How Devin Got His Groove Back

Devin, you are awesome.

I like pieces like this and your stuff on G4. It makes you real and less of an abstract persona.

Great article.

A great read and yet another reason why I'd perhaps give up a pinky to have your job.

... Damn.

Thank you Devin. You really are awesome.

That's got to be one of my favourite articles I've read on the site.

And that's what really gets me about CHUD, it's the passion for film and the film-going experience. The reviews and other assorted articles are great, but what really matters to me is the fact that this site is molded by those people who just enjoy film.

Thanks again, Devin.

After reading that, I feel even worse about missing out on The Wright Stuff. Damn.

Devin, I've been reading your work ever since I stumbled upon CHUD back in Summer of 2002. You've become a better writer with each passing day. Your news stories are insightful and amusing; your essays are fascinating and thoughtful.

But this is, without question, the best thing you've ever written for CHUD.

I'd be willing to sacrifice a nut for Dev's job. Granted, I have three, so it might not be as meaningful a gesture for me.

Great article, though, glad to hear you've worked your way out of a rut. Here in the PHX there's a great team that shows old grindhouse/exploitation flicks in a rundown theater once a week. Some of the best experiences I've had at the movies have been at these showings of low quality classics. The atmosphere, surrounded by people who are just there to have a good time and watch some great old movies, makes it damn near impossible to work myself up for a trip to the local multiplex on a Friday or Saturday night anymore.

:: points above:: Yeah, what they all said.

Glad to have you still with us, Devin, if only for a little while longer. I review stuff, too (though with half the clever language) and I sometimes find myself just watching shit just to get a review out.

But if there's light at the end of the tunnel...well, alright then.

Take it easy, big guy.

Really? I'm glad I don't have that job, frankly. I completely identified with his comments about his love becoming work, and while I respect his ability (so far) to resist the descent into drudgery that threatens to become, I know myself well enough to recognize I would fail at the same challenge. Much as I might want to get into the Biz, I know I would wind up hating it. So this article (which is, to echo the other comments, an outstanding piece of writing) spoke to me on a whole other level. There but for the grace of God, and all that.

Ha, I remember the Godfather DVD coverage you did... it was priceless! And I also remember how Carl used to be our first resource for upcoming DVD news before the proliferation of DVD news sites. Where is Carl these days?... probably raising 8 more children.

The only problem with showing films you'd like to show others is that if you advertise them, due to copyrights, you usually have to pay several hundred dollars for a DVD or sometimes even a VHS copy through the film distribution companies out there. I've been actively involved with a film society for about 2 years here in my podunk city and we finally got some sponsors for our latest round of screenings in the fall. We had special guests like the filmmakers themselves in order to draw an audience out and screened mostly environment-related documentaries. In doing so, we also allowed free admission. I can't imagine how much a film print costs, although there is a recently closed 6-screen theater on my side of town that would work as a great venue for really any classics, as long as there are not other plans for the building (I haven't heard since the theater just closed down a little over a month ago) and perhaps an investor to help get things started, as the venue where the film society had our screenings doesn't have a traditional film projector and I can't think of anywhere to feasibly put one, as the space is also used for art shows, concerts, etc. and there's no booth.

As for old CHUD news, look here. I was able to dig up several of my old articles from the days when I wrote for the site in 2002.

I was reading the article and knew exactly where you are coming from. I had to spend a year watching movies and writing movies and selling my soul and feeling awful about it at the end of each day. I didn't get nearly burned out; I hit the ground in a pile out of flabby flames.

This entire year I've tried to relearn my passion, to watch movies sometimes JUST to watch them and to write not for a producer but for myself. And it was really only at BNAT that I got it back.

So congratulations film festivals about the passion of film sometimes you know how to build people up again.

That ties in nicely with your piece "John Landis Holds Forth." Taking your suggestion, I headed over and listened to the entire podcast. About halfway through, I realized I had stopped working and was actually laughing out loud along with the audience, completely caught up in their (and his) enthusiasm. Thanks for both articles.

