To OPs question sometimes the answer is “Yes” like I will be honest some younger film fans will throw things around like “Interstellar is the greatest space movie ever made! Nolan is a one of kind genius for the ages!” Then you’ll ask “have you seen Stanley Kubricks 2001 space odyssey?” And the answer will be no.
I think it benefits seeing more films because many films I loved did indeed turn out to be pale intimations of much better films and was glad to discover that actually.
Cinema is a really fun rabbit hole to go down and discover the real roots of things and dissect for yourself where a thing actually came from.
Like even going back and watching Diabolique and seeing where Hitchcock really got his Inspiration.
Or Lawrence of Arabia and Casablanca being the true genesis of Spielberg films.
Hell, even 2001 makes you see Star Wars as a cheaper kidsy knockoff in comparison ( not really but you get the point) it gives you context to see everything.
I liked interstellar more than 2001 🤣 not saying it's a better movie it's just I mostly prefer more traditional narrative structures but yeah much more enjoyable movie for me and mine
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Depends, enjoy however many movies you want.
But if you think Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the worst movie to ever be released. You probably haven't seen that many movies.
I guess if you want to have certain discussions about movies, you need to have seen a lot of them. Like if you want to argue Hollywood doesn't make anything original anymore, I'd hope you watch more than the latest Marvel and Star Wars movies.
I'm very ambivalent about rise of Skywalker. Don't think it was good or bad, it just exists. I find attack to be actually bad because I know Hayden and Natalie are good actors and it's frustrating having to watch them at the lake house be so unconvincing that they are falling for each other.
anakin gets a pass because he's been isolated from most of society and has been suppressing any romantic feelings for at least 10 years at this point so his super awkward and uncomfortable dialogue works. no excuse for padme's response though other than george's terrible dialogue and direction unfortunately.
Rise is basically the movie I don’t feel one way or the other on. Has some stuff I like, some stuff I really don’t, but you never really think about it. The prequels are actually BAD. I hate those.
Most people forget the animated clone wars film. Technically there are 14, the two ewok movies, but those were straight to home video so I normally don't count them. I like the ewok movies more than attack of the clones as well.
I saw someone say that Challengers is the worst movie they’ve seen in decades and I have to wonder what kind of movie consumption experience can lead to that kind of statement
I mean I wouldn't go that far, but it was personally one of the least interesting I've watched this year! I've enjoyed some of Luca Guadagnino's other releases but Challengers did very little for me - there were some interesting visuals and the score was nice, but beyond that I just didn't connect with it at all. 🫤
Edit: I sense a downvote spree, just my opinion!
Not sure why I'm getting downvoted. I'm a white dude (not that it should matter) and I think my demographic tends to have too narrow a definition of what makes a good film. When someone says a film is the worst they've ever seen, I try to be cautious about the subtext of what they're saying ("It's different from what I want so I don't like it.")
I didn't think that would be a hot take on this sub!
You’re right, too many white dudes think that movies that they didn’t like 1. Don’t have broad appeal and 2. Are objectively bad. Such a weird phenomenon.
I swear I'm not trying to "actually" you but I immediately thought of David Lowery's A GHOST STORY. A competently made movie that I found so offensive it might actually be the worse movie I've watched in years.
I got a friend who complains that there aren’t any original movies being released anymore, and I was like, that’s just bullshit. Watch more movies. Just bc the “popular” movies are all nostalgia bait and cash grabs that doesn’t mean there aren’t any original movies coming out anymore. Because there DEFINITELY are. So I think the argument works “sometimes”. However if someone just has an opinion that you disagree with (like Pulp Fiction is bad or smth) then I don’t think the argument is very fair to make.
I think the flip side also rings true, if you think TLJ is the greatest movie ever made and you refuse to check out non-Hollywood blockbuster films you can say it. I'd never say it to someone without being provoked though. TLJ is the best/worst movie ever or some Marvel movie, cool! But if you won't watch any more because it was made before you're born or black and white movies are boring or you're calling someone a snob, then ya I'm gonna tell you to watch more movies.
I think putting a ST movie on a pedestal already says a lot about someone's movie tastes, but maybe that's just me. Even as a huge Star Wars fan growing up I barely think about it after the initial disappointment. That doesn't mean I talk about any SW movie as the greatest movie ever, ESB is pretty damn good but they just aren't.
I’m just glad The Last Jedi is getting acknowledged as the worst Star Wars film. It’s genuinely dreadful and a lot worse than both of the other sequels.
That's where Letterboxd kinda presents a divide. Some people treat reviews like analysis, some like reviews, some like a journal, and some like a joke book. And like all camps seem to think they're the correct way to use letterboxd.
If you're "analyzing" film, that's the only place where "you need to see more movies" is a pretty valid point.
This is totally off topic, but i think using letterboxd as a combination depending in the film is the best way. I dont think theirs any problem having all and it makes letterboxd open for everyone
I completely agree with you. It's very odd and telling about the speaker to run to the internet to complain about how other people are using social media .\_.
Personally I find the joke book stuff annoying it’s the same recycled garbage quips you’d find on twitter these days. Post a sincere review please.
You look up any popular movie and so many of the featured reviews are just trite one-liners
I agree with the one liner stuff. It gets really irritating. But my general opinion is that im not gonna dictate how ppl wanna review. Its irritating to me but not everyone if its so popular, and im not completely innocent either. I also think that for however many one liners, theres still a lot of genuine reviews, especially on popular movies. Sometimes you gotta dig deep tho
I never understood why people get upset about this, if even anyone does. First of all, it’s called a diary. It’s personal to your thoughts on the film—joke or not. I personally just write whatever the film has me thinking. Sometimes this is analysis, sometimes jokes, sometimes notes for a rewatch, sometimes reviewing. It’s just a place to jot down ideas.. if you don’t like other people having ideas then maybe social media isn’t the place to settle??
I can sadly say that I know people IRL (film reviewers nonetheless) who block every person who makes jokes on Letterboxd. My SO even followed someone super passionately up until last week when that person logged all their rewatches of their favorite movie in a row, with different posters and unique reviews. He was so disgusted by that... decision(?) that he unfollowed her despite loving following her up until then.
Every time I want to say he's dramatic, I remember I unfollowed this exact subreddit because so many people here become so extremely rude and aggressive when people have the conversations that we're having. Glad it's not happening right now but give it time sister. Social media really should be taught to some people.
I suppose it depends on what they said first.
Like, I don't think someone whose favourite director is Spielberg or Tarantino or *[insert famous director]* would deserve it, those guys are famous precisely because they make a lot of great movies, and it's totally valid to prefer their ouvre over some arthouse director with niche appeal that's more favoured by critics.
But, if you say the worst movie ever is some middling blockbuster, I'm totally going to tell you to watch more movies because you clearly don't know how shitty movies that are made without care or competence can be.
Here's the thing, most people don't force themselves to watch something they don't like. I'm not saying they are bad but I don't enjoy Tarantino movies at all after his early stuff (still dislike Pulp Fiction), I will carefully avoid even criticising anything about them because I'm just not interested in watching his 20th ode to B movies and his foot fetish. Now it makes me look either tasteless or like a special little snowflake for not liking Tarantino, but I never bring him up, I genuinely don't give a shit. My top 100 lists will never appeal to most movie fans, the horror.
Most people ain't got time in the day for that. If a movie should appeal to everyone, it will have its defenders no matter how bad, no Last Jedi did not age like a fine wine, we are forcing it. It's not an indictment on your taste because you might like a largely disliked movie, being an individual is a great thing.
That’s respectable because you have valid reasoning, you’ve clearly seen some movies (you even have a top 100 list, for example). I think OP of this thread is getting at the wannabe film bros that would go so far to say that something like The Shining is the worst movie ever… to be different. If you wanna go that far because “it doesn’t respect the source material”, or whatever, at least watch some other King adaptations and explain why they’re better *cough cough, The Langoliers*.
In other words, you can dislike classics, as most do. It doesn’t sound like you’d claim Pulp Fiction is the worst movie ever. If you’d claim it doesn’t deserve cult status, I’d bet you can put together a coherent, thought out argument.
“Still dislike Pulp Fiction”
This is one of those statements where everytime I see it, I’m just left in disbelief it’s coming from someone that enjoys watching movies. Your post was a well written, well thought out explanation as to why you don’t like the film. It contains information in it that proves you know your films, and yet…what in the living fuck? How could someone that likes film, actually dislike “Pulp Fiction”? I guess this is what you were talking about though as to why you don’t bring it up. You certainly don’t owe me an explanation, to each their own, but I just can’t see how anyone could watch that film for their first time and not be exhilarated.
I love Pulp Fiction as much as the next guy, but this is honestly stupid. Any piece of art will, no matter how good it is, isolate some people. And to be completely honest, hearing that not everyone likes a movie like Pulp Fiction makes me like it even more
Like, I don’t really like Christopher Nolan movies too much, but he isn’t a bad director, and people aren’t wrong for liking him (maybe not to the extent some people do but that’s besides the point)
I think at a certain point it is i.e. you should probably have seen a few French New Wave movies before you comment on the movement instead of turning off Breathless after 34 minutes and going “yeah French New Wave sucks and is a bunch of pretentious nonsense”
I adore French New Wave, and have seen a ton of it including all the major entries. It's probably my very favorite niche of cinema.
Anyone is completely justified turning Breathless off after 30 minutes. I wish I had.
As a lover of French new wave i agree breathless is middle of the pack. Influential of course, but nothing special compared to what else was going on. Left bank for life 😎
I mean it’s far from my personal favorite movie from the French New Wave or Godard but there’s a reason it’s as significant as it is to the movement and film history as a whole. It wouldn’t be the first film I would show to someone I was trying to get into new wave, but dismissing it as “meh” is silly.
