• Home
  • Longform
    • Defanging the Unthinkable
      more
      View more

      Defanging the Unthinkable

      5 years ago
    • A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye
      more
      View more

      A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye

      5 years ago
    • The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"
      more
      View more

      The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"

      5 years ago
    • The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"
      more
      View more

      The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"

      5 years ago
  • Interviews
    • A New Way of Telling Love Stories
      more
      View more

      A New Way of Telling Love Stories

      5 years ago
    • Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"
      more
      View more

      Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"

      5 years ago
    • Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast
      more
      View more

      Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast

      5 years ago
    • The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"
      more
      View more

      The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"

      6 years ago
  • Critic-At-Large
    • Now Playing: "From Nowhere"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "From Nowhere"

      5 years ago
    • Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"

      5 years ago
    • Now Playing: "War on Everyone"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "War on Everyone"

      5 years ago
    • Now Playing: "The Salesman"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "The Salesman"

      5 years ago
  • Podcast
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"

      5 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"

      5 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"

      5 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"

      5 years ago
Movie Mezzanine
  • Home
  • Longform
    • Defanging the Unthinkable
      more
      View more

      Defanging the Unthinkable

      5 years ago
    • A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye
      more
      View more

      A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye

      5 years ago
    • The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"
      more
      View more

      The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"

      5 years ago
    • The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"
      more
      View more

      The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"

      5 years ago
  • Interviews
    • A New Way of Telling Love Stories
      more
      View more

      A New Way of Telling Love Stories

      5 years ago
    • Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"
      more
      View more

      Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"

      5 years ago
    • Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast
      more
      View more

      Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast

      5 years ago
    • The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"
      more
      View more

      The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"

      6 years ago
  • Critic-At-Large
    • Now Playing: "From Nowhere"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "From Nowhere"

      5 years ago
    • Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"

      5 years ago
    • Now Playing: "War on Everyone"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "War on Everyone"

      5 years ago
    • Now Playing: "The Salesman"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "The Salesman"

      5 years ago
  • Podcast
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"

      5 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"

      5 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"

      5 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"

      5 years ago
  • Home
  • Longform
    • Defanging the Unthinkable
      more
      View more

      Defanging the Unthinkable

      5 years ago
    • A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye
      more
      View more

      A Fitting, Impressive Goodbye

      5 years ago
    • The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"
      more
      View more

      The Ambivalent, Bittersweet "My Life as a Zucchini"

      5 years ago
    • The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"
      more
      View more

      The Complex Morality of "No Country for Old Men"

      5 years ago
  • Interviews
    • A New Way of Telling Love Stories
      more
      View more

      A New Way of Telling Love Stories

      5 years ago
    • Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"
      more
      View more

      Breaking Standards with Julian Rosefeldt of "Manifesto"

      5 years ago
    • Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast
      more
      View more

      Indulging Mightily with Alex Ross Perry and the "Golden Exits" Cast

      5 years ago
    • The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"
      more
      View more

      The Ultimate Meta-Performance: Kate Lyn Sheil on "Kate Plays Christine"

      6 years ago
  • Critic-At-Large
    • Now Playing: "From Nowhere"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "From Nowhere"

      5 years ago
    • Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "Fifty Shades Darker"

      5 years ago
    • Now Playing: "War on Everyone"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "War on Everyone"

      5 years ago
    • Now Playing: "The Salesman"
      more
      View more

      Now Playing: "The Salesman"

      5 years ago
  • Podcast
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 287: "Kundun"

      5 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 286: "Pinocchio"

      5 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 285: "That Darn Cat"

      5 years ago
    • Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"
      more
      View more

      Mousterpiece Cinema, Episode 284: "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"

      5 years ago
How We Fell In Love With the Movies
  • Essential Reading / Features

How We Fell In Love With the Movies

  • by Movie Mezzanine Staff
  • February 14, 2014
  • 0
  • 2234

‘Tis the day of love, this February 14th, and thus we’ll all be focusing on the loves that make our lives worth while, whether they exist or not. But no matter how many times your heart is broken by another person, you could at least always count on great movies to never leave you.

To honor Valentine’s Day, the writers here at Movie Mezzanine have decided to share with you all the moment that they fell in love with cinema, whether it be through a singular movie that changed their lives, a friend who guided them down the right path of cinematic taste, or something entirely different that may not even involve movies! You never know when love can find you, especially when it comes to the love of the cinema. Without further ado, here’s how we all fell in love with the movies.

Christopher Runyon, Assistant Editor

close encounters

I’ve already documented pretty frequently how Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining jump-started my love of cinema by opening my eyes to the deeper stylistic and thematic aspects of the medium. But obviously, I fell in love with cinema at a much, much earlier time. Probably as an infant. With my mother’s rather wide collection of old VHSs, it’s hard to really say when exactly I first fell in love with cinema, especially since my memory, like most people’s memories, is a little fuzzy during the infant/toddler stages.

I do know, however, that there were three main instigators of my love of cinema, creating this sort of Holy Trinity of sorts: Disney, Studio Ghibli, and Steven Spielberg. Disney, obviously, referring to any one of their animated masterworks from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to The Lion King, Studio Ghibli mostly bringing up their early works like My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki’s Delivery Service, and then Spielberg’s E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and Jurassic Park also coming to mind. What connects these three is how they were able to capture the imagination better than most other filmmakers. The whimsy of an old Disney classic, the pure wonder and awe of Spielberg bringing dinosaurs and spaceships to life, and perhaps most important of all, the sheer melancholy that drives the works of Studio Ghibli. All of these factors combined to create a kind of perfect cinematic childhood, and I’m glad to have fallen in love at an early age, and have that love guide me over the years.

