Write a Film Review

Everyone’s a critic! And so you should be too. Writing regularly

can help you to preserve your cognitive skills, so try starting with

a film review. Think of one thing that you liked and another thing

that you didn’t like about the film and write about 100 words

explaining your views. Make yourself think carefully about why

you’ve chosen certain aspects of the film to focus on. Honing in on

one or two ideas is better, because then it becomes more manage-

able to talk about the film.

Here are some tips to get you started on becoming the next Barry

Norman or Roger Ebert:

 ✓ Save the yelling. Training yourself to be logical in a review is

more beneficial to you than being emotional, so try to avoid

ranting in your review. Instead, form your arguments for your

review in a careful and considered way. If you can, don’t make

generalisations about your views. Be as specific as you can

in your arguments. Think of one scene to focus on and use

that as an example of what you liked or didn’t like about the

movie.

 ✓ Become a budding movie buff. It may help to compare

the movie to another movie to illustrate how it was better

or worse. Having an ‘anchor’ can help develop your ideas.

Comparing two things helps your brain make connections

between different ideas. You may find that you become better

in everyday conversations as a result!

 ✓ Publish it! If you feel brave enough, you can even publish your

review. Many websites like Rotten Tomatoes (www.rotten

tomatoes.com) lets readers leave their own comments and

reviews on a movie, and some online newspaper forums do as

well. If you’re really serious about taking this further and view

yourself as a budding critic, try this site: www.everyonesa

critic.net.

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