Eavesdropping At The Movies

A film that jogs memories for Mike, as in the process of revisiting Fight Club he realises what an impact it had on him as a teenager. David Fincher's outrageously stylish and visceral story of a generation of dispossessed men finding purpose in violence has only increased in relevance in the twenty years since its release, drawing comparisons to incels and school shooters, but it also leads Mike to recall how it affected his interests and attitudes in his youth. José, who saw it on its release, was on the positive side of its mixed response and recalls trying to convince his friends of its greatness - and is proud to have been proven right in the years since, in which it rapidly became perhaps the defining cult hit. Mike is surprised to discover a sexual dimension to it that he hadn't quite realised was there - obviously, Tyler and Marla's ceiling-shaking lovemaking sessions hadn't escaped his attention, but it wasn't until this screening that he saw Marla as desirable and human, rather than simply present