@Jazz. No comment ;p
Yeah, I knew who some classic actors were then, but I still was opting to see movies featuring my latest Hollywood crush. I paid to watch Freddie Prinze Jr. drink a bottle of shampoo for goodness sake.
when I was 12 I was deeply into sports, and I would talk about Johnny Unitas and no one my age knew who he was. I studied up on football, baseball and basketball from the 50s, 60s and 70s, while everyone else was all about thinking about 1985.
I was also writing short stories and busy getting kicked out of my second grade school, sooooooooo…………..
Good for you. Unlike sport, it doesnt really matter how old or young you begin on your quest for art cinema, as long as you begin the journey. :)
“Unlike sport, it doesnt really matter how old or young you begin…”
How’s that?
Joey- I FEEL YOUR PAIN! My friends love some stuff I show them though; Psycho, Pulp Fiction, and Goodfellas were successful. 2001, not so much. Just this month I got my whole family hooked on Twin Peaks, so that was a victory.
^ You can spend an entire lifetime enjoying movies, but an athlete reaches his prime during his 20s, 30s before falling off. So one can start watching movies at the age of 30 and still acquire a whole wealth of movie wisdom. Compared to sport, it’s not a race against time, or the pressure to achieve this or that during a time frame, neither is it a competition between peers. The only time one retires from movie watching is the day he passes on.
To gain knowledge is not a race against time, it’s a lifelong journey. Watching films isn’t an Olympic sport, granted, but one doesn’t have to compete at a pro level to play basketball, baseball, run, learn about football, etc etc etc.
Let’s not pretend that watching films and gaining film knowledge is any bigger than running to stay in shape.
Around 12, I’m pretty sure my favorite movie was Honey, I Blew Up the Kids, mainly because Keri Russell could be seen in a bikini.
I didn’t get my official cinephile card until I was about 22.
Personally, I’m more perturbed by the fact that this site recommends movies for me which I’ve already rated. Like, I’ve clearly already seen them; why is it recommending them to me? Does it dislike my rating and wants me to rewatch them? Come on…
By 12 Star Wars, Gone with the Wind, Whale’s Frankenstein, Browning’s Dracula and Creature from the Black Lagoon were my favorite films. And remember, this is before cable was everywhere, I got most my movie watching in on LA’s Channel 9 Movie Macabre with Elvira, Movies ‘til Dawn on Channel 5, ABC’s Million Dollar Movie at 2 am and Channel 9 and 13’s martial arts films showcases.
Well by 12 I was furiously into martial arts movies ONLY. Fantasia was my favourite movie, and I knew a number of classics only by name. :P
It is rough when neither parents are anything closely resembling “cinephiles” and people your age are into garbage, thank god for the internet in this regard must’ve been pretty awkward back in the day.
All respect due to Polaris and others who recommend patience but you don’t need to go too far in that direction either. Stand your ground just like the science needs who know more about science than you do will. You will lose friends over the course of your adolescence no matter how polite you are so you needn’t lose yourself over it. If your friends say Hot Tub Time Machine is th greatest film of the last 10 years and you know it isn’t, for a FACT, there’s nothing wrong with telling them they’re ignorant because they are. Overly sensitive folks may run from you but you’ll probably lose them anyway in the long run. More than likely your real friends will just come to see you as an authority that they can go to when they want an interesting opinion they can’t get from everyone else.
Rage against the dying of the light.
That would not help me. I am the only person I know in real with good taste in film. Besides, that would shllaow and childish to do. Its just a fucking hobby.
JUST A HOBBY??
@Mike – I think the broader point here is that the average 12 year old isn’t into cinema as art. Hell, the average 12 year old isn’t into anything as art. Suggesting patience doesn’t mean that you have to give up your interests, but it does caution that you can’t expect the rest of the world to be interested in the same things you are and in the same ways. That’s some damn practical advice. In fact, only two of my best friends could be classified as cinephiles. You gotta learn to live in a world where people don’t know who F.W. Murnau is.
Farting is an art form, nathan, and burping can be too
Oh, yeah, I forgot about those mediums. Do we need a thread on this? Best use of a fart as artistic expression.
Admittedly, I ignored the age thing. I do wonder however whether the quality of Joey’s school may make these kids more open to being called out on their ignorance but I have no real justification for believing that other that a possibly misplaced optimism.
Still, to once again reference Rock and Bulls earlier post, I imagine most 12 year olds don’t know who Richard Feyman is either until someone tells them who he is and that they should care, and why they should care. Figuring out a reason for the last part is good for the Joeys of the world.
If I were 12 I wish someone had called me out and turned me on to some real cinema, FWIW.
@ Nikki
It’s clearly not just a hobby for Joey at this point. It seems to mean something to him and as long as he isn’t pondering whether he would save his DVD collection or a baby if both were falling off a cliff it seems to me that it’s a good thing that something matters to a 12 year old.
@ Nikki
It’s clearly not just a hobby for Joey at this point. It seems to mean something to him and as long as he isn’t pondering whether he would save his DVD collection or a baby if both were falling off a cliff it seems to me that it’s a good thing that something matters to a 12 year old.
DVD collection easily, there are many babies, only 1 of my dvd collection
Hahaha, I hear you on that!
When I was 12, I wanted Natalie to be back at my grade school instead of moving away over the summer
You have better taste at 12 than i did when at that age, that’s for sure, although i did like Coppola, Scorsese and Leone films at that age too!!
My advice to you is to not let others bother you, try to influence others politely, and just keep on discovering more films.
Occasionally if you do it the ‘right way’, you can get others into less mainstream stuff. I started watching ‘arthouse’ movies ‘seriously’ at the age of 15, and managed to drag a few friends to indie theatres around that point who had no interest whatsoever initially.
it is possible, so long as you don’t act like an ass about it.
@UliCain
LOL. xD
shit, that was 11, not 12, I’m getting so old, all the years are melding together
hmmmmmm, films I saw at the theatre as a 12 years old
Back to the Future
Max Mad Beyond Thunderdome
The Legend of Billie Jean
The Black Cauldron
Fright Night
Weird Science
Real Genius
Enemy Mine
The Best of Times
Wildcats
The Delta Force (not my choice)
Legend
Top Gun (not my choice)
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Legal Eagles
Then i turned 13 and saw Labyrinth and fell in love with Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth…. yes.
AxelUmog
^ I had a really big phase with The Mask when I was around that age. >.>