I joined The Philadelphia Film Society a year and a half ago and am so glad. Actually I started at the lowest member rate and was so pleased, I upgraded my membership to get even more member benefits. As a member Ive been treated to numerous advanced screenings of soon to be released movies, most often art house/​indie flicks that end up at the Ritz. Variety though is still offered since I have also attended lots of non-​ritz movies previews too. The screenings alone are enough to make the membership an incredible deal. Do the math.
Recently Ive been enjoying how PFS has expanded and begun great new features such as the filmadelphiaCLASSICS and filmadelphiaINDEPENDENT screening series. On Wednesday night Classics screenings — which members get a discount on, they organize a smart post-​film happy hour tucked away in a back section of Triumph Brewery where we get half priced drinks and food while discussing the film with a small group that ranges from total film geeks to everyday schmucks like me. It’s not at all pretentious, hence my review.
Im looking forward to seeing how the fall film festival goes. It should be great.
If you like the movies, get a membership. It’s so much better than paying for cable crap, and socially, it can be great fun.