{"id":2844,"date":"2022-02-21T14:46:57","date_gmt":"2022-02-21T14:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/?p=2844"},"modified":"2022-02-21T14:47:32","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T14:47:32","slug":"why-write-about-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/2022\/02\/21\/why-write-about-movies\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Write About Movies?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"427\" src=\"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/hero_re_contrib-1024x427.jpg\" alt=\"Clement's primary influence, Roger Ebert\" class=\"wp-image-556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/hero_re_contrib-1024x427.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/hero_re_contrib-300x125.jpg 300w, https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/hero_re_contrib-768x320.jpg 768w, https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/hero_re_contrib-640x267.jpg 640w, https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/hero_re_contrib.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 639px) 98vw, (max-width: 1199px) 64vw, 770px\" \/><figcaption>Roger Ebert<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Movies have been my primary focus in life for as far back as I can remember. Since I\u2019m now well into middle-age, it\u2019s probably time to grow up a little bit\u2014or, at least, try to be as productive as I can with my obsession.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have tried, since graduating from college in 2001, to break into the film business through acting, writing, and independent filmmaking. I have invested thousands of dollars into a career that has paid me very little in return. Not that I\u2019m bitter about it\u2026 not that that I\u2019m not, either. Regardless, I still love movies, and, while I may not have a place in the world of filmmaking (not that I won\u2019t keep trying, but that\u2019s another story\u2026), I still care about the work of other filmmakers, I take note of what\u2019s being appreciated and talked about, and I\u2019m excited about the potential progression that can still be made with this relatively new art form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I love examining movies, I love talking about movies, and I love giving them the time, thought, and observation they deserve. That\u2019s a rarity today, so I suppose that\u2019s why I feel like I have something worthwhile to offer when it comes to criticizing and\/or discussing films. When we lost Roger Ebert, we lost the Martin Scorsese of film critics and, unlike the world of filmmaking, there was no Paul Thomas Anderson, Quentin Tarantino, or David Fincher waiting in the wings to take his crown of greatness (though if you want to know my opinion on who could hold that kind of influence and integrity today, I would recommend looking up Nicholas Clement on Facebook).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ebert was it. The great writers and the great appreciators of film are almost completely gone, now. Ebert took an entire world with him when he passed. Few people today take the time to examine films the way he did. Film, as a result, has become less important, as serious film inspection has now turned into the work of mean-spirited bloggers who are more concerned with showing off clever verbal skills and exhibiting predetermined agendas than with paying proper respect to the collected thousands of man-hours that it takes to complete a film. In most of today\u2019s film reviews, the film being reviewed comes second, and the person doing the talking comes first. Simply put, it\u2019s a sad sign of the narcissistic times in which we\u2019re living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Everyone is a critic and everyone is a filmmaker today. No one can appreciate anything for what it is, they now force their expectations onto everything they see and tell the world how they\u2019d do it better. The art of stepping into someone else\u2019s shoes has been corrupted. Audiences, in general, have somehow turned into a group of pestering backseat drivers who can\u2019t watch anything without faulting it for not fitting their exact tastes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I know how stressful, nightmarish, and lonely it can be to make a movie, and I know the patience, focus, and determination it takes to finish one. I\u2019d like to take my experience and perspective, use them to articulate why I do or don\u2019t like a particular film, and, hopefully, find a way to share the things I love with others. &nbsp;At the very least, writing about movies makes me remember why I\u2019ve spent so much of my life watching them and trying to make them, myself. This is an exceedingly easy thing to forget when considering today\u2019s state of movies and the fickle, cutthroat business that creates them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As jaded as we\u2019ve all become towards them, it\u2019s essential to remember that movies are wondrous achievements that require arduous efforts to be created. Whether or not they\u2019re any good is a matter of opinion and taste, but we are ultimately lucky that they exist at all. Writing about them, in the end, is the most effective way I have found to help communicate the unique importance and irreplaceable power that movies hold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Movies have been my primary focus in life for as far back as I can remember. Since I\u2019m now well into middle-age, it\u2019s probably time to grow up a little bit\u2014or, at least, try to be as productive as I can with my obsession. I have tried, since graduating from college in 2001, to break [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2844"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2846,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2844\/revisions\/2846"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/otherpeoplesmovies.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}