[Chefelf]

A Quick Fact

A quick fact: If you have some friends over to watch a movie but you say that you are "screening a movie." then you are an asshole.

[Deepsycher]

Why?


I am screening a movie want to watch?
I'd rather look at an old television screen than watch your backside.

[Despondent]

I just watched The Great Dictator, with Charlie Chaplin (on AMC, no commercials)

for the second time. The first time was with a girlfriend and fellow theatre type, with her parents (theater types) and like-minded friends, when I was in high-school. I was involved in community theater at the time. Introduced me to condoned underage drinking.

Well that night, they screened the movie. Upstairs, they showed it, with a vintage newsreel at the beginning. Clacking sounds and everything. It was completely cool.

Watching the film tonight took me back. I didn't understand, back then, all the evils Chaplin was parodying. And lots of it was prophetic actually, as the film was probably written prior to WWII.

But my friends had the party to show the film, not to "screen" it.
I don't think this clarifies much, but I hope I've contributed somewhat.

[Laura]

I'm pretty sure it's parody, not prophecy-- in 1940 Nazi Germany would have been in full swing.

I think if you are actually showing a reel-to-reel with cartoons and everything, then it's maybe acceptable to say "screening" (although a really good person would just say "watching" still). Otherwise "screening" is unacceptable.

[srmoore]

What if it was your own film.. even if digitaly projected on to a screen like surface? (A Wall in my case?)

[Despondent]

Laura, I don't know if they'd burned the ghettos when TGD was written, so I won't argue the point. I was honestly parroting some trivia I'd heard.

Ahh, projected on a wall. Now I hearken back to those "screenings" from college days.


I screened The Barefoot Executive the other night. It was on cable. That counts, right?

[Chefelf]

I'm currently screening the last 30 minutes of Office Space on Comedy Central. Actually, technically it's a WaMu commercial that I'm screening...

No wait... a Papa John's commercial!

[Otal Nimrodi]

I'm at this very moment screening Be Prepared on YouTube.

[Lefty]

That "screening" urchin to whom you refer is so not in the swing of things!

Everyone knows that the vraiment parlance for this act is to "take in a talkie". No respectable monocle-sporting gentleman or lady worth his or her salt would slander their speech with lesser "commoner" argot!

[Chefelf]

Everyone knows that the vraiment parlance for this act is to "take in a talkie".

Now saying THAT would earn someone my immediate respect!

And therein lies the problem. If you said, "take in a talkie." you obviously couldn't be serious. People talking about "screening" are quite clearly using it earnestly. It's because they think they're movie buffs and just the act of them watching a movie somehow makes the whole event so much more meaningful.

[Jordan]

I'm a long time chef reader, been here a LONG time. I've read all his articles, all his nitpicks, all his grips.

But this has to be the most direct and hardcore thing he's ever posted!

Usually he can insult without sounding insulting, but this was just in your face.

COOL!

[barend]

i don't know what anyone's talking about...

if you screen movies for boobies, does that make you an asshole too?

[Emu]

I'm currently screening Chefelf.com Night Life on my laptop.

This Wednesday! In Stereo!

[Deepsycher]

I am screening my towels for bacteria.
Not the visual screening.

This post has been edited by Deepsycher: 18 April 2007 - 10:00 PM

[barend]

I am screening my towels for bacteria.
Not the visual screening.

ah, we're on the same page but in different rooms.