Summer Movie Preview

How to love movies, my way. First, be a cineaste. It’s pronounced “Sih-nee-ehst,” and it means someone who loves films. A cinemaphile, a devotee of movies.

You hate pan-and-scan. You love letterboxing. Mostly, anyway.

You hate dubbing. You love subtitles (which conveniently go in the black bars of the letterbox).

You hate years-later politically-correct re-editing of classic scenes. You love director’s cuts, unless they are self-indulgent craptastic versions (it’s easy to tell the difference); then you love the original artistic vision (Han Solo shot Greedo first, the road block police in "ET" had shotguns, not radios, etc.).

Hate the Hollywood version. Love the foreign-language original (Note; there are notable exceptions to this rule; i.e. “A Fistful of Dollars” does a good job of reimagining “Yojimbo”. You can like the Hollywood version, you just have to defer to the foreign original).

Hate colorization. Love remastered originals.

Hate spoilers. Love good reviews.

You love movies. You know to not be afraid of other genres. There are some fantastic documentaries/chick flicks/action/war/historical/animated/foreign (whichever genre you think you don’t like) films.

You are picky; there are thousands and thousands of films available, you never need to “settle” for a bad film, and should be terribly, terribly embarrassed if you ever do. Stop the film, walk out, turn it off!

But how to be picky? I think you should be discriminating in two ways, morally and artistically. “...Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” (D&C 88: 118, 109: 7, 14)

First, there is the issue of moral content; how do you judge whether or not to see a film based on the morality of the characters in the film itself? For many of my peers and their families, this might be sub-titled "The Rated ‘R’ Question". Let’s be blunt; if you have made the decision to forgo seeing rated-R films, that’s fine. But it’s up to you to hold that standard. It’s up to you to use that standard to cull through what’s available; understand, it doesn’t give you a free pass to go see anything else that’s not rated ‘R’.

Having said that, here’s a extended quote from an article, by Kieth Merrill , an academy award-winning LDS filmmaker (taken from his review of “The Passion of the Christ”)

“Let me address this R rated issue first. I think it would be sad if you relinquished your agency to the MPAA and miss the film only on the basis of the collision between “rated R” and Mormon doctrine.

“Obedience is better than sacrifice. I encourage no one to do anything inconsistent with their faith. I believe in following the prophet. In 1986 President Benson told the Aaronic Priesthood, ‘We counsel you, young men . . . don't see R rated movies or vulgar videos or participate in any entertainment that is immoral, suggestive or pornographic.’ Every prophet since has reiterated that inspired advice.

“The doctrine of R rated evolved in the 2001 Strength of Youth Pamphlet. ‘...choose only entertainment and media that uplift you. Good entertainment will help you to have good thoughts and make righteous choices. It will allow you to enjoy yourself without losing the Spirit of the Lord. Do not attend, view, or participate in entertainment that is vulgar, immoral, violent, or pornographic in any way. Do not participate in entertainment that in any way presents immorality or violent behavior as acceptable.’
“This doctrinal document does not include any reference to R rated movies or the MPAA rating code. The responsibility is no longer carried on the shoulders of the anonymous men and women who rate the movies in Encino California. It is squarely upon us.”

I share Brother Merrill’s opinion; an ‘R’ rating for me is less important than the content of a film; the WHY of its rating. But I’m not a “young man” any more, I’m an adult. If you are a young man, then you should probably be heeding President Benson’s exhortation, shouldn’t you? For the rest of us, an "R" rating should come as a strong word of caution, but I don't think it should be the sole arbiter of good and bad. There are other sources we can use, trusted friends, the web-sites I link at the end of this article, and our own intuition, that can assist in the effort. If there is a moral benchmark you use to evaluate films before seeing them, please link it in a comment to this post.

So to sum; the first thing that's important is to have a moral compass. Judge movies based on their content, the influence they will have on you, their value. Stay clear of films that celebrate deparavity, that reward irresponsibility.

The second test is whether or not to see a film based on its artistic content, the aesthetic of film. This is what I have done;

If you can, find a reviewer you trust. This takes some experimenting. Frankly, I haven't found one lately, not since Chris Hicks retired from the Deseret News. But if you *do* find one, good on you! I rely heavily on Rotten Tomatoes to help me know the artistic merit of a film, but an individual reviewer with opinions that resonate with you can also help you evaluate a film on its moral terms as well.

Be an informed consumer of film; note the actors, directors, screenwriters who make work you really enjoy, and sample other works from them.

It’s OK to enjoy trailers for films, and to draw some impressions based on them, but be realistic; lots of movies have great trailers, but are totally worthless as films. Never see a film based on its trailer.

When it doubt, use "Best of " lists to help you pick a film. Here are a few;

"The A list : the National Society of Film Critics' 100 essential films"; edited by Jay Carr. This book purports to have collected seminal works of cinema. Every movie it suggests is worth watching.

American Film Institute’s 100 Greatest Movies of All Time

IMDB’s Top 250 Films of All Time

Oscar Winners. Every movie ever nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, or for which a director was given a best director nomination, is worth a look; note that prior to 1944, pictures were nominated for “Outstanding Motion Picture.” From 1944 onward, the nominees were reduced to only five in number, and the award retitled “Best Motion Picture.”


