Week 705 was a quiet one. From Monday it was head down to the deadline at my semi day job, then a well-earned break on Wednesday afternoon involving a sunshine cycle to the park, where I met these deer. (I’m planning to return with carrots and my good camera on the next sunny day.)
In the meantime, my first album review in ages (not counting my round-up last month) went up on Thumped. There’s a few more in the works where that came from, though it’s still a challenge to sit down and just crank ’em out, y’know? Still chasing my mojo in that respect.
Yesterday, Friday morning, I had a press screening for Insurgent, the follow-up to YA novel adap Divergent, so the day before involved a little homework watching that first film and making notes. I feel that’s a necessary part of the job if you’re going to be assessing a sequel. It’s preparatory work, and it’s different in every case.
For instance, I think a decent grounding in the genre is enough for the likes of action or horror flicks; others, say the type filmed by so-called auteurs, are probably better judged in context of their director’s previous works. And I should say, despite me citing these notions separately, there’s no mutual exclusivity: genre movies can be judged in light of their makers’ previous, while non-genre films can be taken as-is.
It all depends. It’s all fungible, and I suppose that’s what leaves room to be creative and entertaining with criticism. I mean, it’d be interminably boring if you couldn’t have any fun with it.