Naïve Old Fart 9,528 Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 This is a little subject that I've been thinking about, lately. What got JWfaners "into" films, what keeps JWfaners interested in films, and, more importantly, what, in terms of cinema, are JWfaners' influences? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 Lots of video tapes when I was an infant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,528 Posted May 13, 2018 Author Share Posted May 13, 2018 Yes. Saturation seems to be a good way of immersing oneself, in any given subject. Was any one videotape of particular influence, or was it a general thing? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holko 9,526 Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 I've also been watching VHS bootleg recordings of TV broadcasts (complete with commercials and everything) since I was very little. We digitized most of those when we got a DVD player (about as late as 2007) and still have the bootleg DVDs of the bootleg VHSs. Might be one of the reasons I'm still fine with DVDs. Our most prized one is the 4-hour epic that puts RotK and Ben-Hur to shame: terrible amateur recordings chronicling the first 4 years of my life, with included major time jumps because we didn't have a camera, always had to loan one from friends. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbellamy 6,287 Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 Fantasy and music Growing up with Wizard of Oz, Disney, Spielberg, BTTF, Star Wars, LOTR, Harry Potter Fanboying in my teens over Kubrick, Tarantino, Scorsese, PTA, Wes Anderson, Coens, Monty Python, Beatles movies Found more stuff to get excited about in my 20s. Powell/Pressburger, Kieslowski, Bunuel, Truffaut, Lynch, Almodovar, Demy, Ophuls, Has, Anger, Hertzfeldt, Mclaren, silent movies... Kinda simplistic, there are outliers but I figure fantasy and music is the general trend with me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpy 4,145 Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 I think my interest in films started out around the time I was in high school, a few friends and I would get together and we made a couple of short films, and habitually caught films at the cinema for the major releases. It sort of blossomed into my interest in wanting to produce art and design work for films - The Lord of the Rings was had a major influence in just the sheer level of creativity and detail that was on display and wanting to be a part of that. Films were part of our culture, discussing and debating them during lunch and waiting for Revenge of the Sith to come out. Yet it was also my love for the music of the films that amplified my love for them. Before that I have distant memories of my parents showing me A New Hope on VHS and I remember falling in love with Darth Vader and Lightsabers. My love for film really wouldn't be there without those iconic films - they serve as a nice jumping-off point to where I'm open to seeing indie films and dissecting the art and craft of filmmaking today. Naïve Old Fart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 Raiders, Duel, Whistle Down the Wind, The Neverending Story and Superman. Those were key movies in my very young years which sparked more than a passing interest in the medium. As I've gotten older, my enthusiasm for movies has waned somewhat, indeed nowadays I look to longform TV for the really great entertainments, but that doesn't mean I don't still really love and appreciate film gems whenever I find them. The whole trend of modern blockbusters, the superheroes and the 'four quadrant' productions, I have absolutely zero interest in any of them. Nick1Ø66 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,504 Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 I think for me it boils down to an above-average vivid imagination and a sensory apparatus firing on all cylinders, but I don't really know who I inherited it from. My mother is more likely than my father, I guess. Since I was a kid, I was always interested in storytelling, being engrossed by a universe and visual stimulation. I had a knack for drawing, and created several comic books and comic book characters myself (in addition to reading thousands others, of course). I also had a knack for writing, and wrote several short stories and even two short novels when I was about 12-13. I also had a natural musical talent, and composed piano themes by improvisation when I was 5-6. It's my greatest regret that my parents didn't give me piano lessons when I was kid; I'd probably be a musician today. My film interest seemed to be an extension of all of that. I also grew up in a pre-internet time when visual stories (film or TV) had more exclusivity than they do today; it was an accomplishment to actually find and get certain films, so that heightened the experience even more. But I can't really give you any specific film or time that triggered my film interest; it seemed to be a gradual evolution. Interestingly, my interest in soundtracks didn't really come from films, but from my interest in prog rock and electronic music with lengthy instrumental passages and a 'concept' feel. I think that's why I don't like C&C releases and prefer soundtracks that are re-conceptualized for listening. Oh...and you asked for what types of cinema that shaped my taste. Well, in the beginning it was obviously 99% Hollywood and traditional films. That's where the Spielberg passion came from. But as I grew older, I became interested in other forms of cinema. These days, I tend to prefer cinema that is more about communicating ideas through audiovisual means, whether it's completely arthouse/indie (Antonioni, Ray, Godard, Lynch, Tarkovsky etc.) or auteurs using a traditional format to forward such ideas (Spielberg, Scott, Burton, Fincher etc.). I also have a strong fascination for 'action auteurs' like Paul W.S. Anderson, Roland Emmerich, Michael Bay etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted May 13, 2018 Share Posted May 13, 2018 4 hours ago, Richard said: Yes. Saturation seems to be a good way of immersing oneself, in any given subject. Was any one videotape of particular influence, or was it a general thing? The latter. They were mostly on those old BASF tapes, recorded from free-to-air TV, movies like Ghostbusters, Superman, Superman II, Superman III, Supergirl, Raiders, ToD, Close Encounters, Poltergeist, Star Wars, Empire, Masters of the Universe... and I'd routinely watch these over and over. Those tapes helped shape me into the manly man I am today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Drunk, but fairly accurate. MikeH 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karelm 2,913 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Films are less interesting to me than music. There are many great scores I love to bad movies and vise versa. For example, I love James