 Categories of Movies
Does human life influence movies, or do movies influence human life? It's like the
question, does an egg come from a chicken, or a chicken from an egg? So complicated! I've
never worked out the answer, but I love movies anyway. However, I've never seen anything
in real life like in "Matrix," and I've never seen a real person like Jim Carey
in "Bruce Almighty," so movies may not always influence life.
Anyway, I've seen many films, and each of them left me with different feelings. So, I've
decided to categorize them:
* Movies I didn't understand a word of. To be honest, I feel stupid, but I didn't
understand anything in "PI" or "Night Watch" (the so-called Russian
"Matrix"), as well as in many French movies that I’ve seen.
* Movies with soundtracks I love. These films are memorable because of their music:
"Grease," "The Bodyguard," "City of Angels," and
"Velvet Goldmine."
* Movies that are adaptations of books. When I read the book before I watched the film, it
felt different but was also nice, as in the case of "Bridget Jones" and my
favorite book, "Great Expectations."
* Movies that you should watch with your girlfriend or boyfriend. If you watch them alone,
you'll feel terrible: "Fifty First Dates," "Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind," "Amelie" and "A Lot Like Love."
* Movies that you should watch over and over again. This could be because you like them so
much--I love "Forrest Gump," "What Dreams May Come" and "Dead
Poets' Society"--or because you need to watch them over again to understand them
well, as is true for all of David Lynch's movies.
* Movies that are full of beautiful woman and handsome guys. Who wouldn't watch a movie
that has Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, George Clooney, and Catherine Zeta-Jones all in
it--"Ocean's 11" and "12," of course.
* Movies that have a meaningless ending. All that you watched, all that you waited for
turned out to be just a guy walking out of the scene. In "8 Mile," I expected
that Eminem would be rich, famous and a great rapper at the end. In "Good Will
Hunting," Matt Damon just got in the car, and the movie ended. But I'm in favor of
this idea; it's a good way for a director to give the audience the chance to make up their
own endings.
* Movies that are visually perfect. I’ll never forget the parts where, in "What
Dreams May Come," the colors blur in the paintings as Robin Williams walks into them.
* Movies that make you feel depressed. "Where is Fiber?", which was about two
friends, made me feel like asking, What's next? Who am I? Why am I alive?
* Movies that I've never watched, but said I did. I bet everyone has been in a situation
like this: A group of people are discussing a classic movie. Everyone's seen it, at least
twice, so how can you say you haven't seen it even once? Do you dare to tell the truth and
be humiliated? I told a lie once--sorry, but I can't give the example for this one.
* Movies that make me sleepy. This category includes, ABSOLUTELY, "The English
Patient" and "Signs."
* Movies that I watched on TV. I'm telling you, it makes a lot of difference.
"Titanic" was a great production when I watched it on the big screen and heard
the sound effects in the theater. But, on TV, it was a total disaster.
* Movies where I identify with the lead female character. Examples are Jo, in "Little
Women," and (although it's hard to confess this) "Bridget Jones."
I'll write about more categories next week, along with some other stuff about movies.
That's it for this week--see you, farewell….
Gülay Acar (COMD/III)
howtoreachgulay@yahoo.com
 |
