Three times in my life, a fellow has deigned to watch a beloved older film for the first time - and not because anyone forced them to! - then come to me with the words "Actually, it's not nearly as good as it's made out to be" before proceeding to try to tell me why it's no good, for no darned reason.
Not the same dude, mind you!
But reader, the films for which this has happened are:
Blade Runner (non-voice-over cut)
Alien
And just now?
Road House ('89)
So you can understand my reaction. 🙃
I know I have eclectic tastes in film.
But all of those are in my top 20 films of all time.
I hung out with a bunch of film students at one time. And film criticism was a constant topic. The difference was they all pointed out the great things about a film, even very bad films. Yes they would get down into the weeds, in great detail. But always found a learning moment, no matter the movie.
I don't like Alien because I don't like jump-out-and-scare-you stuff. But Blade Runner and Road House are awesome.
Movies, just like books, talk differently to people. Isn't it wonderful that the world is filled with so many things to enjoy and learn about. We don't need to like or know everything. ☺️
One of my fond memories of Portland OR. was when I first moved there in 91'. There was a VSH video store downtown. Run by film students from the art school. They were just your typical film snobs, and knew their stuff. In this store all the films were arranged by Director, then release date, not title, nor genre. It was glorious. If you did not rewind, you would be banned for life.
But all the foreign films.... Heaven.
I worked at such a video store, though with DVDs. :)
We had large sections by country and a whole wall just for Criterion films, along with plenty of shelves by director (and one shelf for actors who directed), plus specialized themes as we saw fit.
The owner refused to stock Disney animated films.
We also had a large queer film section that I routinely had to explain wasn't the same as our softcore section, or the hentai with the anime in the basement.
Good times. :)
This where I did a deep dive into Japanese, b Samurai films. Also French New wave, Russian propaganda films, American and French lesbian and dyke films. And of course the world wide Film noir movement. Don't forget the screwball comedies. Here is where I learned how to watch a movie, what to look for, staging, camera angles, lighting, sound, and cutting and great dialogue.
My general opinion is that many films today suck. Over use of CGI, and the lack of trust in the viewer.
@MLClark @corlin
Always watching movies! Before COVID my husband and I went to the movies about once a week. We haven't gotten back to doing that yet.
My youngest is back to it. He also goes to the theater about 6 or so times a year.
Many years ago when we went as a family the best part was discussing the movie afterwards. 🍿