We admit it: some of us are movie snobs.
Personally, Im even worse.
Again, not all of them withstand close scrutiny.
Many of us have been accused of being film snobs at some point in the past.
But have you committed any of the ten cardinal sins here…?
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Its just the kind of MacGuffin that Indiana Jones should be hunting for, in my book).
Last year, Xan Brookes in The Guardian gaveClash Of The Titansthree stars.
He put forward an argument, made his case, and made his recommendation.
Only there isnt, is there?
Theres nothing wrong with you, you just happened to like a film that somebody else didnt.
Its a turn of phrase, granted, but theres some degree of warped mentality behind it, too.
Were seeing a lot of the theres something wrong with you thinking surroundingTransformers: Dark Of The Moon.
Why is it so bad that cinema can sometimes just be entertaining, without any greater ambition than that?
Surely thats allowed from time to time?
Hed be spinning in his grave at the prevalence of blockbusters.
Arguably more than ninety percent of last years films.
By all means, watch and dont the films of some of the people Ive mentioned above.
But dismissing any merit in them is ludicrous.
It all harks back to the Shakespeare argument.
In his time, Shakespeare was utterly mainstream.
Its facing the same unfair prudishness.
And its roughly that even so-and-so on an off-day is better than most people on top form.
Often, Id buy that.
And even if they do, its a fascinating one.
Even if the film is awful.
Now dont get me wrong.
Im not suggesting jumping up and down on filmmakers because they take a wrong turn and make something bad.
Very few actually set out to make a poor film, after all.
But still, a dose of reality wouldnt hurt.
Most recently, Ive seen this argument used in relation to Pixar by a couple of different people.
Their argument is that Pixar, even at half-gas, is better than most of its current competitors.
But its not, is it?
Because its competitors have massively improved.
And just wait until you see what Aardman has got coming up.
Thats a mainstream example, certainly, but its not alone.
Im not utterly convinced that the person arguing with me liked the films in question, either.
They just felt compelled to defend them, come what may.
Its admirable, certainly.
But still strikes me as a little bit odd.
Particularly if its a major work.
This is done regardless of your film taste, or interest in a particular genre.
Never mind if you know 1930s Austrian cinema like the back of your hand.
If youve overlookedBirth Of A Nation, then youre off to the naughty corner.
Were back to that hit list of films you have to have seen, else youre a cinematic heathen.
Thats a stoning offence in some quarters of the Internet.
But the film snob doesnt do this.
Picture the scene, then.
A pub talk after a visit to seeX-Men: First Classat the movies.
General chunter, happy appreciation.
And then the snob in the corner pipes up, declaring it not a patch onApocalypse Now.
Or lacking the style and panache of Carol ReedsThe Third Man.
Rightly so, too.
Someone saying thatPolice Academy3 pales next to the majesty ofLawrence Of Arabia, orA Short Film About Killing?
Not every film needs to be compared to the entire back catalogue of cinema.
Because few things put you off watching something more than having something preaching to you about it.
you’ve got the option to just ask anyone who hasnt watchedThe Wireabout that.
And I was making this point, admittedly badly.
Thing is, one of the people I was arguing with kept talking aboutTodo Sobre Mi Madre.
And, given that its a Spanish film, its its official title, too.
In the US and UK, though, the film was released asAll About My Mother.
They just couldnt do it, and they deemed it incorrect to do so.
I, however, deemed it snobbery, and I accept that many of you wont agree with this.
Is the title really worth using as some kind of argument firewall?
Isnt it the films themselves were supposed to be talking about?
A debate online, or in the pub, is hardly a film studies course.
Everyone learning Swedish to read Stieg Larsson novels?
Re-evaluating a filmmakers back catalogue because of a film that they didnt like.
I absolutely hate this, and fortunately, this is a very rare occurence.
Hark back to the start of the 1990s.
The late, great Robert Altman releasedThe PlayerandShort Cutsin fairly quick succession, both to massive acclaim.
Thats fair enough, to a point.
Never mind that Altman had a fair few stinkers before he madeThe PlayerandShort Cuts.
Both were now damaged because of one movie he made immediately afterwards.
If ever you meet a film snob who declares otherwise, disavow them at speed.
And if you admitted you liked something that the crowd didnt?
It never ended well.
Sadly, that continues into adult life.
That, surely, doesnt mean youre suddenly not allowed to likeFast & Furious 5, does it?
As Dara O Briain pointed out in a recent stand-up tour, theres nothing guilty about it.
If you enjoy it, you enjoy it.
Just adding the word guilty surely just lets the bullying mentality win?
And with that in mind, anyone up for aMamma Miaparty at my place?
Not watching the films theyre slagging off
Finally, the big one.
The basic rule of criticising a film is that the least you should do issee it.
Once youve seen a film?
Criticise away, and feel free to tear any holes in it you see fit.
Just base it on the material before your eyes, and not your preconceptions and assumptions.
However, theres a breed of film snob that simply doesnt do this.
Theyve decided long ago that theyre going to hate the nextTwilightfilm, and chances are, theyll be right.
Ive never seen theTwilightmovies, and thus cant comment on them in any critical way.
Im not playing holier than thou.
But I couldnt tell you for definite thatd be the end result.
because, whisper it, I might like it.
Ive watched all of those, and can comfortably assure you theyre all shit.
But at least I made it to the end credits (just) before doing so.
Bigbossfan
Making you get the special edition of every film you get them.
I live with one.
@goosenman
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