Films don't change, but we're always changing. Our attitudes and outlooks change as we experience life, and our artistic tastes mature as we experience more of what pop culture has to offer. Those different attitudes can magically change a film from the worst piece of garbage you've ever seen to a really good film. Believe me, I know (my attitude toward Stanley Kubrick's body of work is a prime example of this). That moment when we first become film buffs is a rush of adrenaline. Said rush usually makes us hurry to see every movie ever made in the history of film. This usually results in us seeing a lot of movies that we weren't ready for. Some movies have plots that are too complex and ideas that are too big for us to comprehend when we're young. Naturally, that's going to result in confusion, and confusion can lead to hatred. Naturally, hatred often leads to us never seeing the film in question again. Don't let that happen. You see, our life experiences help us to see movies in a new light. Jokes that once flew over our heads now hit home. Ideas that were once foreign are now comprehendible. Emotions we hadn't experienced before and since have, we can now recognize when we see them committed to film. In other words, films become more alive as we experience our own lives. You might want to wait a few years, but you should always re-visit films that underwhelmed you at first. You might be surprised at the diamonds you'll find. There you have it: five simple ways that you can improve your movie-watching experiences. What ways have we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
Alan Howell is a native of Southern California. He loves movies of any and all kinds, Hollywood, indie, and everywhere in between. He loves pizza, sitcoms, rock and pop music, surfing, baseball, reading, and girls (not necessarily in that order).
