I think I may have attended six or seven movies in the past twenty years. 40 in a summer might be a bit much.
Out of a list of 40, I think I’m doing well to find two or three I will want to watch. But if I look at several such lists over time and scan the selections for major festivals, I can find more than enough interesting films to watch. And I always pay attention to critics I trust (and, of course, to freepers’ recommendations).
It only takes a couple of minutes to scan a list. That’s a lot less time than it takes to browse through the Netflix or Amazon or Showtime landing page looking (often unsuccessfully) for something good to watch. I’ll pick a film off a list, read a couple of reviews and watch a trailer. If it still looks good, I’ll figure out where I can see it. The method isn’t foolproof, but I very rarely see a movie that I don’t enjoy because I don’t go in blind.
The people who put such lists together, like the people who make selections for the major festivals, are probably not going to share our point of view. As a group, they probably skew hard left and, like jaded and bored specialists in many fields, they are probably oriented towards what is new and different, which biases them towards experimental techniques and transgressive subjects. If I watched hundreds of films a year — and had to keep doing so year after year because it’s my job — I too might develop a taste for freakshow novelty. It’s an occupational hazard.
Can you imagine how bored members of the U.S. Marine Band must be with playing The Stars and Stripes Forever? Great tune. But after the 7,000 time, I’m surprised bandsmen don’t go postal. The professional movie crowd has a lot of people who have gone postal.
But they are also trying to cast a broad net. Liberals can and do make culturally conservative films if they tell honest stories, don’t cheat on the history, and deal with ambiguities, real dilemmas, and the hard truths of human nature. Reality is conservative. You and I know this. Honest story tellers may consider themselves liberal, but if they’re honest, they know the difference between agitprop, which is lying, and truth in character, motivation and moral choice. If they make honest films, conservative themes will at least get a fair turn, whatever the politics of the filmmakers.