crazy movie

Are you crazy about cinema? No, I don’t mean crazy about Harold Lloyd comedy. crazy movie from 1932 about a young man with little to no acting skills, desperately trying to make it into movies. I mean, are you crazy about movies, period? I must admit that I am a cracker for movies. So all those who consider themselves crazy about movies raise their hands. Yes, that’s almost everyone. Why are we crazy about cinema? Why do we live in a movie-crazed society? Hey, what are movies anyway?

Movies are ideas and/or stories presented to an audience through the emotion of sound and a continuous sequence of images. Thanks to Google Search.

How popular are the movies? Well, the keyword “movies” boasts 1.1 billion and a growing number of mind-boggling searches on the Google search engine alone. And the keyword “movie trailers” has collected more than 127 million searches. Watching movie trailers on the internet has become a popular hobby for many. I know my husband is one of them. He loves watching movie trailers of him.

Last year alone it generated a staggering box office gross of $29.2 billion worldwide in 2009 alone. Movies are seen and made all over the world. The language gap has been dissolved due to the addition of subtitles. Now we can all share the universal movie experience. In addition to being universal, movies are made for everyone, young and old. Why you can even see generations in most Disney or children’s movie screenings. There is something for everyone regardless of age.

We celebrate the movies and we celebrate the stars in our movies. We bring them into our homes through star-studded TV shows like ET, ET Canada, Access Hollywood and TMZ, to name a few. We grab supermarket tabloids like The National Enquirer and Star scanning the latest celebrity gossip and stuff it into our shopping carts when no one is looking.

We have Oscar parties like we do Superbowl parties and even bet or at least announce our opinions on who the winners of the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, MTV Awards, etc. are. be. Then there are the classic TV shows like ‘Lifestyles of the rich and famous’ which we faithfully oohed and aahed over the contents like it was fine wine. The program lasted for more than 10 years (March 1984 – September 1995). What career! What a concept! In fact, we got to tag along and drool over the extravagant homes, lifestyles, and dream vacation spots of the stars. Today, you can watch similar shows like the ones on MTV.cribs and those of VH1the fabulous life of….’

If you’re more of a homebody, you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home to catch a movie. You can literally channel movies through your normal TV cable or on specialty movie channels like Thrill, The Movie Network, HBO, Movie Central, Showtime, Turner Classic Movies, etc. And that’s after you’ve clicked through the week’s TV movies, recorded movies on your PVR, or sent your kids to the video store to rent one of this week’s new releases. Oh, and not to mention, you can buy movies at their brick and mortar video store down the street or even online at eBay or Amazon.

How do we get our golden tickets for these grand palaces? We buy cereal boxes and clip cardboard coupons, use our airline mileage points, or exchange rewards points to turn cash into movie tickets. We fill out contest forms in hopes of being chosen as the lucky few to attend screenings of our favorite movies before they even hit theaters. We also line red carpets around the world and tune in to celebrity interviews on our favorite daytime and late-night shows like The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, Oprah, and Regis & Kelly.

What beats the movie experience? Nothing. We line up for our tickets, buy our favorite treats, grab the latest Famous or Tribute magazine for a casual light read before our movie (while wolfing down our real buttered popcorn or a bag of licorice). The lights go out, the screen widens and the image and sound arrive simultaneously. We anticipate movie trailers while watching annoying commercials and there they are. Those big, beautiful rides that come in all their splendor. We whisper yes or no or give a thumbs up to our friends sitting next to us for the next movie adventure we’ll be planning. Then if we’re lucky, that is, the guys will be able to hear the bellow of the THX sound effect roaring around the theater. (Hey guys, you can listen to it on YouTube or download it as a free mp3 or ringtone.) So the wait is over. Spree! And the adventure begins…

Again, why are we crazy about movies? Could it be because the movies are cheap? a cheap date; or a cheap family outing. It is that the encounter can be further enhanced through the Imax or 3-D experience. Or go deeper. A chance to escape from the real world if only for a few hours. Movies evoke emotions, be it excitement, laughter, terror, sadness, inspiration, faith, love, etc. Maybe you’re on an unpredictable adventure, solving a mystery, or watching a family deal with loss. Movies take us far; anywhere we want to go. Even the theater itself is an experience as we have discovered. The lights, sound, feel, big screen, oversized comfortable cloth chairs, convenient cup holders, popcorn and snacks from the snack stand, etc. The cinematic experience truly touches all of our senses. What movies have moved you lately?

Movies are a place where you can choose what you want to see and feel. If I want to be happy I will go see a happy comedy. If I want to get emotional I will go see a suspense or horror movie. And if I want to entertain my little niece and nephew I’m going to watch the latest animated movie, etc. Then there are the rest of the genres that round out the cinematic experience: action adventure, crime and gangsters, drama, epic/historical, musical/dance, science fiction, war, documentaries, westerns, biopics, chick-flicks, detective and mystery, disaster, fantasy, film noir, kids’ movies, melodramas/crybabies, road films, romance, sports, supernatural, etc.

Movies bring people together. They’re something to talk about at your 9-to-5 work trough, chat among your Facebook friends, or discuss on forums. We can talk about the worst movies we’ve ever seen or our favorites of all time. We can quiz each other on movie trivia, quotes, and songs. We can read or write reviews about movies, look up movie ratings, and buy books about movies. We can even get the latest Hollywood gossip delivered to our email inboxes or surf online to peruse blogs like Leonard Maltin’s Movie Crazy blog.

Are there any other benefits of movies besides the full entertainment experience? Actually, there is. Many professional therapists use movies to help people in crisis. There is a therapeutic movement that uses, you guessed it, movies. It’s called Cinetherapy. Film therapy is used because it is readily available (there is a movie theater in almost every city) and the subject matter of most movies is familiar to everyone. It also improves the relationship between client and therapist. Who doesn’t want to talk about movies?

Other benefits include the release of emotions, like when we laugh during a comedy, our laughter releases stress, tension and/or pain. A tear that makes us cry releases accumulated / blocked emotions. What about movies that touch on relationships or parenting? These observations and/or lessons can bring us closer to people, make us analyze our current situations/relationships, or make us realize that we have work to do.

And if there’s one last thing that solidifies our crazed movie mindset it’s our desire or longing to be in a movie and/or meet a movie star. Well this just came in — you can do both. Have you heard the term television or cinema? extra? If you want a better than bird’s eye view of a movie making and meeting a movie star or two, sign up to be an extra. You’ll get paid, you’ll be fed, you’ll be on set, and maybe rub shoulders with your favorite movie star.

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