Pick a movie

I like movies. That’s about it. I don’t have any formal education in cinematography. I can’t comment on how a “shot is framed” or why it makes this director great. I do appreciate the technical side of movies and movie-making. For me, it’s the stories; the characters, the plots, the subplots, the situations. The locations, soundtrack, and shots are all just icing on the cake.
I’m not a snob for genres: e.g., I’m not scared to walk out of a rental store with a horror film, a French documentary, and a spaghetti western in hand. However, I won’t deny my tendency to grab movies with grifters, magicians, geniuses, con artists, pool hustlers, maniacs, loners, rebels, and big invisible white rabbits. All of that aside, with such little discretion as to topic or genre the question of “how do I pick out a movie?” should be addressed. Some people can pick out a great movie. Some can’t. I’ve known both. I’ve been both. I don’t know what some people see in an inconspicuous movie box that tells them, correctly, “this looks like a good movie.” Similarly, I am constantly amazed at the crap people carry out of the movie store, myself included. What is interesting is that both of these sets of people go into a movie store with the same goal – to get that good movie. Yet only one succeeds. How do they do it? What’s their secret? Why can’t I pick out a great movie every time?!
For the last two years I lived next to a 99 cent rental movie store. What it taught me was that, for a buck a movie, who cares what you carry out? Besides, movies are great! Although the 99 cent store has passed along and I’m forced to shell out a bit more, I still enjoy taking home the rotten egg as much as I enjoy picking a great movie. With practice, I now can usually detect the stinker within the first 15 minutes.
In this sense, picking out a movie is easy for me. I walk into a movie store, spend a couple of minutes reading the backs of the boxes, think about them, get eight in my hand and whittle it down to two or three. I never worry about balancing my palate or making it a “themed” night. Just movies. The one rule I follow is that I never go straight to the new releases.
So, here it goes, a blog about movies. Some are good, some are bad. All were found the same way. Enjoy.