Friday, July 31, 2015

Friday Filmography: Introduction


To understand my view of movies and television shows, you have to know a little bit about my background. I was the youngest in a family with five kids, and the only girl. That means I’ve grown up watching a little bit of just about everything – classic films, action, sci-fi, fantasy, musicals, BBC drama, mystery shows, paranormal shows, romcom, comedy, animated, western, horror… Like I said, a bit of everything. Saturdays watching westerns with my Dad, late-nights watching chick-flicks with Mom, and parent-free evenings watching action and sci-fi with my brothers.

From the time I was born, I was exposed to black-and-white films – a privilege most of my peers didn’t have. Of course that means most of my friends have no clue what I’m talking about when I start going on about Barbara Stanwyck and Kim Novak, or Fred MacMurray and Donald O’Connor. But if anything, the fact that they’re underappreciated makes me love classic films even more. From WWII war films to screwball comedies, classic films alone are a nearly inexhaustible genre and quite possibly my favorite genre.

But as much as I like classic movies, I would generally choose to watch a TV show over a movie, not because my attention span is too short, and I prefer short episodes to a full-length film. The exact opposite actually. I prefer to fall in love with a TV series and make friends of the characters so I can go back over and over, for episodes and episodes, and maybe even seasons and seasons...unless it’s canceled mid-season (Firefly fans, you know what I’m talking about). Often a movie feels like too much too fast to me, and when it’s done, it’s done…unless it’s a Marvel movie. In which case, it’s NEVER done…that’s not a complaint. Add to that the fact that I’m a book reader and I’m almost guaranteed to hate any movie based on a book I read first and loved, and maybe you can see why I lean toward TV shows.

That doesn’t change the fact that I like a broad range of films and shows, from Lord of the Rings to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to My Fair Lady. So in this section of my blog, you’re likely to see, yes, a little bit of everything. I may not post here every Friday, but I’d like to have the freedom to if I get the itch. There may be movie reviews, movie posters, fan art, quotes, and my usual randomness. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.
What are some of your favorite films and shows? Anything I might want to check out? I’m always looking for suggestions.

2 comments:

  1. I prefer tv shows to movies but that's strictly due to time constraints. It's easier to relax with a 20-40 min. show and know that I didn't use up a great deal of time on it (plus, it's fun) than to spend around 2 hours on a movie which pretty much occupies the entire evening. So movies happen on rarer occasions but I do enjoy watching them when I get a chance.

    Favorite shows? Castle (come on...if you liked Firefly!), White Collar, Downton Abbey, and most recently Endeavor which is a British mystery show.

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    1. I loveloveLOVE Castle (yes, because of Firefly ;)). I'm afraid I gave up on White Collar two seasons ago, but maybe I'll return to it. Endeavor is my second favorite BBC mystery show. And Downton Abbey is on my To-Watch list.

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