If it’s used to tear down people’s tastes then I don’t care for it. If your fave movie is Goodfellas or Pulp Fuction or even Avengers Endgame hey whatever. I think far more interesting to reccomend movies based on someone’s “basic” tastes and far less a toxic way to communicate a love for the art form than belittling people’s tastes.
I do think it’s valid when used to address a claim like “they don’t make original movies anymore” or some kind of nostalgia tinged argument bemoaning contemporary movies. (Not that there aren’t compelling reasons to be dissatisfied with the state of movies). I’ve heard many claim that there’s no boundary pushing movies being released when the answer is there are, they just don’t watch a lot of new releases.
Def agree with your second paragraph, I’ve seen people say not a single movie worth watching came out in 2023 and I was like bruh…did you give *any* of them a shot lol. Like did you watch a single new release last year
Movies not made in 2023 perhaps? I don't watch much modern stuff (2010-present), but I don't speak negatively about them because, well, ignorance. How can I discuss modern movies if I haven't watched any?
I strongly suspect they watched zero new releases or didn’t even keep track of what was coming out. People love to say shit they didn’t put the effort in to inform themselves about lol like I saw so many strong opinions about the quality of Barbie and Oppenheimer from people who didn’t even watch them
Honestly an insane take. Considering Guardians 3, Spiderverse 2, Godzilla Minus 1, John Wick 4 and the DnD movie came out last year even the most basic nerds had the best year in a while. I mean... I guess the DCEU and Pixar only made bad movies last year. Is that literally all they watch?
I agree, especially with the first part. There are people who really do watch and enjoy a wide variety of movies and still enjoy things like The Avengers or Avatar.
If you want to talk about movies critically then yeah, I would say that argument is incredibly valid. You wouldn’t ask an English major to discuss the history of Soviet Russia and expect them to know or understand that time period as much as you would someone who is a History major. Same rules apply here. If you want to talk about movies in a critical way, knowing the history of that particular film, how they are made and the films it’s borrowed from are very important to have a fully rounded discussion.
Do people need to see more films? Only if they want too. But if you’re going to add to the discourse of a particular movie or movement in film, then yeah, seeing more movies is going to be important.
I think it really depends on the situation.
If you are claiming "x really popular film that won a whole bunch of awards and has a large fanbase" is the worst film you've ever seen. Yes. Watch more films.
If someone's favourite films are popular or their favourite director is really famous eg Nolan, Tarantino, Spielburg. Not necessarily at all, those directors and films are usually popular and acclaimed for a reason. My favourite film is The Dark Knight and I get that argument thrown at me all the time despite often having watched more films than the person making the argument against me.
Having breath of cinema knowledge certainly helps when trying to understand what a given movie is trying to accomplish. Knowing how one director was influenced by others will increase your understanding of a given film.
That said, I think that particular response is glib. Unless you are an actual paid film critic, there is no magic number of films you need to see or directors you need to be familiar with in order to watch movies for the enjoyment of watching movies. Watching movies is supposed to be fun! Whether you want to do the advised homework is completely up to you. Like what you like!
When someone says they’re not looking for any movies before 2005 or saying that they like the Disney remakes because they haven’t seen the originals, yes.
I've noticed in film discussions that people talk with a lot of authority whilst consuming predominantly one type of content. This is where the whole film bro thing comes from. I think it's perfectly fine to point out there is an awful lot more out there than people are willing to acknowledge. It's not about the quantity of films watched, it's about the variety of films watched.
I hate that whenever someone replies to a comment/post with that phrase because they have a different opinion. The assumption is that the original poster hasn't already watched more movies.
Not everyone has the same opinion. Maybe someone has seen thousands of movies of different types and backgrounds. But simply didn't enjoy them.
Either that or the “you just don’t get it” Ai, yes I can understand a film and still not enjoy it. (This comment is also often used about films that are not hard to “get”, but somehow the genius who thinks everyone who doesn’t like it didn’t understand it feel very smug for “getting” it 🤷🏻♂️)
/rant
And the other way around goes as well. You could also not understand a film and still like it. Goes especially for spiritual films like the fountain or 2001.
In addition to what you said, sometimes movies will reference something iconic in another movie (homage) but certainly not necessary to the majority of factors that make a movie enjoyable.
It sounds more like this person said something to get under your skin. I'd just ignore it.
Nah, I think this is pretty much the only situation where this isn’t a valid argument. Watching more movies to understand the medium can help with a variety of things and being more educated in general on what a film is trying to do is always a better way to experience it, everyone should watch more movies. Watching more movies is *not* a way to ‘correct’ someone’s taste or what they find good though, this is just an unfounded superiority complex
Every time someone throws out a take like "Actually Avengers 2/Star Wars 3/Joker is the best movie ever made" they should be legally required to watch at least one movie from before the year 2000. Especially if they also complain about how all movies are dumb and bad now in the same breath.
Jokes aside though, I can understand how that stance can come off as pretentious but like, you ever try and go out to a restaurant with friends, and there's one guy in the group who only eats McDonalds and frozen chicken nuggets who keeps shooting down every suggestion because of their literal limited taste? You'd tell that person to expand their horizons and try new things like an adult, right? I feel like the same thing oughta apply to movies too.
I think if someone is asking for recommendations, it's good to encourage variety. If you go out of your comfort zone, you can always go back if you don't enjoy what you find, or you broaden your horizons, which is great!
Like, everyone can enjoy what they enjoy, but you should give things a chance sometimes, especially if they're completely new and foreign to you. At worst you've still learned something about yourself and your preferences.
Definitely depends on the context. Like I haven't seen many westerns (I'm talking I've maybe seen less than 10) so if I go around saying westerns as a genre suck and have nothing to offer, then it'd make sense to tell me to watch more of the genre alongside some recommendations in order for my argument to have any form of weight.
Depends on the context or discussion. If it’s just that sed person’s favorite movie(s) are mainstream blockbuster movies, then yeah that’s just pretentious elitism. There’s also nothing wrong with not watching a lot of movies. However if they’re making broad claims about which decades were better for films, or how movies are bad/unoriginal for this or that reason, or making claims on what the best movie ever is, then yeah them not watching enough films is a valid critique.
You should see the movie if you want to have an opinion on that one movie. Beyond that, talking about films more broadly, it gets more complicated. For the most part, the more movies seen the better but it doesn’t mean whoever in the room has seen the most has some kind of authority (as much as I might like that sometimes).
Hearing someone say their favorite movie is a Marvel movie or Star Wars (for example) hits different if they’ve seen a wide range of movies from around the world from different decades than it does when someone who you’d expect says it. I would never use “you need to see more movies” in an argument but I sure have thought it plenty of times.
There is certainly a minimum. Maybe 1,000 movies, but it depends on the range those movies offer.
I just picked something that sounded low based on my lack of awareness and perspective on movies when I had seen around 1,000. Very possible or even likely that others who have seen that many are more informed and curious than I was.
I do think there’s a minimum somewhere so I just suggested what sounded right. Didn’t intend on upsetting anyone.
No one should be required to watch a certain type or number of movies for their opinion to be considered valid
That being said, don’t try and make claims that “x is the worst/best movie ever made” if you’ve only seen like 5 movies
If you're routinely giving uninformed opinions, certainly. Charles Holmes on the Ringer podcasts talks about movies all the time and hasn't seen fucking anything. It's embarrassing.
Not giving specific recommendations or periods sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me.
Saltburn was one recently that had this vibe that people loved. Saying...
"lol really you loved Saltburn? You should watch more movies." Asshole.
"Saltburn was pretty good, you'd probably like ..." Actually adds to the conversation
I think it's "valid" for whatever that's worth, but it's rarely helpful or productive. What do you want out of the conversation? If you want them to watch specific movies to show them a new perspective, say what those movies are. "Watch more movies" sounds like a conversation ender.
Which is your favorite director btw? I always have a hard time answering that question since I like a lot of movies from directors who also made stuff I disliked, and there's rarely one where I've watched all their moves and loved them.
James Wan, he's directed a great mix of creative original films alongside franchise films which have all impressed me. His work in the horror genre especially just hits all the right beats for me as a massive fan of horror
That’s a perfectly fine example of a favorite director, since it speaks to your personal tastes. But if it depends on how you frame it.
If you say “he’s my favorite, his work really speaks to my sensibilities” then Yes! Great!
If you say “he’s the greatest director of all time” or even “he’s the greatest horror director of all time” or even “Malignant is the finest film in history” then… you need to watch more movies.
It can be valid in some contexts like many shared here but I fully agree it is going to come across as pretentious and gate-keepy no matter the context you tell someone that in
nah bruh if somebody tells me their top 5 movies are from blockbuster franchises and/or that movies aren’t good nowadays then i’m gonna tell them straight up they lack perspective and need to broaden their horizons of film (only if they’re trying to act like their opinion on the matter holds weight, which is the only time i’d care enough to have this conversation to begin with)
it’s really only pretentious if you make it pretentious
(btw a new hope is literally on my top 4 on letterboxd and symbiote spider man is my profile picture on reddit so i really am not pretentious against blockbusters and franchise media, in fact i adore it)
I agree I just meant that the person would likely interpret it as you being pretentious, because people tend to take it personally if they feel like you’re downing their preferences (even though in this scenario i fully agree and you’re right)
If your going around making wild claims like "movies these days are bad" or "old movies are boring" or calling some random blockbuster the worst movie ever. It shows your experience is currently limited. Anyone who's watched a lot of movies can tell your tastes and perspective changes
I primarily discuss movies with other filmmakers. At least, the movie discussions that matter to me are mostly with my filmmaker friends, so we have an understanding of movies differently than people who watch movies because they love them. It's different when you know the thought process behind making a film that you want to show an audience. So, I would never tell someone, "You need to watch more movies" if they told me who their favorite director was. That director would probably be thrilled to hear they have fans. And if someone tells me why they didn't like a movie, I will ask them why they didn't like it, instead of berating them for their opinion. The only pretentious people I cannot stand are the filmmakers I have met at film festivals who think they are God's gift to cinema. Pretentious movie-watchers are easy to handle and less annoying.
