Why I write this blog

What my head would've done if I hadn't written this

After posting my thoughts, on Twitter and here, on The Dark Knight Rises - a film that has had it's fair share of comments on, with a rabid fanbase hate-spamming negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes - there were a couple of comments that, thinking about them days later, have really riled me up. These comments have less to do with the content of my review/thoughts and more to do with the fact that I have had a review/thoughts.

That pisses me off to no end.

To be clear:

I do not write about movies to needlessly pick them apart.

I certainly don't do it to be cool.

I don't do it because I'm some pretentious over educated film student.

I do it because I love movies.

And because I'm a human fucking being.

Movies are the most popular form of art/entertainment in the world*. Films, like most forms of storytelling, have a power to them. Films are watched by young & old, rich & poor, the world over. They are accessible to just about everyone. Every. Single. Person. On the planet. They combine so many disparate elements: storytelling, visual language, sound, music... They are, to me, something fantastic.
You know what the best thing about going to see a movie with a group of friends is? Talking about it afterwards. Getting excited about what you loved in the film, trying to work out what went wrong, hearing and trying to understand different viewpoints. That's what I'm doing here. I'm trying to get my thoughts on a film out and on the interwebs, and hopefully provoke some discussion with fellow film-lovers. 

You absolutely should not, ever ever EVER, being going to a film and "switching your brain off". Why would you do that?! Film-making can be one of the most involving forms of story-telling possible! Sure, you might mentally opt out of a film if you get bored because it's not working for you, but that's entirely different to checking your brain out before you even get past the trailers. And if you're bored and the film isn't working? Why not try and switch your brain back on and think out why it's not working. I promise the experience will be much richer, and far more rewarding.

There has to be some level of engagement with the action onscreen, there has to be something, anything, to hook me in. It doesn't take much! Honestly. I'm more than happy watching a big-time action blockbuster - but there has to be an interesting character, or relationship, or it just has to be made really, really well. Fast Five is a great example. There's not a lot going on under the hood in that film, but it works. It really, completely works as a fun time at the movies. And I can think about that and understand why that's a fun film and why Transformers 2 & 3 aren't fun films. There doesn't necessarily have to be a deeper meaning to it all, or some hidden subtext. But it does have to engage me. If you're not engaged with a film, if you have no desire to engage and not think about it past the surface presentation? If you just want spectacle with pretty lights and big noises go and watch a fireworks display (which is not to say there cannot be a certain amount of artistry in fireworks).

So. That, in a big ranty nutshell, is why I write this blog. This is why I write about movies. I enjoy writing about them. I enjoy talking about. I enjoy engaging with them. I enjoy learning something new about them, or a viewpoint I hadn't previously considered. I know this post carries quite a large aggro vibe, and I do apologise for that. It's just something I had to get out of my head and onto a computer screen before my head exploded.

To everyone that reads this blog and talks about movies and whatnot with me here, on Twitter, on facebook and in real-life: thank-you.

*You could make the argument that video-games are more popular forms of entertainment, but in worldwide terms I would dispute that. And video-games are not "art", not yet.