Are "movies" and "films" the same thing?

A non-native English speaker asked me this question and it got me thinking. I almost never say "film", I almost always say "movie". Is there a difference nowadays? I guess you could also say "motion picture" but I have never heard that in passing. Personally I feel like saying "film" when I'm reviewing the movie, possibly to make myself sound more like a critic, but usually I just say "movie."

#latenightthoughts

Hello Anm, I'm probably the worst offender for saying 'film' here at MoFo.

But in my case, I'm referring to older movies shot on film. Today most are shot digitally. Saying Film or Movies works for me.

I use both interchangeably.

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I like "film" also because its a nice reminder of the history of movies. Thats true that now most movies are shot digitally, and enjoyed digitally! ...I certainly hope in the future that a movie won't be called an "AVI" or "MPEG". Who wants to go see the latest avi?

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You had me at hello.

Absolutely.

Ha! Funny....

I do like digital movies as they can desaturate the colors, leaving a monochrome look. Or they can tweak the colors to make it a warm pastel. They can really make beautiful gold sunset colors these days and without a sunset!

We've had this discussion before. The two words are technically interchangeable when referring to a motion picture, however, I reserve the word "movie" for feature length works of fiction. Whereas I'll use "film" to describe fictional features as well as shorts and documentaries.

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Yes.

Yes they are.

I do this, which I've noticed confuses some people (and Google; especially Google).

People will split a lot of hairs on this one.

I had a film history teacher that would say that "movies" are popcorn flicks and "films" are works of art.
And then I know film makers that are diehard and adamant that "films" are shot on celluloid and everything digital is a "video".

Even "cinema" is suspect. The only neutral phrase seems to be "motion pictures" but it's a mouthful.

Well, I'm not a native English speaker, but I did a good research about this subject before and it turned out that Movie, Film, & Flick are all the same

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They're the same. The biggest difference seems to be that Movie(s) is/was more likely to be N.American, while Film was more likely to be British. With non-English speakers I think it comes down to which word you learn.

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Yeah, technically no difference, but HK's quite right about their being a general cultural tendency.

Of course, that didn't stop one of our more hilarious banned members from trying to make a literal distinction. Highly recommended reading, that one.

It's the same thing. I always say film but I'm English , I can't recall ever saying the word movie when I mean film

I'd forgotten about that thread, Yoda. Now I've brought it back, does it qualify for Thread Of The Year? Rules people. I need clarity. This could win every year.

I like to be a pretentious jerk and say, like foster's teacher said, "films" are works of art and "movies" are the other crap, but that's just to be a jerk. There really isn't a difference. If we had to be literal about it we'd stop saying we're "filming" things with our iPhones and taping TV shows on our DVRs, but we won't ever talk like that.

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Yeah, I'll still occasionally ask someone to tape me something if I'm out.

They're the same.


Personally I tend to say "film" to things that are solidly made like Shawshank, Se7en or LOTR... and use the term "movie" for stuff like Pacific Rim, AvP, Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves and Back To The Future.


To me, "movie" sounds fun and trendy, like saying "I'm going to the Movies"... it's kinda hip and down-wit-da-kids (etc)

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Just an example, this is the way I see it in my head...


Night Of The Living Dead is a film
Dawn, Day, Land, Diary and Survival are all movies


LOTR trilogy are films


Scream is a film
Scream 2, 3& 4 are movies


Ghostbusters is a film
Ghostbusters 2 is a movie


The 4 Mission: Impossible's's's are all movies


The Goonies is a movie


BTTF trilogy are movies


The first two of Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy are films, the third one is a movie

I use both randomly normally. But I normally use the word film to describe the actual 'thing' and movie to describe the the movies as a whole, like Rodent says "going to the movies", "what makes me love movies" etc.