Banana Scoop

Last week, it sort of felt as though I bashed being a movie buff in preference for being a television buff with so many television related posts.   I can feel sometimes that I relay the imbalance of movies and television and I have to remind myself that I still need to write about movies every once in a while.  I haven’t really been to a movie theater as of late and all the movies I’ve been watching are either old or terrible, neither of which warrants a full blow review.  And I tire of lists that hold little relevance.  So I kind of went into the mind process of when I wrote about my ‘television ratio’ and ‘reasons to watch television’.  Today I write to defend the movie buff honor and claim how pride I am to being one. Below I’ve compiled a list of 5 reasons or better yet, perks to being a movie buff.  Read below.

5) Geeking Out

I’m sure everyone here has a good grasp on any subject, whether it be cooking, sports, video games, or books, and that they’ve experienced a ‘geeking out’ with another human being where they simply talk about the experiences in that subject they’ve encountered.  Well movie geek outs are no different.  I always welcome talking about the tastes of other people and discussing the disagreements we might have.  It always gets my blood boiling in a good way, and being opinionated on any subject [as long as it’s educated opinionated] is healthy for the brain.  This works out especially well if the person you’re passionately talking to about a subject is of the opposite sex where sparks might fly and true love be found.

4) Getting Excited for Things that Normal People Don’t Get Excited About

This one is tough to explain.  I want to relate it to joining a guild or exclusive club that only members understand the inside jokes and news.  For example, the news line: The Brat Pack reunites to honor the late John Hughes.  To non movie buffs, that news line means nothing without further explanation.  To movie buffs, we hang our heads in silence to quite possibly the most culturally influential man of the 80s.  Being born in the 90s myself, it’s his films that provide a glimpse into a completely different lifestyle.  It’s headlines like this, that only we movie buffs will appreciate.  And this exclusive appreciation is similar to the passing amusing of an inside joke.  Another example is: Joss Whedon is set to direct the Avengers.  Most people would say ‘Joss Who?’  But once again movie [and in this specific case TV buffs] are able to get even more excited because of Whedon’s previous involvement with things like Firefly, Serenity, and the Buffy series.  I could go on and on, but like I said before, it’s an inside joke type thing.

3) Being the Go-to Guy for Movie Recommendations

This explanation actually inspired a post I will write later regarding how pretensious we movie buffs get when it comes to movie recommendations and being in the company of non movie buffs.  But if you’re friends and peers can get over how pedantic you are or if you can tone it down, movie buffs provide excellent judgement to save your peers from wasting their time or opening their minds.  Before Christopher Nolan hit it big with the Batman movies, I urged everyone I knew to watch Memento due to how mindblowing it was.  And since then, people have been coming back to me, hoping to give them insight to a movie just as mind blowing as that one.  I’ve shown people Se7en, The Usual Suspects, and more movie buff staples in hopes of inspiring others.

2) Looking Past the Trailer/Poster For Judging a Movie: Director, Actor, Writer, etc

To the general public, the trailer and a poster is the most influential aspect in determining if a movie is worth it’s 2 hours [or in some cases $15].  To a movie buff, there are so many more ways to judge if a movie will be good or not.  The director’s track record, the actor’s work load, the writers attached.  Credits like these that usually mean nothing to the general audience mean everything to the movie buff.  Most people don’t know who Aaron Sorkin is, but to movie buff’s he’s a very accomplished screen writer.  Knowing names like Spike Lee and Michael Mann help judge what he movie genre will likely be about.  Spike Lee will likely make a film that empowers the African American people, while Michael Mann will probably create a crime drama.  It’s more facts and statistics than anything.  We know to stay away from films from Uwe Boll and M. Night Shyamalan.  It comes in quite handy when you’re lining up in a movie theater and you have to choose between a script written by Kristen Wiig or another action movie starring Dwayne Johnson.

1) One Step Closer to Being a Renaissance Man

Looking past the whole actually watching movies and knowing things about them, watching movies is like studying art.  It’s a culture that widens your scope and outlook on life as a man/woman.  I’ve always been open to absorbing as many things as possible to be as cultured as humanly possible.  Having a knowledgeable grasp on film is just as important to a renaissance man as knowing how to cook, being able to tie a knot, and knowing the differences in fine wines.  Being a master of any craft is impressive, yes.  But trying to master as many crafts as you possibly can ultimately leads to a more satisfying life if you’re proud of the life you’ve lived.  Some will call you pedantic, yes.  Even possibly pretentious.  But words like pedantic and pretentious are words for others to call you, not words that you would call yourself.  And when you lay on your deathbed however long that will be, words like those will have no weight to them.  It will ultimately lie to you if you’re satisfied with what you’ve done with your life.  And if you’re proud of your movie tastes and knowledge, then the benefit of being a master of this craft is something you will carry with you to your grave.

We don’t often get this serious on Banana Feed.  So take this word of advice from a Greenhorn of a 20 year old and cherish it deeply.

Happy Deathbeds everyone

-Banana Feed Team