0205

You have 10 seconds to recall any passer-by that made a difference in your life.

If not, at least one person you forgot shall spontaneously combust within 10 seconds.
*Ha! Who cares!* Kidding!

Movie Empress
Like the short brilliance of fireworks, for a few of the passer-by in your life, you will not only remember them, but remember them with ‘ooh!’ and ‘ah!’ Some time ago, an older man marked his 205th film for the year by the time I chatted him up in person….

205 films translate to about 4 movies per week, and if any particular week has less than 4 films premiering, he would be doing at least 5 movies in 7 days!

205: that is the number of times I should be having sex every year. That is my national obligation for the year. Citizens of Singapore are accused of a low humping frequency, only once a week the official number cries! I plan to change that in 2006.

Enjoying sex is starts from listening with your heart to the needs your partner and execute the changes necessary to keep the humping from turning routine. But I digress….

Are You A Movie Lover?
For 2005, I am surely way behind schedule of hitting the 205th film. I visited the movie theatre only 30 times in 2005. Even if we begin counting from 2002, I would still have to round it off to the nearest 100. [Upper 100]

Yet, the number 205 is not insane. On the contrary, don’t you think that this man’s devotion for going to the movies is of the purest form? Even a little romantic!

If you think about it, watching at that frequency of 4 or more films a week, what would be the chances of sitting through a disappointing movie or a B grade film?

Many film goers can claim they are devoted to movies.

Art Film Connoisseur
Art film aficionados have devotion, for instance, but they would make an informed selection of what to watch and give B-grade movies a miss.

Not that art film lovers don’t watch B movies…perhaps on a day off, lazing at home, in their’s favorite armchair, a B grade popped on TV…they think ‘Why not!’

But art film aficionados get a kick out of carefully selected film screenings. To quote the Martell advertising campaign slogan: ‘Only few can tell’. Not many ‘commoners’ have an eye to distinguish films that are gems from those that are of entertainment value. If you prefer Eat Drink Man Woman to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon [both of which are Lee Ang’s works] you probably are on the right track as a film aficionado.

And then, there are the Mr. and Ms. Political Statement.

I refer to the person who chooses a film to make a statement about who he/she is and how he/she thinks, and they adhere to it like a political directive.

I have a friend who refuses any top grossing film. He brushes off Titanic the same way Madonna dismissed the music of Celine Dion many moons ago. He thinks that blockbusters are for the ‘common multitudes’ [to quote Shakespeare] or in English ‘because everyone else is going to watch it!’

Non-mainstream gems like Sin City and Taxi would be the best movies to quote if you want to date this intelligent Eurasian friend of mine.

Branded Stuff
Of course, there are many reasons why we watch the films we watch.

Some of us who are adamant that using your head in the movie defeats the fun that movie is supposed to be entertaining.

While some of us get in to the theatre for big brands names such as Brad Pitt and Maggie Cheung.

But the dude with 4 tickets stubs at the end of the week, every week…other than a sore butt, this person would need more than reasons to watch. To risk, week after week, the chances of dozing in boredom, or shrieking out of disgust, what would be the winning formula to make it through all those bad films?

*Drum roll!*, you need tolerance, and in heavy dosage.

Most of us will never adopt half the tolerance to hit 205th movie a year simply because, for most of us, we choose what we want to see and ignore those which do not fit into our comfort zone. Not to mention choosing friends who enjoy the films you enjoy!

If you seriously want to break out of your comfort zone in movies, go date that friend who has been watching all those films you had not ventured into. I had been pleasantly surprised, so would you.

The End.