Published: June 26, 2008 03:52 pm            

Mr. Movie - Questions, questions

Here are answers to questions I get asked by readers.

So how many movies do you watch, anyway? Probably around 200-250 a year. And yeah, at least half aren’t worth a hoot. You have to kiss a lot of frogs if you’re going to review movies.

How many movies would you say you have seen? I would guess about 3,500. I have a list in my computer of over 3,000 movies and I didn’t start the list until the 90’s. That’s not so many when you consider that Leonard Maltin’s last movie guide book contains over 17,000!

Do you go to theaters much or mostly watch at home? Mostly at home because my column is directed toward that. But over a year, I probably average going to a movie theater once a week. When the good ones start rolling out in November, I will sometimes go three to four times a week. One of the great joys of being semi-retired is going to weekday matinees!

Are there some films you never include? Yes. Porn is out, of course, and I detest slasher and horror movies. Since I never watch them, you will never see them in the column.

How long have you been doing this? Believe it or not, 12 years. It seems like only yesterday...

What are some modern things you like? And don’t like? I like the big screen TV sets that let you watch in the same format that you would see in a theater. And I absolutely love that most DVD movies have subtitles. I don’t hear so well anymore, and nobody can tell what they’re saying on some of the British and Irish films. I really like Netflix – don’t know how I ever did without it! I loathe colorization (the process of adding color to black and white films.) As far as I can tell, it has died a well-deserved death.

What are some things that bug you about other fans? I find a lot of younger viewers will not watch black and white movies, or foreign films with subtitles. They are missing a lot!

Do you ever include made-for-TV movies? Yes, indeed. The quality of these has improved dramatically. Some of the HBO movies are better than lots of theater films. I did a column on just HBO movies not too long ago.

Why do you include guidance for parents? Well, I’m a parent and a grandparent and I find the ratings system isn’t so great. Some PG movies are pretty rough. And most importantly, nobody takes into account that littlies have limited attention spans.



Rusty Hammond has been writing the Mr. Movie column since 1996.

        

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