What Do You DO With It?

Get bitter/lord it over people.

I cry a lot.

I can write, I'm just lazy (read: I probably spend more time jerking off than I do writing) and demanding of instant rewards, hence the bitterness - even though it's not warranted and I don't do shit with what I CAN do, I'm still bitter.

I lord it over people in small ways, like when they talk about a project and I barf whatever updates I've read on here or whatever I've read in a book/written for film studies classes so that I can sound smarter than I actually am.

More bitterness!

So I guess what I'm saying is that I have no plan. Because I'm lazy. I was almost too lazy to complete that post. If I was living on my own and not relaxing in my current domestic tranquility, I'd probably do a helluva lot more.

Well I think what you "do" with it could be relative. Yeah - loving film led me here and eventually led me to a long-term gig, it's not gonna replace my day job any time soon but it's fun as hell and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

But that said - I think I can speak for all of us that the reason we love film isn't because of what it can do for us - it's what it does to us. So that alone is WHY, and you can use that why as a means to any NUMBER of ends. If a film made you take a look at yourself, see something you didn't like and change it, well then maybe your life takes a completely different turn because of it. And I realize I'm all existential and out there for some reason, and that obviously wasn't necessarily the point of the thread. But I think what you DO with it is completely up to you and your attitudes about it. I dunno - it's been a long week and I'm kinda rambly. Carry on!

I write a blog where I shit all over Stargate fans, and they in turn shit all over me in the Comments section.

I suppose I do evangelize. I've spent the better part of twenty years turning a few friends into better film fans. That probably sounds arrogant, but I've had at least one of them thank me for teaching him what to look for- certain directors, certain periods of film. I about teared up recently when he was talking about renting out some Melville from the library.

I quit school, foolishly, and have written screenplays sporadically since then. Most of them suck(ed). Thankfully, I'm now clean and sober, and the writing is coming back again. I still pray that something will become of it. Due to personal and legal restrictions a move out of Indiana won't be happening anytime soon, so I guess the goal is to write and film something right here in this God forsaken shit hole.

But mostly I cry a lot.

To be fair, I evangelize too*. It hurts to meet people who haven't even seen stuff like Taxi Driver, Ace In The Hole, or any Leone westerns. At the very least we should all be trying to get people hooked on decent shit if we're wasting everything else.


*I guess my previous pity-party post was just a shout-out to my latent self-loathing. Lollerskates.

I've been kinda blessed. I've turned my passion into a career. I don't work on as many high quality films as I would like but I've had a pretty good run. While I'm at home with Miss K I get to do some writing and once a week I teach a class on film history to high school kids.

I write screenplays to eventually direct...getting close, latest is out to an A-list star.

As a day job I work for a total douche bag named Joe Francis...but it's good money and a lot of travel.

Ugh.

You have no idea...he was born for a tell all book...hmmm.

I seriously wouldn't be able to go near the office without aching to beat the shit out of that guy.

Eh, I'd have no problems cashing his checks.

I'm so fucking broke and possible employers are stopping just short at laughing in my face, I'd even consider being some sort of street team for Glenn Beck at this point if there was a paycheck in it.

I surrender.

Thankfully I don't work with him much...he's not allowed to leave California...his latest good natured gesture to society was punching and kicking Brody Jenner's girlfriend, who threw a drink on him. She should get a medal.

I can't give details or write a book because I signed a non disclosure agreement. But when it expires...

This is so true. I sometimes feel like a giant dick for my reaction to my friends saying "I've never seen The Godfather" or "Saw is my favorite horror movie!" I bet I probably come across as a snob sometimes, when I really don't mean to.

But for me, I know there is no realistic way to make any substantial amount of money from my love of movies. So my plan is to keep looking out for movies that bring me some enjoyment and try my best to share the joy I get from watching a spectacular movie with others.
As much as I know about movies (which around these parts is tiny) and as great as it would be to make a career out of it somehow, at the end of the day I realize that it's a hobby that I'm really passionate about.

What about you, Phil?

Ever seen the movie Fade To Black? That will eventually be me.

I'm the "movie guy(snob edition*)" in my circle of friends, and I can't see anything coming out of it.
I used to make lots of Hi8 flicks with my friends, but I'm so far beyond that that if I made any sort of movie now I'd need to pay people, and it's just not possible. Most of my friends I used to make flicks with are loaded with work or kids or both.

*I like stuff like The Fountain, Let the Right One In, and Royal Tenenbaums! Such a snob!

I think the principles of film and storytelling can be applied to a variety of other mediums and jobs. Branding, marketing and advertising come to mind, for example. So in that regard encyclopedic knowledge of how filmmakers told stories could come in handy.

