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Everything Wrong With This Blog Post In 700 Words Or Less
- Robert Bouffard
- Apr 11, 2018
- 3 min read
Before this past summer, I’d say that I was simply a casual movie watcher who had some movies that I really loved. But then, when summer rolled around, because of the nature of my job and the fact that I was doing a lot of driving alone, I had a lot of time to sit and listen to music and podcasts. After a while, I listened to the same music over and over. So what ended up happening was that I found the CinemaSins podcast, the SinCast.
I’m sure you’ve heard of CinemaSins from their “Everything Wrong With” videos on YouTube. They have over 7.6 million subscribers and release two new sins videos a week. The videos take a deep dive into a certain movie and find how many “sins” it has, with some being serious problems with the movie, and others being humorous nitpicks. They take a look at current popular movies, but they also take a look at some older classics. From watching these videos, I gathered that the people who made them were movie fans, but that’s about it. It wasn’t until I found them on more platforms that I realized they were so much more.
I first found the CinemaSins Twitter account, which is run by Jeremy, the narrator of the Sins Videos. There, you find a much different version of the persona that is portrayed on YouTube. Jeremy interacts with fans, gives his honest opinions on movies, and most importantly, shares pictures of his cats. This account shows that there is more behind CinemaSins than a cranky, nitpicking movie-hater. The account also introduced me to what is now my favorite thing that CinemaSins produces: the SinCast.
The SinCast is made up of Jeremy, Chris, who is the co-creator of CinemaSins, Barrett, who also helps write for the Sins Videos, and the occasional guest. Their topic of discussion? Movies and everything about them. Sometimes it seems like these guys have seen every movie produced in Hollywood and then some. And it’s totally possible that they have. Chris has talked about how he watched every major release in 2005 when he was working at a movie theater. So yeah, these guys know their movies.
Like I said at the beginning of this post, before listening to the SinCast regularly, I wasn’t any more interested in movies than the next guy. I enjoyed watching them, quoting them, and talking about them, but it wasn’t a passion or something I thought I would devote a large chunk of a blog to. But just hearing the way these guys talk about movies and love them and live them lighted some sort of spark in me.
I learn things from listening to this podcast. The majority of the movies that they talk about are ones that I haven’t seen. But the way they talk about the technical aspects of movies – scores, lighting, camera movement, and just about everything else – and story structure is in such a way that it’s difficult for me to not learn something.
The discussions they have come from such an informed place that it seems like they are experts. And I would say that they are. When they sit down and watch a movie, they know what makes it good and what makes it bad. Just from hearing them talk about something like cinematography, for example, helps me know what to look for when I’m watching a movie. Or if they’re talking about the cinematography in a movie that I’ve seen, I can picture certain parts of that movie and know exactly what they’re talking about.
The guys of the SinCast let me appreciate films in a way I never have before. I used to enjoy a very specific kind of movie: fantasy/action thrillers and superhero movies. But listening to this podcast has shown me the value of good, pure cinema. It lets me watch a movie like Lady Bird and absolutely love it, which I may never have done before hearing the podcast. Their love for movies is contagious, and I have caught the bug.
Note: This podcast contains adult language and content. While it has greatly impacted me, unfortunately I can't recommend it for everyone.
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