Movies on TV

Of all the life lessons the movie taught, the best is that the greatest insult is telling someone they play baseball like a girl. Try it at a bar some time and see what happens.

Today I am a movie snob. Ask me about almost any big budget Hollywood movie and my response will be that I haven’t seen it, but do know its score on Rotten Tomatoes and a highlight from the Associated Press review and Roger Ebert. (Christie Lemire of the AP surprisingly liked it, but the score wasn’t great. Ebert absolutely hated it, and would have gotten to a really strong argument as to why, but became involved in a heated Twitter war instead.)

I love being a movie snob, although I’ll admit there are times when it can be a little baffling when you look at my DVD collection (an example: Movies I own that start with the letter “B” include “Batman: The Movie" (1966), “Being John Malcovich,” “Big Fish” and “Breakfast Club”). And I’m sure its frustrating for friends who want nothing more than to enjoy a couple hours at the theater, knowing I will complain during almost the entire ordeal.

This is something that 7-year-old me probably would not have understood, and in many ways would kick me for.
 

When I was a child my family did not have cable TV. For the longest time I believed it was because we could not get the hook-up out to where we lived, but regardless of the reason, we survived. And luckily for me, network TV carried everything I could ever want for entertainment, from cartoons to “family friendly” shows (although I’m not entirely convinced they were now that I watch them in reruns). And there were few things as sweet as a Saturday afternoon movie on TV.
 

The problem with watching a movie on TV is that you really have to learn to deal with what they give you. Between having the movie edited for content and length, and just plain dealing with the network’s choice in film which has to be somewhat acceptable for almost every demographic, it’s far from perfect (which explains my “no movies on TV policy" today). As such I was forced to probably watch some terrible clunkers during my youth, but I loved them all.
 

Although I’m sure I saw a number of movies (some probably even more decent), my childhood memories consist of films which feel under the “Made for TV” variety, small release and the ever present 1980s-90s sequels. Some of those movies include “Ghostbusters 2” (which explains partially why it was my favorite at the time), “Back to the Future Part 3,” “Blank Check,” “The Sandlot,” “Not Quite Human” and “Space Camp.” Not a single award winner in the house.
 

Being critical of the films I grew up with and loved isn’t fair, because honestly, out of all of my movie snobbery today, I can look back on almost all of these and say I have a great fondness for them. (OK, maybe not “Not Quite Human.” My guess is that movie has not aged well at all, even when comparing it to these other poorly received films.) The Tomatometer and the approval of friends was not why 7-year-old me loved these movies -- he just did.
 

I have to thank 7-year-old me for giving these movies a chance, because he also gave a chance to many other movies and series, such as “Star Wars,” which he asked a babysitter to bring one time on a whim. He may not have had the best taste in movies (and sometime we’ll discuss his choices when nothing was on TV -- it’s a doosey), but he brought a sense of wonder to almost everything, and was willing to give almost everything a chance, which has only helped me become the person I am today.