Does anyone have fun at the movies any more?

Recently, I have seen and/or participated in several "debates" on social media sites over some of the big summer movies that have come out.  It started me thinking that it seems like no one goes to the movies for the sheer joy and entertainment of it.  So many people are in such a hurry for the film to be over so they can whip out their cell phones and write a post about how much they hated it.

Yes, there are always some positive comments and reviews, but it seems that the "hate" posts far outweigh the positive ones, especially with a film that is wildly popular and makes a ton of money, or is considered an "event" film.  People can't wait to be the first to say how terrible it was. 

I know what you're thinking.  Hey, Horror Nerd!  Funny you should say this because YOU write film reviews!  Yes I do, but I don't go to the movies with the thought that I am going to review the film.  I go to the movies because I LOVE GOING TO THE MOVIES!!  I enjoy the theater experience.  The big screen, the loud volume, the popcorn and soda, the cheers from the audience in "big spots."  I have a great time, especially at an "event" film.  Yes, I will usually write up a review, but it's mostly a description of my experience when watching the film.  I try to think about it with a critical eye and give my honest opinion, but in the end, I didn't go to the movies just so I could review the film.

A great example is the 2014 version of "Godzilla".  Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I am a Godzilla fan, and I was twitching over this movie for a year before it came out.  I couldn't wait.  I saw it opening night in IMAX 3D and I had an amazing time.  The theater erupted in cheers and applause at several key moments, and there was solid applause at the end of the film.  People were chatting and murmuring in the lobby and there was a line of about 150 people waiting to get in to the next showing, WHICH WAS at 1:00AM!  I thought to myself, "These people get it!

Well, then I made the mistake of going on to Facebook and reading other people's opinions of the film.  Some of them had very valid criticisms, and if I think back, some of their points were very well taken.  But.....BUT....the sheer amount of hate and venom being spewed at the film was astonishing.  It was almost as if there was an entire legion of people just waiting to whip out their phones or hop on their PCs so they could shit all over it.

Some of the comments drove me to distraction.  "Godzilla is too fat.", "Godzilla doesn't show up until halfway through the film", "Godzilla is not in his own movie enough!"  Oh my god!  Shut up!  This is what you're complaining about?  Can't you just enjoy a movie about giant monsters?  One of my favorite complaints was, "The army wouldn't have acted that way!"  Really?  So the army has a plan in place for dealing with 400 foot monsters?  SHUT UP!!

If I hear someone say, "Well, I am entitled to my opinion," one more time I am going to go completely apeshit.  Yes, yes, yes......you are entitled to your precious opinion.  My question is, why are so many of these "opinions" so hate-filled?  Sometimes I wonder if we watched the same movie.  The IMDB ratings system is kind of a joke.  How can one person give a movie a '10' and another person give it a '1'?  It becomes very clear who has an agenda.

I personally think that the Internet, and social media, has given everyone a voice.  Some of these people have been sitting behind their keyboards for such a long time, with no one to listen to them.  Well, now they can have their voices seen and heard by millions, and the fact is that a negative, hate-filled post will probably get more replies that a positive one.   Some people think that being negative about everything, especially popular things, makes them edgy and cool.  Well, news flash, it doesn't.  It just makes you seem bitter and hateful and, after a while, no one takes you seriously.

We all have out opinions about things.  I certainly don't love every film I see, and I have had my share of disappointments.  I choose to go into every film with an open mind, and just try to enjoy the shit out of it.  I don't sit there looking for things to nitpick about.  What's the point of spending $15 just to find something to complain about.  I am paying to be entertained, and I try to just let the film entertain me.  If it doesn't so be it, but I am not going to let my overwhelming urge to let everyone know what I thought about it ruin my experience.

My advice?  Just have fun!  Grab your popcorn, take your seat, wait for the lights to dim and the flickering images to project and just enjoy the shit out of it.  Don't go into it from the get go with the idea of running onto the Net to criticize the film (unless of course you are a professional critic, but that's a whole other blog post).

There's nothing wrong with going on social media to let people know what you thought.  If you honestly didn't like it, so be it, but (and here's another piece of unsolicited advice), stop concentrating on the negative.  We have enough of that already.

Now, LET'S GO TO THE MOVIES!!!


The Horror Nerd

I have long maintained that the Internet in general, and social media sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, have devolved into an ocean of hate and negativity (and photos of lunches, but that's another story....)

