Chloe Rippe
Arts, Entertainment, and Technology Editor
As the annual Academy Awards roll by, I make it my business to watch the majority of the Oscar nominated movies. I set aside my allowance for the weekends, which I dedicate to hitting as much of the Oscar noms as possible, and knock them all off my to do list (and then if there’s any extra time I’ll squeeze in the homework).
But after spending a good amount of my money, and seeing movies like the heart-wrenching “12 Years a Slave”, to the wildly romanticized “Wolf of Wall Street”, I feel as if there aren’t many people to talk to about my prospects on the upcoming awards.
I used to think everyone felt that post-movie thrill from seeing great film, that deep admiration for the cast and director and writers, as if a piece of the movie breaks off and lingers inside of you for weeks until you see a new movie. However, it sadly seems as though there are only a select few teenagers who are truly excited about cinema these days, and I’m not just talking about cheesy rom-coms (achem Endless Love achem).
I mean, it should be the most evocative art form of all: not only do you have to keep watching because you paid probably like 20 dollars or more including the food, but your worries literally fade into the background as you become sucked into the lives of the characters on the golden screen.Your life for about two hours is blowing in the wind, and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the finely sculpted characters and emotions and scenes pieced together for you by film masters. It’s like buying ice cream: you pay for it, and you pick the best flavor so you can enjoy it and get your money’s worth. Yes, sometimes the plots or deeper themes require a little bit of thinking (darn) but generally speaking filmmakers are quite aware that you don’t want to contract a migraine during their movie; they’ll make it easy for you.
So why do most teenagers waste their money on sappy Nicholas Sparks chick flicks and fart-joke comedies? I guess I just don’t understand the draw, or why anyone would subject his or herself to a lower level of enjoyment. It’s probably that child mentality some teenagers still cling to, “I haven’t tried it, so I don’t like it”. I guarantee that if you put your phone away, stop thinking about your life, and just give all your attention to a quality movie, you’ll get more out of a quality movie than you could ever get from Kristen Stewart’s pathetic performance in the Twilight saga movies.
Also this stigma that “serious” movies have for being boring seriously needs to move along because it’s preventing people from being able to appreciate the emotional experiences that cinema has to offer, and I don’t want to grow up in a generation of adults who teach their kids that the true American classics are “White Chicks” and “The Vow”.
If you’re willing to take the first steps from cinematic mediocrity to film legend, there are a couple of online sources that can guide you. The AFI top 100 and the IMDB top 250 lists provide great arrays of movies to choose from, though I have a bone to pick with some of the choices in the IMDB list. You can also check out the Garden Cinema movie theater in Norwalk; it typically shows artsier, less generic movies that often show up in the major film awards.
If anyone out there is reading this, please consider this as a sort of initiative to watch good movies. Cinema is easily the most relevant art form nowadays, especially as we become an increasingly electronic culture, and you don’t want to be that person who doesn’t know anything about what’s being talked about.
P.S.: Here are my favorite dresses/costumes from last nights Oscar Ceremony:
Here’s a list of some of my all-time favorite movies:
Dog Day Afternoon
The Departed
A Clockwork Orange
The Shining
There Will be Blood
Requiem for a Dream
Lenny
Casablanca
Midnight Cowboy
Papillon
The Godfather Parts I and II
Apocalypse Now
There Will be Blood
Requiem for a Dream
Gone With the Wind
Raging Bull
The Deer Hunter
La Vie en Rose
Sophie’s Choice
(And there are more, but I can’t pick favorites…)
photo credits:
Lupita- http://photos.vanityfair.com/2014/03/03/1393806115239_lupita-nyongo-oscars-red-carpet.jpg
Cate- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/02/cate-blanchett-oscar-dress-2014-photos_n_4853327.html
Ellen- http://www.justjared.com/2014/03/03/ellen-degeneres-is-wizard-of-ozs-glinda-at-oscars-2014-video/
Jessica- http://www.justjared.com/photo-gallery/3063831/jessica-biel-is-a-metallic-stunner-on-oscars-2014-red-carpet-03/
Oscar- http://www.btchflcks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/oscar.jpeg.jpg
