I just finished up a terrific book by movie critic Owen Gleiberman, entitled Movie Freak: My Life Watching Movies. It is part autobiography, and part exploration of the world of film criticism and movies in general. Gleiberman reveals pretty much every dirty little secret of his life as he recounts his troubled childhood, college years, adult personal life, and his professional career.
Movie Freak is riveting, fascinating, funny, sad, revelatory, and a whole lot more. In author/critic Gleiberman, I see something of myself... not in every way, but enough for me to understand that it is a certain kind of person, bearing certain personal baggage, who dives so deep into film fandom. It's not just borne out of a healthy interest, necessarily, at least in Owen's (and my) case; there seems to be a prerequisite for a dysfunctional family dynamic to prod one to escape not just the mundane, but an often painful home life via the fictional (and sometimes non-fictional) worlds in movies.
So it was a bit of a therapy session for me as I read the book, much as it must have been for Gleiberman as he wrote it. But at least he went beyond just watching movies and became employed to write about them.
Outside of the personal stuff, the author went into considerable detail about writing about movies, analysing them, deconstructing them, reading into their subtext (if there is any), and how all of those creative processes fit into the business end of things. Gleiberman's work at various publications, newspapers and magazines is given enough attention in the book that one can grasp, though not always easily, the politics of entertainment journalism. Sometimes you can see why things are done a particular way, even if it doesn't seem right. Other times, the haphazard injustice is overwhelming... big business execs or just plain power-tripping lower-level bosses hand down edicts with little or no wiggle room. Hence, Gleiberman's struggle to maintain a certain amount of freedom of speech and creativity in his various writing jobs.
A highly entertaining book... I recommend it to any fan of film, film criticism, and even just writing. I'm no expert on cinema, criticism or writing, but ever since the mid-1990's, I've been reading books about movies, and doubling (even tripling down) on my movie consumption. A self-taught education in the wide world of cinema, reaching as far back as the dawn of the medium and exploring its global reach. I also started a home movie collection in the 90's, which has grown and morphed along the way. What began as an almost exclusively horror and sci-fi genre collection gradually came to include art films, foreign films, documentaries... all manner of genres. So I consider myself more than an average movie viewer or collector. And as for film criticism, well, my not-too-terrible writing chops are mostly homegrown and self-taught. I've read a few books, written a few blogs and short stories, and contributed to some open-source and social media websites. Nothing paid, so I'm no pro, but I'm just having fun with the written word and sharing my thoughts about movies and other areas of pop culture. Like here!
And as the old adage goes: "Everyone's a critic". Yep, we've all got something to say, and as for all the different views out there (mine included), well, it's like that other old adage: "Opinions are like assholes; everyone has one". So I don't hold my blog writings here too dear. They may be gone tomorrow, for all I know.
But as I plow through movies, and sometimes shows (TV and streaming), and share my ideas about them, that process often helps me to see something that maybe I didn't see before in those moving pictures. I'm forced to take a moment and analyze, maybe break down, what I've seen and look for more than what's merely on the surface. Not always, though, for I am as guilty as anyone else for going with the flow and letting movies just wash over me, not bothering to look for any deeper meaning. Like popcorn movies... you know.
My Letterboxd profile gives you a real look at my movie viewing history, preferences, and quirks, not to mention my way of talking about them. Sometimes with some true thought, sometimes just a throwaway jokey line or two. Whatever I feel a movie deserves, considering my mood at that moment.
So whether I'm doing a quickie review of the sci-fi actioner Alita: Battle Angel, period piece comedy-drama Emma, or the quirky crime comedy The Kid Detective, I'm trying my best to be authentic, not relying on what everyone else says. I actually take notes while watching movies. Er, wait, that's a pretty nerdy thing to do, isn't it? That's what critics do...
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