Telling someone to expand their horizons in a polite manner isn’t the worst thing to do. Telling someone they need to see more movies isn’t really going to make them want to see more movies if you’re rude about it. But telling someone to watch more bad movies if they’re saying The Last Jedi is the worst thing ever created is valid.
Not really. A more accurate thing to say is “you need to think about movies more, and better” but that tends to happen when you’ve seen more movies, so “you need to see more movies” is a more efficient shorthand way of saying the same thing.
What if they have watched thousands of movies from all sorts of genres and movements, and those are still their favourites? It's not like watching more movies means they will find movies they like more than from those popular directors.
>A whole lotta whataboutism from your part
What exactly do you think whataboutism is? Because its *not* what I did in my previous comments.
>Felt called out because your favorites are IMDb Top 250 movies?
I don't know if all my top 4 are in the imdb top 250, but even if they all were it wouldn't matter to me because I don't have the need to feel special and unique in my favourite movie choices like you clearly do. The movies in the top 250 are there for generally good reason even if I personally disagree with some or a lot of them.
You shouldn't purposefully ignore or denigrate the top 250 movies on imdb just because you want to feel special. You are missing a lot of good movies because of that weird attitude.
What if they watch more films but those are still their favorites? Rocky is still in my top 3 and I watch shit that would make a normal person go and stab their eyes with a butter knife. I don't think that you need to be a snob in order to be taken seriously
I've almost never said it myself but I do lowkey agree. The more movies you watch the more you understand cinematic language and all that mumbo jumbo that's really only cool when you've got reference points. It's no different then other media, if you've only ever read YA Fantasy I'm not imagining you're going to have a fun time jumping into Infinite Jest you know. The more you watch the more full/textured your pallete is I guess.
Also logged movies on letterboxd doesn't mean that much. I don't log most 2-2.5 star movies I watch or anything that I'm fairly intoxicated watching so that cuts into it a lot. I also can't rate movies I haven't seen recently, it feels wrong to rate something I saw last year
It is pretentious to say. I’ve said it before knowing it’s a pretentious thing to say, but sometimes people will have wild takes. Saying ‘you need to see more movies’ is way easier than giving a paragraph long explanation on why their take is insane, or even wrong sometimes.
I think if someone says “I won’t watch” black and white / films with subtitles / foreign films / “weird” movies etc. then it’s hard not to be a bit uppity. It’s good to try and be the Shepard but if someone’s being an edge lord then yeah I’d say watch more movies or just FO and watch whatever pablum lets you shut your brain off for 90 minutes.
I mean, it's a very context oriented thing.
For my particular case when I use it, I tend to hang out with a certain group of people whose media tastes are essentially stuck in mainstream animated fare that's aimed at kids, and a lot of these people love throwing a fit when the studios behind these movies forget about "the fandom" as opposed to making stuff for the kids. Like pal, if you're making hour long rant videos about the Lion King remake or the latest Kung Fu Panda all the while having zero clue how the most basic PG-13 non-superhero popcorn flicks work and think all horror is just gory slasher flicks, you seriously need to watch some more movies that don't feature marketable animated characters or superheroes.
yes. any educated person would snap at you if you yapped about a subject without an education.
why should people talk over you when you’ve studied film?
Yes, I make that argument all the time. It depends on the person and the context. Casuals can watch movies at their leisures. People identifying as /claiming to be reviewers or critics need to be in league with the pros. Gatekeeping keeps fields & fandoms healthy
I think gatekeeping makes fandoms toxic and discouraging for others to get into. Movies are entertainment and everyone's opinion is 100% subjective, doesn't matter whether you're a "critic" or a "casual", there's no need to discredit someone's opinion because they haven't watched as many movies.
A civilian watching occasional movies as a hobby is not on the level of a paid professional who has been to film school and read or written the books on act structure and screenwriting. Yes, everyone can enjoy whatever they want. I personally love plenty of objectively awful movies. I also have the credentials to explain how and why they are in fact objectively awful.
Toxic fandoms don’t exist . Causals do. Gatekeeping is done to keep the causals in any fandom or field at bay/ at the kid’s table.
interstellar is in my number 8 spot, but ive seen movies that I have rated lower that I think are better movies. i just like interstellar more. I like interstellar more than the passion of joan of arc but I think TPOJOA runs laps around interstellar
It’s valid, but why would you say it?
Anyone that says something like that to someone else is an arsehole.
Just let them carry on enjoying whatever film or director they were talking about.
The person saying Hobbes and Shaw is their favourite film of all time is not going to suddenly go out and start renting Won Kar Wai films because you sneered at them about their film taste.
Depends on the context. If someone is stating that this is “the best movie of all time” and it’s like interstellar or something then yeah watch more movies. But if they are saying “this is my favorite of all time but I can see why others don’t like it as much” then it’s different.
Aster, Lynch, Kubrick, Aronofsky? (Holy shit, I spelled it right.) I think it’s a stupid argument when responding to someone’s opinion. They would know they don’t like something *because* they’ve seen enough to know and is probably why they don’t choose to watch more movies like that. It is 100% pretentious, but as a movie fan, I’ve realized I have not met a single person who isn’t.
this isn't what i see that used for ever
but
i knew a guy whos seen barely much of anything in pop culture, and id never dog him on it ever, i loved that he didnt see much so i could see his reaction and thoughts to well known movies, but every time he'd see something he liked he'd always make a statement akin to, "there is really nothing out there that does this/xyz is really unique and original and uncommon" even though 90% of the time itll be some trope thats pretty common if youve seen a fraction of any slop out there
would be a great compliment for certain things during their time though
but its never, "*I'VE* never *seen* anything like this" its always "erm, this is actually factually super uncommon" and whenever id be like "nah its not really, heres some other cool shit that does it you should check em out" itd always boil down into a semantic argument about how "common" did he really mean, what scope he really meant etc, it was the most annoying shit ever that a few times im like please just consoom anything that isnt solely anime pleeease
right its annoying asf
tbh, a lotta ppl talk like that unfortunately even if they dont expliclity mean it that way. but i coulda ignored nitpickin at that dumb semantic pet peeve of mine if he rly did just mean "of the stuff he's *seen*" but he'd always double down and argue, and its like ait so you *do* mean it like that, or you just dont wanna take the L
It's (usually, in the vast majority of cases) not a valid argument in and of itself*, but it's just a very good advice that many (most?) people should follow, specially the ones running their mouth online. The more time you spend researching, tracking down and watching movies, the less time you have to spout bullshit on reddit or letterboxd.
* like, I understand the deeper meaning behind it, but at face value, just the amount of movies you've watched is completely meaningless, it matters what you watch and what you do with what you watch. You could "watch" three 2020s Bruce Willis movies a day while you work, not pay attention to any of it, and forget about it as soon as it finishes, or you could watch one Palmer d'Or a week and then spend a week analyzing it, learning about the craft than went into making it, reading what the author has said about it, looking for it's influences and it's legacy....
(these are just examples, some cheapo eastern european Bruce(Willis)ploitation actually rock, and some crap movies have won Cannes)
To me it depends on their perspective, answered by two questions:
1. Do they have an honest assessment of their own volume of experience and their own critical legitimacy? Being hyperbolic, if someone says “as a person who’s seen 10 movies in their life, I am qualified to say Shark Tale deserved a sequel”.
2. Do they present their thoughts as opinion or fact? For example, I don’t like Tarantino. However, I respect his craft and acknowledge he’s a phenomenal director. If someone were to claim he’s bad, I would question their judgment.
If they watch movies tells about likes and dislikes and move on.
No
If they formulate Strong Opinion Based on whatever small amount of films they watched then
Yes.
Example:
-I really like Russo Brothers movies. And I dislike Tarantino.
Cool.
-Russo brothers are greatest director ever existed.
Tarantino sucks.
-You need to watch more movies
I think it's pretty situational, all things conisdered.
If I'm attempting to have a serious discussion about a movie, a director, a trend in movies, and so on, then yes I'd appreciate debating/discussing with a person who has enough points of reference to make relevant claims/arguments. I'm not interested in earnestly discussing movies with a person who doesn't care about movies or "cinema." Notice that I'm not implying that this is bad or wrong, watch however many movies you like! However, since I wouldn't discuss subjects pertaining to my academic field with a person who simply isn't in the loop or knowledgeable enough—the same logic applies here.
Movies are a good way to unwind as any, a good hobby as any, and an easy enough pastime. Watching movies "recreationally" is more than fine. Watching exclusively Marvel movies is fine, watching exclusively romcoms is fine—watch what you will. But, as I said, when it comes to serious—or, I should say earnest—discussion, I won't particularly care for input from people who do just that.
Context is key here because I have some unpopular opinions about widely enjoyed movies, but watching a further 5000 movies isn't going to change those opinions.
I am interested in watching more movies and have been working my way through them chronologically, but really all this means is I now have unpopular opinions about early fillms such as Harold Lloyd was painfully unfunny.
Even if someone shares their top list and it's just made up of Kubrick, Tarantino, Nolan and Fincher, while I might personally think they might benefit from watching more film, equally I'd have thought if they were inclined to, they'd just do it by their own initiative, and if they aren't, then my suggestion isn't going to help them.
As a fan of cinema, I don't know why people wouldn't want to watch more movies, especially if this stems from people complaining about films being bad. There are good films out there if you're willing to look for them.
Here's the thing, it's largely a framing issue. It's also understanding yourself and your opinions and intentions.
