But over the course of discussing cinema with others, I've discovered that are opinions are often formed by outside factors. We hardly ever judge a film based on the film alone. Some of those outside variables are our moods (if we're happy or sad that day), who we see a movie with (friends, dates, parents, alone), what we've read about a film in advance, what the popular opinion of a movie is, etc, etc. Thus, it becomes terribly easy to form an opinion about a movie that's not actually based on a movie's performance. We may hate a certain film because there were annoying cell phone jerks sitting behind us. We may have been tired during a viewing of "Army of Darkness" during a New Year's Party. You see what I'm saying?

So I created Justin's Rule of Two to counter this arbitrary opinion-making of films. Justin's Rule of Two states, "Because of outside factors, you must view a movie twice to form a permanant opinion of the film". It's perfectly okay to have an opinion of a movie after seeing it for the first time -- we all do that! -- but the "Rule of Two" says to keep an open mind to seeing it for the second time. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen a movie once, stated emphatically that it was horrid or stellar, then saw it again and had my opinion overthrown. This is why I now apply the Rule of Two to everything I watch. For instance, I've seen Animal House more times than I care to think of; yet, I still hate it. PCU, on the other hand, holds up admirably to numerous viewings.

Here are just a few films that I've reviewed on MRFH and later changed my mind about:

American Pie
What I said about it after the first viewing: But I really didn't hate this film that much or find it all too offensive. Comedies are lacking in theaters recently, and American Pie does have a few shining moments to demand a viewing or two. I just feel it's sad that edgy comedies aren't all that edgy anymore... if you're going to do something with pinache or pie, go the distance.

What I think after a second viewing: I actually bought American Pie on DVD, and as with many comedies applied to the "Rule of Two", it just keeps getting better and better. Lines that I chuckled at the first time now send me into fits of hilarity. The characters have gotten less annoying and more endearing, and I have no problem with watching this over and over again.

Dead Man On Campus
What I said about it after the first viewing: I felt betrayed by this movie, stupid and hedonistic as it was. College deserves a little more than being a source of clichés and frat legends like DMOC portrays. When plot fails, at least make the audience laugh. I think about three people in my movie theater audience chuckled once or twice.

What I think after a second viewing: It's no masterpiece, but DMOC is one movie that I've grown to like popping into the VCR when I want to shut my brain off. I think the second time I saw it I thought the "Mission: Impossible" break-in sequence was terrific, and that just made me reconsider the movie entirely. Cliff is deserving of his own movie, of course, but when the main two guys just give up on college and go crazy themselves, it's very inspiring.