Some other web-sites


Rotten Tomatoes.
The best review site, ever. The only thing that is better, is if there is a particular movie reviewer you REALLY trust (see above). They collect reviews from dozens (sometimes hundreds) of reviewers, and then average the reviews to give you a percentage. For example, “Terminator: Salvation” is a movie made for me; but it's tanking with a 30% rating; fan-boy cred notwithstanding, you couldn't pay me to see a film with a rating that poor. If anyone asks me for a recommendation on what to see any given weekend, RT is the first place I go. Great place to get an at-a-glance sense of how good the film is going to be. I have NEVER enjoyed a movie that got a less than 50% rating here. I have also never failed to ENJOY a film that got a better than 80% rating.

The International Movie Database.
Has the complete credits (actors, directors, screenwriters) for pretty much ever film ever made, as well as an average rating for each one (on a how-many-stars out of ten scale). Their top 250 films of all time (mentioned above) is a nice place to start if trying to develop a taste for good cinema. Plus it’s a great place to review a particular artist’s body of work. For example, I love every movie I’ve ever seen directed by Akira Kurosawa, or by James Cameron, so I can pull up a list and see what else they’ve done.

Screen It.
This is a site for parents, but great for anyone who wants a detailed list of what dramatic, visual, dialog, etc. reasons a movie is rated whatever. They give very matter-of-fact observations of swearing, sexual content, etc. Frankly, reading one of their reviews might spoil the film, but if you need to know whether or not a film is going to be acceptable (and don't have time to preview it personally), this site can be a life-saver.

So! With all the precursors out of the way, onto Summer Movies, with dates and a recommendation or guess.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine 01-MAY-09 Not worth your time; good effects, crappy movie though. Trust the reviews.

Star Trek 08-MAY-09 Hits on all cylinders, though I am making my kids watch some old episodes before they see it. My favorite sequel/reinvention movie in a long time (and that includes the new Batman franchise).

Angels and Demons 15-MAY-09 Not a big fan of the author, not a big fan of the last movie, so I'm not seeing it. Got crummy reviews, too. I remember when National Treasure came out, thinking that, "Hey, this film is just ripping off Indiana Jones". But the puzzle-solving archeology/history films since then have all been awful. Now, I'm just hoping for another National Treasure.

Terminator Salvation 21-MAY-09 As noted above; I am very disappointed this is reviewing so poorly. Maybe a library rental when it's on DVD.
Night at the Museum: Battle of The Smithsonian 20th 22-MAY-09 If you liked the first movie, or the second, I'm sure you'll like this one.

Up 29-MAY-09 Pixar hasn't made a dud yet.

Land of the Lost 05-JUN-09 Will Farrell can be funny, and I liked him in "Stranger than Fiction". I admire that he'll do just about anything for comedy, but this . . . just looks like running and screaming. Not funny.

The Taking of Pelham 123 12-JUN-09 I wish Tony Scott would stop making movies, and just help his brother Ridley. Maybe he could concentrate on "Numb3rs". Either way, every film he's made in decades is jittery, loud, over-produced, and silly. Too bad, the original film was ahead of its time and pretty good.

Year One 19-JUN-09 Mel Brooks called, he said your movie is such a bad version of his idea, he doesn't even care.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 24-JUN-09 The! Return! of! Michael! Bay! again! Not for me.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 01-JUL-09 I like this series, it has more heart than most non-Pixar animated films. I'm sure this will be about the same.
Public Enemies 01-JUL-09 I usually don't like biographical films, nor gangster films. Maybe I'll go see this with my Dad instead.

Bruno 10-JUL-09 A symptom of the downfall of Western Civilization is the fact that we are entertained by the grotesque. It is a shame that some of the brightest entertainers of this generation consider anything short of excess (shame, violence, crudity, etc.) to be ironic and passe.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 15-JUL-09 More of the same; if you've liked them, you'll like this one. But a shout-out; the best version of Harry Potter going are the books-on-CD; the guy who reads them is amazing. Jane, does your car have a CD player? I am going to send Mrs. L out to Utah with a box to listen to on your drive east in June.

Funny People 31-JUL-09 Eh. Judd Apatow and Seth Rogan are more clever entertainers who tend towards the grotesque. I'm sure there really are people who are that gross all the time, but I certainly wouldn't invite them over to eat with my family.

G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra 07-AUG-09 This looks like it should have stayed a cartoon. A waste of Doctor Who and the more excellent Quaid brother.

The Time Traveler's Wife 14-AUG-09 I loved this book; it's probably not going to be a major Summer Blockbuster, but I am sincerely hopeful that it's as discrete at the novel, not too lurid, and a good adaptation.

Inglourious Basterds 21-AUG-09 Eh, there's no way I'll be seeing this, but Tarantino's another on the list of artists who are fascinated with excess. Movies with misspelled titles annoy me on principle anyway.

Where the Wild Things Are 16-OCT-09 I know, not Summer, but I was stunned by how good this trailer looked. I am excited to see more.

Avatar 18-DEC-09 Note; this is NOT a movie version of the actually-pretty-good animated TV series. This is the first (fictional) James Cameron movie in more than a decade. Man, hope it was worth the wait.

So; that's what I think about movies. What do you think? Any reviewers you would recommend? Any web-sites you really like to use? Films you are looking forward to? There are so many great film options, I treasure the heartfelt suggestions of trusted friends.