The Last Movie Review: Take a Summer Blockbuster!

It's time to focus all that you've learned as a reviewer and apply it to your work, as a writer. This is your very last movie review, so make it count!

Summer blockbusters aren't exactly brain fodder, but they do cater to the senses. The visuals have to be stunning, the sounds have to be real, and everything has to be larger than life.

Pick a summer blockbuster, whether it's about the earth ending, aliens invading, or an adventure in the past. Review this movie on two levels:

1) As a feast for the senses: how did it appeal to you, and what did it make you feel? What have you learned about awakening the senses, and how can this help you write a better novel? The key here is not to cross genres, but to learn how some elements of art cross the boundaries of the medium used.

2) As literature: all senses aside, how was the screenplay? How good was the story? what about the dialogue? The characters? How could the story, dialogue, and characters have been improved?

When you are done, post your multi-layer review online and provide a link to it in the comments section.

Good luck, happy watching, and happy writing!

Let's Review a Movie One Piece at a Time: The Script

Sometimes, reviewing a movie can be easier if you focus on only one aspect of the movie at a time. As a writer, you may have experienced critiquing how the story is told, and what characters say (and how they say it). It's time to harness that skill and look specifically at the script of a movie.

Pick a movie and stick to the movie as we carry out this series of exercises over the next few months. Watch the movie and ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is the script written well? Were there errors in syntax or grammar, and if there were any, were these appropriate to the character and/or setting?

2. How replete was cursing in the script? Was it necessary for the situation or scene? Was it characteristic of any of the characters or of the setting and plot in general?

3. Do the individual characters talk in character?

4. Is the writing appropriate to the setting, ESPECIALLY with regard to the time setting? This is especially problematic for period films, where screenplay writers try to bring the movie to the people by modernizing the dialogue - and effectively removing the atmosphere that the period film should have.

5. Is the script appropriate to the situation, or are smart-alecky, unnecessary lines running through the script?

These are only a few questions that you can ask yourself while carrying out your review. Remember, you will need to look only at the script and how it affects the movie, as well as how it is affected by the elements of the movie. Focus your work on the script and you can gain insight into how you, as a writer, can improve your craft.

Happy watching and happy reviewing!

Reviewing Christmas Movies

Christmas movies are probably either syrupy enough to give ants diabetes, or sad enough to dehydrate the Pacific ocean. Now, it's time to review them, and you may either need to exercise your smile muscles to keep them from breaking, or keep a big box of tissues handy.

Use the same review tools that you would for all your other movies, but this time, try writing two different reviews. Review the Christmas movie as a movie: what are its cinematic merits? How is the acting? The cinematography? The direction? The shot framing? The music? Does everything come together into a coherent whole?

Next, review the Christmas movie as a CHRISTMAS movie. Does it have the spirit of the season that it portrays, or can you move the plot to any other season and still have it work? Does it use the Christmas season to its advantage, or does the movie end up sappy and look like it's trying its hardest best to warm your heart?

This exercise should help you see how your book can be reviewed, too: you can be reviewed in terms of your skill as a writer, and you can be reviewed in terms of your skill as a weaver of imaginary worlds. Both these reviews can exist in one review, but you need to be aware that you also have two major skill sets to develop. Recognize it in another art form, and you can get a greater grasp on how you can improve your craft.

Merry Christmas! Happy watching and happy reviewing!

Now, for that Horror Movie You Don't Even Want to See...

Not everyone likes horror movies - and even if some people do, there are just horror movies that they avoid like the swine flu. Slasher flicks, zombie movies, vampire tales, and all sorts of creatures go bump into the cinematic night. Are you brave enough to get past your fears (or unwillingness) and watch a horror flick?

Your job is to widen your repertoire to include even films that you may be horrified or resistant to watching. This time, you need to watch a horror movie and tell your audience what you think of it, ABOVE AND BEYOND THE FRIGHT AND GORE. How was the acting? How was the plot? What did you like about the movie? What did you dislike?

This exercise should help you appreciate even the strangest types of art, and to see the redeeming points even in art that is seemingly created for the sake of awakening our basest fears. Remember, if you can awake fear - among other emotions - in your readers, you are a better writer than most. Explore how such a phenomenon can be brought about by other art forms, and you could also enrich your own writing.

Good luck, happy watching, and happy reviewing!

