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A Film A Day and other mental magic
January 16th, 2020
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In the early days of the web I had a site called A Film A Day.
Why, oh, why, did the Internet Archive fail to archive it, I shall
never know. For about 5 years I kept up a practice of watching (on
average) one film per day and reviewing it. Of course I didn't
watch something every single day, so I'd bank by watching a few on
the weekends and so on. The important part wasn't getting my
yearly quota, though. I was on a mission to prove a point in an
argument I'd had at a diner.
Every movie is a
five star movie
if you watch it
the right way.
That was my angle, you see. My reviews weren't about giving
ratings to the films. It was all about figuring out how to watch
them to get the most enjoyment. I managed it, too! with a few
notable exceptions (no one can get 5 stars from Battlefield
Earth).
You need an example? Let's take the unfortunate film, Alien Vs.
Predator. What should have been a bloody affair was hamstrung by
a PG-13 rating and a setting so isolated in the arctic that
nothing really felt at stake. But... twist it in your mind and let
it become the greatest video game trailer of all time and entire
story now has purpose and drive.
Sometimes that's all it takes. Just tweak your mind a little bit
and see things from another angle and it's awesome! Other times it
takes much more work.
I've been thinking on the Star Wars films and how I might approach
them so they're enjoyable. I think the best angle might be through
compassion. I imagine the filmmakers as a kid in high school who
adores this fandom. He eats up everything he can about the
theories and fan-fiction. He lives his life so deep in it that he
forgets there are casual fans. There are people who watched the
movies once and then moved on. There is no place left in his world
that hasn't been taken over with esoteric knowledge of this
imagined universe.
We feel a little sorry for that kid and wish he could enjoy
something else, something more. But we know, also, that he gets
such joy from this that we feel for him and want him to experience
it where he can.
And so, these other Star Wars movies are his. They are not part of
the series. They are not "real". The universe bestowed a gift upon
that nerd and let him use real actors and studios to produce his
opus of fandom. It is filled with false nostalgia and fan theories
jumbled up into a hodgepodge. It is not there to make sense. It is
not there to complete a great epic. It is a fulfillment of
a nerd's dream, and we can compassionately enjoy it with him.