Photo: The Tree of Life movie poster, from it's Wikipedia site. (See this film. Roger Ebert, in this year's Sight & Sound poll, said it's one of the ten best ever made, world-wide.)
I must be a movie lover (technically called a cinephile) because:
1. I sit through the credits. I love to know who the cinematographer, director, and supporting actors are, and sometimes it's necessary to just let the whole movie sink in after it ends. I was like this after the movie Lincoln recently.
2. I do sometimes compare people to movie characters. Actually, I do that all the time. The real people hardly ever compare, even if the movie character was "bad." I realize this is antisocial of me.
3. I get giddy about upcoming movies by directors I like, such as a new Spielberg film. I'm enough of a cinephile to get excited by the new Ed Zwick, Peter Weir, David Fincher, Terrence Malick, or Ridley Scott film, amongst the names of great directors that most non-fans don't know.
4. I do relish intelligent film discussions, but not intelligent film competition, because when proving a point about a film, I definitely become obnoxious--and so does the person I'm talking with. For example, when discussing a film, I actually use the word "film," not "movie." Sounds elitist, I know, but the fact is that Schindler's List was a film, and Hangover was a movie. Just because the point is obnoxious, that doesn't make it untrue.
5. I understand the demographics, too--which is why I won't go see films geared towards demos I don't want to see movies with. I mean that in the kindest of all possible ways.
6. I definitely judge people by their favorite movies. If your favorite film is one of the Hangovers, or one of the Saws (as good as the first one of each series was), and if you've never even seen (or heard of) 2001 or Schindler's List, then I'm out.
7. I really appreciate movie memorabilia, but such things will just clutter up the house. Or maybe I just don't decorate well. Of course, should the actual real prop come my way, I'm all over it. Who wouldn't want to have one of the rings actually used in the LOTR films?!?
8. I complain about continuity issues and product placements all the time. (But only after the movie, of course. Belanger's rule #1 of seeing films at a theatre: You will not talk during the film.) Drives people nuts.
9. I don't remember dates or important things by films. I'm a guy; I remember such things based on who I'm dating at the time.
10. I haven't made out in theaters since I was a teenager. Call me unromantic or lacking in spontaneity, but I'm not spending $11.50 per ticket just to miss most of the movie. Hell, if I want to make out with a woman in the dark, I'll just invite her over after I've stopped paying the electric bill for a few months.
