Author Topic: Cinephilia  (Read 1970 times)

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Cinephilia
« on: July 31, 2017, 02:49:40 PM »
We've talked about this in threads here and there, but it seems that as this community has grown there has been a shifting attitude towards watching movies in a lot of they key members. Lots of us were watching hundreds of movies a year, but that seems to have waned for a lot of us.

I'm not here to accuse or condemn either those watching more or less or the same as they did before, I just thought it might be interesting to have a discussion about how we see movies as they fit into our lives and when and why those habits might have been established and if/when they changed. We all here love movies, but it seems a lot of us have found things we've loved enough to take us away from spending so much time from movies.

For me, it all began as an academic exercise. A film class led to watching a movie a week and writing about it and I just kept doing it, got two degrees focusing focused on film and was watching 300+ movies a year during that time. And then I finished school (for now).

I realized how much of my life I spent in isolation watching movies and how little I had built anything outside of that. I had no real community where I lived, just online communities of disparate people across the world. Now, I loved those relationships, but there's something about face-to-face interaction that I'd been sourly lacking.

Now I'm only watching 2-3 movies a week and much more likely to go see films with friends and family instead of isolation. I'm not sure I regret all the time I spent watching and writing about movies before, but I feel like my life is probably in a better place than it was even as I go through harder things.

I guess in general then I'll just ask is when did you first get into film and how has that evolved over time?

Jared

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Re: Cinephilia
« Reply #1 on: July 31, 2017, 03:25:14 PM »
I just took advantage of my college's wonderful library, fitting in canonical films, maybe one a day. Never really looked back and am always finding new paths to go down.

In general I've always watched movies when the people in my life set aside their time for video games or tv. Now, my usual routine is to get home from work, make/get dinner, kid bedtime process, work out, watch movie. My wife works night shifts so if she's gone I cant go work out, so I save things I need to watch on the big screen or with long runtimes for those days...otherwise I watch something on my laptop or Ipad while she watches her shows.


MartinTeller

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Re: Cinephilia
« Reply #2 on: July 31, 2017, 03:36:51 PM »
My first taste of cinephilia was in 2000 when I bought a DVD player on a whim. I'd always enjoyed movies but sudden access to pristine quality and fascinating bonus features really opened them up to me. At the same time I was living a very solitary existence, so it was something to do without having to socialize.

The following year I met the woman who would eventually become my first wife. At first, we went out to the movies every weekend. But as the relationship soured, I was less inclined to spend my time watching any dumb Hollywood nonsense (her movie tastes basically boiled down to "anything with a celebrity she thinks is cute or glamorous") so I'd stay at home digging deep into the classics while she went out to see whatever Kate Hudson thing was playing. I essentially spent about 10 years doing almost nothing but watching (and writing about) movies because I had nothing going on in my terrible marriage and nothing going on outside of it either. I was a movie hermit.

Being with my current wife, I want to do everything with her. She's not as into movies as I am but we watch a couple a month. We spend more time watching TV shows, which we more easily agree on. When I was a "cinephile", the most important thing was being by myself. With Carrie, I don't care that I'm spending so much less time watching movies because the most important thing is having her next to me, no matter what we're doing. I'm much happier this way. SO much happier.

That doesn't mean I think cinephilia is an inherently bad thing or that you should "get a life" or something if you're immersed in film. For me, however, it was an obsession that in the end didn't give me much except sort of an escape from a bad marriage. What do I have to show for it? Who cares that I've seen practically everything Ingmar Bergman ever directed? Not even you guys really care, and why should you?

Still, I don't really regret the time I spent watching and writing about movies for so long. It did give me 1) several beloved favorites that I probably would have never seen otherwise and 2) a few moments where I was really proud of what I had written. What I regret is the situation that led me to cinephilia: foolishly sticking with a relationship that was clearly no good for me.

Jared

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Re: Cinephilia
« Reply #3 on: July 31, 2017, 04:05:44 PM »
Do you find your screentime is close to the same with the transition to TV and watching with some one else?

1SO

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Re: Cinephilia
« Reply #4 on: July 31, 2017, 04:09:07 PM »
1SO - Casual Movie Watcher, full of hopes and dreams







1SO after I Check Movies, Filmspotting and a failed writing career


MartinTeller

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Re: Cinephilia
« Reply #5 on: July 31, 2017, 04:16:30 PM »
Do you find your screentime is close to the same with the transition to TV and watching with some one else?

Ooh, that's a good question. Not quite so much, because we do sometimes spend time with friends or family, and we sometimes do non-screen things together. But we do tend to spend most of our leisure on the couch, watching stuff.

oldkid

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Re: Cinephilia
« Reply #6 on: July 31, 2017, 04:17:47 PM »
I've always loved movies, especially as a teen.  I dropped out of them as I sought poverty and work with the poorest of the poor.  But as I kept up that work in Portland, I found that I was increasingly exhausted and emotionally constipated.  One of my favorite pasttimes has been to read movie reviews and the Filmspotting podcast as well as other movie podcasts allowed me many more reviews than newspapers ever gave me.  But more than that, they introduced me to older films, greats that I had never heard of.  And when I joined the forum, that wealth became a huge treasure-trove.

This community became so important because I felt so alone in my life.  I was in charge of an increasingly important work, but I had no one to talk "normally" with.  This forum was a place where I could connect through a medium I loved.  And there was more than a hundred years of back log to catch up with.  As long as there was a club or opportunity to discuss film, I was there because I needed to connect to human beings, even if I never met them.

Over the last year or so, two things happened.  First, I became even more exhausted and I realized that I had to quit.  Which I did in December.  Second, a group formed through Facebook in which we realized that there were dozens of us doing the same work, feeling the same exhaustion and helping the same kinds of people in the county.  We started to meet together and I realized that they, not the church, not the forum, were my real community.

Now that I've quit my task, I find that I need movies less.  I don't need them to feel.  I don't need them to cover my thoughts so I am not filled with anxiety and depression.  There are still movies I pursue and love, and I want to see those movies.  But I am less interested in watching a movie a day.  I work a regular job, and I still help folks on the street and want to pursue writing nonfiction, if my mind allows me to focus that much.  This means that despite working less, I have less time. 

I love this community and owe it a lot.  But I will be watching fewer films because I need to spend time with other pursuits as well.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Sandy

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Re: Cinephilia
« Reply #7 on: July 31, 2017, 07:28:21 PM »
@ 1SO,   :D



BCF  (before coming to the forum)

Quietly watched movies intermittently (precious little alone time) and internalized them.

ADF (after delving in here)

Quietly watching movies intermittently, (precious little alone time) and internalizing them, and on occasion writing down some thoughts. Also watching others' favorites and enjoying immensely. Movies are much better shared!

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Cinephilia
« Reply #8 on: August 01, 2017, 03:51:42 AM »
You have beautiful blue eyes, 1SO.
« Society is dumb. Art is everything. » - Junior

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Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Cinephilia
« Reply #9 on: August 01, 2017, 05:26:23 AM »
@1SO  ;D

I have always loved movies and TV, but my active movie watching has ebbed and flowed over the years. Extended world travel were low points, recent years have been patchy with the arrival of children. Other times have been 2 movies at the cinema a week, plus several movies at home during the week, but even at my highest rate I would not have seen more than 250 movies in a year.

 

love