(And don't forget to keep your lights on!)

A Short Film, a Good Review

Short films, in comparison to feature films, are not only short in terms of time; they need to compress all their main ideas in a short amount of time without appearing rushed, and still getting their story through. Short films, around an hour long (or much less!), can be thought of as the short stories of the movie world: hard to write effectively, difficult to make effective characters for, and of course, difficult to find interesting plots for.

Your job is to review a short film. You can check them out through your Netflix account, download them online, or simply wait for them on your favorite movie channel. Although it may be tempting to get a short documentary, your job right now is to look at a fictional short film. You can check out http://www.indymogul.com/bestshorts or http://www.shortfilmcentral.com/ for ideas.

The short film can be of any length, and your review can be of any length as well. One main question that you need to consider is the ability of the short film to pack a punch: was it able to use all the time it had for a great story, or did you feel rushed? Conversely, was the story too slow, so that the short film felt like it was much longer? Should it have been made into a feature film instead? Could it have been made shorter? Were there things missing that you wanted to see? Were there things that should have been taken out?

Watching short films should help you understand how difficult it is to distill stories into a small amount of film time - and it should help you feel the burden of being a writer as well. You may write a novel, but you don't have thousands of words to tell your story. The best novels are those that pack a mean story punch in the few words that they have.

Happy watching, and happy reviewing!

It’s Time to Review a Documentary!

It’s time for you to look at something from real life, and something drawn from nature. There are many different documentaries for you to choose from. You can stick with nature documentaries and look at your world, from the mountains to the seas, from the smallest insects to the biggest whales. You can cling to your favorite biographies and look at how people live and who they truly are behind the public façade they show. There are many documentary types, so all you need to do is look for them online, rent them out, or wait for them on TV.

When you finally have the documentary on your hands, you can review it as you would a movie. There will be some changes, though, especially where acting is involved. You may want to rate the script that the narrator uses, or you may want to critique how the issue at hand is being handled in the documentary. You might also want to talk about how you could improve the documentary.

By widening your movie menu, you can expose yourself to more cultures. And by reviewing documentaries, you can increase your knowledge base and give yourself a greater bank from which to draw ideas for your novel. Happy watching, and happy learning!

Speculations: The First and Last Minutes

Here's an exercise that won't require you to write too much, but it will be one that will require you to think a little. You need to find a movie that you have never ever seen before, and then you need to rent that movie, buy it, or borrow it. You also need a stopwatch, pen, and paper. This is also important: You need to NOT know the story of the movie, and you need to NOT read the movie's summary.

You need to watch the first minute of the movie. Time yourself using the stopwatch. Next, fast forward the movie all the way to last minute. You can do this by going to the credits and then backtracking. You can watch the first two minutes or the last minute, since you might not be able to estimate the last minute correctly.

Now that you have the beginning and the end of the movie, you can start speculating. What happened in the middle? How did the movie's beginning lead to the end? Start writing this story out, but take no more than 5 minutes to tell it. You don't have to use the characters' names. You can just say GIRL 1 or BOY 1 or whatever you wish to call them.

Next, you need to watch the movie. Take down notes on the story and try to tell the story in your own words. When the movie is finished and you have completed your story, put your story and the movie's story side by side. Which one is better? How are the stories different? Were there things that you didn't expect to see?

This exercise should help you realize what your own biases might be, and how great a role expectation plays in how you rate or watch movies. This exercise can also help you critique a movie's plot line by concentrating on what happened, how it happened, and what twists the movie's story might have. Happy speculating and happy watching!

Exercise at Your Own Risk...

Is there a movie that you deeply dislike? Is there a movie that is a torture to watch? Well, you are OBLIGATED to rent that movie. You have to watch it. You have to look at it for one final, cringing time. And yes, you have to REVIEW it.

This exercise will help you understand what it is that you don't like about movies. As you understand yourself better, you might see how your likes and dislikes make you who you are as a writer. And, if you find something about a movie's writing that you deeply dislike, you can hone your senses on two fronts: you can recognize badly-written work better, and you can change your own writing so that you end up with a masterpiece that even you can appreciate.

Are you ready? Start that movie and have these questions in mind:

1) If this movie could be described in one word that IS NOT a synonym for “bad” or “awful,” it would be ____________.

2) What ONE thing would I do to make this movie better?

