Thursday, September 30, 2004

Therapy or my DVD collection?

Therapy wants too much of your past like how did you get along with your mother and what scars were left in your psyche after your step-father backhanded you that time you shin-kicked your older sister - subsequently, I recently decided it would be easier to look back at life via my DVD collection, which I started building some two, three years ago. Its more innaresting that way anyway cuz I've accumulated some pretty wonky stuff and the odd mainstream hit or two...so the key is looking into myself via the DVDs I've amassed, which, in turn, is a self-reflective endeavor...which, in turn, will speak volumes about who I am when all is said and done...I don't need a therapist to analyze my obsessions, my disc collection pretty much says it all.

So that's what this is - reviews of every movie in my DVD collection so I can begin to understand what it is that makes me tick...so I figure I'll be in this for the long haul cuz I gotta lotta shiny discs floating around my condo. And, in order to do this justice, I gotta re-watch every single one of them before writing each "review."

I'm not a film critic, film reviewer, cinephile, cineaste, video watchdog or any term equated with those who make a living (or money) off their movie rantings. I have, however, had pieces published in Shock Cinema (thanks S.P.) and a video store rag called Cineguide plus I had a chapter published in a film book called Alternative Europe. In other words, I have a day job that's not even close to the movie biz...

I'm a seeker of wisdom and truth through movies cuz booze didn't do it, drugs didn't do it, literature comes close but movies, well, they speak to you if you want them to - even garbahge like JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS or CHARLIES ANGELS - though I don't address the likes of them here except maybe as some sort of half-assed reference point...That said, however, I'm not a film snob, I'm not a film smart-ass - through my "reviews" I'm analyzing the one thing that means the most to me and thats...me.

(...Okay, so Cinegeek's a little narcissistic...)

...but "reviews" promise to be as enjoyable and/or thought provoking as possible so I'm not the only one who likes wasting his time reading them. And, by all means, feel free to tell me I'm full of shit if you don't agree and, if you really wanna hurt my feelings, let me know if I've made errors in content but not judgement cuz this is, like, MY gig...

Side notable: I see about four movies a month at the theater but I won't address them until I purchase them on DVD - if I purchase them at all. I'm only going back to the films already bursting my bookshelves... I also won't talk about flicks I rent, which can be up to three or four a week - unless I can't resist...same with the theater thing...(like ZATOICHI deserves some geek-speak...but I'll refrain for now...but its one of the best musicals I've seen in years...no, I'm serious)...

I'm also a firm believer in the auteur theory when it pertains to such artistes as Hitchcock, Scorsese, Cassavetes, Cronenberg, PT Anderson, Tarantino, Hellman, Milligan, Peckinpah, Lynch, and a handful of others.

So keep this in mind as you order up a Venti Starbucks and stumble into your SUV and think that's what life's about - EVERYTHING THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FLICKERS AT 24 FRAMES PER SECOND...

La Dolce Vita