I was starting to look through Austin movie theater Web sites so I could pull together this week’s Movies This Week and I wondered: why I am going to this much trouble? It takes me hours to write a Movies This Week entry, because I have to check all the Alamo Drafthouse schedules and the Paramount schedule and the Austin Film Society calendar, and then I check Austin360 and the Austin Chronicle movie sections to see if I am missing any special screenings. I usually end up venturing over to IMDb to find out what some of these movies are about, and sometimes I use Google to find out more about this or that film. If I have time, I start the entry on Thursday lunch or Thursday night, work on it during Friday lunch, and post it Friday after work.
It has been just about one year since Omar ran out of time to write his Movies This Week entries and I asked him if I could take them over. It’s been fun, but I’m starting to realize that I might not want to invest as much time in these weekly entries as I do now.
I don’t mind doing this and it does mean that I walk around with the week’s schedule of Austin films in my head, which can be useful in conversations (okay, or dull) and which is a good reminder for me that I should put such-and-such film on my calendar or buy tickets now.
Here’s what I want to know: Are you reading all of Movies This Week? Do you read just the part “above the fold” that is posted on the index page, and don’t click through to the actual listings? Do you read about the new movies but skip the part about Austin special events (which I realize would be interesting only if you live in Austin)? Do you actually use the listing to find out about movies you might want to see?
I’m not getting rid of Movies This Week but I am seriously considering cutting it down in scope. I might list and discuss only new movies, or I might list only the most notable special screenings in Austin. (As it is, I don’t list DVD screenings or movies I don’t like, and it still goes on forever. You could watch a free movie or DVD screening every night in this town if you wanted.) I mean, that’s what Omar did when he wrote Movies This Week, but his entries were a lot funnier and I felt compelled to make up for the lack of humor with more information about Austin screenings.
I don’t want to write all this stuff, for which I am not paid, if no one is using it as a resource. After all, on Fridays you can pick up an Austin Chronicle or go to their Web site, click on Calendar and Special Screenings, and view an even better (if less snarky) list.
So please, if you read this site regularly, post a comment to let me know if/how you’re reading Movies This Week. I’d really appreciate it. Also, let me know if you live in/near Austin. I’m certainly not going to cry or fuss if you tell me you don’t read the damn thing or you think it sucks; I want to know so I can make a good decision.
Meanwhile, I am going back to the Alamo site to marvel at the number of good films that one local theater chain can show in one week. Thanks for helping me decide what to do about the Movies This Week thing.
19 thoughts on “a short survey”
Comments are closed.
I think you should write about whatever movie stuff you want to write about and not worry too much about it being in a particular format or a regular schedule or whatever.
Hey, Jette — I think you’ve done a great job with it and I was very happy to see what I think is a very useful feature for Austin readers (and on major releases, for general readers, too) to get info on films from someone who actually keeps up with what’s out there.
I started Movies This Week because at the time my job was editing the Statesman’s movie section, so my head was already in that world every week anyway. I had all these press kits, Web links, trailers, etc. of upcoming movies on my desk and I wanted to do silly takes and opinions that I wouldn’t have been able to do for the newspaper. (This was before the XL Blogs, where I probably could have gotten away with it eventually).
Last year, I moved to another job, so I lost access to all that info and really would have struggled to keep up with the film scene in addition to my new job.
Most of my entries were written at work, on Thursday afternoon, in between whatever else I was doing — it did help me keep stuff straight for my job, so you could say that although they were mostly just an excuse for me to make jokes about movies, they did help me make my work life a little more enjoyable.
You obviously put a lot more research and effort into these, and as a reader, I find them very useful and fun to read.
On the other hand, I’m one of those people who doesn’t go to a lot of special screenings (I barely have time to see a first-run release within a given month), so I tend to gravitate toward info on new releases — If I need to know what’s at the Paramount or Alamo, I can always pick up the Chronicle or go to the Alamo’s Web site.
With the special screenings especially, it’s info that’s going to be out of date almost as soon as you post it — I think if you’re finding it’s a lot of effort to round all that up, maybe you could just stick to the major releases or focus on the films showing that week that really interest you or that you already are familiar with. Might be just doing like a “Pick of the week” for Alamo, Paramount, etc… instead of trying to round all of them up.
Hope this helps!
I read above-the-fold and new releases, and I skim through the special screenings. I’m way too lazy to make it out for a special screening, although sometimes they spur me to rent a DVD.