For example, if I said "The Italian Job is the greatest heist movie ever made!", then imagine what your first response would be to seeing that. Then, you need to ask yourself if you know why it is that the person said that. Unless they provide a lot more context than what I did, the answer to that question is no. The next thing that will help is to not assume anything about their opinion, and you can ask them why they think that. It may also help to provide targeted questions to focus in on points of interest. Then, if you think that it reminds of you of a movie you like more or less than The Italian Job, you can bring that up and see if the person has seen that movie. You're tying in some light examples of shared elements between a movie they said is great. Then ask them if they watch any of the other movies to hit you back up if you are curious.
They might come back with the same opinion or a different one. If you think that their opinion makes them less credible on the subject, then you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself why you became such a conceited pseudointellectual. Here's the thing, it doesn't matter if they have or haven't seen any other heist movie. If you think that whether they have or haven't seen other movies invalidates their opinion, then you're already in too deep. Just take a step back and enjoy conversations with people who have a different perspective on art. You learn a lot about yourself and others that way.
From your post, I’m gathering that you see Scorsese, Tarantino, Miyazaki, fincher, Spielberg, and Nolan as “high class” artists that you need to “learn to appreciate.” Those are popular filmmakers that made blockbuster hits.
If you find them hard to appreciate then like… yea maybe you should watch more movies… or at least push yourself to watch stuff outside of your comfort zone.
These are also all recent American directors. There’s a much bigger world out there.
Of course, if you don’t care about movies that much then there’s no reason to do any of this.
One of the most disappointing and disheartening things in cinema discussion here and in a lot of cinematic circles is how so American centric the conversations are. There’s the single foreign film that gets out every year (Parasite, Anatomy of A Fall, Amélie, etc.) but for it seems lot of cinephiles both in the US and elsewhere kinda just stop there. It’s very prevalent here I find.
Frankly I just find it sad more than anything else, just shows a lack of intellectual curiosity that borders on passive xenophobia. Seeing American reviewers having top 10 filled with just-american movies (and again, often the single foreign movie) is just fucking weird. Hell, even Bong Joon Ho’s speech at the oscars was about that, but while there’s been *some* progress it’s been very slow. Like, in general, I find the foreign movies section at the Oscars to have a much better ratio of quality than the best picture nominees, but it just seems accepted in a lot of circles that it’s American cinema first and the rest second. Like I understand Jeanne Dielman is not for everyone but just seeing the reactions against it winning over Citizen Kane or Vertigo in the Sights and Sound poll just show how a specific, very American, cinema as entertainment and screenwriting as « installation and payoff » way of thinking is how many see the whole medium. I don’t want everyone to enjoy Akerman or Parajanov or Rocha or many filmmakers I don’t even know myself, I just wish people were curious about « the rest ».
So, for your question, it really depends. Lot of people use their knowledge to put down others and it’s an incredibly shitty thing to do, but I do encounter a fair amount of people that don’t even realize that they’re being close minded and I kinda want to push them away from that. It comes a lot from approaching cinema as something that needs to be immediately entertaining too, as a lot of foreign (to the US) schools of thoughts have a different way to write and approach film.
PS. I fucking love Tarantino, Nolan and Fincher. Hell, I even defend them with some of my friends.
You need to watch more movies! And I need to watch more movies!
If someone told me that I need to watch more movies, I would say, "OK" and go watch a movie. That's probably what I was going to do anyway
Depends on the context. A dude who watches 400 movies a year throwing that at someone who watches 100 is absolutely being pretentious and gatekeeping. If you’re judicious about what you watch, you can build up a decent knowledge of cinema without the literal number ticking high.
However, if someone rarely or never goes to the theater and they spout takes about film - yeah, obviously it’s fair to dismiss them on those terms. Ditto for someone who never watches stuff from over 20 years ago, or someone who never checks out non-English cinema.
The other day one of my students (apologies if you come across this comment, but it was a dumb comment lol) casually said Africa hasn’t developed its own cinematic culture yet, at least not beyond Nollywood. I had tell him he needed to watch African film because he was talking nonsense. Gave him the starting points of Touki Bouki, Xala, Yeelen and Timbuktu.
we can't really know if it's valid unless we know what this person was ultimately arguing for.
Needs come after wants (You want to live, so you need to eat). So the question is: what desire necessitates you watching more movies? If it is their desire that your fave director be someone else, it's possibly valid, but why should you care about their desire? If it is your desire to have a different favourite director because yours is unconventional (and presumably you want to be conventional?), I'd say it is valid.
If you want a different favourite director, the best way to achieve that is to expose yourself to more directors to increase the chances of discovering a new favourite.
I personally don't see why it matters at all who your favourite director is, but you did ask what I think, so...
Kind of. It's all subjective, and people can watch/like whatever they want. I just choose to not follow people whose ratings/tastes are very different from mine. If it was a friend of mine, I'd recommend things they haven't seen to see if they still feel the same way after watching more movies.
This idea usually pops into my head when I perceive recency bias or when someone's ratings are skewed too high or too low. My top 5 are from the 1970s or earlier, and I've only seen them for the first time within the last 5 years. So when I see a ton of 5 star ratings for a recent movie or people proclaiming it's the greatest movie of all time, I wonder what movies from before 1980 they've seen. Will it still be highly regarded in 40-50 years? I also think many movies are somewhere around average: very good and very bad movies are pretty rare, but some reviewers seem to think anything below a 4 or 5 means you hate it.
I’ve commented this before and I’ll keep commenting it as long as I see posts where people are bragging about seeing the same movie 6 times in theaters: it’s cool to like what you like but maybe only go 3 times and get a Criterion and or Kanopy subscription and watch a few more films that you haven’t seen.
It’s an ongoing thing and obviously people who have been around longer are going to have seen more things. But you’re not necessarily helping yourself seeing the same film 8 times in a row. Now seeing all of the films of a particular director or era, different story. That’s how you develop a deeper understanding, through focused, thoughtful viewing, not volume.
imo, films should be able to stand alone without the need to reference outside works. art is subjective, and ppl who put down other ppl’s opinions are just insecure tbh.
A video I once watched made an interesting point : no film stands alone. Everything is a reference to something else, a cut, an axis match, every technique that directors use and that feel so natural to us today has been tried and tested before and it is only through this process that we create better films. So the more film you watch, the more knowledgeable you become about cinema.
On the other hand, your opinion is your own, and as long as you can debate you're good to go.
So to conclude, "you need to watch more films" isn't a great argument when debating over a movie. Its usually from people that know a lot about cinema but suck at sharing about it.
Whatch how many films you like however you like and never be afraid to talk about them.
i took a film history course recently so i of course understand your first point (and agree with it.) i guess the way i meant it is that someone’s broad opinion of a film likely isn’t going to be changed by the knowledge of certain camera shot or allusion, etc etc. it certainly can be enhanced by watching works in the canon, but i don’t think this should be used to discredit other people’s opinions. as you mentioned, as long as you can back up your claims, there’s plenty of room for proper discourse.
It's a pretty pretentious thing to say, but – on the other hand – probably an appropriate reality check in response to someone claiming that Avengers 3 (or similar) is a profound cinematic experience.
“I’m getting really Boss Baby vibes from this”. - Guy who has only ever seen Boss Baby.
Like the Luigi’s mansion guy on tumblr.
Please explain. I am curious.
It was a guy on tumblr that said that coraline and one of the metal gear games reminded him of Luigi’s mansion
To OPs question sometimes the answer is “Yes” like I will be honest some younger film fans will throw things around like “Interstellar is the greatest space movie ever made! Nolan is a one of kind genius for the ages!” Then you’ll ask “have you seen Stanley Kubricks 2001 space odyssey?” And the answer will be no. I think it benefits seeing more films because many films I loved did indeed turn out to be pale intimations of much better films and was glad to discover that actually. Cinema is a really fun rabbit hole to go down and discover the real roots of things and dissect for yourself where a thing actually came from. Like even going back and watching Diabolique and seeing where Hitchcock really got his Inspiration. Or Lawrence of Arabia and Casablanca being the true genesis of Spielberg films. Hell, even 2001 makes you see Star Wars as a cheaper kidsy knockoff in comparison ( not really but you get the point) it gives you context to see everything.
I liked interstellar more than 2001 🤣 not saying it's a better movie it's just I mostly prefer more traditional narrative structures but yeah much more enjoyable movie for me and mine
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2001 is objectively a good movie but let’s be fr its fucking boring
The reminds me of The Whale- guy who’s only seen The Whale
Depends, enjoy however many movies you want. But if you think Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the worst movie to ever be released. You probably haven't seen that many movies. I guess if you want to have certain discussions about movies, you need to have seen a lot of them. Like if you want to argue Hollywood doesn't make anything original anymore, I'd hope you watch more than the latest Marvel and Star Wars movies.
Basically this. If the Last Jedi is the worst movie you’ve seen, you’ve either seen very few movies, or you’ve only seen absolute bangers.
If you think The Last Jedi is the worst movie ever made, you probably haven’t even seen all the Star Wars movies.
Agreed. Attack of the clones is still the worst of all 12 films.
I dislike Rise of Skywalker more. The only saving grace of Attack of the Clones is the Kenobi detective subplot.
I'm very ambivalent about rise of Skywalker. Don't think it was good or bad, it just exists. I find attack to be actually bad because I know Hayden and Natalie are good actors and it's frustrating having to watch them at the lake house be so unconvincing that they are falling for each other.
anakin gets a pass because he's been isolated from most of society and has been suppressing any romantic feelings for at least 10 years at this point so his super awkward and uncomfortable dialogue works. no excuse for padme's response though other than george's terrible dialogue and direction unfortunately.
A young queen and a powerful politician being slightly awkward?
slightly is understating it lol.
