Once you become a film student, you will always a film student.  Just ask Kurosawa.

What this actually means is that you can never just watch a movie ever again. You notice the details, ponder the shots and contemplate the physical movement of the camera, analyze the script, criticize the acting…as you watch it.

As the old saying goes, it’s both a blessing and a curse.  It can make a good movie much better and a bad movie much worse.  But every now and then it can help you see redeeming qualities in a forgettable film you might otherwise toss aside, or see a seemingly-amazing blockbuster for the cheap thrills and corporate product that it really is.

In either case, it gives those of us who feel temporarily – or permanently – cut off from the film field a chance to dust off and put into action those tools and techniques we learned.

Plus it’s fun.