WHY DO WE WATCH THE FILMS WE DO... AND MISS THE GREAT ONES?

By Graham Young on Jul 5, 08 07:56 AM

IN TODAY'S world we (ie the general public) often mistake movies.

And, to coin one of those daft phrases which sums up human behaviour perfectly, we seem to do it 'deliberately on purpose'.

People flock to see rubbish spoofs like Superhero and Meet the Spartans because they take absolutely no effort to watch.

In fact, perhaps their great appeal is that we can literally grow more obese while they are on.

Such is our appetite for stuffing our faces during the next big blockbuster that we'll also happily accept having the latest, unfinished special effects foisted upon us (instead of the filmmakers using tried-and-tested old ones).

It's as if we're being experimented on like rats in a cosmetics' laboratory who never get to see the real deal.

But, as long as there's a star in it like Will Smith (whose fee would probably have paid for the effects to be finished) we don't mind in the slightest.

See some or the early bits of Hancock for proof of this theory.

Meanwhile, other movies grow in stature over time as you can see on TV tonight...

Take Das Leben Der Anderen (The Lives of Others, 15), starring the late Ulrich Mühe.

This is a German masterpiece which won last year's Oscar for best foreign language film.

Yes, it's long (138 minutes), yes, it's got subtitles and yes, you might well need Sky+ to make the most of its terribly-late premiere tonight at 11.45pm on Sky Movies Premiere.

But this story of how the East German state used to spy on its own people in 1984 is becoming terrifyingly relevant.

Even more so if you also track down Taking Liberties, a 105-minute, year-old documentary by Bromsgrove lad Chris Atkins.

To some degree, his film, released exactly a year ago, got lost during the Blair / Brown transition.

But, now that Britain has an unelected Prime Minister who likes to meddle relentlessly - and, despite his in-party woes, even managed to force through his 42-day wishes - the real message behind Taking Liberties, like The Lives of Others, is set to grow in significance.

When he was promoting the film and about to become BAFTA-nominated (for most promising newcomer), Chris told me his mother worked for Birmingham City Council... so Taking Liberties has both local and national relevance.

Here's what to do during this horribly wet weekend.

Find the Taking Liberties DVD in a shop (or simply check out www.noliberties.com) and watch it (or read all about it) after you've seen The Lives of Others.

Comparing the two movies will be an unsettling experience and make you think about EVERYTHING.

Not least the fact that Chris would probably have had a bigger hit on his hands if he'd said his movie was a spoof called Taking the ****.