Back when I was a young pup, I had an issue of MAD magazine that explained the difference between movies and film, with captions like: "if it's about the life and times of the Brothers Karamazov, it's film... if it's about the life and times of the Brothers Mario, it's a movie!".

Funny, and for the most part, true. It seems the consensus is that films are made for the sake of art, movies purely for the sake of commerce. But there are many gray areas; for instance, how do you categorize low-budget/B pictures? And what of indie films? Are they to be considered "films" because they don't appeal to a wide audience (wide meaning in the tens of millions), or must they make some serious artistic statement? Conversely, does a "movie" movie (ex: Star Wars) belong in the "film" category, because of it's technical and artistic achievements? Or, do you consider the two terms interchangeable? I'd be interested in your opinions.

-- Snow Dog (gilbreathfamily@worldnet.att.net), January 03, 2001

Answers

I'd use them interchangeably, except that because most people probably associate the terms with entertainment and art, respectively, I tend to differentiate. Ideally, I'd rather just have one term. Film seems a good enough one, I think it sounds a bit broader and more inclusive of various sub-media (if you want to divide it like that). Also ideally, I'd like to find a term that includes such things as television, and computer animation that never even touches actual film. This is something I tried to consider when naming this forum, but I finally decided "film" was probably an inclusive-enough term. Maybe we should invent a new word...

-- Matthew Rebholz (matrebholz@yahoo.com), January 03, 2001.

Sort of like if it says Restaurant it's inexpensive, if it says Ristorante, get out your credit card. Film, I think, is a throwback term to when they were shot with film, as opposed to video tape, or whatever they used today when there is not a lot of money sunk into it, just 'moving' pictures is the focus. Ha, btw, ever see the Mad magazine 'Blair Witch' review, it's hilarious. Guess you could call that 'stills'...

-- Barb e. (Suesuesbeo@aol.com), January 04, 2001.

I'll never stop liking the Brothers Mario movie, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

-- Frostbite a.k.a. Frosty the Snow Chick (mbkrooks@bellsouth.net), March 22, 2001.

Oh, there's nothing wrong with "movie" movies... Corman, for one, has made some masterworks, and so has Dino "my Konk die, everyone-a cry" Delaurentiis.

-- Inukko (nadisrec@worldnet.att.net), March 27, 2001.