Thanks for that insightful, honest and captivating article.

I was there that night and I can attest that the energy in the New Bev was unlike anything I've experienced before. Hearing Devin geek out about the real Necronomicon being in the theater was almost as much fun as touching it (and by "it" I mean the Necronomicon, and by "the Necronomicon" I mean Devin's crank).

Wow, really great article. It's always dangerous to do what you love as a job, and I'm glad to hear you're fighting that successfully, so far. It struck me the other day that the pressures of life and job had put me into a situation where the only films I saw were new releases on the weekend, and my favourite films were just gathering dust in the lounge. So I specifically made some time to dig out an old favourite last week, and totally enjoyed it in a different way to watching a new movie, something about the old comfortable familiarity and just good old fashioned fun. It's a lesson I think I may have to keep relearning. Anyway, here's to sitting in the front rows.

Glad something in LA refreshed instead of crushed your movie love. I too have discovered the greatness of seeing older films in a rep theater. I've been going to midnight showings at the Nuart for a while now, and now I have the Beverly to go to also (looking forward to the Fallen Angels/The Killer double bill).

Loved your article, was happy to see you in person at the Beverly, even though I was too nervous to say anything more than "hi" (read: I'm a puss), and I'm definitely excited to have you here in my home town giving us locals the heads up on all these cool events we'd otherwise miss out on.

I used to read the site and feel jealous that I didn't live in Atlanta. Now that I'm on the other side of the fence, I realize I was missing out on even more than I was previously aware.

Huzzah for CHUD!

Your town looks like a typo.

Devin, your article makes me want to buy you a beer. But I'm over 24 hours drive away.

And plane tickets cost money.

So I can't =(

What's this? Some news I missed?

I'll agree with Matt, that was a pretty fantastic article. And inspiring, too -- living and working in a one-stoplight town in the Catskills, we could probably get some great use out of starting a mini rep. house. I'll also agree with you completely on Evil Dead II, as I had a similar experience the first and second time I saw it. The first was on my laptop, the second was in a packed theatre in New York the weekend before Halloween. I'll never forget the way the audience exploded at "Groovy." So great.

I lived in Kansas City after my divorce, and played gigs in a lot of the bars in the area. One night, after a gig, I headed down the street and found there was a little storefront theater. It had a chubby girl with big boobs slouched on a stool selling tickets for the movie. It had a couple of college kids and what was likely the middle aged proprietor of the place selling concessions. It had folding steel chairs.

I watched Chasing Amy that night. Saw several other flicks over the coming months as I could. It was usually me and about a half dozen other people. A few of the guys were there every time I was, and we ended up discussing the movies outside on the sidewalk after they were over.

I tend to vote with my dollars, and I gave that little house as much business as I could until I moved. And those flicks are still embedded in my memory...especially the showing of The Day The Earth Stood Still on Halloween.

Great article, and I agree that it's pieces like this that make Devin seem like a real person. It's a nice reminder to have sometimes.

I can really relate to this topic though. I love television, and recently landed a job writing about TV for a website. Now I find myself constantly thinking about TV, from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed, and in some ways it's starting to make watching my favorite shows seem like a chore. I think I'm far from a burn out for now, but when your job involves what is usually your entertainment, things get weird pretty quickly.

Welcome back.

I would watch any movie in a theatre, i'm not kidding, anything.

Spielberg has this quote on IMDB that says something like, "Going to the movies is always magic for me, no matter what i'm seeing" (something like that)

Devin is right you just can't watch some movies at your house, it just doesn't work. I would love to be involved in theatre showing great movies...

I imagine a Leone triple feature or something...

You delivered the invincible furor of a re-convert beautifully. Excellent article. I've had a recharge in my movie love this year, too, for different reasons, though the burnout was for much of the same reasons. Thanks for crystalizing that and for adding more fuel to the fire.