3) Is there anything at all GOOD about this movie? What is it? Why does all the good stuff disappear behind the bad stuff in this movie?

4) How long has it been since I saw this for the first time? Why do I not like this movie?

5) What have my friends said about this movie? How did we agree on it? How did we disagree on it?

6) What have the critics said about this movie? (You may need to do some research for this) How did we agree on the reviews? How have I disagreed with reviews?

7) Is this movie's writing bad? What one line do I absolutely detest? How will I change that line so that it's just a bit more bearable?

8) Write a 500-word or less article on why this is a good movie.

9) Write a 500-word or less article that rebuts the points of #8. You need to be able to debate with yourself so that you can look at all kinds of artistic work, even your own, without forming extreme opinions that could either make you over-enthusiastic about your writing, or a self-flagellating writer. In writing, balance is key.

10) What three things would I tell the director of this movie, if I were given the chance to talk to him/her?

Pick a Winner...

Whether it’s the Oscars or Cannes, the Berlinale or the Venice Film Festival, award-winning films never fail to make the headlines. It may be their content and their ground-breaking stories, or it may simply be hype and glamour. Which is it? In this review activity, you are going to be the judge.

This exercise is meant to enhance your critical eye, especially when it comes to art that has supposedly passed through the hands of experts and has been deemed excellent enough to be awarded. Does a film always deserve its bevy of awards? Is there something in the film worth exploring above and beyond its ability to gather statuettes? Does a film earn money because it gathered lots of awards; or does it fail at the box office, and often unfairly?

Pick an award-winning film, preferably one that was judged best picture at the Oscars, Cannes, the Berlin Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, or the BAFTA. Watch it, review it, and keep on asking yourself: does this film truly deserve its awards? Why AND why not? Remember, you need to be balanced, and you need to look at all angles of a film to see if and how the film congeals into a coherent whole.

Happy watching and happy reviewing!

It's Time for Some Cartoons!

Many older movie viewers tend to shy away from cartoons because they think animation is “kids’ stuff” or even “immature.” However, it takes a lot of manpower to make a cartoon: today’s animation is far from simple, and the storylines are far from naïve and whimsical. Cartoons have evolved to cater to a much wider audience than before, and they are no more fairytales than they are stories simply translated to non-human form.

Your job is to review a cartoon. You can go old school and pick something like Fantasia or Bambi; or take newer, more animation and technology-heavy fare, such as Up or Cars. Which cartoon you pick is your choice, as long as you take on a full-length animation film. By reviewing a cartoon, you also wake up a critical part of your brain; you need to answer the question: Why was this filmed as a cartoon and not with live characters?

If you recall, some of the entries in this site recommend that you ask yourself: is my setting appropriate to my story? Would my story have happened anywhere else? Think of those questions as you evaluate the cartoon. You may also want to evaluate the plot of the cartoon itself. Is it too thin, or is it rich and full of insight? Is the movie all about showing off animation, or is the animation secondary to the movie’s ability to tell a story?

Be as balanced as you can, whether you like animated movies or not. Happy watching and happy reviewing!

What NOT to Do When Reviewing Movies

Doesn't a movie review look easy to write? All you need to do is watch a movie, see what makes it tick, see what makes it bad, and then summarize everything. All you need is a trusty computer and you're all set.

Critiquing, however, is far more complicated than simply pointing out a movie's faults and high points. There are actually things that you should avoid doing. Take note of a few of these things below:

* Don't just summarize the story. Many amateur critics make the mistake of taking up all their writing space just talking about the movie's plot, what happened, who went where, and who went off with who. Make a difference by actually analyzing characters, seeing what makes the plot special, and perhaps even seeing how you could have improved on the plot.
* On the other hand, don't just pick the movie apart. Strike a good balance between summarizing the movie and critiquing it. Many amateur critics also make the mistake of diving right into the heart of the criticism by blasting a movie to bits, or praising it down to its very molecules. Remember, you have readers, and as much as they want to hear what you think of the movie, they also want to know what the movie is about.
* Avoid lambasting a movie while providing no reason to do so. Why don't you like the script? Why is the plot thin enough to burn down with one lighted match? Why isn't the acting good enough for your tastes? Provide a reason, other than, “Because I say so,” or even worse, “Just because.” You are a critic, not a petty, armchair analyst.
*Always be balanced in your review. You could be watching the worst movie on the planet, but there might be some good points (if there aren't any, no matter how hard you look, then you will need to say so). On the other hand, you could be watching the next big flick, but there will surely be some low points. Don't neglect either side of the good/bad divide.

