If you have ever visited the About section of the Pietriots Blog then you will likely have encountered this sentence describing the ethos and tone we try to set for the articles on it. “A casual site for casual gamers that enjoy casual games casually.” It would seem that casualness has extended to the actual writing of posts with just one single article created for all of 2023…. (Ooopsie-doopsie!)
Now, if you were hoping to see more gaming posts on this site then this article may disappoint you as I’m here to write about a different type of medium: The Movies aka Cinema. With my new position as “Pietriots World Sovereign of Cinema Reviews and News”, it’s a topic I’m excited to discuss further with all you cool kids and searchbot spiders and have been implicitly instructed to post about.
That is the recorded proof of how I became the head of the Pietriots Movie Department. It reminded of the moment on “Mad Men” when Harry Crane became head of the TV Department. Fans of the show know it later resulted in him being in charge of one of the most important parts of the business as the series went on since TV’s influence on advertising would grow in the 60s. Feels like I pulled off a coup here and no one has caught on yet! Gaming is old news. Cinema is the future!
My Purpose in Reviewing Movies
What does this all actually mean? Well, I’ll admit I’m certainly not educated or trained in film criticism nor do I have any writing degrees or English diplomas. To modify the line from the About section I quoted earlier, this will now also be “A casual site with casual movie reviews for casual moviegoers that enjoy movies casually.” I have no illusions that by reviewing and discussing movies on this site it will then somehow lead me to become a major voice in the criticism or dissection of movies and elements of them. Movie reviews on Pietriots aren’t going to shape the discourse on a film or become the go-to site for a majority of people on what to think of a film. And to be honest, I don’t want to get that deep into knowing about acting techniques or the messages that colors might represent in a movie. Yes, sometimes those things can be enlightening or provide a bit more appreciation for a film. Yet when it comes to that heightened focus on craft and design, it’s something I’d want to understand better if I was actually trying to make movies rather than just watching them.
If I’m not going to be able to highlight or understand all the subtext and symbolism of a film then what’s the point of reading some casual type of review? Allow me to answer that by switching gears for a moment. Roger Ebert reviewed movies and would rate them on a four star scale. However, he was more famous, along with Gene Siskel, for giving movies a thumbs up or thumbs down recommendation. That’s a very simple scale of judgment to state whether he either liked or disliked a movie. To me, that’s the sort of scale I want to go by. I just want to state and review why I’d say a movie is or isn’t worth a person’s time and hopefully guide readers to movies worth watching. I’m not going to be thinking too hard about how to rank each film on a scale of 1 to 5 or A to F in some special effort to classify their artistic value.
After all, when someone reads a book they really like then they often want to tell others about it and encourage them to read it also. Same with a TV series or a video game. Heck, even with a good meal at a restaurant. When you encounter something you think is great then you want to tell others about it. At the same time, if you encounter something you dislike then you’ll probably try to dissuade others from bothering with it. For me, that’s movies. I want to tell other people about movies I think are worth watching and what I think is worth skipping. I’ve seen a lot films at this point in my life and I just want to share my impressions with other people so that they can check out some great stuff also. It’s just a way for me to express my enthusiasm or dislike of a film.
to tell me about a book they’ve read and wanted me to read also.
There is a bit of a caveat I feel I should mention when it comes to a film I may grade as negative or to pass on watching. I’ve sat through some films I’ve really hated or been seriously bored by. It’s very rare for me to give up or quit on a movie part way through. Why not? Part of it is that you can still learn some things from the experience. For instance, it makes you learn and figure out how to express the reasons for what it is and why it is that you dislike something. That sort of helps you be more in tune with your own personality and way of thinking. In a way, it also gives you an idea of what you think a film should not do if perhaps one were to ever get in the business or what other actual movie makers should avoid doing. And, in the end, you still gain some more film knowledge having seen the whole work and knowing what it all contained.
With that said, I think most people would consider time one of our most precious resources in life. It’s a weird resource as no one knows how much time they may have here on Earth and so it makes it tough to know how much of it to allocate to things. Thus, most people would probably prefer to not spend time watching things they anticipate not enjoying. So, even though I still think a person should just challenge themselves to go ahead and watch everything whether bad or good, I realize that many people wish to limit their time from being used on things they likely won’t care for and hopefully optimize it on the stuff they are more likely to enjoy. It’s my goal to hopefully help you in that decision of whether you’d want to see a film or skip it.
Finally, the other goal is to hopefully get some feedback on my thoughts and reviews of movies. It’d be great to know if readers later checked out a movie I may have reviewed positively and did also like it or not. Tell me why you may agree or disagree with my thoughts on a film. Heck, feel free to give me some of your recommendations on films in the comments and what you love in the world of cinema. After all, sometimes the only thing that can surpass seeing a great movie is watching another great movie.
Is there anything better in life?