And so refreshing to read something that champions the theater experience. There are so many horror stories and sob stories and tons and tons of "that's why I don't go to the theater anymore." It's a valuable and irreplacable experience. I love my home system, but I'd never trade it for being with like-minded people watching, well, anything but preferrably something wonderful. I'm lucky to live in a town with a choice of Alamo Drafthouses. It's a good antidote to theater-hating. But this article is a powerful enough antidote to take on the superbug.

And this is the first time I've felt bad for not living in LA in about a decade or so. That's a pretty big accomplishment in my book.

I hope your spark keeps burning. Nothing's worse than flaming out.

This is definitely one of my favorite pieces Devin has ever done for CHUD. Absolute greatness. Really appreciate the part about the value of seeing movies in theaters over watching them at home. Wish I had more expendable income to support my position. I can commit to doing a better job in 2008 than I have this year. Asked a couple of people to get me AMC Theater gift certificates for Christmas because I'm getting tired of missing so much goodness on the big screen.

Really great article. I'm just bummed I'm still eight months away from being in L.A. for stuff like this.

Reading this, I started flashing back on my favorite rep-house experiences: a full house chanting "Hello... My name is Inigo Montoya..." in unison at The Princess Bride, an impromptu singalong over the opening credits of The NeverEnding Story (note to exhibitors-- hand out lyric sheets next time), and best of all a screening of Howard Hawks' Ball of Fire on a brutally rainy afternoon, half of us there just to stay dry but all of us chiming in on "Goodnight Irene".

Even here in the blessed Bay Area, repertory is fading away. We lost the U.C., home to a world-record run of Rocky Horror; the Fine Arts, where Chushingura once played for a whole year; the York, where I saw Tarkovsky's Solaris for the first time, in a cobbled-together print that was half Russian, half dubbed English.

Pizza-pub cinemas, as a business model, seem to be pointing the way ahead but they're mostly second-run, only showing vintage movies once a week. I've thought about strategies for reviving the Midnight Movie, both casually and professionally, but Rep needs a culture to survive. And like Devin says, that means convincing people to tear themselves away from their flat-panels and their Netflix accounts. Rewriting the psychology of moviegoers so that they don't balk at the idea of heading into town to see some movie they know absolutely nothing about. I don't know if it's possible, but that's the dream.

I experienced something similar (although not quite on the same level - in fact on an entirely lower, less intense level) when I went to see 2001: A Space Odyssey at a local theater, intermission and all. It was a print and it looked magnificent. I found myself getting a tad choked up during some of the scenes because I never thought I'd get to see that movie shown they way it was meant to be seen, and to experience something like that really affected me in a way I don't think I've ever felt when seeing a movie.

"I live in a pretty working class section of town filled with Mexicans and Armenian immigrants."

dev lives in Farmington I guess. You with the Biz-Lats, dev? Or the One-Niners?

I see him as more of a Los Mag.

And great article. I totally agree about the cinema experience. Fuck DVDs.

I few years ago I sat in a theater and saw Peter Jackson introduce Braindead. I have to assume the experience was similar.

Devin, as much as I think you come across like a giant cock on the message boards sometimes... I respect the hell out of you and I have seen more than one great film that I would not have otherwise given a first thought to because of a glowing review you posted. Your writing on this site is what keeps me coming back every day, and I find you to be the heart and soul of CHUD.

Great work, I'm glad you found your mojo.

Fucking great article, Devin. I only came out for the festival once, the Paul Williams night, and I wish I could have made it to the other nights. I'm also kicking myself for not at least saying howdy to presumed other Chewers. And for not following Mary Elizabeth Winstead home.

Your enthusiasm and love of cinema has always been a defining feature of your articles and reviews Devin, so it's reassuring to hear that you've rekindled your passion.

Rep houses need the atmosphere an audience brings to sustain themselves. watching a film in a cinema with however many like-minded individuals really is the only way to get a truly immersive experience. While my general cinema going has fallen somewhat this last year, I've gone to more screenings of classic and cult movies and it's mainly because I know that everyone there is there to watch and enjoy the film. They're not treating it as a night away from the kids.

