I kinda do the same as someone mentioned, I usually see what Luke and a few others have to say here, as well as what my friends say, and sometimes what I see online.
I don't have regular TV so i don't see any commercials, so I never see trailers by accident. I only see them when I know about a movie and am looking forward to it. Also if it's sci-fi, I usually pay more attention to it than normal.
I'm quite behind the curve. By a few years actually.
I very rarely buy new dvds, and I'd rather find them at the fleamarket. I rather buy a good game for $20 bucks that I'll (probably) keep playing rather than a $20 dollar dvd that I'll only see once or twice.
Yeah, I'm a cheapass. And I sometimes buy more on the secondary market. Almost all older dvd movies are about $3-5 after a few years.
I doesn't hurt my wallet if the crappy movie I know nothing about, cost me a dollar or two.
I do read some reviews and do some searching on the net, to keep myself informed. So when I finally do find a good movie, I wont hesitate.
thats the way I roll.
*edit* i dont have netflix and I barely know how to burn dvds, so I mostly buy movies.
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flojocabron wrote:I doesn't hurt my wallet if the crappy movie I know nothing about, cost me a dollar or two.
That's my philosophy, too. If it sucks, it was no more expensive, if not cheaper, than a rental cost.
Though, I will say that some of the movies I've enjoyed the most were purchased for $5 or less (usually for $1-2) secondhand at thrift stores with absolutely no background information on my part.
As for how I choose movies to watch, I usually pick by deciding what I'm in the mood for, and then do some research to see what I haven't seen to broaden my options. In the last couple of years I've been watching a lot of movies on Turner Classic Movies. They have a huge selections and have opened my eyes to films I never even knew existed before.
Plus, it's a great place to see the classics I've missed. In fact, I find myself more drawn to the channel thanks to all the CGI overload in the current film industry. Sometimes you just want to see and old fashioned western without all the new special effects.
The first thing I do is create a list of movies that I haven't seen, and organize them alphabetically. Then I remove any movie that starts with a letter that wasn't common in old english. I take the last letter of those movies, and multiply that letter's number equivalent by pi. I then find the circumference, and create a wheel based on that measurement. Once I have kidnapped Pat Sajak, I force him to host a faux "wheel of movies" gameshow in a storage locker that I rent. Depending on the outcome of the bonus round, Pat Sajak either lives or dies. When he lives, I ask him to think of a number between 1 and 482. Using that number, I multiply by the current thread-count of the sheets on my bed, and then place that number of balls in a public washing machine. I pay a homeless man $1 to stick his hand in and grab a ball, then take bets from other people at the laundromat, whoever gets it right tells me their mothers maiden name. Once I have that name, I go home and smoke a shit ton of crystal meth, and watch whatever movie I feel like.
and the directon the toilet paper hangs in the third stall in your city hall's womens restroom
That's how I used to do it, but the Curiosity rover threw off my rock counting projections, and I've been banned from women's restrooms after the magic mike incident.
I've discovered movies lots of different ways. Sometimes I'll check out a movie because of a director. Other times I simply look at what's getting good critical buzz on metacritic and rottentomatoes. I like to check out empireonline as well. Pop Candy is also a place where I'll sometimes read about a movie that people are talking about and decide to check it out
Sometimes I'll hear about a movie through a podcast and decide to watch it. Doug Love Movies is a great podcast for finding cool movies and I'll hear about good stuff on the Nerdist podcast sometimes too (I actually learned about Black Dynamite from hearing Chris Hardwick talk about it)
You could say I just discover cool movies through the various entertainment sources I frequent regularly. Websites, podcasts, forums, etc.
When I got a netflix account, I also did some google searches for "best movies on netflix streaming" and discovered a lot of great stuff that way.
I don't have any scientific method when it comes to movies, but if there's something good out there, I usually hear about it one way or another. Whatever's cool in pop culture will find it's way to me somehow given all the websites, podcasts, forums, etc. that I check out regularly.
RyaNtheSlayA wrote:
Seriously. Screw you Shao Kahn I'm gonna play Animal Crossing.
My problem with lists or ratings is that somehow movies are rated based on how they make you think not on its entertainment level. A lot of the movies that are considered best ever are "looney" to me , or extremely stale. Stuff like Clockwork Orange, Dr. Strangelove , Requiem for a Dream, Apocalypse Now , and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. I am not sure why are people so crazy over these movies, I feel like these movies want you to analyze them than get entertained by them which turns it into a work not something for fun.
Other movies are not exactly bad, but are very stale like Chinatown , Seven Samurai , The French Connection..etc. Maybe they are like really deep and its build up is very artistic for the art critic but for the average viewer, not sure what is the big deal.
On the other hand, they also contain great movies that combine entertainment+story and even some philosophy and deep analyzation if you would like to. Ex, The Shawshank Redemption, Godfather, GoodFellas , and Forrest Gump.
Finally, they also contain movies that I consider Blockbusters-Movies made for pure entertainment and has no intention to bring food for the thought. Ex The Avengers, Batman, Warrior, and Alien.
So with lists it really a hit or miss thing, you never know what you are going to get. None the less I will give a look to PRFSL_GMR links provided with top movies lists. I think the best way to pick movies now is to see "Other also bought.." or "You also might like.." lists.
The one way that makes sense but I never used was going after movie directors, I only know like 1 , Steven Spielberg and you can never go wrong with that guy.
Finally, it will be a cold day in hell when I buy a movie. Its too expensive for 1 time viewing, I still do not understand why would people watch a movie more than once. Rent or buy extremely cheap is the way I roll. I will only buy/rewatch a movie if it has a special memory for me, or was an all time favorite with high re-viewing value like Willy Wonka or Disney movies. I will also rewatch a movie if I forget it, like The Man in The Iron mask when I saw 14 years ago.
