I was criticised earlier this week for always watching films with a writer’s eye. The implication was that only non-writers can see movies correctly, and the inference I took away was that there are people who will sit through any old shit.

It is true that I get very bored, very quickly when all a film has is good-looking visuals. It’s also true that I have watched movies because of who wrote them where I have never once chosen a film because of its director or for that matter, actors. I need to be interested in the story and that is enough to get me through the cinema door, that is the only thing that gets me there. I can then be disappointed, of course, and there have also been times when I’ve seen a given film only because the one I wanted was full, so I’ve gone in knowing nothing.

Actually, there’s also Arrival. I didn’t know anything beyond the title when I saw that, but in this case I wasn’t going to see a film, I was going to have a nice afternoon out with a friend. Still, Arrival has become very important to me so clearly my decision-making process over what films to watch is flawed.

But even so, if you tell me the writing isn’t important, you’re telling me the film is crap. It might look fantastic, but then everything does. It might feature wonderful direction, but shit is shit no matter how well-wrapped it is.

And I just can’t do it. I can’t sit there watching only glorious cinematography when my mind keeps wandering back to my To Do list.

Which is why I’m torn over whether to bother seeing The Odyssey. It’s why I’m not at all torn over the forthcoming “The Piano Tuner” and “Coyote vs Acme”, because they’ve both hooked me from their trailers. It’s why I deeply enjoyed “The Invite”.

All of which is a long-winded way to say each to their own. But telling me that because I’m a writer, I am incapable of knowing whether I’ve enjoyed a film or not, that is some intense bollocks there.