The Chick Flick Invasion (Podcast)

As early as the 1960's, the major television networks were airing “made for TV” movies on a regular basis. Filmmakers and audiences together created a market for that bridge between the movie theater and your living room. Ever since then that market has grown and even splintered into (sort of) sub-genres of low production value films. Over the years, the Lifetime television network realized the potential for consistent viewership simply by airing these movies and eventually producing them. In a way the network has almost created it's own niche in the made for TV world as we often refer to these films as “Lifetime movies.”

In the same way we enjoy disastrous charms such as “Kickboxing Academy” and “Samurai Cop,” we've all been subject to, and highly enjoyed, the highly dramatized, poorly acted works that have found a home on the Lifetime network. Sisters for Lifetime is a blog that celebrates these treasures we have grown up with over the years. Recently, one of the founders of SFL stopped by the Doomsday studio to talk about her new site and it sparked a conversation about not just Lifetime movies, but chick-flicks and guilty pleasures of all types. Enjoy.

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Read my review of the Lifetime move Cradle of Lies on Sisters for Lifetime (under my female pseudonym).

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Sleep on it

Within the last decade, there has been a tectonic shift in the quality of filmed storytelling. The film business has always been just that, a business, I get it, but there have always been writers/directors/producers who have had passion for the medium and always wanted to create a true art form. Now, for the most part these people have found a larger home in the one place we (the film snobs of the world) have always considered a second-rate medium, television. This shift has left much more to be desired when we go to the theater, because most of the films released today are aimed at thirteen-year-olds. It seems that literally, once in a blue moon we are treated to a carefully crafted story, rather than the usual carefully marketed product.

That elusive moon has risen with the release of Inception. Christopher Nolan and company have, once again, produced nothing short of a quality film. Nolan is one of the coveted few whose attention to detail yeilds not only great stories, but brilliant looking images, especially in the special effects department. We, as an audience, have grown accustomed to watching entire scenes built in a computer and it's a breath of fresh air to see a filmmaker use gimbals and wires rather than a team of CG artists for once. I can only hope the success of his last two films can only inspire the studio system to bring a few more technically savvy and thought-provoking stories to the table more frequently.

I do get a little concerned sometimes when a movie of this caliber is released. Not for the film itself, but for the audience. I feel like sometimes our cinematic blue balls are aching so much for quality, that when we finally see it, our pants explode. I've heard a little too much talk over the past couple of years about certain films being amongst “the best of all time.” Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they're bad, I'm just suggesting you give it some time before making that decision and let it digest for a few months. Even if you saw it nine times on opening weekend, good for you, you're a winner, but come see me next year when you've had time to examine it for yourself and not see it just for the sake of bragging rights. Inception is a very good film, but not a perfect, 10 out of 10. Best of the year? Sure.....so far. Amongst the best of all time? Ask me next summer.