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Whether you're like me and you go out and see them in the theater, or you wait till they come out on videotape, it's extremely important that you keep abreast of the current movies. I try to see at least 2-3 movies a week, usually in the theater (although occasionally via rental or on cable). I also voraciously read movie reviews, to see if there's something I should see that I wouldn't otherwise pay attention to. Of course, you should concentrate on the types of films you're writing. If your dream is to work on smaller, more intimate films, you probably don't need to drag yourself to see Armageddon. If most of your scripts tend toward the blockbuster action genre, you might be able to avoid Life Is Beautiful. On the other hand, the broader you allow your tastes to be, the more you allow yourself to be inspired by different things. For example, if all you see are action films, and that's what you write, chances are your ideas aren't going to be really original enough to get your scripts noticed. Influences and inspiration come from variety. I guess I'm fortunate in that, as I've grown older, my tastes have grown broader. I was able to enjoy both The Waterboy and Shakespeare in Love, even though in most ways they're as different as night and day. And who knows, maybe someday I'll come up with a really original way to combine those two into a great script. Besides current movies, it's also very useful to be well-versed in the classics. One of the reasons I want to write and direct movies is to inspire people and leave some sort of positive mark on the world. I'd like to make at least one film that people remember, and is watched and appreciated by future generations (although it was fun, I don't think The Waterboy is going to be greatly remembered in 2008). Because of that, I think watching, or at least knowing something about, the classics of filmmaking, is critical, because that's what I aspire to. I felt quite proud last year when the AFI's 100 Films list came out (although it was flawed in some respects), because I'd seen 63 of them. Of course, that still leaves 37 I need to see, and I'm ashamed to admit it's that many (I also admit that one of my problems is I'm not a big fan of Westerns and war movies). But at least I know something about each of those 37 films, and understand why they're all classics. The bottom line is, you've got to know your art and your business backwards and forwards if you're going to succeed. This goes for TV writers too, as Genia Shipman often says in her columns. If you don't watch and study the medium you work in regularly, you have no hope of competing with those who do. You may have a God-given gift for storytelling, but if you don't hone it by learning your craft and finding out as much as you can about your medium of choice, then you're simply wasting that gift.
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