Horner's score to wolf totem and ignore the movie. I get great pleasure from that soundtrack and I ignore the film. To me, what engages me in film is that it has the potential to engage more senses when the movie and music work harmoniously. Like a subset of the ideal of Wagner's Gesamtkunstwerk ("total work of art") which sought to engage all senses. So not just music, but included visuals, vocals, acting, staging, sets, lighting, sounds, smells, etc. publicist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasey Kockroach 2,344 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Lots and lots of cartoons and Muppets. Gremlins was the first non-animated/non-Muppet film I ever loved as far as I can recall. Through that, I raised myself on a steady diet of horror movies (equally of the mainstream A and obscure weird B-variety) of all eras, in-between servings of Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry, Tex Avery, Woody Woodpecker and Muppets/Sesame Street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post publicist 4,643 Posted May 14, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted May 14, 2018 4 hours ago, karelm said: For example, I love James Horner's score to wolf totem and ignore the movie. I get great pleasure from that soundtrack and I ignore the film. The film might not be the greatest thing ever put to film, but it has stunning photography and the score is mixed very prominent. Filmic influences = everything, with Hollywood Golden Age casting a large shadow. In my childhood, a lot of books were read - before you were old enough to read them yourself you would terrorize your parents or siblings to do so - and Germany had about 5 or 6 tv channels (east and west) before private television kicked in in the late 80's. They broadcast a lot of french, russian and italian movies and not only american stuff, which was fortunate in regards to getting a broader mindset. Because of all the reading, there was a special reverence for literary subjects, at last in my household, and thus, such movies were preferred. Of course, children being children we always only wanted to see old MGM and Warner Bothers cartoons, for me Tex Avery always was a special highlight. Heaven arrived when both worlds crossed paths, like when Gene Kelly danced with Jerry the mouse. Later came comedies, which always was my preferred filmic idiom - the word being a mightier than the image, you might say, though i value that much more highly in hindsight - and old horror movies. Which is right on point were my interest in film music began: not 'Star Wars', not 'Indiana Jones' (it was not available till 1990) but tv broadcasts of two of John Williams's movies (Jaws and Dracula) and one Jerry Goldsmith movie (The Secret of NIMH). Back then, it was unthinkable to even record or buy a movie, let alone imagining that a record might exist. So what happened was that i glanced tv programs for years till those movies were re-broadcast and recorded the parts that struck a chord via the tv's loudpeakers. The results were atrocious but i loved them dearly for years. After the wall came down, i stormed the biggest music chain in the western part of Berlin with a group of friends, hunting for the Batman soundtrack (Prince, naturally) and Depeche Mode records (a favourite in the late 80's) and i almost fell backwards when i saw a 'soundtracks' section as large as whole lp stores back in east germany. So i bought some pop records and around 5 soundtracks, among them 'Jaws', 'Star Wars' and 'Secret of NIMH'. Then everything fell into place. Naïve Old Fart, Nick1Ø66 and Kasey Kockroach 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,528 Posted May 14, 2018 Author Share Posted May 14, 2018 Wow. @publicist, there's so much in that post, not the least of which is the part about The Wall. To live under those circumstances, and then decide to have no more of it... It could have its own thread. It's good to know that you discovered a "soundtracks" section, in the record store, even more so to learn that it contained TSON! Ps, VIOLATOR is absolutely brilliant, and MUSIC FOR THE MASSES is not far behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Well, i did decide not much of anything, as i was 12 years old back then. But i sure remember those glory days in November '89: you crossed the iron curtain into west Berlin, Helmut Kohl gave everyone 100 marks and sent you on a shopping spree. Which meant walkman, Mars bars, Nutella and records (no one had a cd player). World of Music was the gigantic music store on Kurfürstendamm and they had the largest possible selection of everything (it's where i bought the Star Wars Anthology in 1993) and with great fondness i remember the long afternoons i spent there listening to cd's on their try-out racks. I had so much patience back then that i could listen to whole Pink Floyd albums cowering next to the rack and to 'Gremlins 2' after that (the movie came out in summer 1990), deciding that i gotta have that and that this Goldsmith guy was a somehow cool dude. Nick1Ø66 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,333 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 3 hours ago, publicist said: Later came comedies, which always was my preferred filmic idiom - the word being a mightier than the image, you might say, though i value that much more highly in hindsight If that is true then why not stick to stand-up comedy? Or books? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Who says i don't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,333 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 You're pretty serious for a guy who's so much into comedy. Maybe it's the German humor that is lost on us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 JWFan's major supplier of lead balloons should not speak of either 'comedy' or 'us' in any context here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor 7,504 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Ha, ha...a "grouch stand-off" between two of the grouchiest members on the board? My popcorn is ready to go. Jurassic Shark and Nick1Ø66 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,333 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 4 hours ago, Thor said: Ha, ha...a "grouch stand-off" between two of the grouchiest members on the board? My popcorn is ready to go. Just because I'm not lyrical about everything or love the same things as you doesn't mean I'm grouchy, Thor. Even when I said that DJ culture killed music (probably my darkest comment ever), I still did so with humor. Maybe you missed it. 6 hours ago, publicist said: JWFan's major supplier of lead balloons should not speak of either 'comedy' or 'us' in any context here. 