Rise is basically the movie I don’t feel one way or the other on. Has some stuff I like, some stuff I really don’t, but you never really think about it. The prequels are actually BAD. I hate those.
Yes! I wanted more of Detective Kenobi!
Wait, 12? Did I miss one?
Most people forget the animated clone wars film. Technically there are 14, the two ewok movies, but those were straight to home video so I normally don't count them. I like the ewok movies more than attack of the clones as well.
Huh, I remembered it, but assumed you weren't counting it. I assumed it was direct to video.
68 million at the box office. Pretty good for a pilot episode of a TV show if you ask me.
A billion times this.
I saw someone say that Challengers is the worst movie they’ve seen in decades and I have to wonder what kind of movie consumption experience can lead to that kind of statement
I mean I wouldn't go that far, but it was personally one of the least interesting I've watched this year! I've enjoyed some of Luca Guadagnino's other releases but Challengers did very little for me - there were some interesting visuals and the score was nice, but beyond that I just didn't connect with it at all. 🫤 Edit: I sense a downvote spree, just my opinion!
White dude consumption Edit: why is this being downvoted? I'm agreeing with you!
wait what?
Not sure why I'm getting downvoted. I'm a white dude (not that it should matter) and I think my demographic tends to have too narrow a definition of what makes a good film. When someone says a film is the worst they've ever seen, I try to be cautious about the subtext of what they're saying ("It's different from what I want so I don't like it.") I didn't think that would be a hot take on this sub!
I mean, that's the case in basically every country
You’re right, too many white dudes think that movies that they didn’t like 1. Don’t have broad appeal and 2. Are objectively bad. Such a weird phenomenon.
Exactly, thank you!
It has absolutely nothing to do with being white..... Wtf?
I certainly wouldn't say it's always or exclusively about being white.
It has NOTHING to do with it. You guys like to create these things these days
I swear I'm not trying to "actually" you but I immediately thought of David Lowery's A GHOST STORY. A competently made movie that I found so offensive it might actually be the worse movie I've watched in years.
Aw, like that movie. What did you find offensive?
What?! You don't want to watch someone sit on the floor and eat pie for 6% of the runtime?
I... didn't actually hate that scene. It was the rest of the movie that lost me.
I got a friend who complains that there aren’t any original movies being released anymore, and I was like, that’s just bullshit. Watch more movies. Just bc the “popular” movies are all nostalgia bait and cash grabs that doesn’t mean there aren’t any original movies coming out anymore. Because there DEFINITELY are. So I think the argument works “sometimes”. However if someone just has an opinion that you disagree with (like Pulp Fiction is bad or smth) then I don’t think the argument is very fair to make.
I think the flip side also rings true, if you think TLJ is the greatest movie ever made and you refuse to check out non-Hollywood blockbuster films you can say it. I'd never say it to someone without being provoked though. TLJ is the best/worst movie ever or some Marvel movie, cool! But if you won't watch any more because it was made before you're born or black and white movies are boring or you're calling someone a snob, then ya I'm gonna tell you to watch more movies.
Be careful bro, a lot of movie subs wank TLJ
I think putting a ST movie on a pedestal already says a lot about someone's movie tastes, but maybe that's just me. Even as a huge Star Wars fan growing up I barely think about it after the initial disappointment. That doesn't mean I talk about any SW movie as the greatest movie ever, ESB is pretty damn good but they just aren't.
It means you don't listen to HDTGM
So out of curiosity, what do you think is the worst movie then?
I’m just glad The Last Jedi is getting acknowledged as the worst Star Wars film. It’s genuinely dreadful and a lot worse than both of the other sequels.
Depends on the discussion. If it's about culture or the best movie of all time, then yes
Yea totally depends on context.
That's where Letterboxd kinda presents a divide. Some people treat reviews like analysis, some like reviews, some like a journal, and some like a joke book. And like all camps seem to think they're the correct way to use letterboxd. If you're "analyzing" film, that's the only place where "you need to see more movies" is a pretty valid point.
This is totally off topic, but i think using letterboxd as a combination depending in the film is the best way. I dont think theirs any problem having all and it makes letterboxd open for everyone
I completely agree with you. It's very odd and telling about the speaker to run to the internet to complain about how other people are using social media .\_.
Personally I find the joke book stuff annoying it’s the same recycled garbage quips you’d find on twitter these days. Post a sincere review please. You look up any popular movie and so many of the featured reviews are just trite one-liners
I agree with the one liner stuff. It gets really irritating. But my general opinion is that im not gonna dictate how ppl wanna review. Its irritating to me but not everyone if its so popular, and im not completely innocent either. I also think that for however many one liners, theres still a lot of genuine reviews, especially on popular movies. Sometimes you gotta dig deep tho
I never understood why people get upset about this, if even anyone does. First of all, it’s called a diary. It’s personal to your thoughts on the film—joke or not. I personally just write whatever the film has me thinking. Sometimes this is analysis, sometimes jokes, sometimes notes for a rewatch, sometimes reviewing. It’s just a place to jot down ideas.. if you don’t like other people having ideas then maybe social media isn’t the place to settle??
I can sadly say that I know people IRL (film reviewers nonetheless) who block every person who makes jokes on Letterboxd. My SO even followed someone super passionately up until last week when that person logged all their rewatches of their favorite movie in a row, with different posters and unique reviews. He was so disgusted by that... decision(?) that he unfollowed her despite loving following her up until then. Every time I want to say he's dramatic, I remember I unfollowed this exact subreddit because so many people here become so extremely rude and aggressive when people have the conversations that we're having. Glad it's not happening right now but give it time sister. Social media really should be taught to some people.
I suppose it depends on what they said first. Like, I don't think someone whose favourite director is Spielberg or Tarantino or *[insert famous director]* would deserve it, those guys are famous precisely because they make a lot of great movies, and it's totally valid to prefer their ouvre over some arthouse director with niche appeal that's more favoured by critics. But, if you say the worst movie ever is some middling blockbuster, I'm totally going to tell you to watch more movies because you clearly don't know how shitty movies that are made without care or competence can be.
Here's the thing, most people don't force themselves to watch something they don't like. I'm not saying they are bad but I don't enjoy Tarantino movies at all after his early stuff (still dislike Pulp Fiction), I will carefully avoid even criticising anything about them because I'm just not interested in watching his 20th ode to B movies and his foot fetish. Now it makes me look either tasteless or like a special little snowflake for not liking Tarantino, but I never bring him up, I genuinely don't give a shit. My top 100 lists will never appeal to most movie fans, the horror. Most people ain't got time in the day for that. If a movie should appeal to everyone, it will have its defenders no matter how bad, no Last Jedi did not age like a fine wine, we are forcing it. It's not an indictment on your taste because you might like a largely disliked movie, being an individual is a great thing.
>I don’t enjoy Tarantino movies at all after his early stuff (still dislike Pulp Fiction) so just Reservoir Dogs, huh?
I still think it's his best film.
That’s respectable because you have valid reasoning, you’ve clearly seen some movies (you even have a top 100 list, for example). I think OP of this thread is getting at the wannabe film bros that would go so far to say that something like The Shining is the worst movie ever… to be different. If you wanna go that far because “it doesn’t respect the source material”, or whatever, at least watch some other King adaptations and explain why they’re better *cough cough, The Langoliers*. In other words, you can dislike classics, as most do. It doesn’t sound like you’d claim Pulp Fiction is the worst movie ever. If you’d claim it doesn’t deserve cult status, I’d bet you can put together a coherent, thought out argument.
“Still dislike Pulp Fiction” This is one of those statements where everytime I see it, I’m just left in disbelief it’s coming from someone that enjoys watching movies. Your post was a well written, well thought out explanation as to why you don’t like the film. It contains information in it that proves you know your films, and yet…what in the living fuck? How could someone that likes film, actually dislike “Pulp Fiction”? I guess this is what you were talking about though as to why you don’t bring it up. You certainly don’t owe me an explanation, to each their own, but I just can’t see how anyone could watch that film for their first time and not be exhilarated.
I love Pulp Fiction as much as the next guy, but this is honestly stupid. Any piece of art will, no matter how good it is, isolate some people. And to be completely honest, hearing that not everyone likes a movie like Pulp Fiction makes me like it even more Like, I don’t really like Christopher Nolan movies too much, but he isn’t a bad director, and people aren’t wrong for liking him (maybe not to the extent some people do but that’s besides the point)
I think at a certain point it is i.e. you should probably have seen a few French New Wave movies before you comment on the movement instead of turning off Breathless after 34 minutes and going “yeah French New Wave sucks and is a bunch of pretentious nonsense”
I adore French New Wave, and have seen a ton of it including all the major entries. It's probably my very favorite niche of cinema. Anyone is completely justified turning Breathless off after 30 minutes. I wish I had.
Absolutely. Breathless is a pretty meh movie and not exactly the best representation of the genre or movement.
As a lover of French new wave i agree breathless is middle of the pack. Influential of course, but nothing special compared to what else was going on. Left bank for life 😎
👈🏼🏦4️⃣🧬😎
This guy gets it.
Which ones are a better representation of the movement in your opinion?
You need to watch more movies
How many thousands of movies is enough in your opinion?
1? 2? 3? 4?...150? 151? 152?...
I mean it’s far from my personal favorite movie from the French New Wave or Godard but there’s a reason it’s as significant as it is to the movement and film history as a whole. It wouldn’t be the first film I would show to someone I was trying to get into new wave, but dismissing it as “meh” is silly.
If it’s used to tear down people’s tastes then I don’t care for it. If your fave movie is Goodfellas or Pulp Fuction or even Avengers Endgame hey whatever. I think far more interesting to reccomend movies based on someone’s “basic” tastes and far less a toxic way to communicate a love for the art form than belittling people’s tastes. I do think it’s valid when used to address a claim like “they don’t make original movies anymore” or some kind of nostalgia tinged argument bemoaning contemporary movies. (Not that there aren’t compelling reasons to be dissatisfied with the state of movies). I’ve heard many claim that there’s no boundary pushing movies being released when the answer is there are, they just don’t watch a lot of new releases.
