Our Conversation Salons have been among the best Meetups we have had, and it is time for not one, but TWO new Conversation Salons. The first of these new salons will be "Sangria Salon: Inception and All the Movie Talk You Can Handle". It will be held on Saturday, August 21, 2010 at Moody's Pub, 5910 North Broadway, beginning at 7 PM.

Moody's Pub (http://www.moodyspub....) is a bit out of the way for many members, but I have to tell you: Moody's may just be the best beer garden in Chicago, a city with an endless treasure trove of terrific bars. What makes it great? The $9.50 pitchers of sangria, washing down the $8 half-pound Moody Bleu Burger burgers, in a huge, relaxed outdoor beer garden. See the video below. Moody's is right on the Red Line by the Thorndale el stop and it has a free parking lot. Hat tip to Roz for suggesting Moody's; I did my "reconnaissance" and I cannot wait to go back.

What is a Conversation Salon? In February, I defined it as "a gathering of people to have an exchange of ideas about a group of topics". As the title implies, in this salon, we will focus on movies, movies, and more movies (or film, if you prefer ). In the past, we covered a variety of creative topics, but with Inception (which I myself have not decided whether I liked, 24 hours after seeing it) coming out, and a summer of movies winding down by August 21, just movies alone should make for a very lively conversation. Topics to be discussed in this salon include but are not limited to (suggestions are welcome and this list will be refined as the date approaches):

• A completely SPOILERFUL discussion of why I should like or dislike Inception (you have more than one month to see it)
  
• Movies that we are supposed to like but do not, inspired by Roger Ebert's blog post, http://j.mp/d4KOHm...
  
• Comparing apples to apples? Inception versus Shutter Island
  
• The other films of Leonardo DiCaprio
  
• Comparing apples to oranges: Inception versus Hard Candy (if you have Comcast, Hard Candy is currently available FREE via On Demand)
  
• The other films of Ellen Page and "What is she doing on Cisco commercials?"
  
• The other films of Christopher Nolan
  
• The best and worst of this summer's movies
  
• Top independent films of 2010
  
• The films of Sofia Coppola
  
• The films of Francis Ford Coppola
  
• Movies we are so ashamed of liking that we would not tell our best friends, yet we would gladly tell people we just met after a pitcher of sangria
  
• Any other films that randomly pop into our heads (Shaun of the Dead, anybody?)
  
• Any personal experiences YOU may have in film production
  
• Any other film topic you could possibly want to discuss after all that!