TAKE 1: One Man’s Opinion
by Frederick William Springer III
I’ve been trying to figure out my shtick in this niche. And I’ve decided to steer clear of the “movie
critique” and “movie review,” the former sounding like something pompous from a
self-proclaimed know-it-all and the latter laying out the whole plot of the
movie making it so you really need not see the film at all. In fact, some critiques and reviews are
normally well over a page long when many readers just want to know if they
should invest their time and money to go see the flick. Is it good or not?
That’s where I step in.
First of all, I’m offering my opinion.
Everyone’s taste is different and even one person’s tastes develop and
change overtime. I have watched a lot of
movies in my life and have taken a film course or 2, but I don’t claim to be
any kind of expert in the matter. I
believe that film is largely subjective—you love one movie, I hate it, another
film is among my favorites, you think it’s shit.
From my own experience with this project, I’ve found that I
actually like it better when I don’t see the trailer (or read a review)
beforehand, this way I limit my expectations (misguided or otherwise) going in. This translates into me, more often than not,
forgoing a summary of the movie I’m opinionating about unless it’s crucial to
me making an argument for or against seeing it (more often than not, the more
lengthy reviews are those in which I found fault with a movie I didn’t care
for, or points that nagged me in one that I otherwise did).
As far as rating goes, I’m still working on my gimmick. Thumbs are trademarked (and really are too
cut and dry) and stars are overdone.
Whatever the end result (clapboards to keep with the Take 1 theme,
perhaps?), the point system will work out this way:
6- Great
movie. I’d want it a part of my
personal collection (in whatever format is current).
5- Good.
4- Eh,
maybe you’d want to check it out.
3- Eh,
maybe you won’t.
2- Bad. Don’t waste your time.
1-
Terrible. If someone holds a gun to
your head and tells you to watch this movie or else, tell them to go ahead and
pull the trigger, you’ll die a happier person.
But again, that’s just one man’s opinion. I know one movie I despised, many heralded as
the greatest thing since sliced bread, so, in the end, again, it’s all
subjective. You may find that your own
opinion lines up with mine often, occasionally or seldom. And, based on that, you’ll decide whether or
not you want to consult my write-ups before choosing what to see, or to review
them afterwards to see if we were in agreement, or maybe not at all. The choice is yours as I’m not holding a gun.