Besides that there's rarely ever a film I'm excited about of which I haven't followed to a certain extent throughout its development, so when with friends I just can't help but point out all the trivia I know. "Did you know that wasn't the original ending...Tom Hanks ALMOST didn't get that part..." and so on. Often times I'll get a very tepid, uninterested "really ? cool" to one time where a friend just flat out yelled at me in the middle of a social gathering saying "what the hell is all this useless trivia going to do for you in life ?"

My friends still play videogames, I geek out over film instead. We all find ways of filling the existential void.

Traditional Pub Quizzes are always good for unleashing your braniac type knowledge. You become heroic to your friends and the pissed-up ladies will swoon (or fart and fall over with excitement).

Also, if you're lucky you can rinse the pub quiz machines that are naive enough to have a Movie Quiz on them (actually hard to find now). Put a quid in and you can end up with five quid back. How's that for a living!

I teach English Composition at Cincinnati State Technical & Community College, and for most of the (lower income) students it's like grade 13. Therefore, to keep their brains involved, I've recently started playing clips from movies and then asking the class "so what is he arguing here? What is he contrasting and comparing?"

Recent films have been SLC Punk and Clerks.

Otherwise, yeah, bullshitting with my friends. "Did you know Burt Reynolds almost played Batman back in 1980? Isn't that weird?"

I simultaneously impress/earn the pity of my friends with my ability to pull obscura out of thin air.

That's really well put Jacob.

Like Ryan, I turned my passion into a career, but even if you're not going to do that you could always, y'know, make a film in you spare time. Not necessarily a feature, but something short. Even if it sucks I guarantee you you'll be glad you did it.

True, a passion for watching films doesn't always translate into a passion for telling stories, but I also find that it's something people often discount because it seems somewhat unrealistic at the time.

All I know is that, as far as I'm concerned and even though it's not always the easiest industry to be a part of, this was possibly one of the only really good choices I've ever made in my life

Well, I have a band see....The Wu Tang Clan showed me in high school that geek referencing can actually have emotional resonance. So I use my knowledge of obsucro film to hit nerves with folks in my "little band" (what my relatives call it around the holidays and a pretty apt description truth be told). "Bite the Bullet" deals with Gene Hackman and Lee Marvin sitting at a bar begging drinks. "Pirates on Desiard" references River's Edge. Y'know. Inspiration without ripping em off. So I'm a cracker from Louisiana who doesn't feel comfortable referencing the same shit the Wu does and feels even less comfortable trying to rap. So I sing stupid songs about Warren Oates and Sam Peckinpah movies. I'd say it's a living. But it's not.

And this.

Same here... but I also parlay "it" into winning free drinks and nibbles during Trivia Nights at nearby pubs.

Well I write film reviews and features for some publicatons. I'm a freelance writer/journalist so the film criticism is along with some corporate writing and features on other subjects I do, but eventually I'm pretty optimistic that I'll be making a living writing about film exclusively. It's not guaranteed, but very possible with the portfolio I've built and the contacts I've made.

I know a few full-time film critics, a friend of mine works for a company that distributes arthouse films to film clubs and societies, another has had three short films financed and made and will eventually make a feature, another guy I know programmes movie retrospectives for a cinema while someone else I know works for the Dublin film festival.

Having said that, while it would be great to channel a love and knowledge of film into a paid job, I've always thought that watching films is plenty rewarding in and off itself.

I used to make an okay living off it. Then the work dried up, I moved here, now I just write DVD reviews here, which, admittedly, does make me pretty happy. It's rare finding a gig I love so much I'd do it for free (well, and free movies).

But goddamn do I miss making a living off it.

Well, I won't be making a living out of it, no. But I love talking about the how films move me, how a certain scene just blew me away, and bonding with like-minded people about that. A film can be instantly relatable, or it can amaze you. Either way, that's what I get out of movies, they're almost never a waste of time.

Right here. Movie-watching and absorbing all the nuances, trivia, etc. is more of a hobby for me and most of my friends. Sure, I can impress folks about little known facts from The Godfather or Citizen Kane, help 'em when they get a quote wrong, etc. but for me, it's all about the green or free suds when Trivia Night or a radio contest comes around.

My desires are base and materialistic. Join me!

I find your ideas interesting and intriquing, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

Yeah its a passionate hobby for me. I also subscribe to the 'perpetual student' mentality in that, with every new film I see it makes me realise how many I've yet to see, how many I'll never see. For all my being the 'movie guy' in my circle, there's massive gaps in my film knowledge I enjoy filling when I have the time and the mood strikes me. I think that's a difference between wanting to just be a movie geek and being a cinephile, wanting to fill those gaps outside the geek comfort zones. I'm most definetely a film geek with cinephile pretentions.

I'd really like to review films or dvd's if the oppurtunity presented itself, and I can certainly say that movies are one of the greatest influences on and inform my own creativity in story-telling and genre-world creation (whether that be a short story, longer written work or even the story-side of graphic novels) so they're a lifelong passion unto themselves and help keep my own creativity burning to a degree as well I guess.

