Like - Movies, Films, & Flicks

There are lots of different genres of movies but to my mind, there are only really three kinds of movies. Those are movies, films, and flicks. They exist across every genre and era of film. They represent the intention and sophistication of filmmaking, as opposed to the more literal elements of filmmaking like cinematography, editing, plot, writing, etc… etc… Though all those things are still important. One caveat with this tripartite schema is that the boundaries between these different topologies are prone to collapse. In other words, they’re flexible. So to start, we’ve got movies of the capital M classic variety. They might be a little trope-y but they know what they are and they know how to bring the story around. Some great examples of movies are Training Day, Erin Brockovich, The Manchurian Candidate (1962), The Fugitive, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Station Agent, and Goodfellas. Those are all good movies not just because they are entertaining but because they embody a certain fundamental movie-ness. They’re accessible yet mature in their storytelling while hueing toward familiar narrative structures. There are lots and lots of movies. Whereas there are far fewer films. Films might look like movies but what separates them is their commitment to the art form of “film.” Perhaps that’s a passe thing to say, but films feel like the products of certain auteur sensibilities, particularly those associated with art-house cinema, though the art-house isn’t only the place to play films. The Venn diagram here is also messy. For instance, I’d say Goodfellas is a movie, while acknowledging that Scorsese is an auteur. What makes it not a film is that it lacks a certain headiness, which Scorsese was able to pull off in say The King of Comedy. I hope that distinction is helpful or at a little bit least elucidating. The last category to discuss is flicks, which are the least serious form of filmmaking—though I don’t mean that in a pejorative way. Flicks are fun things and they’re associated with certain genres more than others, like horror, action, rom-coms, and regular coms. But just because they’re not as serious or grandiose as the other kinds of cinema doesn’t mean there isn’t an art to them or that they’re lesser than the movies and films. I love flicks like Speed, What’s Up Doc?, Repo Man, How To Marry A Millionaire, and Good Boys. They’re just something to throw on when you don’t know what else to watch or when you don’t have to watch anything too closely. That can be its own wonderful thing.