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Does anyone else take notes when watching films at cinema?

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Victim of The Night
I haven't been to a theater since way before COVID. Last movie I remember seeing at a theater was Midway. That was six years ago and at a second run. So much time has passed that they've since closed down both second run theaters in town. So I don't see myself visiting one anytime soon. It's just not worth it.

EDIT: And no, I don't take notes.
I had quit going to the theater, mostly, before COVID as well, on account of humans, which suck. Have you encountered these things? They're awful.
But we have a good mixed Arthouse/Mainstream theater here that is also a cool, chill place and that has actually brought me back to the cinema. The ability to see things like Memoria, Love Lies Bleeding, Strange Darling, etc., on the big-screen with a bag'o'corn, not to mention seeing bigger movies like Asteroid City and Nosferatu with hip, respectful audiences has really been a small joy in my life.



I had quit going to the theater, mostly, before COVID as well, on account of humans, which suck. Have you encountered these things? They're awful.
But we have a good mixed Arthouse/Mainstream theater here that is also a cool, chill place and that has actually brought me back to the cinema. The ability to see things like Memoria, Love Lies Bleeding, Strange Darling, etc., on the big-screen with a bag'o'corn, not to mention seeing bigger movies like Asteroid City and Nosferatu with hip, respectful audiences has really been a small joy in my life.
You know what? There's a good chance that if I ever decided to go back I would fall right back in to the same patterns. Incessantly checking the movie listings. Smelling popcorn and itching all over like ants were crawling on me. Knocking on friends doors at 3 AM and begging for the good stuff (Kurosawa, Soderbergh, PTA). Debasing myself until I hit rock bottom and ended up on the streets watching Uwe Boll movies. It's happened before.

Get thee behind me Ingmar Bergman. And don't push.



My feelings are that if I have to write them down, they probably aren't worth remembering.


The good one's will stick and will inform whatever I eventually have to say about the movie.



Victim of The Night
I’m not saying we should like the same things, but my ex and I quite genuinely, without a modicum of exaggeration, broke up because we disagreed about GoT and quite a few fundamental (imo) film-related things. We talked again and again about film, and the more we did, the more I realised that his outlook, life philosophy and what have you were entirely incompatible with mine.
He’s a great guy, but he always rooted for different characters than I did (which, to be fair, is a ‘me’ issue I’ve struggled with all my life), and just generally valued such fundamentally different things about film I couldn’t get past.
It’s still a running joke with my best friend — I met some of her old friends last week, and she led with, ‘Hi, guys, this is AgrippinaX, who dumped an ex over The Game of Thrones’.
I mean, I get this, I have still never forgiven my friends who talked me into dumping 70 hours of my life into that f*cking turkey. And I remind them often.
But, on another note, I have a close friend who, in the Marvel films, is not only totally Team Iron Man, he doesn't understand, in any way, why I or anyone else would be Team Cap. (This is the only time I have ever been Team Anything in any part of Pop Culture, by the way.) He doesn't understand why anyone would prefer Steve Rogers to Tony Stark or even why anyone would care much about Rogers, especially when Stark is clearly the apogee of the human male.
Which is to say, my buddy is a low-grade Tech Bro and Elon-worshipper and, in his mind, none of the failures, ethical ineptitudes, or collateral damage of Stark matter because he is achieving (for better or worse), he is driving things forward (for better or worse), and, most importantly, he is incredibly wealthy (the greatest virtue) and a narcissist (probably the second greatest virtue). Really, in his mind, the man with the perfect moral compass, who has not only the physical strength but the mental strength and will to sacrifice himself for others, to always do what's right over what's popular, to be unerringly just even at his own loss, and to be humble (eek!)... well, that guy is boring and kind of a sucker... he sure ain't a rich narcissist so how cool can he be?
And I realized that, "Wow, this very simple thing, which of these two characters you identify with, actually told me who you really are, friendship aside. You are a selfish, self-centered, self-aggrandizing, narcissist." Which I kinda learned on my own, hell lots of people told me that, but it was really this "Which character do you prefer" thing that crystallized it for me.
We are, though, still... sorta... friends.



Victim of The Night
You know what? There's a good chance that if I ever decided to go back I would fall right back in to the same patterns. Incessantly checking the movie listings. Smelling popcorn and itching all over like ants were crawling on me. Knocking on friends doors at 3 AM and begging for the good stuff (Kurosawa, Soderbergh, PTA). Debasing myself until I hit rock bottom and ended up on the streets watching Uwe Boll movies. It's happened before.

Get thee behind me Ingmar Bergman. And don't push.



Trouble with a capitial 'T'
...I have a feeling that I go to the theater less frequently than anyone else on this forum. The last movie I saw in theater was Megalopolis in early October. The last time I went to the theater before that was when I went to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood back in August 2019, and the time before that was when I saw Dunkirk in August 2017. So I’ve been to the theater three times in the last seven years. .

Last time I went to the theater was to see Happy Feet (2006)... which was 19 years ago. Think of all the money I saved, now I can finally buy me some gold coins.



Victim of The Night
My feelings are that if I have to write them down, they probably aren't worth remembering.


The good one's will stick and will inform whatever I eventually have to say about the movie.
Maybe my memory is not so great but when I do the Horrorthon reviews, sometimes I have over a page of typed notes and actually trimming it down is hard because so many of them were great little momentary insights (in my opinion) that I want to point out and certainly remember.



