Lens distortion

I was criticised earlier this week for always watching films with a writer’s eye. The implication was that only non-writers can see movies correctly, and the inference I took away was that there are people who will sit through any old shit. It is true that I get very bored, very quickly when all a film has is good-looking visuals. It’s also true that I have watched movies because of who wrote them where I have never once chosen a film because of its director or for that matter, actors. I need to be interested in the story and that is enough to get me through the cinema door, that is the only thing that gets me there. I can then be disappointed, of course, and there have also been times when I’ve seen a given film only because the one I wanted was full, so I’ve gone in knowing nothing. Actually, there’s also Arrival. I didn’t know anything beyond the title when I saw that, but in this case I wasn’t going to see a film, I was going to have a nice afternoon out with a friend. Still,…