How to watch a movie

the long version

You've been watching movies for most of your life. But often you're not quite sure what you think, or why. Should you see a movie in company or alone? How many times can you see it? What's the difference between watching and seeing? What is a shot, and what is a cut? Are we watching people, characters or actors - or is it all of them at the same time? Now David Thomson has written a primer with the answers. He refers to many films, and many of them are models for moviegoing. This book is deeply informed and often comic and, with asides on subjects from Velazquez's 'Las Meninas' to taking a photograph of someone you love, it is a reminder that seeing isn't just for the dark - it is our essential link with life.