Perspectives #1

[717495]

When you go to see a movie at the cinema, are you more urged to get sucked into the theme and storyline of the movie without any outer mental disturbance, or do you usually like to think of other ideas that relate to the movie your watching? Are you in it for the realistic go with the flow experience, or are you wandering through different ideas? Just for the record, say its a really good movie and it's hard to not like it. And don't associate go with the flow necessarily with positive, and wandering with negative, thinking how it could be better etc. Because either one can perceive uncomfortable bumps in the movie which one believes to take away from it.

If you really can't pick one, than don't vote, but explain why.

[Krig the Viking]

I generally get caught up in a movie and don't think about it until it's over. I'll have little Ne sparks pop up during the movie ("Oh, hey, that guy was in that other movie!" or "I remember reading about how they made this scene, it was cool"), but they are quickly swept away by the flow of the story.

For me, a bad movie is one which does not keep me in the flow, either due to unengaging characters, or by jarring me out every two seconds by inconsistencies or stupid plot lines. Usually the former.

Afterward, of course, if the movie is worth thinking about, I analyze it all. But not during.

[silverchris9]

I'm definitely thinking about things related to movies while I watch them. I tend to judge different parts of the movie, relate it to other movies/books/ideas/etc.

To me, a good movie is a movie that makes me think, and a great movie is a movie that makes me think differently about something, not necessarily a theme of the movie, but something related. The Joker in Batman reminded me of some character in a book I was reading. I don't remember which.

On the other hand, I'm not opposed to being caught up in the moment, and I am frequently. But I'm not much for disengaging my brain and just watching without thinking and processing, which to me means relating. So, it turns out, when watching a movie, I tend to alternate between the two. But I still picked ideas that related. Shrug.

[Warlord]

I'm more of wandering, I can't stay very focused when I watch movies, I find it kinda boring.

[iAnnAu]

I generally get caught up in a movie and don't think about it until it's over. I'll have little Ne sparks pop up during the movie ("Oh, hey, that guy was in that other movie!" or "I remember reading about how they made this scene, it was cool"), but they are quickly swept away by the flow of the story.

For me, a bad movie is one which does not keep me in the flow, either due to unengaging characters, or by jarring me out every two seconds by inconsistencies or stupid plot lines. Usually the former.

Afterward, of course, if the movie is worth thinking about, I analyze it all. But not during.

I *try* to be this way; I think I have more of a tendency to analyze things during the movie. I have both learned to make myself go with the flow when a movie is good, and to allow myself to turn the TV off/walk out of the theatre if the movie breaks my suspension of disbelief too egregiously. My SO calls me a movie snob, but I think we've rubbed off on each other over time: I enjoy more Hollywood pablum simply because hey, buy the ticket, take the ride ... and he has become less patient when a movie doesn't balance its elements well. (example: the latest Harry Potter - I enjoyed it even though it left out a lot I liked from the book, but he thought it "lacked something" the other 5 movies had)

I saw the recent Star Trek movie with some friends who were big fans, and we sat around for hours afterwards talking about it. If I'd watched the movie by myself, I probably would have dwelled on its flaws more, but now I associate it with their glee and points of recognition. So there's a case where analysis was on a different level, and contributed to my positive memories.

[mu4]

I'm more wandering if I'm watching a movie at home, but in a theater or amongst friends, I'm more focused. I tend to need people around me to focus me.

[JWC3]

Movies suck me in hardcore, Like I was watching one movie and one character who was a total bitch finally got what she deserved and i just started laughing pretty loudly and yelled "DIS!" at the movie screen. Usually I'm not so loud at the movies but I always get sucked into the plot. If I don't get sucked in, which rarely if ever happens, then it's a crap movie IMO

I do have an ILE friend who is a really cool guy, but i hate going to the movies with him. I still do though, cause he's like the only one home this summer but still he is the absolute opposite of me when it comes to movies. He doesn't get sucked in at all. Like in one movie there was this really intense moment where a character was talking about the death of their father and they said "It just get's so hard sometimes... I dunno if i can bare it"

To which my ILE (supposedly ILE) Friend said "Man that would be scary."

I being a complete idiot took the bait and said "What?"

