Are you movie crazy? No, I\'m not talking about Harold Lloyd\'s 1932 comedy Film Crazy, which is about a young actor with no or little acting talent who desperately tries to get into the movies. Are you crazy about movies in general? I have to admit that I love movies. All those who are movie crazed, raise your hand. That\'s pretty much everyone. Why are we so movie crazy? Why are we a movie-crazed culture? What are movies?
Movies are stories and/or ideas that are brought to the audience by emotion, sound and a seamless sequence of images. Google Search is a great tool.
How popular are films? The keyword "movies", alone, has a staggering 1.1 billion searches and is growing. The keyword "movie" has gathered 127 million searches and more. Many people enjoy watching movie trailers online. My husband is one of those people. He watches his movie trailers all the time.
Box office revenues worldwide for 2009 alone reached 29,2 billion dollars. Films are viewed and produced worldwide. Subtitles have eliminated the language barrier. We can now all enjoy the universal experience of watching movies. Movies are universal and made for all ages. You can see different generations watching Disney movies or kids\' movies. No matter your age, there is always something for you to enjoy.
We love movies, and we love the stars of our movies. They are brought into our homes through TV shows like ET, ET Canada Access Hollywood, TMZ and others. When no one is watching, we grab tabloids from supermarkets such as The National Enquirer or Star to read the latest celebrity gossip.
We throw Oscar parties just like Superbowl parties, and we even wager or at least declare our opinions about who will win the Academy Awards. It will be. There are also the classic shows such as\'Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous\' that we watched with great devotion, oohing and haahing at the content. The show lasted over 10 years from March 1984 to September 1995. What a run. What a great idea! The stars let us tag along to their extravagant homes and lifestyles, and we got to drool at the dream vacation spots and lavish lifestyles. You can still watch shows similar to this one today, such as MTV\'s Cribs or VH1\'s The Fabulous Life Of ....\'
You don\'t need to leave your home to watch a movie if you are a homebody. You can watch movies on your regular cable TV or specialty channels such as Thrill, The Movie Network HBO, Movie Central Showtime, Turner Classic Movies etc. After you\'ve watched the TV movie of the week or recorded movies on your personal video recorder, or sent your children to the video rental store to rent a new release this week, there\'s still more to do. You can also buy movies at your local video store or online through Amazon or eBay.
How can we get golden tickets for these palaces? We can exchange rewards points for cash, or we can use air miles to get movie tickets. Fill out contest forms to get a chance to see our favorite movies in advance of their release. Red carpets are lined up around the globe and we tune in to celebrity interviews on daytime and evening shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Night with David Letterman.
What can compare to the cinema experience? Nothing. Before the movie, we buy our tickets, pick up our favorite goodies, and grab the latest Famous or Tribute Magazine for some light reading (while eating our butter popcorn or bag of Liquorice). The screen expands, the lights dim and both the sound and picture appear simultaneously. While watching the annoying commercials, we anticipate the movie trailers 123 movies. Then they arrive. The big, beautiful, upcoming attractions are in their full glory. We whisper "yea" or "nay" or give our friends seated next to us a thumbs-up for the movie we are planning. If we are lucky, then the guys may get to hear the roar of the THX sound effects that roar around the theater. You can download the free mp3 on YouTube, or listen to it. Then, the wait is finally over. Whoopee! The adventure begins...
Why are we so movie-crazy? It could be that movies are cheap, a great date or a fun family activity. Is it because the Imax experience or 3-D can enhance the encounter? Or does it go deeper. You can escape for a couple of hours from the world. Films can evoke a variety of emotions, including excitement, fear, joy, or sadness. They may also inspire faith, love, or inspiration. You might be on an unexpected adventure, solving a mystery, or watching a grieving family. We can go anywhere with a movie. We\'ve found that the theatre is a unique experience. We\'ve discovered that the theatre itself is an experience. All our senses are involved in the movie experience. What movies have moved you recently?
You can pick and choose what you see and how you feel at the movies. If I want to feel happy, I will go watch a comedy. If I want excitement, I will go to a thriller or a horror. If I want to entertain the little ones, I will go watch an animated film. There are also other genres to choose from: chick flicks, mystery and detective films, thrillers, action, adventure, drama, epics/historical films, musicals/dance films, science fiction, war, documentaries, biopics and westerns.
Movies are a great way to bring people together. Movies are a great topic to discuss with your colleagues, friends on Facebook or in forums. We can discuss the best and worst movies that we have seen. We can play movie trivia games, quizzes and sing-alongs. We can write or read reviews, search for movie ratings and buy books about movies. You can get the latest Hollywood gossip delivered to your email box or browse blogs like Leonard Maltin’s Movie Crazy Blog.
Does the movie experience offer anything else besides pure entertainment? There is. Professional therapists use movies to help those in crisis. You guessed it, there is a movement that uses movies as a form of therapy. Cinema Therapy is the name of this movement. It is widely used as it is readily available and everyone knows the content of most movies. The relationship between the client and therapist is also improved. Who doesn\'t like to talk about movies?
The release of emotions is another benefit. For example, when we laugh at a funny movie or show, our laughter releases tension and/or stress. Tear jerkers that make us cry release blocked/built-up emotions. What about films that deal with parenting or relationships? These observations and/or lessons can bring us closer together with people, make us analyze our current situations/relationships or make us realize we\'ve got work to do.
If there is one thing that makes us movie crazed, it\'s the desire to be in a film and/or to meet a star. You can actually do both. You may have heard of the term extra in TV or movies. Sign up to be an Extra if you\'d like to get a bird\'s-eye view of the making of a film and meet a few movie stars. You will be paid, fed and on the set. Maybe you\'ll even bump into your favorite movie star.