Brogan Morris, Reviewer

goodfellas

As Ray Liotta slammed shut the trunk of that hell-lit car, as the “As far back as I could remember…” voiceover closed and as the crescendoing horns of Tony Bennett’s “Rags to Riches” arrived, cinema had me. That was the Eureka moment: Goodfellas, a mob epic of callous violence that’s perversely one of the most compulsively watchable films ever made, made me fall in love. Martin Scorsese told me about the exciting possibilities of cinema by showing me every trick he’d learnt; it left me not entertained but transfixed, not excited but jubilant, and I’ve been hungry to recreate the experience ever since. Hard act to follow, but that hasn’t stopped me from looking.

Colin Biggs, Critic Speak Editor

the-godfather-1

The moment when movies transcended escapism and became a passion was when I popped in a VHS copy of The Godfather. I was entranced immediately, the score, the cinematography, the writing all blended together into a journey with characters that felt like you could reach in and touch them. Fortunately, my parents had Part II as well, so I experienced the birth of Michael’s (Al Pacino) criminal status, and the dark spiral that consumed him all in one sitting. It was a frightening transition and a compelling one. After that, I was hooked.

Charles Nash, Reviewer

mulholland 16

I’ve enjoyed watching movies ever since I was a kid, and would always anticipate my weekly trip to the local video store on Saturday mornings with my Dad, but I didn’t become truly infatuated with cinema as an art form until the first time I watched David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive when I was sixteen-years-old. I became utterly infatuated with the film’s defiance of having any conventional form of narrative structure to transport the viewer into a visceral, dream-like state of consciousness. The scene that takes place in Club Silencio, in which Rebekah del Rio sings an a capella rendition of “Crying” by Roy Orbison in Spanish (Llorando) is one of the most mystifying and beautiful sequences of film I’ve ever seen; it continues to blow my mind and break my heart to this day.

Kristen Sales, Columnist

x files

When we talk about the origins of my cinephilia, we aren’t even talking about cinema; we’re talking about television. When: the 1990s. Where: my parent’s living room. When: Friday nights at 9pm (later, Sundays at 9pm). What: The X-Files, baby. As a child, I divided my friends into three categories: school friends, church friends, and Mulder and Scully. My formative cinematic influences weren’t George Lucas or Walt Disney, but Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz. John S. Bartley taught me everything I’ll ever need to know about moody, chiaroscuro lighting. Vince Gillian and Darin Morgan introduced me to the art of writing a genius screenplay that’s as funny as it is scary, and that there’s nothing more important than character. Kim Manners and Rob Bowman brought big screen directorial style to the boob tube and it blew my freakin’ 9-year old’s mind.

I read everything I could about the show, including where all of it came from: film noir, ’70s conspiracy thrillers, Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, The Silence of the Lambs, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the police procedural, pretty much the entire history of science-fiction, Universal Horror, even silent comedy (Google “Clyde Bruckman”). That’s a lot to take in as a kid, and I ate it up. The X-Files was a potent gateway drug to the world of movies, an inextricable formative influence on the way I watch films, as well as a primary shaper of my cinematic (and televisual) tastes. That show taught me what it meant to truly love a piece of art, a mentality around which I’ve pretty much built my entire life. And, yes, I still have a crush on David Duchovny.

Ryan McNeil, Contributor

pulp fiction

Where love goes, I was a late-bloomer. Now, that’s OK. Go ahead and laugh at me. I’ll wait.

With that in mind, it’s fitting that my deep love of film was likewise late-blooming. There were early curiosities at eleven and twelve years old…evenings where I would watch “edited for television” versions of movies like Platoon, The Untouchables, and Mississippi Burning. These curiosities showed me that film could be more than the family-friendly offerings my parents were renting on Sunday nights. At that age though, film was just one of many distractions. My heart belonged to baseball, hockey, music, reading, and riding my bike.

When I was 17, film began to take over. Every one of my friends was artsy, and every passing week we seemed to be turning each other on to new avenues of music, photography, design, and indeed film. My friends picked up where those “edited for television” films left off. No longer did I feel like film could be more, I was taken by the hand and specifically shown that it was more. My friends pushed me towards movies I didn’t see advertised on TV…films that didn’t star action heroes or sexy knockouts. These films blended all of that music, photography, and design we loved so much. These films felt like they took place in our world.
It was because of my friends that I first watched Dead Man Walking, The Usual Suspects, Pulp Fiction, The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, In the Name of the Father, Chasing Amy, and Leaving Las Vegas. Essentially, I didn’t ask film out on a date–I was set-up. My friends knew that film was the girl for me. Guess they knew me better than I knew myself!
…

These are some of our stories. Now we’d like to hear your stories. Please share in the comments below when you fell in love with cinema.

Tags
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Related posts

  • MovieMezzanine
0
Top 5 Movies Based on True Stories

Top 5 Movies Based on True Stories

3 years ago
  • AmirGanjavie
0
László Nemes and Géza Röhrig <br>on “Son of Saul”

László Nemes and Géza Röhrig
on “Son of Saul”

7 years ago
  • AdamNayman
0
“Showgirls” At 20: It’s Better Than You Think

“Showgirls” At 20: It’s Better Than You Think

7 years ago

Comments are closed.

About Us

Movie Mezzanine is an online publication dedicated to covering the medium that connects us all, one film at a time. With writers stationed around the globe, we offer a uniquely diverse perspective on cinema, both old and new. To learn more about us, go here.

Spotlight

Putting the Geek to the Plow

Cleantalk Pixel