But not too like-minded. For me, that's the real appeal of that dark room full of strangers-- the diversity of reaction. Noticing how many guys have to excuse themselves during a certain scene in Hard Candy, say, or hearing that group of Psych majors in the back row react very specifically to the climax of Dead/Alive.

Hopefully, they're not treating it like going to church either. One of the most eye-opening screenings for me was a show of the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers wherein the crowd was simply not buying it. Sure, it's an acknowledged classic, but I'd never noticed before that an entire scene plays out with a large sign reading 'OINTMENT' in the background until the giggles started. By the time we got to the voiceover line "I never knew what terror was... until I kissed Jenny" there was nothing left to do but agree that the audience was right and laugh away.

Devin, you big teddy bear...

You remind me why I used to do my damnest to go see the big geek movies on opening night. You just can't top the experience of a packed house full of people that are just so happy to see a movie.

Hot Fuzz will never be as good as it was the first time I saw it at the Fuzztival. It's impossible and it's why I haven't watched the DVD much since I've gotten it.

This was a great piece that I kept nodding my head to. So many simple truths within.

Excellent article, Devin. It's precisely why I bust my hump to get to BNAT every year, and why I go to the midnight shows here in town.

Yeah. You could tell he didnt give a toss about the Kubrick DVD review thing for instance.
Thing is, because he is such a good writer and we have high expectations of him, it sticks out when he isnt on form.

really good read. I'm lucky enough to have the Carolina Theatre in Durham that has its own neat little festivals each year and even retro horror movie nights on Fridays. It is total proof that the right audience that has love for a genre can make a film experience great.

Phenomenal read, Devin! Seriously.... if there was a cult for people who love movies, you would be the leader and this piece would be the recruiting pamphlet we'd all be handing people to get them to join.

This read more like a testimonial than anything else and is, without a doubt, the best piece you have written for the site. I think the general mood and content of the site has been the best it's ever been. Not to get all Capra on you, but, I hope you realize what a difference you've made in alot of peoples lives through this site via the enthusiasm you project about this community's shared interest.

Thanks for the early Christmas present, Dev.

I just want to say that this may be Devin's best yet. Good work Dev, and thanks for sharing that personal insight with the rest of us.

It's really nice to hear that you've found your footing again, Devin. Negative or positive, your passion's always palpable, and it's good to hear that you had the opportunity and the good fortune to refocus to an extent on the joy of film, as opposed to the grind of the gig.

Congrats on a great article.

"Writing is like sex, it's only fun for the amateurs." -- Hunter S. Thompson

Great piece, Devin. Glad to have you back as a moviegoer as well as a professional -- it's a tough balance, keeping those fresh eyes.

This is easily one of the best articles I've ever read on the site. Fantastic stuff, Devin. I owe CHUD a lot, as far as sparking interest in films I would never have otherwise seen or just broadening my tastes in general, but it's pieces like this that keep me coming back. Great, great article.

Ditto on all sentiments= great piece. I've cut back on my Netflix, specifically because I felt like I was merely crossing off flicks on a list that I needed to see. I also have a GIGANTIC amount of dvds at home I haven't watched yet. Time to slow down and enjoy.

I thought he looked a little Zero Mostelish or Dom Deluisesque in that pic.

Congratulations, Devin. I am happy for you. : )


Does this mean we will be seeing more of you on the boards?

Loved this piece Devin. I know I don't spend time in the movie portions of the board like I should, and I think part of that is because of the burn out you described. I don't have people around me completely excited about film like I used to, and hearing someone else re-discover their passion excites me. This type of writing does make a difference, even if you don't know it. When I read this type of column, and raving about a film, I make a point to get involved with the movie.

Case in point, I ran out and grabbed 'Once' last night based solely on your high praise. At this point I do not even remember what the plot is, but I can't wait to get home to watch it. Thanks Devin!