Ryan McNeil
What a busy summer it has been for me movie-wise. With the end of it in sight – and in many ways the final crux of it happening over the next ten days – I find myself trying to take a breath this morning and understand what I brought upon myself…for better, and for worse.
Once upon a time I was chided for suggesting a movie get watched (or re-watched) specifically for blogging/podcasting purposes. The prevailing argument seems to be that what so many of us do is “for funsies”, so why turn it into work? Right behind that was the point that there are so many hours in the day. Thus, what point does it serve to re-watch something to be in-the-know for a podcast, when those two hours could be better spent watching something newer and/or more fun.
My blog-writin’ co-horts might be on to something…then again, they might not.
Leafing through the official tally, I see that from the beginning of May until now I have watched exactly 100 movies. Of that hundred, fifty-two of them were watched (or re-watched) expressly for podcasting or blogging purposes. In some instances I was truly happy to do my homework. Other times…far less so.
But as a wise sitcom once said, “you take the good, you take the bad”.
Watching a self-assigned syllabus is tricky. Beyond the fact that it can feel like work, and likewise take the joy out of something that is supposed to be fun, you are deliberately turning down avenues you wouldn’t normally travel. Following this particular road map might have left me grumpy at times (I could have done without FRANTIC and A LIFE LESS ORDINARY), but I tried to hold fast to the fact that I was building a better appreciation of context.
I’m lucky that it worked out for me – especially after my foray into the Shelf of Doom. Setting one’s self a watchlist doesn’t always work out. You end up sitting through movies because you think you should, and less because you would. That leads to thoughts of boredom, restlessness, and increased discontent for the movie at hand. That’s understandable, after all I much rather would have re-watched HIGH FIDELITY for the six hundredth time than enduring NAKED LUNCH (at midnight). But the way I look at it, experiencing NAKED LUNCH and reflecting on it was educational.
It was like a film lit lecture…but without the thousands of dollars in tuition fees.
So would I take my experience and suggest that everyone who blogs or podcasts deliberately set themselves a checklist? Not entirely. If it feels like work, it won’t do you any good. Likewise, swimming out of your depth is a pretty bad idea – hence, no Bergman episode of The Film Locker. My old thoughts about familiarizing one’s self (or re-familiarizing if it’s been a while) remain unshaken, so don’t think I’m going soft in my old age.
If you’re reading this space, odds are you have some sort of “to-watch” list. As you scratch titles off that list through the days, weeks, and months to come, I can promise you that they won’t all be up your alley. When that happens, don’t sweat it – think about the glimmers of goodness the film offered you, and let go of the rest. I promise you, it will make it all feel less like work…and more like the fun that watching movies is supposed to deliver.