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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

15 Things About I When It Comes to Movie-watching


Movies and I are related, I guess. Back into my childhood and grown-up life, though I didn't watch too much movie, I enjoyed some cartoons--a kind of movie, I call it-- that were aired by then Cambodia TV channels and several Thai movies, especially one about ghosts and witches, that were then popular among Cambodians. Averagely, I spent only less than 2 hours a day for movie and TV things. FYI, then, during the 90s the only access I had to movies was through TV; no internet and going to the cinema. Things grew a bit when I turned teenager. Though I started to engage less on TV and on movie as most of the time was spent outside the house, I still found time for  movies, if any available, at night time via TV. Then, there were ancient-Chinese and Singaporean movies.  



Watching movies then expanded in me during my years in college; it expanded but not that huge. Just that I got more access to the movies; you know my classmates would share me some movies that were famous then and I could watch it; or I would snap my time on the net, browsing for movies. In short, you could say I have more freedom and ways to watch more varieties of movies. 


And now? I still watch movies; on the TV and on my laptop. When it comes to movie-watching, I guess there are a lot of things that I can describe myself and my relationship with the movies is sort of something you may call weird yet sweet. Sugarily platonic and "my rules", you may say. 


Below are some things (you can call those "psychologies", too) true about me when it comes to movies. So my psychologies in watching movies are:


1. I enjoy (and watch) various movies Americans, Korean dramas, Chinese, Hongkong, Singaporean and Khmer, and, rarely, Indian Bollywood. Some people are just stereotype-indoctrinated to just stick to one specific origin of the movies. "I don't watch Khmer movies because I don't like them." and etc is not something you gonna hear from me, really. What I'm watching more now, though, is Hollywood. 


2. Unlike modern teens, I don't waste my times and efforts (and money) to go to cinemas to just watch movies. Weird, you may say, but well you should really take good use of the internet and promote the sharing culture. 


3. It comforts me more to just sit at home and watch movies via my laptop. That way, you know, I can benefit more from the movie I watch; I mean I can pause wherever on the movie and re-catch the words being said, which explains how I learn new words in English from the movies; that's not possible if at the cinema. Pausing might also boost my reflections and thoughts on movies. At cinema, concentrations on the movies might be extracted/disturbed. 


4. I watch movies not just for entertainment but to learn something. It's true for me: I watch movies not just because people say it's a way of stress-cutting and that movie is awesome with this and that. Usually, when watching movies (American ones), I'm trying to literally improve my listening skills , pick up new words and phrases and slang. Besides, I try to see what meaning the movie is trying to convey and the settings of the movies.  Movie-ology, you call it. Even more, sometimes, I watch a movie more times to just really watch it and learn it. 


5. I download and share  movies more. For this point, well a big apology to the producers. By sharing, I mean only just sharing not trading. 


6. I'm likely to watch indie, thus less talked-about, movies. Indie movies refers to the movies with less funds and budgets to produce. This might be weird again, but well no choice; I do that. You may not believe me but I haven't yet watched The Avenger (2012) until now (the whole movie) though I've got the file, yet I have watched this less-watched Africa United (2010) for like many times. 


7. Before I really download and watch that movie, I usually read the synopsis of that movie first to suren that if that movie is worth to spend my time watching it. 


8. I don't usually download on-the-list and hit-the-list movies, FYI. Why? Lah, I just feel that those movies might be available for me from a friend I know. I mean since those movies are hit-the-list, people might have it; that's why there is no use overlapping downloading that movie. 


9. When it comes to American movies, I don't just watch it. I read it and notice things. Bizzare, but I even go for the soundtracks. 


10. Movies with or without subtitles are fine for me, yet I prefer with-sub ones.  The thing is the ones with sub would help me catch direct lines used and picked up some words and idioms and the ones without would help collect my attention and, in a way, sharpen my listening skills. 


11. There is no specific genres I enjoy more or less. Like said, I watch all types of movies. Comedies, actions, romance, life and love ones, I prefer more. Let's just say if the movies are good, then, that's it. 


12.  I believe that movies have specific messages. So try to decode them. Well, don't just watch movies for entertainment. If you're going to spend some long minutes on a movie, do learn something from watching and the movie itself. Remember, learning never ends and informal learning is a part counted. 


13. There are always reflections in me, either kept inside or shared out, after I watch a movie. When I write this, I mean what I write. I'm thinking of writing some movie reviews now.  


14. I have always been trying to keep the files of the movies I have watched. Why? Just hope I could share those movies, especially the ones that I find inspirational and motivational, with others. Plus, good movies, like books, should be well collected and kept and shared. 


15. Sometimes, upon watching the movies, I do wish things existing in the movies are real in real life. If you have really caught  some American action movies, you'll see that there are always those (in the movies) who are to stop scumbags who are to do shit to the world for just their own benefits (The Expandable team in The Expandables 2, and Bruce Willis in Die Hard Series for example), and I just wish and hope that things are real in life. If only those people exist in real life, folks; the world might be more safer (yeah, double superlative). 


In my last words for this post, I may say I'm weird at some points when it comes to movie-watching. But, well, if you are trying to spot for a real movie fan, then turn the radar to me.  I mean if one doesn't really focus, decode, analyse, and learn from the movies, s/he is impersonating what I term as movie-watchlearner.


And, after all, to really watch a movie and have it benefit you, you don't really need the big comfy leather seat in the cinema with cans and boxes of biscuits and coke and groups of friends. What, at the end of the day, the movie producers want from us, as movie-watcher, is not solely money, but the encrypted meaning and message sealed in the movie to be rightly and reasoningly deciphered. 




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