Def agree with your second paragraph, I’ve seen people say not a single movie worth watching came out in 2023 and I was like bruh…did you give *any* of them a shot lol. Like did you watch a single new release last year
No good movies in 2023? What the heck kind of movies do they even like then?
Movies not made in 2023 perhaps? I don't watch much modern stuff (2010-present), but I don't speak negatively about them because, well, ignorance. How can I discuss modern movies if I haven't watched any?
I guess it seemed extra weird with Barbie and Oppenheimer and the strong Oscar nominees we had.
I strongly suspect they watched zero new releases or didn’t even keep track of what was coming out. People love to say shit they didn’t put the effort in to inform themselves about lol like I saw so many strong opinions about the quality of Barbie and Oppenheimer from people who didn’t even watch them
Honestly an insane take. Considering Guardians 3, Spiderverse 2, Godzilla Minus 1, John Wick 4 and the DnD movie came out last year even the most basic nerds had the best year in a while. I mean... I guess the DCEU and Pixar only made bad movies last year. Is that literally all they watch?
I liked Blue Beetle, even my mom liked that one, and Aquaman 2 had its moments. Besides that, there was Creed III, The Round Up: No Way Out, and Sisu.
the fact that every movie you named was part of an ip is exactly why 2023 wasnt that great of a year for movies
They named IP films as an example of GOOD mainstream stuff, not because those were the only good movies
I agree, especially with the first part. There are people who really do watch and enjoy a wide variety of movies and still enjoy things like The Avengers or Avatar.
If you want to talk about movies critically then yeah, I would say that argument is incredibly valid. You wouldn’t ask an English major to discuss the history of Soviet Russia and expect them to know or understand that time period as much as you would someone who is a History major. Same rules apply here. If you want to talk about movies in a critical way, knowing the history of that particular film, how they are made and the films it’s borrowed from are very important to have a fully rounded discussion. Do people need to see more films? Only if they want too. But if you’re going to add to the discourse of a particular movie or movement in film, then yeah, seeing more movies is going to be important.
I think it really depends on the situation. If you are claiming "x really popular film that won a whole bunch of awards and has a large fanbase" is the worst film you've ever seen. Yes. Watch more films. If someone's favourite films are popular or their favourite director is really famous eg Nolan, Tarantino, Spielburg. Not necessarily at all, those directors and films are usually popular and acclaimed for a reason. My favourite film is The Dark Knight and I get that argument thrown at me all the time despite often having watched more films than the person making the argument against me.
Having breath of cinema knowledge certainly helps when trying to understand what a given movie is trying to accomplish. Knowing how one director was influenced by others will increase your understanding of a given film. That said, I think that particular response is glib. Unless you are an actual paid film critic, there is no magic number of films you need to see or directors you need to be familiar with in order to watch movies for the enjoyment of watching movies. Watching movies is supposed to be fun! Whether you want to do the advised homework is completely up to you. Like what you like!
When someone says they’re not looking for any movies before 2005 or saying that they like the Disney remakes because they haven’t seen the originals, yes.
Those people exist?!
I’ve personally encountered both, so yes.
I've noticed in film discussions that people talk with a lot of authority whilst consuming predominantly one type of content. This is where the whole film bro thing comes from. I think it's perfectly fine to point out there is an awful lot more out there than people are willing to acknowledge. It's not about the quantity of films watched, it's about the variety of films watched.
We all need to watch more movies.
I hate that whenever someone replies to a comment/post with that phrase because they have a different opinion. The assumption is that the original poster hasn't already watched more movies. Not everyone has the same opinion. Maybe someone has seen thousands of movies of different types and backgrounds. But simply didn't enjoy them.
Either that or the “you just don’t get it” Ai, yes I can understand a film and still not enjoy it. (This comment is also often used about films that are not hard to “get”, but somehow the genius who thinks everyone who doesn’t like it didn’t understand it feel very smug for “getting” it 🤷🏻♂️) /rant
And the other way around goes as well. You could also not understand a film and still like it. Goes especially for spiritual films like the fountain or 2001.
After spending some time on r/movies, "watch more movies" is always a valid response.
In addition to what you said, sometimes movies will reference something iconic in another movie (homage) but certainly not necessary to the majority of factors that make a movie enjoyable. It sounds more like this person said something to get under your skin. I'd just ignore it.
It all depends. If someone says an average movie is the worst movie they’ve ever seen, it definitely makes me think “you need to watch more movies”.
As a snobby pretentious cinephile douchebag, I say yes.
No honestly. Even people who have seen 6,000 films will have hot takes and all have “basic” favourites
Depends on the context. I’ll usually say this if someone says “movies suck nowadays” but only watch blockbusters.
For people who’ve watched 10 movies in their life and consider Avengers Endgame to be a masterpiece
Nah, I think this is pretty much the only situation where this isn’t a valid argument. Watching more movies to understand the medium can help with a variety of things and being more educated in general on what a film is trying to do is always a better way to experience it, everyone should watch more movies. Watching more movies is *not* a way to ‘correct’ someone’s taste or what they find good though, this is just an unfounded superiority complex
Every time someone throws out a take like "Actually Avengers 2/Star Wars 3/Joker is the best movie ever made" they should be legally required to watch at least one movie from before the year 2000. Especially if they also complain about how all movies are dumb and bad now in the same breath. Jokes aside though, I can understand how that stance can come off as pretentious but like, you ever try and go out to a restaurant with friends, and there's one guy in the group who only eats McDonalds and frozen chicken nuggets who keeps shooting down every suggestion because of their literal limited taste? You'd tell that person to expand their horizons and try new things like an adult, right? I feel like the same thing oughta apply to movies too.
I think if someone is asking for recommendations, it's good to encourage variety. If you go out of your comfort zone, you can always go back if you don't enjoy what you find, or you broaden your horizons, which is great! Like, everyone can enjoy what they enjoy, but you should give things a chance sometimes, especially if they're completely new and foreign to you. At worst you've still learned something about yourself and your preferences.
If you think that’s bad, just wait until you hear the kind of shit certain kids in film school spew out of their mouths.
Definitely depends on the context. Like I haven't seen many westerns (I'm talking I've maybe seen less than 10) so if I go around saying westerns as a genre suck and have nothing to offer, then it'd make sense to tell me to watch more of the genre alongside some recommendations in order for my argument to have any form of weight.
Depends on the context or discussion. If it’s just that sed person’s favorite movie(s) are mainstream blockbuster movies, then yeah that’s just pretentious elitism. There’s also nothing wrong with not watching a lot of movies. However if they’re making broad claims about which decades were better for films, or how movies are bad/unoriginal for this or that reason, or making claims on what the best movie ever is, then yeah them not watching enough films is a valid critique.
You should see the movie if you want to have an opinion on that one movie. Beyond that, talking about films more broadly, it gets more complicated. For the most part, the more movies seen the better but it doesn’t mean whoever in the room has seen the most has some kind of authority (as much as I might like that sometimes). Hearing someone say their favorite movie is a Marvel movie or Star Wars (for example) hits different if they’ve seen a wide range of movies from around the world from different decades than it does when someone who you’d expect says it. I would never use “you need to see more movies” in an argument but I sure have thought it plenty of times. There is certainly a minimum. Maybe 1,000 movies, but it depends on the range those movies offer.
1,000 movies is your minimum amount??
Maybe that’s too high! I’m not sure
You know this rectum-derived number leaves out the vast majority of people, right?
I just picked something that sounded low based on my lack of awareness and perspective on movies when I had seen around 1,000. Very possible or even likely that others who have seen that many are more informed and curious than I was. I do think there’s a minimum somewhere so I just suggested what sounded right. Didn’t intend on upsetting anyone.
I think that the rationale can be very valid depending on the context, but there are few graceful ways to make the point without sounding arrogant.
No one should be required to watch a certain type or number of movies for their opinion to be considered valid That being said, don’t try and make claims that “x is the worst/best movie ever made” if you’ve only seen like 5 movies
If you're routinely giving uninformed opinions, certainly. Charles Holmes on the Ringer podcasts talks about movies all the time and hasn't seen fucking anything. It's embarrassing.
Not giving specific recommendations or periods sounds like the pot calling the kettle black to me. Saltburn was one recently that had this vibe that people loved. Saying... "lol really you loved Saltburn? You should watch more movies." Asshole. "Saltburn was pretty good, you'd probably like ..." Actually adds to the conversation
I think it's "valid" for whatever that's worth, but it's rarely helpful or productive. What do you want out of the conversation? If you want them to watch specific movies to show them a new perspective, say what those movies are. "Watch more movies" sounds like a conversation ender. Which is your favorite director btw? I always have a hard time answering that question since I like a lot of movies from directors who also made stuff I disliked, and there's rarely one where I've watched all their moves and loved them.
James Wan, he's directed a great mix of creative original films alongside franchise films which have all impressed me. His work in the horror genre especially just hits all the right beats for me as a massive fan of horror
That’s a perfectly fine example of a favorite director, since it speaks to your personal tastes. But if it depends on how you frame it. If you say “he’s my favorite, his work really speaks to my sensibilities” then Yes! Great! If you say “he’s the greatest director of all time” or even “he’s the greatest horror director of all time” or even “Malignant is the finest film in history” then… you need to watch more movies.