It seems that everyone hates everything, all the time, and quite frankly, it gets depressing.  Now, I already know what some people are saying.  "You should talk!  You're always ranting and raving about sometimes!!"  This is true.  There are plenty of things in life that tick me off, and I talk about it as opposed to keeping it all bottled up.  This helps keep me somewhat sane.  BUT!  I still love so many things in life.  FIlms, music, art, poetry, family, friends, food, nature, travel, etc.

Anyway, the main subject of this post is movies, and how many people hate them, sometimes years before a movie even comes out.  Just scroll through your Facebook news feed and you'll see what I mean.  People complaining about every movie they see, and every movies that is upcoming.  OH, and casting announcements!  Those are fun, aren't they?!  They announce that a particular actor or actress is going to play a comic book (or other) character, and everyone loses their shit!  When it was announced that Ben Affleck would play Batman in the second "Man of Steel" film, I think the Internet actually broke from the outpouring of hate and outrage.  Holy horse shit!  The film doesn't come out for years and people are killing it.

Another case in point, the upcoming Godzilla.  From the day it was announced, people were complaining because it was an American film.  OK, the 1998 disaster didn't help, but come on!  Then, when we got the first glimpse of the king himself, some fans' collective heads exploded.  A million people started bitching about Godzilla's look. "His head is too small", "He's too fat", "The spines on his back are not right."  It went on and on and it is still going on.  THEN, when we first heard Godzilla's roar, I could hear the sound of the collective groans rolling in, to the point that I have seen many posts of people declaring they are not going to see it JUST BECAUSE OF THE ROAR!  Huh?

People are still saying that Godzilla's look is "too Americanized."  What the hell does that even mean?  Look, I loved Godzilla as a kid, and I still do.  I watch the movies any chance I get, but let's face it.  It was a man in a rubber suit stomping around a miniature set.  If I take off my fanboy goggles for just a second, I could make the case that the suit was, at times, ridiculous.  With the effects available to filmmakers today, almost anything is going to be an upgrade.  Just embrace it.  If you love the originals so much, as I do, how could anything possibly diminish that love?

The examples go on and on, especially with every big "genre" film, like "Avengers", "X-Men", "Spider Man", etc.  People are never happy with any of them, usually from the minute the first casting announcement is made.   One of my personal favorites is when people say "So and so is shitting on my childhood!"  Case in point, the upcoming "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" film, and Michael Bay's involvement.  Meanwhile, he is one of four producers, and he didn't write or direct it.  

All of this feeds into something a very good friend of mine calls "Internet Self-Entitlement", and I love this term.  These self-proclaimed "Super Fans" feel that THEY are entitled to determine who should play a certain character, how a character should look, how a story should be written, how a creature or monster should look, etc.  Fans seem to forget that they do not own these properties, and the filmmakers are free to interpret them as they please.  If we end up not liking the finished product, that's different, but if George Lucas wants to re-edit Star Wars with Chewbacca break dancing for 30 minutes in the middle of it, that's up to him. 

I just don't understand how some people can just hate everything the see.  They bitch and complain about how every film sucks, especially wildly popular films (and TV shows).  I honestly believe that if a movie comes out, and has critical and popular approval, some people think that if they shit on it, it makes them seem edgy and cool.  Guess what?  It doesn't.  It makes you seem surly and negative.

I believe that a lot of people carefully construct an image in their mind of what a character should be, or what a story should be, or what a whole film should be, and if ANYTHING deviates from their carefully constructed image, they hate it.  Look, if I wanted to, I could find something to nitpick about every film I've ever seen.  Why in the world would I do that?  Why would I look to attack and break down something that I love?  As a budding film reviewer, I am able to look at films with a critical eye, but not to the extent that I feel the need to tear everything apart all the time, and I certainly am not going to say that they next Star Wars film is going to be "liquid shit" (yes I read that) two years before it comes out!

I could go on and on about this, but I won't.  My advice to all of the people who say that they are not going to see (insert film name here) because they don't like a casting decision, or for any other reason is, please DO NOT go see it!  If you feel it's going to destroy your cherished childhood memories, then STAY HOME!  But, I know you won't.  You won't be able to resist going to the theater so you can hop on the Internet as soon as the credits roll and tell the world how much you hated it, and how much it sucked, and how you were right and all of us who enjoyed it are just stupid.

Life is far too short to just hate everything.  Of course there are films I don't like.  Let's not be ridiculous, but I still LOVE the theater experience, and I am absolutely giddy over the upcoming Godzilla film.  Stop constructing these "perfect" films in your mind and stop setting expectations that are impossible to achieve.   Try and embrace the magic of film, grab your popcorn and soda, sit back as the lights dim, and just enjoy!!

The Horror Nerd