If I were to make a suggestion, though, I’d say be far more selective about the notable events and revivals. In fact, that’s a section where you can probably get even more editorial and zero in on the screenings of most interest to you.
Jette – I tend to read your above the fold information, and I agree with Columbine that you should post what you want to post. We’ll all still read. Or at least I will!
I agree with Col, too. I do read it, but I tend to skim, especially the Austin-specific stuff, but that it because I am in Portland. I do like to hear what you think about new movies, though, because I trust your judgment more than many other reviewers, and I like hearing about DVD releases of older movies.
Write about whatever movie stuff that interests you the most, new, old or DVD, and I will gratefully read it … just keep writing, please!
Annie in Austin
I read and enjoy all of it, except that if I am in a hurry I sometimes skip the notable-events-in-Austin, since their main function is to make me jealous that I am not close enough to go to them.
Well, here’s one from the unwashed, uneducated folks. I don’t go to many movies, no money, not much time. But, I like what you have to say about life and that’s what I read. And, I don’t live in Austin, so all that stuff doesn’t really matter to me.
I read the whole dang thing because I like your writing and value your opinions. So there.
I read your entries from one end to the other, even the Austin-related stuff that I can’t attend. You point out movies I wouldn’t normally find and can seek out either at the local art house or later on DVD.
Now that I’ve been to the Alamo Drafthouse, I’m sure that I’ll be insane with jealousy over some of the events, but if you continue to write it, I’ll continue to read it.
As another non-Austiner, I don’t need listings, but I agree with the many previous comments that your thoughts on any subject are of interest (C said it first and most succinctly). So listings qua listings, no. Listings qua Jette Thoughts, yes (if it’s fun and interesting for you to write).
I confess my favorite posts, though, are the family stories (and the occasional schmoopy one about Beau just makes me happy for you, so I like those, too).
I’m also a skimmer in re Movies. When I was in Austin more often, I read more of the detailed local stuff, but the last few months, all I’ve been able to do is breeze through. I’m another in the “would read Jette transcribing the Hutto phone book,” though.
I vote for “do what you want to,” and I’ll read you anyway.
As for the movies — I read/skim them all. I am interesting in your asides and personal reactions to the movies. They’re entertaining and educational, especially for somebody like me who probably should know a lot more about film than I do.
I don’t read Movies This Week, because I don’t live in Austin. I live in Albuquerque, and despite probably having the same chain theatres, a lot of the same movies are not playing. Besides that, I NEVER go to the movies anymore. The inexpensive movie places are gone here, we don’t have anything like the Alamo Drafthouse, and I do not want to destroy my piece of mind for days by dealing with people with manners so poor that CHUDs look civilized in comparison.
I do love movies, though, and get a couple of premium packages on the satellite, and NetFlix, and I do ready ALL of your reviews. I enjoy your writing, and you make some points about movies we’ve both seen that sometimes makes me go back and look again.
Just my 25 cents!
Amussingly enough, even though I don’t live in Austin, have never been to Austin, I do read movies this week. Mostly ’cause I like the commentary on them and sometimes it gives me ideas about what I want to go see. Of course I live in a stick in the mud town in the midwest so a fair number of them never arrive but on DVD, but this is how I find out about them. I will say that it doesn’t need to be on a regular schedual for me to find it usefull.
I read your Movies this week, all the way through. I tend to read review and Opening This Week sections in my local weekly, so what I’m usually looking for with big openers is just a bit of your own snark or observation or expectations in the description. I really enjoy that. When it comes to special events, I like reading them if you have commentary on the films or the concept or whatever. Hm, now that I’m thinking about it, I read your other writing sporadically (depending on my workload), but you can always get me with a Movies This Week link.
I wish you posted more Sponge Bob news. Sponge Bob is important, you know.
I read the whole entry every time and it’s one of the high points of my week. Each time I appreciate how much trouble you go through to compile it. I don’t see a lot of movies, so “Movies This Week”‘s value to me is as explained by the Wilfred Brimley character in The Lost Boys: “When you’ve got the TV Guide, who needs to watch TV?”
I don’t live in Austin but I read your postings all the way through. Being from Chicago there are very many similarities with small movie-houses and some of the same movies run at the same time. I greatly appreciate your opinions and thoughts as they give me a place to start, or something to compare. Thanks for all the time and effort you go to. Whatever decision you come to will be understood by everyone I’m sure. Time is a gift these days!