To get a sense for my taste in movies, here's a link to my previous posts labeled movies. Also please check out my three-word reviews of recent movies on this blog's home page. I think movies can rarely rise to the level of high art, but I'm not really a fan of art-house movies. I prefer broad-based, entertaining movies, especially action flicks and sci fi, if done well. One of my favorite movies is The Princess Bride, and has been since I was about 12. I read the book on which the movie is based, but I don't think I understood it as well at 12 as I understood the movie. I also would rank Steven Spielberg's Minority Report among my more recent favorites, even with the gross-out descent into hell that is the eyeball-surgery scene. I loved seeing The Lord of the Rings brought to life in the film trilogy. It was well-executed and imaginative, while also being faithful to the original novel series. My favorite movie of the three is the first one, though, because it starts in such a pastoral fantasy, and the darker elements are more contained.
I go to a lot of movies with my wife, who tends to enjoy action mixed with a little comedy. She likes to go to movies as an escape. I don't think of movies as much as an escape, but I do enjoy being entertained. I prefer thought-provoking movies like The Matrix or even Inception to superhero movies or sequels, but I have to admit we own quite a few of both of those. Overall, I'm not a film buff, I'd say, but I do enjoy discussing movies after I've seen them, and I do read the reviews and pay attention to them -- but only AFTER I see the movie. If I read a review before seeing the movie, I'm less likely to enjoy the movie or to go see it at all. Most reviews, after all, are negative, and they point out flaws that I'm not sure most moviegoers even notice. I tend to enjoy going to movies if you can get me there, but I won't go to just any movie. I am pretty picky, but I do go fairly often to the theater.
