Elsewhere: Talkin’ Blindspots on Mamo

So something funny happened amidst the chatter over blind spot selections for 2014: there was dissent pointed at the entire endeavour, and it came from Matthew Brown.

Matthew wrote an incredibly sharp post wondering about the value of canon in general, and likewise the merit in trying to suss through it to broaden one’s cinematic vocabulary. As you might imagine, I disagreed with much of what he had to say.

Usually, this sort of position would lead me to pound out a few hundred words in response. However, when the person making the point is a fellow podcaster – and a local one at that – why not sit down over a beverage and have it out on-air. So that’s exactly what we did.

So even if you’ve never listened to Mamo before (and if you haven’t, Merry Christmas), I urge you to give this conversation a listen. It touches on a lot of why I have become a champion for this sort of movie-watching, and challenges my position with a lot of very valid points. The Mamo boys may still disagree with me (though it’s not really about converting anyone to the other side), but my position on The Blindspot Series – and on canon itself – remains unchanged:

That for the willing, there are whole swaths of untapped riches that have been underlined by viewer after viewer. That these riches can provide just as much fulfillment as a rewatch of an old favorite for the umpteenth time. And that for maximum results, a moviegoer must come to these films on their own terms.

Oh one last thing – please pardon my language.