Something I Should Explain Before I Start Talking About Movies Again

When it comes to movies, I think there's something that I should explain.  Whether it's actual professional movie critics, or just people I happen to get into a conversation about movies with, I don't rate films the same way as others.  Most people have there own system for evaluating films, typically suited to there own tastes.  My thinking is that in some form or fashion this is most likely true for everyone.  (It's just that I frequently hear people discussing movies in what I would consider to be "technical" terms.  I hear a lot of discussion about the respective ability and quality of the work of individual actors, the qualities, features, and direction of stories, techniques of directors, etc., and, for myself, these things are not the criteria by which I evaluate a film.  Sometimes, these factors may be involved in my appreciation of a film, if said factors are profound enough, in one way or another, to affect my personal experience in watching the film.)  For myself, I typically judge a film on the basis of what I experience as I watch it.  What or how I feel.


I've seen interviews where people discuss what it was like for them (usually as children) to go to the movies.  Hearing them talk about their experiences, you don't here them talking about lighting, or story, or some other such technical characteristic.  You hear them talk about what they felt.  You hear them talk about how they became attached to the "hero", or truly dispised the villian.  You hear them talk about how the film made them forget about their troubles for a couple of hours.  These are my reasons for watching films.

Now, apart from the usual instances where they directly speak to the experience of the film, there are occasions on which certain "technical" characteristics may stand out to me.  Sometimes the cinematography may so profoundly contribute to the beauty of a film that mentioning it simply can't be helped.  When it contributes to and enhances the telling of the story, when it goes so far as to "color" a point of view of a
character in the film, you can't help but bring it up.  Sometimes the special effects techniques in a certain film may so contribute to its quality that it simply cannot go without notice or mention.  And, sometimes, the story can be so good, the quality of the film's other characteristics become irrelevant.  The thing is, it's about the experience.

It has also occurred to me that I should mention that, again, for myself, there is a certain . . . do I want to call it a "standard"?  No, I don't think so.  Well, to put is simply, with respect to any movie I might care to discuss, there's a simple motto I go by.  It's the same one that determines whether or not I purchase a film, or just rent it out of curiosity, see it, send or take it back and forget about it.  "If I don't want to watch it repeatedly, I don't buy it."  I don't see much point in owning it if I'm not going to watch it again.  And again.  And again.  And, in like fashion, if I'm not going to watch it again, I don't see a lot of point in discussing it (outside of entertaining the curiosity and preferences of others who think differently).  If I end up discussing a film I wouldn't see again, it usually turns out that I don't have much to contribute to the conversation (unless I really didn't like it).  Suffice it to say, there won't be much in the direction of commentary on films that did nothing for me.  I mean, after all, like I said, for me, it's about the experience.  And if there wasn't any, then, there's not really much of anything to talk about.

That being said, it'll be safe to assume that any movie discussed here will have been seen a number of times.  So, this is not about new releases.  Not about new releases!  For all intents and practical purposes, it's about old movies (movies that have been already released and have made the box office rounds).  Not necessarily vintage (though one or two may be included), but, movies that have been seen (by just about everyone) nonetheless.

So, if you're looking for something in the direction of an actual critique or something on new releases, what follows may not be for you.