What Matters? (A statement of purpose that I may or may not adhere to)

“Books, records, films – these things matter” - Rob Gordon in High Fidelity

I didn’t just choose this quote because I love the movie and the book it’s from. I used it because it says something about how I see movies, music, books, TV shows, and pop culture. I think, “these things matter”, that we can learn from them. However, I also understand that entertainment can just be entertainment. So it’s hard for me to perfectly define what I plan to do with this blog.

A simple description of my ratings: x / 5
1 - Painful (you'd be better off to skip it and I wish I had)
2 - Watchable (not the worst way to kill time if you're bored, but don't go out of your way)
3 - Worth watching (good choice for a movie night)
4 - Check it out (try to make the time whether you chose to head to the theater or rent it on DVD)
5 - Must see (if you like movies make it a point to see this one)

Sometimes the best way to describe something is to state what it is not. Here are a few things I will try to avoid or at least downplay.

This is not….
-Just reviews: I do plan on doing movie* reviews but I may just take a line of dialogue and go on a tangent of philosophy, theology, religion, or anything else. I will do my best to title “reviews” as such and give the tangents and discussions titles like “The progression of M. Night Shyamalan’s directorial career: Is it a long suicide note on film?” If you’re looking for more serious reviews I suggest you check out MaryAnn Johanson (my favorite reviewer) at FlickFilosopher or find a reviewer you like at MRQE.
-Full descriptions of movies: If you want to know exactly what a movie is about then go watch it. Of course some descriptions of movies will be laid out as they are necessary to do my review. Also I will do my best to avoid saying anything that would “spoil” key parts of movies. When spoilers are necessary I will do my best to label the title as such and will put the spoiler out [spoiler] like this [/spoiler] so that you have to highlight the text to see what it says.
-A parental guide: I am a thirty-something single male with no children. I make no claim to know what is appropriate for you, your children, or families. Some of my reviews and insight may be helpful in making such decisions but I support doing your own research before going to a movie particularly with children. If you have any questions I will do my best to give you the information you need but I suggest you check out a movie’s page at IMDB or search for it on the MPAA website to help you make these decisions.
-Pointless rants about movies I think are bad: I will tell you what I think and in the course of reviews there will be times where I will say what I think they could have done better or why I didn't enjoy a particular movie. However, I get no pleasure out of pretending to be better or smarter than those who made it, or audiences who like it, so I will do my best to avoid coming across with such judgment. It takes all kinds to make the world and I know there are movies in my collection that some people would consider awful.
-Journalism: I have no formal training in journalism, film production, or film criticism. I’m just a guy who loves movies. I feel that this love and my experience over the last decade of working in a movie theater (particularly projection) gives me a unique perspective but that’s all.
-A one sided show: Like any good blogger I started this to hear myself talk. However, one of my favorite things to do is discuss movies. Whether you agree with me or not I want to hear what you think. Also I will watch almost anything once so if there is a movie you think I should see and review then please let me know.
-Limited to new movies: I will throw in classic movies or movies that are just a few years old that I had in my collection and just recently watched. Some of the movies will be new to me and others may be movies I’ve watched dozens of times. I will tell you if it is one I've watched before or where I watched it as this sometimes has a bearing on how a movie is received. Unless I state otherwise the movie is my first watch, and was done in a public theater.

I will try and put up something new, be it review or otherwise, once a week but I make no promises.

Ultimately I just really enjoy movies. I love my job and part of that job is being asked “is this movie any good?” This is just an extension of that. I’m always open to criticism and improvement and I hope you like my blog even if you don’t always agree with what I say.


* I use “movie” because this blog will be primarily about movies, but it can be replaced by; books, music, TV shows, or anything else I may decide to talk about.