The Perks Of Being A Movie Buff

It seems that movie buffs are becoming a dying breed. We used to be the majority, but following the Netflix revolution and the slew of different series that it sparked it, more and more people are getting their fill from Game of Thrones and True Detective. Yes, there’s some amazing stuff on TV. However, it seems that more and more people are missing out on a whole other facet of entertainment! Seen as our numbers are dwindling, we thought that a post like this was in order. Here are some of the best things about being a movie buff…

Simply Geeking Out

All of our readers will have a specialist topic. Whether it’s cooking, a certain sport, video games, music, literature, we’ve all got that one subject that we’re truly passionate about, and could talk about for hours and hours. When we run into someone who’s as passionate about that subject as us, something magical happens. We start trading notes at a million miles an hour, throwing in slang and jargon that makes the people around us frown with confusion. Geeking out about movies is no different. There’s nothing quite like finding that one person who’s seen some obscure cult film when you thought you were the only one, or getting your blood boiling (in a good way!) when the two of you have a conflicting analysis of a film. This can work out especially well when the person’s not only an expert on films but drop-dead gorgeous and single!

Being the Go-To Person for Recommendations

This is something of a double-edged sword. When you live and breathe movies, it’s unfortunately very easy to become pretentious about our tastes in the presence of non-movie buffs. The line between good cinema and bad cinema is so clear to you, so why are you surrounded by people who seem determined on watching the latter?! If you can manage to tone down how pedantic you are about your passion, or your friends simply manage to get over it, you’ll become the go-to guy (or girl) for movie recommendations. As long as you’re not overstepping the mark, this can allow you to save your friends from wasting their time on bad movies or get them to open their minds to titles that are much better than the stuff they usually stick to. Just make sure you’re not throwing anyone out of their depth here! If you’ve got a friend who loves Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, then get them to watch Memento. If they freaked out (just like everyone) over The Revenant then get them to watch There Will Be Blood. You know your friends better than us, so picking out the real gems you know they’ll like shouldn’t be too difficult. After you hit the nail on the head once or twice, you’ll quickly become the person everyone asks for movie recommendations.

Looking Past the Trailers

For the average person, a film’s trailer is the best ways to determine whether or not it’s worth their time. To a movie buff, on the other hand, there’s so much more to look at before you decide if it’s worth seeing on the big screen, or simply watching online for free. Movie buffs will pick apart the credits, thinking about the director and cast’s respective track records, the writers who have been working on the project and how their styles differ. The credits mean next to nothing to the passive viewer. On the other hand, a movie buff can skim through a few of the key names, and quickly (and sometimes, scarily accurately) predict what the movie’s going to be about. Many people don’t know who Aaron Sorkin is but ask any true movie buff, and they’ll tell you all about this accomplished screenplay writer’s incredible career. Knowing names like Spike Lee and Kevin Smith also allows a film buff to get a potent taste of the movie they’re about to watch, whereas others will sit down with no clear idea of what kind of themes the film is going to bring up, or the social-political opinions it will push onto the audience. There’s a certain pride to be had in glancing over a movie poster and being able to predict how good it will be, even when you’re just going to a film to humour your boyfriend of girlfriend. To many people, this can seem like something close to a superpower!

Sampling All Cinema Has to Give

Again, we’ll take a moment to apologise for how horribly pretentious and snobby us film buffs can be. If you’re not exactly a movie nut, you may have been out with a movie buff friend and started telling them how amazing a film you saw lately was. When the title comes up, they scoff, snort and roll their eyes. A lot of us can be very rude and cynical about the blockbusters that hit cinemas every summer, but there’s a reason for this. Most people are only skimming the surface of a vast ocean! If you’ve never heard of titles such as Dogtooth, The Seventh Seal, and Wake in Fright, then you’re a long way off from understanding why we turn our noses up at so many new releases. There’s a whole world of cinema out there, ranging from the long-forgotten gems of the black-and-white era to experimental art films that make you gaze into the screen long after they’re finished. Yes, there’s still some impressive material being released, but when you look back through the history of film, you’ll open your eyes to masterpieces from all over the world. It takes something truly special for a title to survive for decades, and if you hold onto the common prejudice against old movies, you’ll be missing out on a lot!

There you have just a handful of the best things about being a movie buff. If we’ve convinced you to take a break from a series and watch one of the gems of cinema, then soon you’ll know exactly what we’re talking about!