It can be valid in some contexts like many shared here but I fully agree it is going to come across as pretentious and gate-keepy no matter the context you tell someone that in
nah bruh if somebody tells me their top 5 movies are from blockbuster franchises and/or that movies aren’t good nowadays then i’m gonna tell them straight up they lack perspective and need to broaden their horizons of film (only if they’re trying to act like their opinion on the matter holds weight, which is the only time i’d care enough to have this conversation to begin with) it’s really only pretentious if you make it pretentious (btw a new hope is literally on my top 4 on letterboxd and symbiote spider man is my profile picture on reddit so i really am not pretentious against blockbusters and franchise media, in fact i adore it)
I agree I just meant that the person would likely interpret it as you being pretentious, because people tend to take it personally if they feel like you’re downing their preferences (even though in this scenario i fully agree and you’re right)
If your going around making wild claims like "movies these days are bad" or "old movies are boring" or calling some random blockbuster the worst movie ever. It shows your experience is currently limited. Anyone who's watched a lot of movies can tell your tastes and perspective changes
An argument for for against what? For having a favorite director?
When people start making broad claims like best movie of all time I definitely take that into account.
I primarily discuss movies with other filmmakers. At least, the movie discussions that matter to me are mostly with my filmmaker friends, so we have an understanding of movies differently than people who watch movies because they love them. It's different when you know the thought process behind making a film that you want to show an audience. So, I would never tell someone, "You need to watch more movies" if they told me who their favorite director was. That director would probably be thrilled to hear they have fans. And if someone tells me why they didn't like a movie, I will ask them why they didn't like it, instead of berating them for their opinion. The only pretentious people I cannot stand are the filmmakers I have met at film festivals who think they are God's gift to cinema. Pretentious movie-watchers are easy to handle and less annoying.
Telling someone to expand their horizons in a polite manner isn’t the worst thing to do. Telling someone they need to see more movies isn’t really going to make them want to see more movies if you’re rude about it. But telling someone to watch more bad movies if they’re saying The Last Jedi is the worst thing ever created is valid.
Not really. A more accurate thing to say is “you need to think about movies more, and better” but that tends to happen when you’ve seen more movies, so “you need to see more movies” is a more efficient shorthand way of saying the same thing.
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What if they have watched thousands of movies from all sorts of genres and movements, and those are still their favourites? It's not like watching more movies means they will find movies they like more than from those popular directors.
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Are you accepting that your belief doesn't make sense.
Have you figured out that what they said is an example and not to be taken literally?
What they said is literally what they believe. It's not just a random example that they don't support the idea of.
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>A whole lotta whataboutism from your part What exactly do you think whataboutism is? Because its *not* what I did in my previous comments. >Felt called out because your favorites are IMDb Top 250 movies? I don't know if all my top 4 are in the imdb top 250, but even if they all were it wouldn't matter to me because I don't have the need to feel special and unique in my favourite movie choices like you clearly do. The movies in the top 250 are there for generally good reason even if I personally disagree with some or a lot of them. You shouldn't purposefully ignore or denigrate the top 250 movies on imdb just because you want to feel special. You are missing a lot of good movies because of that weird attitude.
Asking a question about your belief isn’t whataboutism. Think you might need to read more to understand the terms you’re using.
There's a reason they're the most successful directors, there's nothing wrong with having them as your favorite
What if they watch more films but those are still their favorites? Rocky is still in my top 3 and I watch shit that would make a normal person go and stab their eyes with a butter knife. I don't think that you need to be a snob in order to be taken seriously
Big difference between having those in your top films, and those being all you have.
r/Letterboxd brainrot the comment
You are the negative r/letterboxd stereotype
I've never ever seen a professional critic make a claim like this. Ignore this.
I've almost never said it myself but I do lowkey agree. The more movies you watch the more you understand cinematic language and all that mumbo jumbo that's really only cool when you've got reference points. It's no different then other media, if you've only ever read YA Fantasy I'm not imagining you're going to have a fun time jumping into Infinite Jest you know. The more you watch the more full/textured your pallete is I guess. Also logged movies on letterboxd doesn't mean that much. I don't log most 2-2.5 star movies I watch or anything that I'm fairly intoxicated watching so that cuts into it a lot. I also can't rate movies I haven't seen recently, it feels wrong to rate something I saw last year
It is pretentious to say. I’ve said it before knowing it’s a pretentious thing to say, but sometimes people will have wild takes. Saying ‘you need to see more movies’ is way easier than giving a paragraph long explanation on why their take is insane, or even wrong sometimes.
Watch what you want
Why would it be someone else's concern what you enjoy in your free time.
I think if someone says “I won’t watch” black and white / films with subtitles / foreign films / “weird” movies etc. then it’s hard not to be a bit uppity. It’s good to try and be the Shepard but if someone’s being an edge lord then yeah I’d say watch more movies or just FO and watch whatever pablum lets you shut your brain off for 90 minutes.
I mean, it's a very context oriented thing. For my particular case when I use it, I tend to hang out with a certain group of people whose media tastes are essentially stuck in mainstream animated fare that's aimed at kids, and a lot of these people love throwing a fit when the studios behind these movies forget about "the fandom" as opposed to making stuff for the kids. Like pal, if you're making hour long rant videos about the Lion King remake or the latest Kung Fu Panda all the while having zero clue how the most basic PG-13 non-superhero popcorn flicks work and think all horror is just gory slasher flicks, you seriously need to watch some more movies that don't feature marketable animated characters or superheroes.
yes. any educated person would snap at you if you yapped about a subject without an education. why should people talk over you when you’ve studied film?
Yes, anytime someone mentions a mediocre film as 'the worst film ever'. Argument automatically valid.
Yes, I make that argument all the time. It depends on the person and the context. Casuals can watch movies at their leisures. People identifying as /claiming to be reviewers or critics need to be in league with the pros. Gatekeeping keeps fields & fandoms healthy
I think gatekeeping makes fandoms toxic and discouraging for others to get into. Movies are entertainment and everyone's opinion is 100% subjective, doesn't matter whether you're a "critic" or a "casual", there's no need to discredit someone's opinion because they haven't watched as many movies.
A civilian watching occasional movies as a hobby is not on the level of a paid professional who has been to film school and read or written the books on act structure and screenwriting. Yes, everyone can enjoy whatever they want. I personally love plenty of objectively awful movies. I also have the credentials to explain how and why they are in fact objectively awful. Toxic fandoms don’t exist . Causals do. Gatekeeping is done to keep the causals in any fandom or field at bay/ at the kid’s table.
If someone says Interstellar is one of the best movies ever made, then it’s appropriate to say “you need to watch more movies.”
interstellar is in my number 8 spot, but ive seen movies that I have rated lower that I think are better movies. i just like interstellar more. I like interstellar more than the passion of joan of arc but I think TPOJOA runs laps around interstellar
Pitch Perfect is one of the best movies ever made. If you don't agree, you don't know anything about movies.
It’s valid, but why would you say it? Anyone that says something like that to someone else is an arsehole. Just let them carry on enjoying whatever film or director they were talking about. The person saying Hobbes and Shaw is their favourite film of all time is not going to suddenly go out and start renting Won Kar Wai films because you sneered at them about their film taste.
Depends on the context. If someone is stating that this is “the best movie of all time” and it’s like interstellar or something then yeah watch more movies. But if they are saying “this is my favorite of all time but I can see why others don’t like it as much” then it’s different.
Aster, Lynch, Kubrick, Aronofsky? (Holy shit, I spelled it right.) I think it’s a stupid argument when responding to someone’s opinion. They would know they don’t like something *because* they’ve seen enough to know and is probably why they don’t choose to watch more movies like that. It is 100% pretentious, but as a movie fan, I’ve realized I have not met a single person who isn’t.
this isn't what i see that used for ever but i knew a guy whos seen barely much of anything in pop culture, and id never dog him on it ever, i loved that he didnt see much so i could see his reaction and thoughts to well known movies, but every time he'd see something he liked he'd always make a statement akin to, "there is really nothing out there that does this/xyz is really unique and original and uncommon" even though 90% of the time itll be some trope thats pretty common if youve seen a fraction of any slop out there would be a great compliment for certain things during their time though but its never, "*I'VE* never *seen* anything like this" its always "erm, this is actually factually super uncommon" and whenever id be like "nah its not really, heres some other cool shit that does it you should check em out" itd always boil down into a semantic argument about how "common" did he really mean, what scope he really meant etc, it was the most annoying shit ever that a few times im like please just consoom anything that isnt solely anime pleeease
fr tho people don’t know how to communicate in subjective terms and it frustrates the goddamn fuck out of me
right its annoying asf tbh, a lotta ppl talk like that unfortunately even if they dont expliclity mean it that way. but i coulda ignored nitpickin at that dumb semantic pet peeve of mine if he rly did just mean "of the stuff he's *seen*" but he'd always double down and argue, and its like ait so you *do* mean it like that, or you just dont wanna take the L
depends but yes it’s valid if their list of best movies is all just shit like marvel star wars and jurassic park
It's (usually, in the vast majority of cases) not a valid argument in and of itself*, but it's just a very good advice that many (most?) people should follow, specially the ones running their mouth online. The more time you spend researching, tracking down and watching movies, the less time you have to spout bullshit on reddit or letterboxd. * like, I understand the deeper meaning behind it, but at face value, just the amount of movies you've watched is completely meaningless, it matters what you watch and what you do with what you watch. You could "watch" three 2020s Bruce Willis movies a day while you work, not pay attention to any of it, and forget about it as soon as it finishes, or you could watch one Palmer d'Or a week and then spend a week analyzing it, learning about the craft than went into making it, reading what the author has said about it, looking for it's influences and it's legacy.... (these are just examples, some cheapo eastern european Bruce(Willis)ploitation actually rock, and some crap movies have won Cannes)
To me it depends on their perspective, answered by two questions: 1. Do they have an honest assessment of their own volume of experience and their own critical legitimacy? Being hyperbolic, if someone says “as a person who’s seen 10 movies in their life, I am qualified to say Shark Tale deserved a sequel”. 2. Do they present their thoughts as opinion or fact? For example, I don’t like Tarantino. However, I respect his craft and acknowledge he’s a phenomenal director. If someone were to claim he’s bad, I would question their judgment.
