Discovering a film for yourself; is it the best way to see a film?

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DBall

New member
Last night whilst flicking through the channels I happened upon Anchorman. I'd never heard anything about this film and I didn't know what to expect. I ended up watching the whole thing and was laughing so hard (esp at Fred Willard) I had stopped making any noise.

I really enjoyed it but I think a big part of the enjoyment was discovering it for myself. The same thing happened for me with True Romance and X Men, I came to them both with no expectations and enjoyed both of them.

So what do you think, is this the best way to see a film?
 
As long as you are committed to watching it, yes. Some films are slow burners and if you don't know in advance that it's good, it can be too easy to give up and move onto something else.

I "discovered" Risky Business - I had no idea what kind of film it was and it took me about half an hour to figure it out.
 
I think the absolute best thing you can do is ignore all professional critics and media hype. Nothing has the power to turn me away from a movie faster than when the press smugly behave like it's the best thing since sliced bread. I missed out on some great films because the media hype was such a turn off but I don't make that mistake any more. As for professional critics, they seem like love what I hate and hate what I love. I stopped paying attention to their exsistence years ago and have had happier movie experiences for it.
 
What I do before watching a film is check the keyworRAB and rating on imdb to get an idea of what's in it and whether I want to watch it, then check rottentomatoes afterwarRAB to see if I thought the same as the critics, which is usually the case.
 
Junebug, Sunshine, Dodgeball, Pulp Fiction, Alien.

I 'discovered' all these during one of my insomnia-induced bouts of channel-hopping. And I love all of them (hell, I went out and bought all of them!). I'd heard of them in the sense that I knew of the title, and at a push could probably have named 1 or 2 of the cast, but that was all. Despite their differences (although Alien and Sunshine do have a lot in common, they're very different films), I'd definitely put all 5 of them in my top 10. So yeah, I'd reckon discovering a film for yourself is definitely the way to go!

(not that following hype is a bad thing - The Dark Knight, Lord of the Rings trilogy, Slumdog Millionaire, and Casino Royale, to name a few box-office smashes - weren't exactly bad, and may make my top 10 list in a few years if they stand the test of time)
 
I watched "Chocolat" by accident and thoroughly enjoyed it! Same with X Men 3. I hadn't read anything about these films prior to watching them and they happened to be on so I watched them. Really enjoyed them both!
 
I recently stumbled across 'Stomp The Yard' on sky movies and loved it, was pleased with myself for discovering it without any form of advertisment.
 
I think there is definately something satisfying about finding a film without reviews or hype, it can feel more personal to you. The closest example I have is when my friend posted a burned copy of Lost in Translation through my door with a note saying "you will love this". I'd never heard of it, but I watched it twice back-to-back that night and it remains my favourite film to this day. I know I didn't technically find it myself, but the same principle still applies.
 
YES. I watched Halloween (the remake) tonight on Sky Movies, and it was heavily criticised on here & in the media, and I bloody loved it!

From now on, if I like the look of something, I'll watch it, and I won't care what people's opinions are because everyone are different!
 
Best way ?..I would say it's the only way. Unless you can achieve the impossible and find a critic who is continuously on your wave length when reviewing movies of every genre.
Look at some of the threaRAB in these forums, it's almost unbelievable how vastly different people's views of the same film can be. You are the only critic worth listening to.
 
Never take other peoples opinions too much to heart, unless you have the exact same taste as them and humour etc then you may have a total oposite opinion... i never listen to these so called critics as there opinions count for nothing unless its with the fashionable sheep who like things because they are supposed to and disapprove of things because everyone else doesnt deem it cool enough.... watch what you want, when you want and form your own opinions...
 
imdb is great for finding films
one of the best ways ive found is to look at what else an actor or actress has been in, where they have a top 5 role, if youve liked them in a few other films.
 
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