'Us' as in "the rest of the world", not as in "you and me", pubs. And lead balloons can be funny because they often contain truths. You know, like my previous post about Germans and their lack of humor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 I see. Be that as it may, i, for the life of me, cannot find all those pretty serious posts of mine nor do i can find any comprehensible meaning in a sentence like Quote If that is true then why not stick to stand-up comedy? Or books? What are you talking about? That your hallowed halls of 'Blade Runner', '2001' and the few other films you constantly impose on discussions are stained by something as frivolous as 'comedy' (which is a pretty broad filmic genre). Or that people who read lots of books during childhood should not talk about film music? What is it? Quintus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John 2,032 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Watching E.T. on VHS on a near daily basis as a kid was what really ignited my love of cinema. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Illustrious Jerry 3,356 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 I had loads of VHS tapes growing up. I have actually had the chance to re-watch a few with a completely different mindset recently. There were the Disney Classics of old which were always fun for Sunday afternoons and what not. Then more stuff came into the picture. Star Wars became a thing for me. Most other movies I can know appreciate are based off books I enjoy (The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies are mentionables) and historical adaptations and events (Darkest Hour, The Post, Dunkirk). I also love a good BBC doc. The root of this is probably exposure from the start. I always enjoyed movies. As I watched more, I decided which genres appealed most to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,333 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 12 minutes ago, publicist said: I see. Be that as it may, i, for the life of me, cannot find all those pretty serious posts of mine nor do i can find any comprehensible meaning in a sentence like What are you talking about? That your hallowed halls of 'Blade Runner', '2001' and the few other films you constantly impose on discussions are stained by something as frivolous as 'comedy' (which is a pretty broad filmic genre). Or that people who read lots of books during childhood should not talk about film music? What is it? It was meant like this: If someone prefers words over images then why would he wast his time watching images and discuss them on a forum? Shouldn't he be reading books all the time and just forget about cinema? However, later it dawned on me that even a fan of words wants to sit in the couch and watch a Marvel flick while eating popcorn. We all need a break sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkissimo 1,973 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 7 hours ago, Alexcremers said: You're pretty serious for a guy who's so much into comedy. Maybe it's the German humor that is lost on us. Because Belgian humour is famously just a laugh a minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,333 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 He's a Belgian detective, right? Is he funny? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkissimo 1,973 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 He's hysterical! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 1 hour ago, Alexcremers said: It was meant like this: If someone prefers words over images then why would he wast his time watching images and discuss them on a forum? Shouldn't he be reading books all the time and just forget about cinema? However, later it dawned on me that even a fan of words wants to sit in the couch and watch a Marvel flick while eating popcorn. We all need a break sometimes. Your placability is annoying. Can't you just put up a good fight? A24 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488 Posted May 14, 2018 Share Posted May 14, 2018 Quote After the wall came down, i stormed the biggest music chain in the western part of Berlin with a group of friends, hunting for the Batman soundtrack (Prince, naturally) And you all broadened your minds. Lawrence! Unlucky Bastard 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted May 16, 2018 Share Posted May 16, 2018 Mom took me to see Cinderella when I was 3 or 4. Hooked on movies ever since Naïve Old Fart 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,333 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 On 14/05/2018 at 8:33 PM, publicist said: Your placability is annoying. Can't you just put up a good fight? Don't be so grumpy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,528 Posted May 17, 2018 Author Share Posted May 17, 2018 On 14/05/2018 at 6:38 PM, Alexcremers said: He's a Belgian detective, right? Is he funny? He's not Belgian, he's from London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,333 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Wikipedia says he's a Belgian detective. You didn't know that, Richard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 You had to check Wikipedia for that, Alex? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,333 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Well, apparently my word isn't good enough so I was forced to play the wikipedia card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Wikipedia isn't an accepted academic source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Oneday it will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,333 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 And that will be the day when it can no longer be trusted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 10 minutes ago, Alexcremers said: And that will be the day when it can no longer be trusted. Because it will be more academically reliable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,333 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 No, just unreliable in general, because of the big ego of academics. They don't like it when the established paradigm (meaning themselves) gets questioned and they will do anything to discredit anyone who tries. Any institution that doesn't like to be questioned is not to be trusted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted May 17, 2018 Share Posted May 17, 2018 Since when did you go all radical, counter-establishment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naïve Old Fart 9,528 Posted May 17, 2018 Author Share Posted May 17, 2018 4 hours ago, Alexcremers said: Wikipedia says he's a Belgian detective. You didn't know that, Richard? I meant David Suchet. Poirot doesn't exist. He's a character in a trick of light. 2 hours ago, Margo Channing said: Wikipedia isn't an accepted academic source. Wikipedia is just an electronic library. No. It's not even that. It's a bit like a holding company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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