Author Topic: Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned  (Read 4505 times)

DarkeningHumour

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Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned
« on: January 08, 2017, 07:11:40 AM »
We have a thread for movie discoveries, but not all discoveries are single movies. In a year of movies, you find out about new directors, new actors, new genres, new eras; you learn to know yourself better as your understanding of your tastes deepens. All sorts of revelations can go on in those short 365 days and 12 to 500 movies.

What are the five top things you learned in 2016, about yourself or the filmverse?
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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2017, 07:22:25 AM »
1. I like musicals more than I thought. A lot more. 
2. It turns out noir is pretty nifty too, even when things make little to no sense sometimes.
3. Terrible blockbusters are quite tolerable with a couple of glasses of wine.
4. Robert Mitchum exists, and he's sort of great.
5. Personal or family dramas that focus on "normal" human experiences are not really my thing.
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MartinTeller

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Re: Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned
« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2017, 11:22:32 AM »
1. I can watch a movie WITHOUT subconsciously (or consciously) writing a review in back of my mind.

2. Given the choice between watching documentary and fiction, most times I'm gonna choose the documentary.

3. Nowadays I tend to enjoy most movies I watch, because:
a) I'm not trying to complete some kind of list or reach some other arbitrary goal, and
b) I've become a lot less particular/critical

4. The hyperbole is justified: Manos: The Hands of Fate truly is one of the worst movies ever made.

5. Despite my tastes gradually becoming more mainstream, I can still generate affectionate enthusiasm for the latest weirdness from Weerasethakul or Maddin.

1SO

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Re: Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned
« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2017, 12:08:08 PM »
1. I've spent years trying to become the most accurate and trustworthy film watcher you will ever know. An impossible task with so many different tastes. That's something I've learned in my years on the Boards. This year, I've learned that my own tastes are getting more out of sync with conventional wisdom, and nit just because I love old B&W film either. This year, I championed Fantastic Beasts, Hated in the Nation and Don't Think Twice as Top 5 films for 2016 while expressing disappointment with
Don't Breathe
High-Rise
The Handmaiden
Love & Friendship
Lemonade
Midnight Special
Pete's Dragon
The Witch
Rogue One

Except for The Witch and Rogue One, I prefer Ghostbusters and X-Men:Apocalypse to those films.


2. This is fine so long as I am able to explain myself with conviction. My other big takeaway this year is that only happens occasionally. I used to be a much stronger writer (and less prone to grammatical mistakes). This is probably connected to my own recent struggles with writing scripts. I still love a good script more than anything else, but I've become more detached with feeling like I can be part of the group.


3. Much as I enjoy hunting for film treasure, I wish there were more obvious choices waiting for me to discover. Occasionally, I'll hear about a film and it will get me excited, but it's rare to find something I would call Great. Last year, I watched nothing new that I rated higher than 3 Stars.


4. Last year, around this time, I posted about pulling back from the Boards. We all see how that went. I imagine I'll be here until I die. Certainly not a bad thing. All my friends are here, even though some of them don't realize how much they mean to me. (Looking at you, Steve.) If Junior is my Doppelganger, DarkeningHumour has quickly risen to become Junior-Me. (I've had all 5 of your realizations. All but #3 happened while I was a Filmspotter.)


5. I remember when I first joined, there were the people I looked at as wise old souls. Even though I didn't agree with them much, I would always bow to their wisdom. Seems like I'm on the other side now and I'm hoping you continue to challenge me and call me out when I'm wrong. Turns out an accumulation of knowledge doesn't equal wisdom.

Bondo

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Re: Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned
« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2017, 12:33:31 PM »
One thing that became particularly clear is that my time is better spent on independent or foreign cinema rather than the mainstream fare that gets strong but not outstanding reception. Stuff like Central Intelligence or Pete's Dragon, just looking at December.

Related to that, while I don't want to stop being adventurous, "trust my instincts" is probably a good tip. Basically, apply my personal heuristics to film selection, not just general ones like metacritic score. I've had a really good start to 2017 film watching in part because I've gone where I wanted to go rather than where I felt I should go.

1SO

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Re: Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned
« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2017, 12:33:57 PM »
DarkeningHumour has quickly risen to become Junior-Me.

That said, whenever I do write one of my reviews from the 30s/40s I hear DH having one of these reactions:

 

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned
« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2017, 12:39:51 PM »
I am going to say you were already aware of the benefits of wine when watching overbudgeted blunders and you knew about Mitchum already. You had to have watched at least half of you 5000 movies ten years ago, and there is no way there was no Mitchum in there.

DarkeningHumour has quickly risen to become Junior-Me.

That said, whenever I do write one of my reviews from the 30s/40s I hear DH having one of these reactions:

 

It's rather the latter. The second image is for when you get in too deep in niche wells of movies you don't even like much.

Thanks for the compliment though. I know I will never watch much more than 200 films a year and catch up but it is a flattering comparison.
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1SO

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Re: Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2017, 12:51:40 PM »
1. I can watch a movie WITHOUT subconsciously (or consciously) writing a review in back of my mind.
It's nice, right. When it's not for a Marathon, I have the reverse happen where I have no plan to write a review, but if something worth sharing pops into my brain, I'll usually share it or use it to respond to a comment already posted.


2. Given the choice between watching documentary and fiction, most times I'm gonna choose the documentary.
Huh. You've been a pretty good crystal ball for my future but fictional moviemaking will always be my first love.


5. Despite my tastes gradually becoming more mainstream, I can still generate affectionate enthusiasm for the latest weirdness from Weerasethakul or Maddin.
It's our weirdness that eventually defines us. I look more forward to a mediocre Horror or Classic Hollywood film than to something highly recommended.

1SO

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Re: Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2017, 01:01:25 PM »
I am going to say you were already aware of the benefits of wine when watching overbudgeted blunders and you knew about Mitchum already. You had to have watched at least half of you 5000 movies ten years ago, and there is no way there was no Mitchum in there.
I've seen 44 features with Robert Mitchum, 10 before I joined the Boards, including Night of the Hunter, Out of the Past, Cape Fear and El Dorado.

Among his best is the romantic comedy The Grass is Greener, where he battles with Cary Grant for the affection of Deborah Kerr. It's not that simple, but that's a simple way to describe it. It's directed by Stanley Donen and the type of film that gets better as it goes, and plays better on re-watches.

A nice dramatic gem from Mitchum is The Lusty Men.

Bondo

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Re: Top 5 2016 Discoveries - Things You Learned
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2017, 01:03:53 PM »
DarkeningHumour has quickly risen to become Junior-Me.

That said, whenever I do write one of my reviews from the 30s/40s I hear DH having one of these reactions:

 

This is also me.

 

love