I keep trying to make a career out of it. Short of that, I just spend a lot of time at the Drafthouse so I can be among like minded people.

What do I do with it? It's definitely helped me to be very patient and polite.

"Hey, you're really into movies, right?"

"Oh, uh... yeah, sure."

"Oh my god, I saw this awesome movie ICE AGE 3 THE MELTDOWN! Did you see that? I bet you've seen it."

"No, I.... I actually haven't. So it was good, huh?"

"Oh yeah, totally! Soooooo funny! I love ICE AGE! It kind reminded me of SHARK TALE! Did you see that?"

"Yeah. Yeah I did."

Great thread. My passion for film takes a lot of forms - first, people treat me like a fucking Blockbuster store. At any stage, 30 - 40 of my 500 movies are out on loan. I don't mind, I love sharing the love, particularly if I can pass something Let the Right One In on to people who would never otherwise see it (or probably even hear of it), but movies tend to disappear into the ether every now and again. Second, I get rung from table quizzes, and from people in Video Shops (what do you know about 'X'? Should I rent it?) and third, I am increasingly consumed with derision at the absolute balls people a) pay to see, and b) actually like. It's getting to the stage where the movie industry is actively depressing me. My brother loved Matrix Revolutions. LOVED it. He HATED Magnolia. HATED it. I don't know how to process those two opinions.

I really wanted to be a critic, and got myself a gig when I was in Australia a few years back. Problem was, I started watching films in the wrong way. The way critics watch them. It's a fucking awful way to experience movies, in my humble opinion. Sitting there nit-picking in real time, mentally taking notes (positive or negative), just utterly detatched form the abandon of being transported to another place. I gave up after 5 movies because it was actually ruining films for me. That may be just me though.

Well, being the only person who gives a shit about movies at my current job is why I put in my notice. (That's not the only reason, but it was certainly part of it. The desire to be around like-minded people and all.)

Thanks to this thread and the subsequent navel-gazing I took part in for the rest of the night, I've been writing for most of the afternoon. Kinda nice to have that going again.

I don't do much with it. Just try to use it to suggest movies to friends which they have a good chance of liking but would've never known of. I don't make waves. Small steps.

Otherwise, I use my rudimentary knowledge of film and storytelling when I work on short little projects. I have fun with it. My friends and I work for our own satisfaction and answer to ourselves.

I used to daydream about being in the film business as a writer or Director. The more I learned about the business and how it works, the more happy I am that I never tried seriously to get into film (Now I thing being an Editor would be really interesting).

I also note that most Directors tire of film and don't go to the theater. I'd hate to be in that camp

So to answer the question I enjoy learning about film and the business for personal satisfaction. I've also found that I can learn a lot about a person by asking what films they like. One guy I worked with told me that "The Godfather isn't a good movie...it's too slow!". He has trouble keeping a job. Coincidence?

I'm actually not the movie guy in my extended gang of friends. Going all the way back to highschool (even when I played and was passionate about team sports), all my friends have been movie/film geeks to varying degrees.

The two years I spent in Portland, sharing a place with six passionate roommates were some of the best times of my life. The discussion, arguments, and marathons of all genres and variety of movies (as well as philosophy, religion, music, lit, etc), was almost more of an education than college.

Nothing really. Been a big movie fan since I was 12 but I've never really found a proper way of channeling all this useless info. The few friends I have are KIND OF impressed with it. If I'm at a party or something I enevitably end up being used as a sort of circus attraction. "Hey...uhh...this guy knows everything about movies. Who wants to quiz him. Ask him annnything." I don't blame them though. Not much else to do with me in a social situation. Much like Luca I usually end up getting asked about complete garbage and disappointing everyone though(Shrek, Lottery Ticket, chick flicks I've never heard of, Epic/Disaster movies). Win a lot of games of Trivial Pursuit. I try to do some evangalism now and then but I've never been able to turn anybody. Mostly just annoy them I guess. I also constantly get asked for recommendations. That's about the extent of it.  So bitterness mostly. 

I get this all the time. They gloat like you wouldn't believe if I get stumped (occasionally) or haven't seen something. As if I'll watch anything and everything just to satiate my neverending cinematic hunger. If it looks like crappy mainstream pap, I'll probably avoid. But they'll feel like "movie-lovers" for watching anything new.

 

I have been able to get paid for my movie-knowledge and writing occasionally, but try to use visual storytelling in my career wherever I can.

I'd love to make a career out of it if possible.  I graduated from a fairly decent college with a degree in film and video, and a minor in screenwriting.  Mainly I've been writing over the last year because it's free, fun, and doesn't really get in the way of my other slack ass job.  

 

I am also definitely the "Film Geek" in my crew, although I don't really like to bring much attention to it.  Although about two months ago I threw on MAGNOLIA in front of a room full of reluctant people, and halfway through everyone was captivated by it.