Turn the Page

Posted on Author Ryan McNeil

Here’s a tip – when you see a movie based on a book, don’t turn around and read the book right away. It’s no damned fun. Whether the book is better, or the movie is better, faithful to a tee or a complete bastardization…most of the usual enjoyment you get out of the book is replaced by an endless comparison chart that runs in your head. In case you’re wondering how I got on this tangent, I just finished reading Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men. The movie is pretty much spot on to the original novel…not sure if that made matters better or worse for me as a reader.

So I find myself without any books waiting to be read, and unable to buy myself anything new for a while. I decided to grab something off my shelf and re-read it, and given the amount of writing I’ve done about movies lately, I figured a book on films might be apropos. Cue Kevin Murphy’s A Year At The Movies.
The book is a fun and easy read. Kevin Murphy, of Mystery Science Theater 3000. He decided to see movies every single day for one year and write about it as he went along. I believe my first thought when I heard about the challenge was “Holy crap!”. I see somewhere between 50-75 movies a year in theatres, that’s including a major film festival…and people say I live at the movies. But I was intrigued, especially since he wanted to examine habits of movie-going, and focus on certain experiments for one week stretches at a time. Among my favorite moments:
  • Kevin eating only theatre food for a week (Obviously this was before SUPER-SIZE ME)
  • Going to the same date movie with six different dates
  • Watching a week’s worth of films from the front row
  • Attending at least three film festivals
  • Working in a multiplex for a week
Some of it will seem like a movie you’ve watched before. For instance, the second chapter bemoans the rise of the multiplex. I dare you to try and go see a movie these days that isn’t at a multiplex. Kevin clearly loves the movies- only a movie lover could carry out a mad caper like this. He comes up with some interesting bits of information, like why yelling back at the projection booth won’t help you. He also mentions some tidbits that have stuck with me since I first read this book four or five years ago – like wondering why people leave their snacks, boxes, bags, and wrappers all over the theatre floor for the staff to clean.
Writing this blog the last two months has been a labour of love…a bit like Kevin’s quest to watch movies every single day. Of course, at least Kevin got paid in the end. Still, the book is a lot of fun, and a great way to kill some time while you’re waiting for the lights to go down.
Kevin Murphy’s book can easily be found online at Amazon or Indigo’s websites

2 Replies to “Turn the Page”

  1. How have I not read this book yet?! If Kevin Murphy was 25 years younger, I would marry him.
    I think starting in 2008 I will keep better track of the movies I watch- on DVD, in theatres, in airplanes- I’m sure the number will be completely horrifying, especailly when you consider I’ve rented 97 movies from zip.ca since mid-January.

  2. Believe it or not, I know such information about myself, and I’m slightly saddened by the totals…

    57 on big screens
    183 on DVD
    240 total in 284 days.

    Sweet tap-dancin’…

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