I love highlighting intense films. Movies that are emotionally brutal, devastating, gut-wrenching, you get it. I’ve done that for years on this blog, and now continue to do on my podcast. Because I tend to focus so much on the films that capture the dark sides of human nature, it’s fun to occasionally do a complete 180 and discuss a handful of films that bring pure joy.
Hello Alex, I used to read your blog religiously when I was younger and just beginning to become interested in film. I left a couple comments years ago on some of your posts and even started a blog which was inspired by yours. You once visited and even left a comment on one of my blog posts which made me really happy as only some of my friends read my stuff at the time (thanks for that, it meant a lot then). Although these days I don't blame anyone for not reading it back then, I was younger, and my writing was terrible (bad enough that I can’t bear to read the old posts anymore and haven’t written anything for it in years). At the time I was considering trying to pursue a life in movies as I did fall in love with the medium. And although I’m still in love with film I didn’t pursue it as a career (going for my PhD in microbiology now). But I wanted to leave a comment here telling you that I’ve always loved this blog and still consider it a real treasure. Where I don’t check it regularly anymore, sometimes when I watch a great film I come back to see if you ever talked about it. I just watched Call Me by Your Name (2017) and thought to come to your blog (amazing film by the way). That’s when I got to thinking I should leave a comment telling you how much I always appreciated your blog. And I still consider it a gold mine for recommendations. My taste shifted and evolved by reading this blog as I was constantly finding for new filmmakers and corners of cinema to explore. I learned about Bergman from you, Seventh Seal is now one of my all-time favorites (I’m endlessly in love with it). I was introduced to Korean New-Wave through one of your posts, which is among my favorite cinematic movements now. I convinced my undergraduate institution’s cinema to screen Malcolm X once (because of your love for it) which was awesome to watch on the big screen (how I convinced them is beyond me, I think I was one of maybe 5 people in the theater, not necessarily the commercial smash hit for the college Friday night crowd). Ultimately, your blog has been extremely influential to me regarding my exploration of film, and I just wanted to thank you for all the great recommendations over the years. I’ve always remembered “And So it Begins…” and I think it will be difficult to forget moving forward.
ReplyDelete- Geordan
P.S. I saw a film from 2019 named An Elephant Sitting Still (Chinese film by a filmmaker named Hu Bo) which felt like if I could make any one film that would have been the film I would have liked to make. I think it is to me what Shame (2011) may be for you (I remember you wrote about that film frequently). I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but if not consider checking it out.
Geordan! Wow, I’m so so sorry it has taken me so long to respond. This is such a kind message, and it means a lot to me.
DeleteEverything you said in this amazing comment, that’s the reason I kept this blog going for so long, and why I have my podcast now. The only thing I am ever trying to do is get more people to watch more movies. If someone is a fan of cinema in general, I promise there are entire oceans of films to explore, and the fact that my words could motivate you to seek some movies out… that’s just everything to me.
I have not even heard of An Elephant Sitting Still, but I promise to watch it and report back here. If anyone ever tells me, “Hey, this movie does for me what Shame does for you,” then I watch it ASAP.
Thank you so much again for this, and apologies for taking too long to respond. I will watch Hu Bo’s film soon!
Three hours and 54 minutes. Not bad, Geordan. Not bad at all.
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