I’m going to take a break from writing about individual films and spend some time attempting to understand my own interest in film. The plan is to write several sprawling posts about how and why I became obsessed with movies, formative experiences that may have led to that interest, favorite movies and why I value them, disliked films and why I dislike them, the pros and cons of film criticism, why virtually all mainstream print and television film criticism is awful, why I value certain critics’ work, how other art forms and my interest in them relate to film and my interest in it, why (usually) bio-pics are pieces of excrement, why the gently patronizing and culturally pervasive influence of middlebrow approaches to criticism (such as NPR, The New York Times, etc.) destroys thought and ignores the body and the mind, how my personal biases may cause me to overrate and underrate certain films, why I love reading and writing criticism but hate debating the merits or lack thereof of artistic works verbally, why I write Film-Watching Robot and who I think it’s for, and why I’m such a big pussy who spends hours watching movies every week but has no interest or ambition in making one of my own. Let’s get this rodeo started. First, I’m either going to tackle why I hate bio-pics or moments from my childhood that may have affected my interest in film. I’m not sure which one would make a better start. Maybe all five of my readers have an opinion.
9 comments:
I vote for moments from childhood, because who doesn't love cute little dr mystery? No one, that's who.
I don't care. I love childhood stories because it reminds me of me, and I would love to hear your reasons for hating bio-pics because I've had to hear dozens of people in my classes say, "Walk the Line is sooo amazing."
As reader number 4, I will read anything you write.
i guess i'm the fifth. well, i'd be interested in seeing someone put their finger on exactly why biopics suck. but then, childhood is fun too. do what you feel, man.
I am the sixth reader! I am your bane! You shall never succeed! NEVER.
could you talk about me some more?
thanks.
will you be mad at me if i go see walk the line? i think joaquin phoenix is very handsome, and, as biopics go, i'd rather see this than, say, the made for tv movie about steve jobs and bill gates, starring noah wyle and anthony michael hall. or cinderella man. i promise to watch it with a very critical eye.
plus, you have, like, 9 readers.
I won't be mad at you if you see "Walk the Line." I'll probably watch it at some point in the next 20 years, because I eventually watch everything, and I do like Joaquin Phoenix as an actor. I just dislike the whole Hollywood genre of biographies of famous people's entire lives.
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