First blog! Woohoo! Oh, and it's about Badlands

I thought I'd start off my first post with something I just went through in terms of the movie watching experience.  I've seen Badlands 3 times, in 3 incredibly different situations.  

My boyfriend, who will probably be mentioned often from here on out since he's an even bigger self-proclaimed movie nerd than I am- although we both have our fair share of guilty pleasures (see future blog post!) was the first person who made me watch Badlands a few years ago.  I remember liking it, but for some reason I forgot about most of it shortly after.  This probably had something to do with the fact I watched it on my tiny, old TV that bleeds all the reds together until it actually burns your eyes a little.  But I don't really remember feeling anything after it was over, or really wanting to talk about it in the days to come.  

This past semester I got to see Badlands the way it was meant to be seen, as my teacher always said, on the big screen in a film print.  This is probably one of the best examples I can think of in terms of how the viewing experience can change what you think about a movie.  I couldn't stop thinking, talking, or reading about Badlands.  I was actually excited to get to class the next week to share these ideas and vehemently defend it from anyone ridiculous enough to bash it!  And trust me, I did.  I briefly considered throwing my shoe at the kid who claimed the opera music was pretentious.  But I didn't.  I couldn't believe how immersed I felt during the film, and it felt like an entirely different movie to me the second time around.  I had completely forgotten about the whole "playing house in the woods" sequence and for some reason Martin Sheen as Kit didn't have nearly the effect on me the first time.  The quality and richness of the audio also helped me appreciate and understand the use of narration by Holly- also one of my favorite elements.  

Next, I decided to give Badlands the ultimate test and show it to a friend, and former film production major himself.  I guess I'd forgotten how great it feels to show somebody a movie you love and watch them enjoy it just as much, or even more than you do.  It seems like I've become so jaded by those awkward experiences where you forget just how weird, inappropriate, and/or terrible a movie really is until you show it to a friend.  Okay, but I swear The Science of Sleep was good when I saw it in the theater!  Something must have changed with the making of the DVD...which is what made my best friend fall asleep during it...  Seeing someone else enjoy the movie for the first time and laugh at the same parts that really crack me up, really secured Badlands into the place of one of my favorite movies.  Not that someone else's opinion should ever take away from how I really feel about a movie, but getting to share the complete joy a film can bring me with someone else makes it that much better.  

This definitely made me wonder how many other movies I passed on after having a less than ideal viewing experience.  I've definitely come out of a bad theater experience (thanks to people talking and yes, even snoring) annoyed and a little disconnected, but still able to appreciate and want to see a film again.  I think in terms of a bigger picture, this is a reason why I don't see movie theaters going anywhere or being replaced by watching movies on your ipod, blackberry, whatchamacallit.  The theater is great, and enjoying the movie with someone else is even better.  

So I think the lesson here, really, is that I need a bigger TV.