A New Year, a new format: Diary of a Cinemaniac

I've often thumbed my nose at New Year's Resolutions. All resolutions do is give you something to break and then make you hate yourself for doing so.

No, instead I make New Year's Wishes. Wishes imply no obligation. They simply express a desire and a hope for something better. My wishes for this blog are three-fold: To do something new and fresh (at least for me), to increase posts, and hopefully increase my readership. I saw that I wrote 164 posts last year, and I really ought to be doing more than that, to maintain interest both for myself, and for you.

Then a projector bulb flickered on over my head. (We movie geeks think visually.)  Contrary to popular belief, I don't see a movie every single day. But I do something movie-related every day, whether that's seeing a movie, reading a movie news story, or even having a fun movie conversation with someone. That being the case, what I'll do is write this blog in a diary format.

Mind you, I will still write reviews of movies in theaters, and I will definitely continue the He Said/She Said reviews I've been doing with my Cox colleague, Hannah Poturalski. I'll still predict the Oscars, opine on  trailers and all that fun stuff. I'm just repurposing the content.

It will look something like this. Entires will typically be a bit longer than what I've posted here.  - consider this Condensed Cream of Criticism.

Jan. 1, 2010

Bells Are Ringing (Vincente Minnelli, 1960): Not the finest hour of Vincente Minnelli, Arthur Freed or Comden and Green, but still quite charming all the same, with a winning lead performance by Judy Holliday, in her swan song. GRADE: B




Jan. 2, 2010

Flipped (Rob Reiner, 2010): The first movie I started watching in 2011 is the best movie no one saw in 2010. It's also a return to form for Rob Reiner, with this being his best film since The American President. Give this one a try. You won't be sorry. GRADE: A

All Good Things (Andrew Jarecki, 2010): A quite intriguing mystery/drama, powered by an excellent performance from Kirsten Dunst. When she disappears from the last third of the film, however, the movie slides off the rails as it becomes too bizarre and moody. Still very much worth a look. GRADE: B




January 3. 2011


(Insert thoughtful tribute to Pete Postlethwaite here)


Jan. 4. 2011


Sir Critic returns to the newspaper with a look ahead at 2011's movies!


Jan. 5 2011


The PGA has announced its nominees. These could well be the 10 Oscar nominees too.


127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
The Fighter
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
The Town
Toy Story 3
True Grit

Also saw Tron Legacy (Joseph Kosinski 2010): a bit like the original – great visuals, iffy story. What makes it a clear step down from the original is it takes itself too seriously. As ahead of its time as the 1982 Tron was, it still had that Disney cheesiness that was typical of the period. I missed that sense of fun here. 


(Note: I will post a full He Said/She Said review of this later.)


Jan. 6, 2011


Black Swan continues to resonate in unexpected, funny ways. Had this conversation with a friend on Facebook.


Friend: (I saw) Black Swan. For the first time, not the 101st like you. ;-)


Me: So I have a thing for leotards. Sue me! ;)


Friend: Perfectly understandable. I think I may have a thing for several things I didn't necessarily have a thing for before, as a result of seeing that movie. :)


Me: Like Tchaikovsky, I'm sure.


Friend: ‎...if that's what you want to call it. ;-)


Me: ‎...if that's what you want to call it. ;-)


Other friend: Eric - only you could come up with a link from that movie to the Beatles.


Me: I gotta be me.


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Insular? Obsessively detailed? Well, yeah! Ya wanna make something of it?


In all seriousness, this is a work in progress. But let me know what you think. Meanwhile, I think I'll go free up some space on my clogged DVR ....