“You’re watching all the movies I skipped school to see!” – My father, Richard Wadsworth
I always liked movies. My aunt managed a small indie theater for a while at the college town near where I grew up, and one of my first summer jobs was slinging popcorn at the local multiplex in my small town. However – ten years working in theater paradoxically didn’t leave me much time to watch movies, and in early 2017, I realized there were a lot of films I’d never seen. At about that time, I heard former Mythbuster Adam Savage remark in an interview that “the best way to learn about movies is to just watch them and talk about them with your friends.” Then I found a copy of the book 1001 Movies To See Before You Die. And it hit me – this would be how to get familiar.
I began my quest – watching all of the movies that have ever been in any version of the 1001 movies list, in order, and reviewing them. Or, at least, saying what I thought. They’re not always educated reviews – but I firmly believe that just because the critics like a film, that didn’t mean I should as well. I don’t pretend to be an expert on anything other than my own opinion. But Adam Savage is right – I am learning some things. That’s the origin of the “Movie Crash Course” title – I’m teaching myself about film history by simply watching films. And dare I say – it’s working.
The first 150 reviews here first appeared on my other blog WadsWords. Any reviews which have been substantially edited above and beyond the correction of mis-spellings bear the “Director’s Cut” tag.
The Movie Crash Course 