What? Someone else blogging their damned reviews? I know- I hear you! But let me explain.
I’m Tim- one of those cinephiles- but not like the annoying guy in line behind you at SIFF who is just trying to proof how smart he is. I’m not pretentious (or am I?). Film snobbery – like any snobbery is extremely unappealing to me. I just always have watched movies of all types. I always was able to recommend a couple of films to folks who never had time to watch. Because of my cursed memory I began to make lists- so I’d have recommendations at the ready. Then I joined Netflix and have rated over 4,500 titles to date. This brings us to the past year.
The tides of fate and our economy; I joined a start-up that showed amazing growth but just as easily began deflating. Down-sized in the great recession, I looked upon my upgraded home theater. Would this be a relic of a past life that I could not recover? The Netflix envelopes kept coming and I did the one thing I have always enjoyed. I decided to use this time to catch up on all those great films I wanted to see but never had time for. My good friend, Jessi, who has since moved to New Mexico, suggested we do a blog about films since we were always chatting about recent releases. We did that with “Salty Popcorn” and I have written reviews on over 100 films in the past year. I recently became aware of the PI Blog program and despite the fact that others were providing their reviews, just asked: “Why not give this a try?”
Film has been my therapy and escape. In existence for 115 years they are our worlds’ myths and campfire stories. They are a common point of reference in a fragmented existence. How many times have you discovered a cool person just because they love the same film you do? This year I attended Lebowski-fest in Fremont and the love was everywhere. Films inspire me and take me to a world as seen through someone else’s eyes. They touch and inform me- and remind me that the struggles of life are a common drama. I’ve seen artists who understand film as the 20th century art form and those who see it as a business churning out product. Blogging has allowed me the forum to yell at those who get it wrong and praise those who get it right. I’m still touched by heartfelt dramas and laugh loud at good comedies but unfortunately, more often than not, I feel like a hollow piece of crap has wasted my time and sucked out my soul. Yet that’s the point, I can suffer that turkey so you don’t have to. Even in my negative reviews I will try to steer you to a similar film that got it right. (Wow – is this my Declaration of Principles ala ‘Citizen Kane’?) Most importantly, I will try to be intelligent and concise.
Rain Film 