Different Ways to Review Movies

You've already gotten some assignments on reviewing movies on this blog, with the assumption that you already know how to review movies, whether you are an armchair or a true-blue movie critic. There are, however, techniques that you can use to review movies, as well as questions to ask yourself while you are watching a movie. This way, you can have an organized review, or even a themed review of the movie, without simply telling the story over again.

Here are a few questions that you should ask yourself while watching a movie. If you can, print them out and write your answers down as you watch. If you are watching a movie in the movie house, however, pick a few questions and keep them in mind as you watch; and then write down your answers afterward:

1. DIRECTION AND WRITING: Who directed the movie? Who wrote the script? What might the scriptwriter have intended with his/her work, and did the director meet the intention?

2. DIALOGUE: How well-crafted is the dialogue? Do characters have their own tones, or does everyone sound alike? Is the dialogue well written, or do conversations sound stilted? Is the language that the characters use appropriate to the setting, plot, and themes of the movie?

3. PLOT: How plausible is the plot? Does the story flow well, or is it forced? Are there any loopholes?

4. SETTING: Could this story have been set in any other time and place, and would it still have turned out the same? How unique is the story to the setting?

5. CHARACTERS: How well formed are the characters? Do all the characters act alike? Are they moving the plot along, or are they being moved, helplessly, by the plot? Who stands out? Who doesn't?

6. ACTING: How well was the movie acted? Did anyone stand out who wasn't supposed to? On the other hand, did someone fade into the background because of a bad acting job? How well did the actors capture the identities of their individual characters?

7. EMOTIONS: Did the movie excite you, move you, make you want to watch it again, make you sad that it all ended? Or was the movie dragging, ordinary, unable to elicit any emotions, and one that you could not wait to turn your eyes away from?

8. IMPROVEMENTS: How would you have made the movie better?

9. IMPACT: What are the movie's high moments? What are the movie's low moments?

10. TECHNICALS: Did the production design, costumes, and makeup meet the requirements of the plot, theme, and setting of the movie? Was the music appropriate to the film?

11. RECOMMENDATIONS: Would you recommend this movie to other readers? What kinds of movie watchers will like this movie? What kinds of movie watchers will not?

12. OVERALL CRITIQUE: Did you like the movie? Why or why not?

Your Favorite Movie

You'd probably squeal while watching your favorite movie, or laugh so hard that you don't care how bad the jokes are, or even cry your eyes out even if you'd ignore the storyline in a heartbeat. There's a certain bias that you have for your favorite movie, whatever your favorite movie is. Could you possibly point out what's wrong in your favorite movie?

Try this exercise on for size. Watch your favorite movie and review it as though you were the Fault Finding Committee for your flick. Look at all the technicals and see where the costuming, make up, or even music went wrong. Examine the plot in great detail: are there loopholes that should never have been put on paper, or are there characters that can be done away with? Speaking of characters: who is acting their parts out well, and who is doing a splendid hack job?

There are many aspects of your favorite film that will be imperfect, but you shouldn't be discouraged. Just think of yourself as a balanced critic, not an avid moviegoer destined to be jaded when finding the slightest mistake.

This exercise should help you critique even yourself fairly. You need to know what makes your writing tick, and what makes it weak. If you can see both sides of the issue in any work of art, be it film, books, or your own work, then you can be a better writer – and you can take criticism better, too.

Putting Exclamation Points on Period Flicks

There are movies that I can never say no to: costume dramas. I love period flicks. I love watching the scenes being acted out, the costumes, the art direction, and the language. I love history, and if I really love a period flick, then I start doing a lot of research on the time period in which the film is set. If a period film is REALLY good, I end up making my own novel set in that same time period.

It's understandable why some moviegoers tend to shy away from period flicks. For one, they often feel that the storylines are dated, and that there is little to relate to in a period movie. Because many period films are scripted according to the language of the times in which they are set, some people may find the language difficult to grasp or stilted (Really now, who in Ancient Rome ever said, “Are you ok?”). And because period films are historical, people might think that the much dreaded History Lecture has hopped right out of school and is haunting them even in their most brainless entertainment.

