Author Topic: I just need to whimper  (Read 193734 times)

Sandy

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Re: I just need to whimper
« Reply #930 on: June 08, 2012, 10:05:55 AM »
Keep writing. I'm reading. I want to know if the characters are relatable and if the film is shot well. But that's not all that you are providing. Your view of a film is uniquely yours and valuable and provides me access to films that I may never get the opportunity to see.

Monty

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Re: I just need to whimper
« Reply #931 on: June 08, 2012, 10:13:18 AM »
Sounds like Songwriters, no Movie critics block. From someone who doesn't really have the time or patience to write reviews, I really admire those who do have the time and patience to keep writing reviews. Stick with it MT, you'll work it out.


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sdedalus

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Re: I just need to whimper
« Reply #932 on: June 08, 2012, 10:31:24 AM »
I read Emerson's post too, Martin, and also thought of myself.  We can only resolve try to do better.
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1SO

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Re: I just need to whimper
« Reply #933 on: June 08, 2012, 10:36:10 AM »
First of all, I hope you know by now that once I finish a film I go to your site first because I have a good understanding of what you like and I know you've seen whatever obscure film I just watched. I especially like when there's more than 1 review because that means you rewatched it so A) you loved it and B) you have 2 different aspects to comment on. Sometimes I think my comments are just replies to your reviews.

It reads like you have a very clear idea of where you believe your writing falls short. It's just a question of answering 'why'. I re-read my reviews before I post and whenever I find the words 'think' or 'feel' I ask why. Why does a film earn the descriptor "well-shot"? Why couldn't you relate to the characters?

If you stop reviewing movies that just leaves me, verbALs, Bondo, Lobby, Antares, the occasional others and flieger's image collages. Keep building your body of work. Having all those reviews will actually feel like an accomplishment.

oldkid

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Re: I just need to whimper
« Reply #934 on: June 08, 2012, 10:56:45 AM »
The thing is, Martin, I read your reviews not for flowery prose or for deep insights in a film, but for a basic idea of what a movie is like before I see it.  You are one of the few writers I can trust to read before I watch a film-- you won't say too much and you'll give me a good idea of what to expect from the film.  I need those kind of reviews because I'm not in the mood to watch any kind of film, and I need to know what I'm getting into.

The fact that you say something basic about the film is important.  Maybe not insightful for those who have already seen the film, but essential for those of us who have not.  You are out there, watching stuff the rest of us have not and giving us an idea whether its the kind of film we would like.  Not that we would necessarily agree with you, but you give us the basic, essential information.

Please, don't change a thing.  There are other reviewers you respect because they do what they do.  But don't change what you do to try to be more like them.  Your writing, as it stands, is important already.
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verbALs

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Re: I just need to whimper
« Reply #935 on: June 08, 2012, 11:57:17 AM »
To ask, what I am aware is, probably, a stupid question, but what is the primary aim of the reviews you write? By this I mean, what do you aim to get out of writing?

You mentioned that you thought the reviews were useful to nobody. What use are they to you?

1) With the volume of films that you have seen, is the primary value in cataloguing your library of films; using your rankings to order them?

2) Do your reviews help to crystallise your thoughts on a movie? Writing thoughts down and following a train of thought to a (hopefully) coherent conclusion, that makes you understand a film, more fully.

3) Do you enjoy writing and, using film reviewing as a way to practice the skill of writing, do you expect your writing to improve; simply by repitition?

It is inevitable that sometimes what you write won't get a response, and expecting responses seems, to me anyway, hubristic. At those times, if you don't get a response, you may end up asking yourself what was the point. If you aren't writing primarily to serve a personal purpose, then that's a difficult question to answer.




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Junior

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Re: I just need to whimper
« Reply #936 on: June 08, 2012, 12:06:04 PM »
If you like doing the writing there's no reason to stop. If you feel like you need to improve, just try doing something different. You'll screw up a few times, but you'll have given it a shot, at least. But don't change for others, change for yourself.
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Antares

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Re: I just need to whimper
« Reply #937 on: June 08, 2012, 12:10:17 PM »
The thing is, Martin, I read your reviews not for flowery prose or for deep insights in a film, but for a basic idea of what a movie is like before I see it.

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pixote

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Re: I just need to whimper
« Reply #938 on: June 08, 2012, 12:12:53 PM »
I write reviews mostly for myself. If anyone else cares, that's a bonus.

Oh, wait, I seem to have stopped writing reviews. Nevermind.

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MartinTeller

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Re: I just need to whimper
« Reply #939 on: June 08, 2012, 12:23:43 PM »
Thanks for the responses, everyone.  I'm going to respond specifically to verbALs because he asked questions, but I appreciate all of your input.

To ask, what I am aware is, probably, a stupid question, but what is the primary aim of the reviews you write? By this I mean, what do you aim to get out of writing?

I don't know anymore.  That's a sobering thought.  Maybe I can flesh it out a bit...

You mentioned that you thought the reviews were useful to nobody. What use are they to you?

1) With the volume of films that you have seen, is the primary value in cataloguing your library of films; using your rankings to order them?

I suppose it is largely a way of tracking what I watch, keeping tabs on my likes and dislikes.  But at some point I must have thought I had something valuable to say or else I wouldn't have put them on the internet.  What's really depressing is when I started my reviews were even more shallow (and often ill-informed) than they are now.

2) Do your reviews help to crystallise your thoughts on a movie? Writing thoughts down and following a train of thought to a (hopefully) coherent conclusion, that makes you understand a film, more fully.

Yes, but sometimes I find myself saying "X is a good thing" when I could just as easily say "X is a bad thing" (or vice versa) and then I don't feel like I've come to any coherent conclusions at all.  Maybe it's time to stop thinking in terms of good/bad... that's a feeling that comes to me a lot but I don't know how to get past it.  I don't think I've developed the critical skillset to write about much beyond what I liked and what I didn't like.

3) Do you enjoy writing and, using film reviewing as a way to practice the skill of writing, do you expect your writing to improve; simply by repitition?

I enjoy it occasionally, when I feel I've written something clever.  Or when I've tried to promote a film I really loved (though I don't know how successful I am).  I think my writing has improved, but ever so slightly.  I'm wondering if I've plateau'ed.  Without devoting a lot more time to it than I care to, I don't see it getting better.

It is inevitable that sometimes what you write won't get a response, and expecting responses seems, to me anyway, hubristic. At those times, if you don't get a response, you may end up asking yourself what was the point. If you aren't writing primarily to serve a personal purpose, then that's a difficult question to answer.

You're right, it is hubristic.  It's my nature to crave validation for my efforts, no matter how minimal those efforts may be.  It's a characteristic I don't like about myself, and I don't like when I see it in others.


I think part of the reason I keep writing is just habit, some weird sense of obligation that I have to keep doing this.  That's not good.  Then again, being a quitter isn't good either.  This has been a pattern with me throughout my life... I want to be great at stuff without having to work hard at it.  When it doesn't pan out, I get discouraged.  Childish.
« Last Edit: June 08, 2012, 12:25:17 PM by MartinTeller »