April, 2021
Years ago, I started writing mini-reviews of the movies I was seeing at film festivals. Partially I was sharing the joy I was feeling from getting to see movies many other people would not. (This was before the profusion of streaming services who, hungering for original content, began snapping up the rights to non-studio festival films.) Partially I was letting my friends know what movies to watch for, should the movie be lucky enough to acquire a distribution deal. And of course, I had to warn about films to avoid as well.
I posted these original reviews on Facebook. Which is a decent tool for expressing what’s on your mind at the moment. And for keeping it amongst your family and friends. But it’s a terrible tool for finding this information later. I’ve tried applying some of the Facebook features that come and go to the “digging up the past” problem–most of them proved to be inadequate. And, as I said, sometimes they would go and leave me stranded.
So a standalone blog seemed to be the thing to try. Visitors can see the most recent posts, and have a number of ways to sift through past entries. Including just searching for the title of something that’s popped up on Netflix or Hulu and they’re wondering if I’d logged it. (Over time I will be mining my Facebook feed, transferring past reviews to this blog. You may not notice because I can backdate the posts to match the original review. But the size of this “database” of reviews will grow.)
But here’s the downfall: Blogs are generally public. I don’t like some of the movies I see and I am quite frank about that here, because I’m advising my family and friends. I am not out to hurt people’s feelings. I am truly hoping the makers of the films I did not like do not find this website. Let’s be fair: Each of them had the drive and talent enough to write, raise money for, direct, act in, and/or produce an entire feature film. That in itself is an accomplishment well beyond mine.
In conclusion, I will say this: I do not know what I am doing. Here are my (only) qualifications: I have watched a crap-ton of movies, I have read a half-ton of screenwriting books, I have written a few screenplays (so far, none of which are good enough to submit anywhere). Sometimes when the lights come up after a film and other people are asking their questions of the writer and/or director, and they obviously enjoyed the film (you can tell because their question begins with, “I really enjoyed this film!”)–it makes me wonder how I can be so out of touch with the masses. But you know what? My opinion is my opinion. You are free to disagree. I just know what I like and I am telling my family and friends about it.