In a perfect world, films could be judged, ranked, and reviewed perfectly, with no emotional error getting in the way. But this is not a perfect world, and whether you're a seasoned reviewer or just a fan who hits the cineplex every week, there's a social construction that influences one's appreciation of a film.

At its simplest, it's a matter of timing and audience -- like pulling a project that deals with school violence when there's a real-life tragedy. But it's also a matter of individual experience -- personal problems, moods, and influences. And while it may be easy to get rid of the most obvious, like avoiding romantic films after a breakup, there are always bits, pieces, and sometimes whole films that simply tug at the wrong strings. We're human and we can't get away from them, no matter how much we try, and whether we get paid to see a film or not.

Karina Longworth, former editor of Cinematical, has written a post at Spout reconsidering her opinion of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Some of this change in opinion is surely due to the edits made since her first screening, but she also brings up a great point about cinematic opinion.



"Maybe this is unfair to you, the reader -- maybe film critics shouldn't change. Maybe we should go out of our way to lead extraordinarily stable lives, to avoid financial stress and familial trauma, to not get depressed or even date for fear of swinging too far towards any emotional extreme in the hopes of maintaining absolute objectivity. If that's the case, I didn't do what I should've done -- I've been sent through the wringer by all the above over the last three months, and come out a different person. But the world changes, whether or not I stay the same, and at the rate this one is changing, it's unrealistic to expect something as trifling as a movie opinion to stay fixed indefinitely."

While it usually doesn't happen with films we despise, it happens often with films that just seem off, or bleh, or induce nothing more than a shrug. It could be seeing a comedy in a darkened room alone, and missing the laughs. Seeing a film at a point in your life when you just can't understand its charm until it's something you, yourself, have experienced. It could be a film that just pushes the wrong button at the wrong time. There are a myriad of ways this can play out.*

My best example of this is Mallrats. Back in the '90s, I was living with my parents, curled up alone in the dark, watching the film unfold. I didn't like it. I didn't get the appeal. With reluctance, I allowed a friend to put it on a few years later and it suddenly became a favorite -- one he and I would quote incessantly. Was it the ambiance? The company? Probably a little bit of both. Regardless, the second time was an entirely different experience.

So now I throw the question to you, Cinematical readers: Do you ever give films a second chance? What do you think about the world of changing cinematic opinion?

*To me, this is why the why to a review is always the most important. One's opinion of a film doesn't matter as much as their reasoning for it -- which can allow the reader to then make their own decision. I'm sure that I'm not the only one to read a negative review and go see a movie and be pleased, or vice versa.