Watching movies is not just about passive entertainment. Movies are, and will remain, an integral part of our cultural and artistic ecosystem. The whole world knows going to the cinema is our national pastime. And that Hollywood hasn’t been able to dent our box-office or our tastes because of the kind of emotional grip our own cinema’s aesthetic has had — and will continue to have — on our imagination and our purses. We know too that the pan Indian Hindi movie is a myth, and that its hold on us is only a small part (too deracinated to take hold, really) of the larger, deeper seduction of South Indian movies which is far more vibrant and rooted than Bollywood. (And now we are hearing of wonderful things happening in the new Marathi cinema). It’s true that movies were even more of an obsession with us before the multiplex, but even so, most weekday evening shows and all weekend shows today still go houseful.

You probably know Joanna Lumley, but you may not be aware that her husband Stephen Barlow is a famed conductor, composer and musician - and the pair of them are passionate about classical music. On this, their new podcast, the pair welcome you into their home for a personal, fascinating and funny journey through a musical world. Madness resulting from one person living two personas through a ventriloquist's dummy has been portrayed several times before in film and television, most notably: This film from British Iranian director Hassan Nazer was the British entry in the international feature section at this year’s Academy Awards; sadly it was not nominated. It is a likable, gentle comedy about two children in which an Oscar statuette plays a part: the ultimate MacGuffin, perhaps. It’s also a rather cinephile film which ponders the enormous prestige of Iranian cinema abroad. For a long time now, that venerable storytelling art form — literature — hasn’t been able to do much for me. I had once written, in this very newspaper, that books had given me my longest standing identity: that of a reader. Now I’ll have to say I know myself more (and better) as a multiplex movie-goer and a home theatre DVD watcher. With the occasional special guest, join the pair as they discover what it really takes to stay relevant in the public eye today.Watch with purpose. Don’t just passively sit. Look deeply, listen intently, and get into the mode of an observer or critic. Here are examples of things to think about: Siskel, Gene (November 13, 1978). "Hopkins' stellar 'Magic' act weaves a spell". Chicago Tribune. Section 3, p. 6 . Retrieved September 29, 2022– via Newspapers.com. Right now we’re watching movies with Marilyn Monroe. It is so much fun to experience the stories from the perspective of the storytellers—the humor, the drama, the futility of most of our struggles, and the impermanence of everything as we know it in this life. Although he is considered the first cinema artist, the cinema as we know it did not yet exist when Méliès went into production. In fact, it was the cinema that ultimately put him out of business. Barnouw points out that the movies effectively automated stage magic (as talkies would later render live musical accompaniment redundant): "The transfer to screen of the magician's most sensational illusions – disappearances, bizarre transformations and beheadings – proved ultimately catastrophic for magicians. Anyone with a camera and a splicer could produce the same miracles, and did." What then does "magic of the movies" mean in the light of the new situation, namely the development of computer generated imagery?

Siskel, Gene (January 7, 1979). "Film clips and the year's Top 10 in review". Chicago Tribune. Section 6, pp. 3, 12 . Retrieved September 29, 2022– via Newspapers.com. Movies bring the story—in vivid detail—to life and transport us to a magical world. We escape, we laugh, we cry, we think and we learn through movies.I mean, prefer the way movies tell stories to how novels tell them. Oh, it’s not choosing images over words — I do a lot of heavy duty non-fiction reading and love the long-form, immersive factual narrative — it’s more from a preference now for stories narrated in pictures than in words. (I just realised this explains to me my growing interest in children’s picture books!). There was a time I never went to a movie based on a book without first having read the book. Now I put the book down and wait expectantly for the movie version. (You’ll be surprised how many of them turn out nicely). It seems to me that music, art and dance were the central art forms of the early centuries, literature the dominant art form of the 19th century, theatre and cinema the great art forms of the 20th century, and television the key art form of the 21st century. And I might just write one of these days (and I’m almost there) that I’ve begun preferring the way some television movies and serials tell stories to the way movies tell them! I list below some of the things I’ve done to enjoy the experience and engage with the story and the team behind such a magical creation.