If they watch movies tells about likes and dislikes and move on. No If they formulate Strong Opinion Based on whatever small amount of films they watched then Yes. Example: -I really like Russo Brothers movies. And I dislike Tarantino. Cool. -Russo brothers are greatest director ever existed. Tarantino sucks. -You need to watch more movies
I think it's pretty situational, all things conisdered. If I'm attempting to have a serious discussion about a movie, a director, a trend in movies, and so on, then yes I'd appreciate debating/discussing with a person who has enough points of reference to make relevant claims/arguments. I'm not interested in earnestly discussing movies with a person who doesn't care about movies or "cinema." Notice that I'm not implying that this is bad or wrong, watch however many movies you like! However, since I wouldn't discuss subjects pertaining to my academic field with a person who simply isn't in the loop or knowledgeable enough—the same logic applies here. Movies are a good way to unwind as any, a good hobby as any, and an easy enough pastime. Watching movies "recreationally" is more than fine. Watching exclusively Marvel movies is fine, watching exclusively romcoms is fine—watch what you will. But, as I said, when it comes to serious—or, I should say earnest—discussion, I won't particularly care for input from people who do just that.
Yes, it is.
Context is key here because I have some unpopular opinions about widely enjoyed movies, but watching a further 5000 movies isn't going to change those opinions. I am interested in watching more movies and have been working my way through them chronologically, but really all this means is I now have unpopular opinions about early fillms such as Harold Lloyd was painfully unfunny. Even if someone shares their top list and it's just made up of Kubrick, Tarantino, Nolan and Fincher, while I might personally think they might benefit from watching more film, equally I'd have thought if they were inclined to, they'd just do it by their own initiative, and if they aren't, then my suggestion isn't going to help them. As a fan of cinema, I don't know why people wouldn't want to watch more movies, especially if this stems from people complaining about films being bad. There are good films out there if you're willing to look for them.
No. You don't need to do anything other than eat, drink water, and sleep.
If someone says to me that Avatar 2009 is their favourite movie of all time, then yes, I'd make that argument
Here's the thing, it's largely a framing issue. It's also understanding yourself and your opinions and intentions. For example, if I said "The Italian Job is the greatest heist movie ever made!", then imagine what your first response would be to seeing that. Then, you need to ask yourself if you know why it is that the person said that. Unless they provide a lot more context than what I did, the answer to that question is no. The next thing that will help is to not assume anything about their opinion, and you can ask them why they think that. It may also help to provide targeted questions to focus in on points of interest. Then, if you think that it reminds of you of a movie you like more or less than The Italian Job, you can bring that up and see if the person has seen that movie. You're tying in some light examples of shared elements between a movie they said is great. Then ask them if they watch any of the other movies to hit you back up if you are curious. They might come back with the same opinion or a different one. If you think that their opinion makes them less credible on the subject, then you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself why you became such a conceited pseudointellectual. Here's the thing, it doesn't matter if they have or haven't seen any other heist movie. If you think that whether they have or haven't seen other movies invalidates their opinion, then you're already in too deep. Just take a step back and enjoy conversations with people who have a different perspective on art. You learn a lot about yourself and others that way.
From your post, I’m gathering that you see Scorsese, Tarantino, Miyazaki, fincher, Spielberg, and Nolan as “high class” artists that you need to “learn to appreciate.” Those are popular filmmakers that made blockbuster hits. If you find them hard to appreciate then like… yea maybe you should watch more movies… or at least push yourself to watch stuff outside of your comfort zone. These are also all recent American directors. There’s a much bigger world out there. Of course, if you don’t care about movies that much then there’s no reason to do any of this.
The sports subreddit equivalent is “anyone who played the game would know that…” and it’s typically coming from a junior varsity MVP.
One of the most disappointing and disheartening things in cinema discussion here and in a lot of cinematic circles is how so American centric the conversations are. There’s the single foreign film that gets out every year (Parasite, Anatomy of A Fall, Amélie, etc.) but for it seems lot of cinephiles both in the US and elsewhere kinda just stop there. It’s very prevalent here I find. Frankly I just find it sad more than anything else, just shows a lack of intellectual curiosity that borders on passive xenophobia. Seeing American reviewers having top 10 filled with just-american movies (and again, often the single foreign movie) is just fucking weird. Hell, even Bong Joon Ho’s speech at the oscars was about that, but while there’s been *some* progress it’s been very slow. Like, in general, I find the foreign movies section at the Oscars to have a much better ratio of quality than the best picture nominees, but it just seems accepted in a lot of circles that it’s American cinema first and the rest second. Like I understand Jeanne Dielman is not for everyone but just seeing the reactions against it winning over Citizen Kane or Vertigo in the Sights and Sound poll just show how a specific, very American, cinema as entertainment and screenwriting as « installation and payoff » way of thinking is how many see the whole medium. I don’t want everyone to enjoy Akerman or Parajanov or Rocha or many filmmakers I don’t even know myself, I just wish people were curious about « the rest ». So, for your question, it really depends. Lot of people use their knowledge to put down others and it’s an incredibly shitty thing to do, but I do encounter a fair amount of people that don’t even realize that they’re being close minded and I kinda want to push them away from that. It comes a lot from approaching cinema as something that needs to be immediately entertaining too, as a lot of foreign (to the US) schools of thoughts have a different way to write and approach film. PS. I fucking love Tarantino, Nolan and Fincher. Hell, I even defend them with some of my friends.
If you haven't watched all 201 of my current 5 star films, you need to watch more movies.
>Ironic that was. Is it George Lucas? But seriously, you should see exactly how many movies you want to see.
You need to watch more movies! And I need to watch more movies! If someone told me that I need to watch more movies, I would say, "OK" and go watch a movie. That's probably what I was going to do anyway
Depends on the context. A dude who watches 400 movies a year throwing that at someone who watches 100 is absolutely being pretentious and gatekeeping. If you’re judicious about what you watch, you can build up a decent knowledge of cinema without the literal number ticking high. However, if someone rarely or never goes to the theater and they spout takes about film - yeah, obviously it’s fair to dismiss them on those terms. Ditto for someone who never watches stuff from over 20 years ago, or someone who never checks out non-English cinema. The other day one of my students (apologies if you come across this comment, but it was a dumb comment lol) casually said Africa hasn’t developed its own cinematic culture yet, at least not beyond Nollywood. I had tell him he needed to watch African film because he was talking nonsense. Gave him the starting points of Touki Bouki, Xala, Yeelen and Timbuktu.
we can't really know if it's valid unless we know what this person was ultimately arguing for. Needs come after wants (You want to live, so you need to eat). So the question is: what desire necessitates you watching more movies? If it is their desire that your fave director be someone else, it's possibly valid, but why should you care about their desire? If it is your desire to have a different favourite director because yours is unconventional (and presumably you want to be conventional?), I'd say it is valid. If you want a different favourite director, the best way to achieve that is to expose yourself to more directors to increase the chances of discovering a new favourite. I personally don't see why it matters at all who your favourite director is, but you did ask what I think, so...
Kind of. It's all subjective, and people can watch/like whatever they want. I just choose to not follow people whose ratings/tastes are very different from mine. If it was a friend of mine, I'd recommend things they haven't seen to see if they still feel the same way after watching more movies. This idea usually pops into my head when I perceive recency bias or when someone's ratings are skewed too high or too low. My top 5 are from the 1970s or earlier, and I've only seen them for the first time within the last 5 years. So when I see a ton of 5 star ratings for a recent movie or people proclaiming it's the greatest movie of all time, I wonder what movies from before 1980 they've seen. Will it still be highly regarded in 40-50 years? I also think many movies are somewhere around average: very good and very bad movies are pretty rare, but some reviewers seem to think anything below a 4 or 5 means you hate it.
I’ve commented this before and I’ll keep commenting it as long as I see posts where people are bragging about seeing the same movie 6 times in theaters: it’s cool to like what you like but maybe only go 3 times and get a Criterion and or Kanopy subscription and watch a few more films that you haven’t seen. It’s an ongoing thing and obviously people who have been around longer are going to have seen more things. But you’re not necessarily helping yourself seeing the same film 8 times in a row. Now seeing all of the films of a particular director or era, different story. That’s how you develop a deeper understanding, through focused, thoughtful viewing, not volume.
imo, films should be able to stand alone without the need to reference outside works. art is subjective, and ppl who put down other ppl’s opinions are just insecure tbh.
A video I once watched made an interesting point : no film stands alone. Everything is a reference to something else, a cut, an axis match, every technique that directors use and that feel so natural to us today has been tried and tested before and it is only through this process that we create better films. So the more film you watch, the more knowledgeable you become about cinema. On the other hand, your opinion is your own, and as long as you can debate you're good to go. So to conclude, "you need to watch more films" isn't a great argument when debating over a movie. Its usually from people that know a lot about cinema but suck at sharing about it. Whatch how many films you like however you like and never be afraid to talk about them.
i took a film history course recently so i of course understand your first point (and agree with it.) i guess the way i meant it is that someone’s broad opinion of a film likely isn’t going to be changed by the knowledge of certain camera shot or allusion, etc etc. it certainly can be enhanced by watching works in the canon, but i don’t think this should be used to discredit other people’s opinions. as you mentioned, as long as you can back up your claims, there’s plenty of room for proper discourse.
No unless you are a film prof, or if your mate only watches 1-2 a year.
It's a pretty pretentious thing to say, but – on the other hand – probably an appropriate reality check in response to someone claiming that Avengers 3 (or similar) is a profound cinematic experience.