Try your luck at period films by writing a period film review. This can be especially tricky if you are used to watching films set in modern times that involve little to no writing, and are filled with car chases and guns a-blazin'. If this is the case, you may want to ease yourself into the genre by going for Westerns or war movies. This can also be tricky if you like modern love stories that are slap-happy and whimsical. You may want to get period films that have a love story as the main focus of the film, such as Pride and Prejudice.

Reviewing a period film can be exciting and quite draining at the same time. For one, you are delving into history, and if you love stories of the past, historical or period films may be a lot of fun to write reviews on. However, you will need to scrutinize costumes, music, dialogue, and perhaps even the historical accuracy of the film! The trick is to pick one or two aspects to look at in detail, and then write passing reviews on the rest.

There is still debate on what constitutes a period film. After all, if you're writing in 2008, the 1960's are certainly SO last century. Use your best judgment on which film to get: you may want to do a series of film reviews by taking yourself back in time, say Quiz Show; to Saving Private Ryan; to Emma; to Jude; to Artemisia; to Braveheart; to Gladiator; to 10,000 BC. These are just examples of period or historical pictures that you could look at. There are thousands of films out there that are up for reviewing grabs.

So what are you waiting for? Look for a period flick, sit back, enjoy, and review! Don't think of it as a history lesson: think of it as your way of enjoying the past through the magic of the present. Happy watching, and happy writing!

And Now, a Movie of Subtitled Fun...

Some moviegoers will balk at the idea of watching “foreign films” because they don't like reading through subtitles. However, not all the films shot in the language that you understand are good; there are many creatively made, wonderfully shot films that are subtitled, raw with their native languages. There is music in language, and you know this as a writer; dub voices over, and you lose a lot of the original beauty of a film.

If you love “foreign films,” then you are in luck; and if you avoid them, then it's time to overcome your fear. Your job is to review a film with subtitles. This is going to be a challenge: you will have to pay attention to how well a movie is shot, how well it is acted, and how great the technicals are, ALL while you read the subtitles and get the story.

The objective of this exercise is to widen your appreciation for film, above and beyond those that fall into your comfort zone. This can allow you to soak in different cultures, to appreciate other languages, and to broaden your cultural horizons. It may sound vague, but with more and more exposure to foreign films, you may find yourself becoming more and more open to other cultures, other worldviews, and other minds. You might find yourself wanting to travel to other countries – and you may find yourself becoming a better writer, too.

There is one more objective to this exercise: you are about to embark on a multitasking quest. You need to scrutinize many aspects of a film while reading the dialogue. Can you do it?

So go ahead: rent the first “foreign film” that you find and start writing your review. It may be easier to do this at home, since you can pause the film to read subtitles. You can even watch the film over without the subtitles so that you can appreciate the technical aspects of it better.

My recommendations: Life is Beautiful (Italy), Cinema Paradiso (Italy), City of God (Brazil), Talk to Her (Spain), Dreams (Japan), Solomon and Gaenor (Wales), Slumdog Millionaire (India), and Mongol (China). Please don't get mad at me for these choices; they're the first that came to mind, and I know that there are thousands of other films out there that are far better.

Good luck, happy watching, and happy reviewing!

Relax – watch a movie!

Now, you must be thinking: I'm being told to read when I can't find the time to write, and now, I have to watch a movie, too?

Think about it: you might not be afraid of watching movies. After all, it's something that you can do every day. It's something that you can do without even batting an eyelash or using a brain cell! But that's the point: you don't always need to be brainless when watching a movie. You can turn your movie watching session into something productive: in fact, what you might be afraid of is a little bit of intellectual exercising while you're trying to relax.

No problem: these kinds of exercises won't come too often, and when they do, they're meant to relax your brain and make you have a bit of fun away from the writing. If watching movies isn't your thing, then go buy tickets to the nearest play or musical; or, if you really don't want to spend money, try your favorite TV show. If all else fails, watch people in the nearest cafe.

The key to these exercises is to step away from words and let your eyes do the thinking. You need to be visually stimulated, and you need new images that you can draw new stories from. You don't need to copy a movie's plot or make a spin-off of the next big show on Broadway. What you need is something to stimulate your mind and make you start seeing things in a new light.

Still bewildered? Wait for the next entry on reviewing movies and you might find yourself having a bit of fun!