Intro

No one wants to hear my opinions on things.

That is what I’ve been telling people for years whenever the conversation jumps to film and the inevitable “Wow you know a lot about this, you should start a blog!” leaps from their mouth and into whatever part of my brain causes eye rolling.

I still mostly believe that refrain to be true, because isn’t that the way most of life works? Sure, I have a few friends whose opinions I value deeply when faced with hard decisions. I mostly care what people’s opinions are of me in my personal life. But is there ANYONE that I allow to inform my opinion on what to like? Probably not. There are a few film critics and podcasters that might cause me to reevaluate my thinking on something that they loved and I hated (or vice versa), but for the most part this is all subjective.

And no one wants to hear my opinions on things.

I’ve loved movies for as long as I can remember. At most dinner parties my mom can be found telling a story about how I used to sit and recite the entire script to Toy Story when I was 3 or 4 (A story which leaps from her mouth and into whatever part of my brain causes eye rolling, you know, like a mom?). I remember walking out of the theater as an 8 year old with my dad and brother having just seen Remember the Titans and experiencing the emotion and hope that a film can convey. It seems only yesterday that a high school me watched mouth agape as Helena Bonham Carter shouted “TYLER DURDEN! TYLER DURDEN! TYLER DURDEN!”

However, in 2014 my relationship with movies changed. I decided that I was going to watch every movie that had been nominated for Best Picture in the time between when the nominations are announced and the actual awards show itself. A college buddy of mine decided to join, and about twice a week for the month of February we would hunker down for a 10pm movie. I was watching all these movies that I probably otherwise wouldn’t have given the time of day to. Watching Matthew McConaughey transform his body to tell a story about a marginalized people, or Joaquin Phoenix giving a prescient warning about our relationship to our cell phones, really caused me to think.

Frankly, my brain began to explode.

I didn’t know at the time if I liked these movies, but I did know that I wanted to understand them.

Up until that point, I hadn’t really thought much about the language of film. I judged a movie almost entirely on plot and spectacle. What happens and how cool does it look while it happens. I don’t completely understand why, but this pretty small undertaking my senior year of college freed me up to ask questions of movies that I had never asked before. Suddenly, Nebraska wasn’t just a black and white film. I wanted to know why it was black and white. Like I said, these movies really just caused me to think.

And so, while I know that no one wants to hear my opinions on things, I love the idea of inviting people along on the journey of thinking about films with me.

I’m not sure what shape this will all take. I mostly just want to write about what inspires me. Lately, I’ve liked the idea of keeping a quarantine diary of what I’m watching/catching up with while locked in my house. If you want some recommendations, I’ll probably give you some lists from time to time (my favorites to watch with my spouse, my favorite scripts, etc. etc.). I’d love to even give some thoughts on the state of movies in general in 2020 and beyond. 

Mostly, though, I hope to move you to watch a movie that you probably wouldn’t have otherwise given the time of day to.

Who knows? Maybe your brain might explode. (Metaphorically)