Film? Movie? Same Shit?

I've always considered there to be a difference between a film and a movie. The word film refers to the medium itself whereas the word movie is an abbreviation of "moving pictures" and so by definition they're essentially the same thing, however, over time the distinction has changed. A movie refers to an entertainment-value whereas a film tends to bare more of an educational significance, if you will. Of course the lines can be blurred and it all amounts to semantics. In 1997 director Oliver Stone made U-Turn, which was the first time he had used "An Oliver Stone Movie" in lieu of "An Oliver Stone Film" as a title-card and this is  what first challenged me to consider a difference. Every film ever made is catalogued on the Internet MOVIE Data Base and so ultimately who gives a fuck, right? 

My daughter was recently asked to submit an essay on Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands. To my delight she received an A, which clearly demonstrates her understanding of the story. I was thrilled with her result... however I was  concerned over the teacher's comments. My daughter had been deducted a mark because she referred to it as a movie, rather than a film. Personally I think it's petty to penalise a student for something so trivial and had the title in question been something like Sophie's Choice then I could understand the correction... but we're talking about Edward Fucking Scissorhands here! At it's very core it is a romantic fairytale. Its objective is to entertain. It manipulates emotions using imagery, music and visuals. Sure, there are underlying themes within it but to be so paltry as to deduct points for fairly calling it a movie, as opposed to pretentiously branding it as a film seems wrong to me. I'm sure my daughter would have LOVED to get an A+...  It would have been her first ever... how exciting. 

Of course I have used this story as a starting point and while I feel that this teacher in question has been unreasonable, I do still identify the difference between movies and films... albeit pedantic. So what do you think? Is there a difference?

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