Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Alien, Fistful of Dollars, Groundhog Day. Movies I saw when I was younger have become obsessions, mesmerized me, terrified me, transported me to other worlds and made me cry with laughter. Some change when you watch them later in life, others require a second screening immediately after. More still can be enjoyed in the company of one or many, or lent out with a casual recommendation. They are art for some, livelihood for others and time-wasters for more.
Recently, I finished up a huge list of movies. During 2011 my viewing regiment was near-daily. On January 2, 2011, after ringing in the new year, I sat down for neo-cult classic Six String Samurai, which is sort of Mad Max mixed with Elvis Presley, and on December 31, 2011, just before heading out to a New Years party, I watched a tragic documentary on Formula One racing from 2010 called Senna, which, also tragically, was not nominated for an Oscar. I discovered a lot, but learned it is better to watch a movie, and then meditate on it for a time, rather than watching to mark off list.
I thought why not ponder movies I saw in my childhood, why not rewatch them. I began reading about what goes in to capturing a scene, directors accounts about working with actors, movie viewing formats, among other things. Critics and 'experts' tend to tell you what you should like about a film and have defined the cannon of films over the last 50 years. Blogs, like this one, allow cinephiles novice and expert alike to write and publish how they feel about movies.
So what will I’ll be trying to do here? Simply to talk about why I like them. My love for cinema comes not from the academic or professional world, but I am interested to ask or learn those things, though you probably won’t get textbook descriptions on editing or lens flares or the ins and outs of Czech New Wave. I will be discussing some of my favorites, past and present; talking about one of my favorite subjects: criminally underseen movies, keeping an eye out for local showings, and maybe sharing a thing or two I've learned. Thanks for reading.