My Personal Film History
Now, a little bit about my background. When it comes to movies, I watch the whole spectrum of films. From the black and white silent era through to today’s current films releasing in a multiplex theatre. I watch plenty of both English and foreign language films. I’ve found there are only two types of film I don’t care much for and they are Horror and Documentary. Otherwise, I’m pretty much down to watch any other genre of film whether it be a Musical, Western, Comedy, Romance, Drama, Thriller, etc. When it comes to Horror, part of the problem is that I generally don’t believe in a lot of the supernatural things they will depict which makes it hard for me to suspend my disbelief at what’s being shown. In addition to that, you’ll often have a lot of dumb characters in those movies which just adds more irritation when viewing them. As for Documentary, I find myself a bit restless when watching them. I think its partly an issue of narrative as they often come across more as a long interview between a few people or just relating various anecdotes. Further, I sometimes find myself questioning the viewpoint and facts being presented since they often present or focus on one side of an issue so I find I’ve developed more of a distrust towards them. Perhaps I’ll get into more details on all the ways those genres don’t often appeal to me in a future article but that’s the quick summary of my movie preferences for now.
Perhaps you’ve been asked “What’s your favorite movie?” I know I still get that on occasion. My answer is that it is pretty much impossible to name just one. That’s a question that’s only relevant if one has seen very few movies. If you’ve seen maybe 100 or 200 films then perhaps you can select just one as your favorite. But if you’ve watched 2,000 to 3,000 films then it becomes nearly impossible because you realize all the different experiences that can be found in film. It’s like music. You have different genres based on certain sounds and elements like jazz, opera, hip-hop, EDM, pop, or rock & roll. And even within those genres you’ll have a wide variety. Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, and Nickelback all technically fall under rock & roll but they all have their own unique sound. People who like one of those groups may not care for those other bands listed and their style of music while still feeling they are a fan of rock & roll music. When realizing the scope and variety of music, can you really pick a single song as your favorite and say it is the epitome of all music?
Likewise, how do you compare a musical like “An American in Paris” to a documentary like “The Fog of War” or it to a blockbuster action movie like “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”? These are all movies telling different types of stories and accomplishing that in different ways. How do you break down and prove that “An American in Paris” was a better success at its story and composition than “Terminator 2” was or vice versa? Much like the expression of comparing apples to oranges, you begin to realize the variety and different tones that a movie can contain which then makes one film totally different and unique from another. Yet, somehow one is expected to be able to definitively say that one single film trumps all others and gives you the best experience possible out of any other movie you’ve seen? I just don’t think that’s possible and I can’t name any single film that does it in order to make it my most favorite film. One day, I may finally try to sit down and make my own personal list on the Top 50, 100, or whatever number it ends up being of the films that I would consider as my all-time favorites and post it here on Pietriots but today is not that day.
child I favor over the others. Not even Sophie had to make a choice as difficult as that!
Do you like statistics? I’ve been trying to note down and keep track of all the movies I’ve watched. Currently, my count is at 1900 but I still haven’t gone through all the releases of the 1990s and 2000s to get an accurate count. I know I saw a lot of stuff both good and bad while growing up during that time. I’d imagine there’s probably another 300 movies or so that I’ve seen during those decades so I’m probably around 2200 movies watched at this point. That’s mainly going by films I consider feature length of 60 minutes or more. I haven’t bothered to keep track of all the shorts I’ve seen like Looney Tunes or The Three Stooges.
As for movie lists, currently, on this date of Feb. 7, 2024, I have seen 225 out of the IMDB Top 250 Movies list. Did you know there has been about 601 to 604 movies nominated for the Best Picture Oscar through its 96 year history? At this moment in time, I have seen 535 of them leaving 69 to go. In 1998, AFI released their list of the 100 Greatest American Films of all Time and then did an updated list in 2007. I’ve seen all 100 of the original list and just need to get around to watching “The Sixth Sense” to complete the updated 2007 list.
If you are a movie buff then perhaps you’ve heard of the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. The first edition was published in 2003. Since then, it has been printed and revised a few times over the past two decades with the biggest changes usually happening for the movies listed in the 2000s and 2010s. As new movies were released since the last version was compiled this meant other recent movies from the previous edition would have to be removed to make room for those new releases and keep the book still at 1001 titles. From keeping track of all the movies ever featured in all the editions, the total number of movies showcased through this series of books is now at 1,245. Of those 1,245 films, my tracking shows that I’ve seen 774 of them at this point in time or just slightly over 62%. I’d like to crack the 70% mark before this year is done.
Having watched so many movies, I suppose that’s why I feel I finally have something to say and want to try expressing my thoughts on them. Of course, I fully acknowledge that when discussing a movie and whether I would recommend it will ultimately still come down to just my own personal taste and opinions. Thus, there could be films I recommend that many other reviewers or readers could dislike and ones I dislike that many others might be recommending. All I can do is try my best to explain what brings me to that decision in order for you to understand my perspective on a movie. If I do that well enough then you should still be able to tell whether my opinion might match yours or not in order to decide whether you would follow my recommendation or not. Because, when all is said and done, I just want to find and share with others films that I think would spark their minds and bewitch their hearts like they have mine.
All that’s left now it to begin this writing experiment.
Pietriots 
No, but really what’s your favorite movie?
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