To which he laughingly responded "Bears"

And it completely ruined the intense sad moment the movie was trying to create. He does it all the time, I've nick named him the 'Killer of moments'

[Creepy-Diana]

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[Creepy-]

When you go to see a movie at the cinema, are you more urged to get sucked into the theme and storyline of the movie without any outer mental disturbance, or do you usually like to think of other ideas that relate to the movie your watching? Are you in it for the realistic go with the flow experience, or are you wandering through different ideas?

I usually think of ideas related to what's going on onscreen, but not necessarily the story. One thing I always pay a lot of attention to is how the actors move. Especially if an actor is portraying someone very different, I'm interested in those little movements, twitches, etc that go with the character. In movies like Benjamin Button or Hot Chick, I am sort of fascinated by this bc it's just so cool to me when the actor does it well.

During a good movie, I at least try to stay with the story and let things go that might be laughable in a bad movie. But unless I'm in a movie theatre where it's totally dark and I almost have to sit there, I tend to get bored so it's pretty hard for me to sit through a whole movie and pay attention without doing something else.

ETA: Scary movies can get to me, so maybe I do get into movies more than I realize? I found 28 Days Later to be very scary, for example - I first saw it when I was 18, and it was the very first night I was going to be living in my new place, where I would be living alone for the first time in my life. I lay awake thinking about it for a very long time that night, hah.

[Bardia]

I would say more often than not I get sucked in.

[redbaron]

I generally WANT to be sucked in, so yeah I'm totally go with the flow. I mean, isn't that how you're supposed to be? The whole point is that the writer/director/producers went to all this trouble to create a work of art (or at least entertainment) and you're going because you want to experience that, not just toss in your own random thoughts and wanderings. (no offense to those who do that) Besides, you can give yourself up to a movie and then AFTERwards, when it's all over, you can feel free to dissect, criticize, applaud it or whatever. But while the actual movie is progressing, I don't see the point in doing anything other than going with the flow.

(tho there was this one time during Titanic that I thought the scene was ridiculous, it was one of the love scenes I think and I might have actually laughed out loud... )

[crazedrat]

I dont overanalyze the movie, but I will analyze it if it's asking me to analyze it, or if there is something worthy of being analyzed. So that is pretty much going with the flow. Entertaining a wide range of thoughts irrelevant to the movie seems sort of pointless

[The Exception]

I voted for B. I rarely get totally sucked in, even if I really enjoyed the movie. I'm always thinking about different stuff- sometimes its not even related to the movie at all.

[iAnnAu]

Oh yeah, and my hate list:

3. Drama - I can usually tell what's going to happen next, and it's usually overexaggerated instead of realistically nuanced. (There are some exceptions: I recently saw Defiance, and I liked it even though it had its obvious Hollywoo-woo moments)

2. Horror - I can usually tell what's going to happen next, and so I'm not "scared." FFS, the first time I watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre I was tripping on acid! My roommates thought it'd be funny to watch my reactions - I disappointed them.

1. Romantic comedies - I can usually tell what's going to happen next!!! Every now and then some movie gets the slapstick right, such as There's Something About Mary, but I HATED Meet the Parents, even though they're practically the same movie.

Pretty much all chick-flicks disgust me. I'd rather watch Transformers 2 than a trite tear-jerker.

[Creepy-Cyclops]

Usually, American cinema I just tend to go with the story lines, European cinema I find I think of different ideas whilst and after watching.

[ArchonAlarion]

i analyze the movie to see if it hints at any philosophical question or is trying to promote some ideaology. Those kind of things.

[Creepy-male]

Depends. I like movies that totally blow me away (like Transformers ), but often I find myself dissecting the context that produced the movie, ie, the director, hollywood, the times, etc. I do this with basically anything. I especially like trying to find the creator's "voice" in the film, and looking for other marks and glitches he leaves behind. So, Wotsisname and Wotserface's relationship was pretty interesting to psychoanalyze in the latest Transformers film

Totally unrelated, but for that reason, I tend to watch lots of natural science documentaries because they're cool to look at and don't make me think that much.

[redbaron]

Totally unrelated, but for that reason, I tend to watch lots of natural science documentaries because they're cool to look at and don't make me think that much.

I like them too! I feel like I usually learn something without having to strain my brain.