The Difficulty I Have in Reviewing Movies

I find it hard to get my thoughts about movies into a coherent order. Most times, when I finish watching a movie, I'll have a vague sense of "that was an awesome movie!" but I can't put my finger on why. It can take a few days for me to think of what to say, and if I go to write one then, I'll find I forgot half of it. There's been a few movies I've seen lately that I've wanted to review. La La Land, Moana, Rogue One. But I can never really think about what, exactly, made it a good movie. Why did I like it so much? At the end of a movie, the answer for me is usually "I don't know, I just did." It just feels odd to me that something which is so instinctive for me with reading is harder in this circumstance. You'd think they'd use the same skills! Also, I'm not very discerning with movies. I really do tend to like most of them! I think this might show through in my book reviews, where I always try and comment on things that I liked about the book.

Also, I don't watch every movie at the cinema, I mean what am I, a millionaire? By the time movies start to be shown on the movie channels, Netflix and the like, it feels too late to review them, like everyone else has already seen them already. Sometimes, of course, there's also the issue of the UK cinema release being (at times, months) later then the American one. Maybe I'll start reviewing some older movies, just so that I get some practice of doing that.

I guess this differs from how I read books. When I read, I am constantly thinking about what I liked here, what could be better, what I'd do differently. I find it really hard to turn that part of myself off, and I wouldn't want to anyway, because that's half the fun of reading for me! Watching movies, I tend to prefer sitting back and enjoying it. It's an activity I do to relax. Well, I read to relax, too, but it's a different type of relaxing. In fact, it can be harder for me to turn the analytical part of my brain on while I'm watching a movie. I'm much less informed about the technical side of making a movie then I am about the process of writing a book. Also, when I'm reading, I often jot my thoughts down as I go. I could take a pen and paper into the cinema with me, but I feel like I would miss things on screen if I constantly was looking down at my paper. Watching at home would probably be better for this purpose, so I could pause and rewind if necessary.