I love movies. Love watching them, loved working in them and love the fact they take you to places you might never go. I was punished a lot as a kid by my foster parents and I watched movies to pass the sentence, 7 years of movie watching, I thinkI watched every movie made before 1972. Then there was a 38 year run of a marriage and the last 10 years were movies every night. I’m retired now and instead of going fishing, playing golf or other things one does in retirement I watch movies. There have been approximately 500,000 movies made so far. I’m making a dent in that number.
If a person never read a book or attended school but watched every movie made, I believe that person would know more about life and the history of mankind than most college graduates. Movies are made by very smart people. The writers do research and hire experts to make sure they are factual and depict how life was during the period of the film. Movies like Gladiator, Ben Hur, Cleopatra, Jurassic Park, and the Bible depict how life was in the past. Movies like The Godfather, Legend, and Casino depicted how gangsters lived. Western movies showed how life was like in the wild west. 2001 a Space Odyssey, Star Trek, and Arrival give you a glimpse of how life might be in the future. The James Bond films take you around the world on fantastic journeys. Musicals like Grease, LaLa Land and Moulin Rouge are fun and comedies are a great way to reduce stress. Comedies are a wonderful way to relax and extend your life, Laughter is the best medicine. Science says you live 5 minutes longer when you smile and an hour longer when you laugh. Animated films take you on amazing adventures.
So, after the writer does his job, experts in make-up, costume, special effects, set construction, sound, The music and hundreds of other disciplines make sure the hundreds of millions of dollars spent on a movie make it real.
I worked in film, my uncle won an Academy Award and I appreciate the work that goes into a scene that might be 5 seconds long and have hundreds if not thousands of extras in them.
I love movies based on true stories, like The Founder, Steve Jobs, Apollo 13, and countless others. You can learn everything you ever need to know by watching movies. Watch documentaries and your knowledge of the world will increase even more. I’ve met people in my life that don’t watch television, and it makes us think how much they are missing. They probably read, but every best seller is eventually made into a movie. My foster dad would never go to the theater because he said all movies would eventually come to television for free. It might take years, but he was right. I recommend you watch movies for information, entertainment, and relaxation.
