Critical analyses takes into account Narrative, Genre and Representation. Looking at these things when talking about a film is useful as it helps you think more clearly about if the film has achieved what it was trying to achieve.
The film I looked at was Whiplash. Whiplash is an interesting film as it follows quite strongly, and almost exclusively, the story of one character. This is interesting as it makes it hard to look at the film in terms of representation as not many characters are featured as strongly as the lead. This has taught me to look for the subtleties in characters to better understand what the film makers are trying to say.
For genre I learned that sometimes genre isn't obvious and you need to look deeper. You need to look at individual scenes and lines of dialogue to see what is implied and how it effects the film. Sometimes the narrative can help show the genre of the film. The things that happen in the film can changed the genre at different points. A film can become very dramatic and this can effect the entire film.
I've learned that critical analyses is very important when looking at film. It helps you to gain a deeper understanding of the film as a whole so you can appreciate the parts that make it up.