PCTV In the News
A Fistful of Popcorn: Film fans' delight
By Mari A. Schaefer
Philadelphia Inquirer Sun, Feb. 19, 2006
Chuck and Gretchen Creesy were out with friends in 1997 when someone commented that they seemed always to be talking about movies.
"A lightbulb went off," said Chuck Creesy, 63. "Why don't we do this for public access?"
Eight years later, the Creesys and their four friends - who had met while working at Princeton University Press - have turned their opinions into grist for 168 hourlong shows for Princeton's TV30.
Seeing an average of one movie a week, they gather in the Creesys' living room every three weeks to review. In a recent episode that they titled "Mismatches," the discussion covered The Constant Gardener, Broken Flowers and Junebug.
They favor "foreign film and indy films - not the multiplex or top-10 grossers," said Marilyn Campbell, the only member of the group to have studied film in college. She shares the couch with Bob Brown, a marketing vice president for Merrill Lynch; Janet Stern, retired, and an active volunteer; and Carol Welsch, a lawyer for the state of New Jersey.
"We don't seem like we are different from the average filmgoer," Campbell said. "We are not experts, we are passionate about film."
Using the station's equipment, the Creesys are also the crew. Gretchen acts as director, and Chuck puts 20 hours into taping and editing each show.
Over time, he said, "We have gotten really good... Our mistakes are getting more and more creative."
He has learned to pull movie trailers from studio Web sites to augment the show and to incorporate promotional clips as the cast gives a synopsis of a film.
Not to fear: If a crucial part of the plot is about to be given away, there's a "spoiler alert."
(A Fistful of Popcorn is shown weekly on Mondays at 8 p.m., Wednesdays at 11 p.m., Saturdays at 9 p.m., and Sundays at 10 a.m.)
Summer 2009