I used to take notes while watching a movie on TV but don’t do that anymore. What I do do though now is when I’m binge watching a TV show now, while I’m watching an episode now, I’ll put up a screen behind me and when something happens I want to comment on.I pause the show, write my comment on the other screen and then return to the show



Maybe my memory is not so great but when I do the Horrorthon reviews, sometimes I have over a page of typed notes and actually trimming it down is hard because so many of them were great little momentary insights (in my opinion) that I want to point out and certainly remember.

My memory is horrendous. But I'm very comfortable letting thoughts drift away instead of clinging to them. When I talk about anything, I prefer it to be in the moment, because I don't really care what I thought yesterday, or might think tomorrow. All that matters is what I'm saying now. And then that can recede into the past and not matter either.



When I first started reviewing for the site I write for, more than ten years ago, I did try to write something down in the theater.

I quickly realized it was a mess though and not really worth the effort to try and write something readable and pay attention as well… mental notes I do try to do.

Also, I want to be absorbed as much as a possible. So no, I don’t write notes at the cinema. I almost always write some quick notes right when I get out though.

But that’s also with a review in mind. I don’t think I ever really write notes, in cinemas or at home, for movies I don’t plan to review in larger form.



Indeed. Next-best thing is to just marry someone you can do that with and spend almost all your time with them.
Been doing that for a few decades now. But my wife and I don't tend to "go out to the movies" much anymore. We usually just watch something at home. I remember when catching a flick "at the movies" was deeply engrained in our sociology. Like car culture, movie culture is not what it used to be. Today, we can sample different flavors on smaller screens like Korean soap-operas we would've hear about, but it is a more private and idiosyncratic experience. I can no longer start a movie quote and expect others to finish it for me.



Yeah, same, we went to the movies together all the time, it was a huge part of our lives together when dating and well into our marriage, but the experience got less and less pleasant and now it almost never happens.



Victim of The Night
My memory is horrendous. But I'm very comfortable letting thoughts drift away instead of clinging to them. When I talk about anything, I prefer it to be in the moment, because I don't really care what I thought yesterday, or might think tomorrow. All that matters is what I'm saying now. And then that can recede into the past and not matter either.
I hear ya. I guess, particularly for my write-ups, I like being able to point to specific moments that I thought elevated a film or made me smile or whatever and sometimes they are small and myriad and I will not be able to remember them if I don't jot them down. So, now that you mention it, maybe I really only do this when I know I'm gonna do a write-up as it appears that all my notes (which are all saved on this laptop) correspond to films I've written up but the inverse is not true.



Victim of The Night
When I first started reviewing for the site I write for, more than ten years ago, I did try to write something down in the theater.

I quickly realized it was a mess though and not really worth the effort to try and write something readable and pay attention as well… mental notes I do try to do.

Also, I want to be absorbed as much as a possible. So no, I don’t write notes at the cinema. I almost always write some quick notes right when I get out though.

But that’s also with a review in mind. I don’t think I ever really write notes, in cinemas or at home, for movies I don’t plan to review in larger form.
I think that is what I am realizing as well.
In October I do it for all the ones I don't see in the theater. And actually a couple times in the theater I did brief voice notes when I went to the bathroom.



I never take notes while watching films. Might be why I have nothing interesting to say about them.
Same.



I do too, but then the next day they are mysteriously erased from my brain and I can't remember a damn thing about the movie, unless it really pissed me off then I can remember it all.
Also same.



I don't actually wear pants.
The reason my "Rate the Last Movie You Saw" posts are how they are, and why I don't post in the Review Board, is because that's all I retain; the general gist of my overall opinion. Sometimes a specific moment stands out, like the fate of one specific character in Even the Wind Is Afraid because it was the payoff to the movie and a daring end. Usually though I just remember how I felt overall. I don't see a need to go more in-depth than that.

For those that do want to delve deep into the dark despair of a film, taking notes makes sense. If it works for you, then I would continue to do it. By my understanding, there are no rules with how films are perceived. You could even get smashed and then watch a philosophical French melodrama while taking notes and compare it to 2001: A Space Odyssey. Who would stop you, other than yourself, of course. I'm not saying to do this, although admittedly it'd be an interesting exercise. It's just an example.
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I hate insomnia. Oh yeah. Last year I had four cases of it, and each time it lasted three months.



I don't take notes at all while watching films. If I feel motivated to write a review, I don't feel I need notes to go off of. My thoughts come naturally at that point. Or, if I do forget a certain detail, I'll just go back and rewatch the scene or line to refresh my memory. I also try to have as little distractions as possible whenever I watch a film.
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It can be disruptive to others, so low light jotting quick notes in a small notebook may be used discreetly. It is an unusual way of being immersed with the movie and catching thoughts in real-time, although some may like to reflect and take notes later for full immersion into the cinematic experience .



It can be disruptive to others, so low light jotting quick notes in a small notebook may be used discreetly. It is an unusual way of being immersed with the movie and catching thoughts in real-time, although some may like to reflect and take notes later for full immersion into the cinematic experience.
Myself, I wear NODs, or use glow-in-the-dark ink pens, or use a micro-punch to create Braille dimples on the page, or whisper into a voice recorder (if people get annoyed by this, I just pretend I'm talking on my cellphone and they accept such behavior as mildly inconvenient but typical). But I get my notes. Every. Time.