A little experiment

I want to play a little game with anyone who's willing to try it.

Last night I watched "Hard Eight" without knowing anything about it. Brandon just turned it on and we watched it and couldn't stop watching it. We had no expectations, no idea what it was, just recognized some of the actors and director and went with it.

For anyone out there who hasn't seen this movie, DON'T IMDB IT yet. I have an idea to make this movie an even greater experience. If you haven't heard about it, or know anything about it, get it off Netflix or whatever and just watch it. Don't read about it. Don't read reviews. Don't read a synopsis that gives away what happens. Don't do any of that. Just put it on TV and watch it. I am 100% sure that it will enhance your experience ten fold.

I've noticed this a lot recently with any movie. We watched the movie "23" starring Jim Carrey the other day, and despite what you may have heard, it didn't suck. It was actually quite interesting, a little over done, but really interesting. Brandon and I tried to figure out why it got canned so bad, and is even listed as a top 100 worst movies of all time. Think back to how it was marketed, and even a bit how it's filmed. It was projected as a horror movie. It's not a horror movie. It's really even a thriller. It's sort of a psychological crime drama. Sort of. It deals with a man's obsession and basically how he loses his mind. It's not about ghosts and cheap jumps. But that's how it was marketed, and thus that's how it will be remembered.

It's all about expectations. You go to the movies expecting something great or something not so great, and the movie itself suffers. Either it's not as good as you thought it would be, or it's far better than you thought it would be, but not actually better.

I think back to a few times I saw a movie not knowing anything about it. I saw Michael Clayton not knowing anything about it other than it had George Clooney, thoroughly enjoyed it. I saw Tell No One without knowing anything about it other than it was French, one of the greatest viewing experiences I've had. Watched Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave the first time without knowing anything about it other than it was his first feature, and it's still one of my favorite movies.

The next movie you see, try to just see it. Don't have all these pre-made expectations that cloud the movie. If not "Hard Eight" then for something else. "Hard Eight" just happens to be a movie that will be enhanced by not knowing anything about it, and just letting the movie take you where it's going to take you.