For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been into movies. They provide various types of worlds to become immersed in and permit an audiovisual escape from reality. They have the power to excite, horrify, anger, and amaze you in a much more engaging way than hardly any other form of entertainment can. There’s beauty in the shared experience of seeing a film with a big audience or even with family/friends, especially those eruptions of catharsis that manifest when something hilarious, shocking, or amazing happens. And the best movies are those that get you to feel something on a deeply emotional level, and the impression they leave on you drives you to think them over more and discuss them with other people.

I first got into movies through my parents. Some of my favorite memories from growing up are spending time with my dad on weekend mornings at the theater (yes, mornings) and watching movies on the couch with my mom at home. In fact, part of the reason why I love films like The Planet of the Apes, Star Wars, and The Chronicles of Riddick is because of how much my parents and I enjoyed watching and talking about them. I will always have a special place in my heart for those and other movies we bonded over, and those experiences are largely why films mean so much to me.

In high school, I was lucky to have a group of friends who were also really big into movies. I had a lot of fun going to the theater with people my age for once. We would often check out the biggest new releases on the weekends; a couple that come to mind include Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Captain America: Civil War, and DEFINITELY Seventh Son (that movie still comes up in conversation to this day). Once we got out of the theater, we usually had heated discussions about the film. Sometimes even for years afterward. Besides allowing for us to challenge each others’ views, having in-depth move conversations was also a great way to spend time together. And in the years since we graduated high school, movies have remained one of the key components of our friendship.

Although I wasn’t a film major in college, I still enjoyed learning about it both inside and outside the classroom. I took an excellent course about the Classic Hollywood era and the key people, movies, and industry developments that shaped the period. The class was also the first time I ever wrote papers on movies. While it took a while for me to feel comfortable with this task, I eventually appreciated the challenge of analyzing films and developing compelling arguments about them. It was during college that I started watching Youtube movie channels like Screen Junkies and Mr Sunday Movies frequently too. Watching these channels allowed me to stay up to date with info like movie budgets, box office performances, and production news. I also tried to make it out to the theater routinely and even got into the nerdy habits of keeping ticket stubs and posting short reviews on Instagram.

Rather than just watching videos and posting more IG reviews, I figured that a website would be the perfect platform to share my fully fleshed-out thoughts on films. I plan to provide robust movie analysis and recommendations, and my thoughts on topics like the state of the industry or the complicated relationship between theaters and streaming services. In maintaining this site, I also have the much broader goals of improving my analysis, writing, and argumentative skills. To ensure I’m not a one-trick pony, I’ll also be using this space to discuss other types of entertainment such as TV (please please PLEASE check out HBO’s Watchmen), but films will be my main focus. I look forward to having enjoyable conversations/debates with others who may or may not feel a similar attachment to film and establishing some meaningful connections. But if all I can accomplish is getting readers to check something out that they wouldn’t have seen otherwise, that will still make the effort worthwhile.

Happy reading!