Throughout 2008, I think I have never really watched a lot of films. I have started becoming seriously interested in films ever since I saw “Coffee and Cigarettes”, and considered myself a “film buff” ever since “The Dreamers”. But now, it’s been awhile since I saw “The Dreamers” the last time, and I wonder if the film still has the same magic on me.
Yesterday, while looking into my archives, I also realized that I used to watch much less films. Whereas Shii had times where he watched more than one movie a day, I have only had that during film festivals, especially the silent film festival last year. But apart from that, I probably watched 4-5 films every month, and every single one of them made an impact. I loved those films, almost all of them, I thought about them a lot and remember them vividly. Nowadays, there are months during which I watch no films, and others where I watch a film every second day. On average, I am now at a little less than 10 films per month.
I have always had lists of films I wanted to see, but now I am seriously treating them like shopping lists with titles to check off. I see some of those lists as positive (Shii’s and 314’s favorites, Jim Jarmusch’s votes for the Sight and Sound poll in 2002), but some of them are quite a problem due to their sheer length, like the list of Criterion films, the AFI 100’s, other critics’ favorite lists. I know that I have always been afraid of not being able to see everything I want to see, but isn’t it better (and happier) to see a select number of titles which I truly like rather than trying to see everything and then feel indifferent about them?
Using lists also leads to another problem – you watch other people’s choices, not your own. While I am genuinely interested in my friends’ lists, because those films go beyond just the film itself, but also says something about the person who made the list, I don’t think it’s a good idea to rely upon other people too much. If I did that, I would never have seen “No man’s land”, “Kontroll”, “Rudo y Cursi”, “A Midsummer night’s dream” (the 1999 version), “A time to love and a time to die”, “Brick”, “Scoop”, “Die Legende von Paul und Paula”, “Va savor” etc. etc. Some of my favorite movies are completely unknown, and there probably is a good reason for that. Somehow, I need to find a new way to choose what films I want to see. But what should I do?
If you read reviews about the movies, say from blogs / critics, you are choosing the film based on what they say. At that point, it’s not just checking something from a list.
I also share your fascination with lists, so I sometimes find myself in the same position. Case in point — I downloaded all Hugo winning SciFi novels. Usually I seek out books based on all kinds of _other_ sources, but I have not used this list approach before. I wonder how it will turn out.
like, 96% of films i watch come from blogs/forums/lists. LOL. i guess it is OK as long as you have enough sources and don’t just stick to one person’s opinion? i guess the only true way nowadays to stumble upon totally novel things is to just walk into random screenings at film festivals?
@Pirrip: I guess there are two problems. One is relying upon other people’s tastes who mostly have this ‘movie critics taste’ which I tend to dislike. The other problems is the tendency to check something off from a list, which, no matter where the list is coming from, keeps me up from enjoying a film without prejudices. It’s silly, and I have only noticed myself doing that very recently.
@Gorp: I did the random screenings thing. It worked amazingly for “Ai no Mukidashi” and some of the silents but doing that is so… ineffective? Going to film festivals is more about the experience of the festival, which is also why I would go to the symphony orchestra alone but not to a movie theater. :D
I keep note of lists and have not really found the blog that made me want to watch a movie, even though I am sort of following some of them. And forums are so full of completely random films! Hahaha. Maybe that is the way to go. Which ones are you currently frequenting?
Another thing I did (awhile ago) is to watch movies according to random screenshots I see, mostly from Movies in Frames, but now they don’t post as often anymore.
i agree with the screenshots – no other blog gets me watching films based on screenshots more than this one:
http://theartofmemory.blogspot.com/
(to me, It’s like the king of screenshot-blogs xxD and they are so well taken, too!)
also love shadowplay:
http://dcairns.wordpress.com/
and this german guy’s blog who writes for cargo:
http://somedirtylaundry.blogspot.com/
(he basically has the most eclectic obsessions with american tv-shows which i love. and through his blog i found out about neglected american filmmakers like robert kramer and ken jacobs. i feel like German critics in particular are uber-aware of all the crevices of american film past and present, which i think is kinda great.)
LOL Gorp – you should write for Cargo XXXD
@the art of memory: OMG these screenshots are brilliant. It makes me want a screenshot blog! XD
@shadowplay: What a Hitchcock fan ahahaha I think I have seen him on MUBI before… maybe that is what I need to do – randomly dig up movies through MUBI?
@some dirty laundry: This Förster guy has a very strange way of writing… So neunmalklug and German, uff. XD Nevertheless, I really like his movie choices too. XXXD
I am currently also obsessed with American TV shows… how dangerous!
Love the art of memory shots, and I have to agree. Also subtle scenic shots found on Tumblr also leave a similar trail of interest.
It sounds like you’re beginning to make enjoying film more of a task, which could be leading you to some form of apathy towards the experience. One of the things I used to do (about 10 years ago) was check the TV listings on the classic and independent movie channels and see if there was anything of interest. I guess in a way that simulated the “chance encounter.” Sometimes passively checking on these channel provided a genuine chance encounter, which was the case for my first watch of Roman Holiday; mesmerizing.
But broadcast tele posses other issues, so perhaps very light “chance” referencing is a good stimulus, such as when someone mentions a film in comparison or tangent to whatever the central subject is; I came across Cafe Lumiere this way after reading a review on Glasses. Everyone is different, but I do believe having a less structured and more spontaneous progression through titles makes the experience feel a bit more special.
So do you watch How I Met Your Mother, and such American TV shows? ;)
Oh yeah, I agree, watching TV channels is a great thing in that you kind of give away the freedom of what you watch, but instead the channels dicate to you what you watch (to some small degree, but they still do). That way you do watch more random things, of course. I just don’t have a TV and probably will never get one anymore. The aforementioned freedom of choosing films at any time makes me so lazy – I can barely keep up blogging, as you can see, let alone check TV channel schedules…
I loved “Roman Holiday” too! Very lovely.
Of course I watch TV shows, but somehow I never got into “How I met your mother”. I saw two episodes from a later season along with a group of people who all laughed a lot – and I didn’t really understand what was going on…
I am a huge fan of “Arrested Development” though! I saw all of it and totally loved it. :D