...could (maybe) write a good film blog. Admittedly there is only one blogger on one keyboard writing this blog, but hopefully after a few stumbles things will improve.
I decided to start this blog for a couple of reasons. The first was to encourage me to write more than I usually do; despite having grand aspirations to become a writer, even writing a novel that I have revised over and over again since college, I have been somewhat lackadaisical about it in the last year, and by having this blog, it will force my writing hand to keep working even if its typing on a keyboard. Secondly, I wanted to expand my ability to speak my mind. I confess I have difficulty in talking and expressing my views, but I decided by having to keep a continuous blog, I would slowly start to get over this problem, choosing to make it mainly a film blog under the belief I could write a lot about one of my favourite hobbies.
The best way to continue this post is to talk about where my love of cinema, and obsession with culture came from, but instead of writing a long monologue, I can instead explain through four films and one anime television series said history. With this in mind, here is said five...
1. Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven, 1997)
2. For A Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965)
Along with the rest of Leone’s filmography, this was the first film where other factors other than the story and how entertainment it were just as important in determining whether it was good or bad. The extreme close-ups, the vast landscapes, and the mesmerising score of Ennio Morricone had a powerful effect on me that still lingers to this day (rewatching The Good, the Bad and The Ugly (1966) a month or so ago, the moment in the graveyard when Morricone’s Ecstasy of Gold starts playing sent a tingle in my spine). It also helps that Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef radiated magnetism as actors.
3. Chrono Crusade (Yū Kō, 2003-2004)
4. Ichi The Killer (Takashi Miike, 2001)
Dubbed one of the sickest films ever made in an ad for one of the film magazines I used to read (either Total Film or Empire), I managed to see this one or two years before I was legally able to. Not only did it live up to the advertisement, but I was faced with something that was both intelligent and imaginative in its style as it was twisted. This was the film that lead to me exploring non-mainstream film, starting in investigating Takashi Miike’s other films and extreme Asian cinema, before leading to non-genre films in many different languages. After this, I was nearly who I am today as a film viewer.
5. Satantango (Bela Tarr, 1994)
Starship Troopers made me interested in films, while For A Few Dollars More made me aware of the different factors that made a piece of work art, and Chrono Crusade fed my interest in works from other continents and countries. Ichi the Killer and Takashi Miike would lead me by the hand to world cinema. Then, about one or two years ago, I discovered the podcast and a show called Left Field Cinema. Presented by a man named Mike Dawson, it was a great show I still listen to (and has a great forum), but it did an episode on an obscure Hungarian film called Satantango, a novel adaptation about alienation, backstabbing and downtrodden people which had a feature length of seven hours and twelve minutes. Since it was freely available, and the description of it being one of the longest films ever made almost posed a challenge daring people to watch it all, I naturally got hold of it.....and I have never been the same ever again. I have been truly thankful to Dawson for covering this, as it became almost the final test to see if I was a true cineaste or not. That I own the three disc UK DVD, and hold its director Bela Tarr as one of my most highly regarded, I passed the test (although I still desperately want to see Tarr’s work before his 1988 feature Damnation). Satantango is also, along with Mike Figgis’ 2000 film Timecode, which splits the screen into four smaller ones following different characters, the only movie that has bled into my dreams that night after first seeing it. All it took was the first sequence, a continuous black-and-white 10 minute scene of cows walking across a field, and I have developed an obsession with seeing films of all types and genres regardless of what they are and where they are from.
I hope you like this brief history of the creation of this blog. I may presume this is too egotistical after posting it and feel guilty, but to be honest creating a film blog is already feeding my ego and I can’t turn back now. If anyone wants to comment on this or anything else, there is the option although if there are some technical hiccups I will fix them. From now on, I will try to add posts as much as I can, from small and large reviews and opinions on films, even drift into areas such as music, books and anime if the idea takes my fancy. At some point this blogger will be able to write a good blog as long as he doesn’t become lazy about it.
Enjoy.
I decided to start this blog for a couple of reasons. The first was to encourage me to write more than I usually do; despite having grand aspirations to become a writer, even writing a novel that I have revised over and over again since college, I have been somewhat lackadaisical about it in the last year, and by having this blog, it will force my writing hand to keep working even if its typing on a keyboard. Secondly, I wanted to expand my ability to speak my mind. I confess I have difficulty in talking and expressing my views, but I decided by having to keep a continuous blog, I would slowly start to get over this problem, choosing to make it mainly a film blog under the belief I could write a lot about one of my favourite hobbies.
The best way to continue this post is to talk about where my love of cinema, and obsession with culture came from, but instead of writing a long monologue, I can instead explain through four films and one anime television series said history. With this in mind, here is said five...
1. Starship Troopers (Paul Verhoeven, 1997)
 |
| From http://alsolikelife.com/shooting/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/starship_troopers.jpg |
My parents were pretty liberal about what films I saw when I was younger, but within reason. I vaguely remember with the first 18 certificate film I saw, The Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3, having a discussion beforehand on if I should watch it, and afterwards its evil influence didn’t corrupt me at all. However Starship Troopers is the film of most importance as it was the one that slowly pushed me into an interest in film. Along with John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) and numerous others, not necessarily good, that were rented from a local DVD rental store, I developed an interest in genre and horror films that would start my course to becoming a film fan.
2. For A Few Dollars More (Sergio Leone, 1965)
 |
| From http://www.posters.ws/images/936805/for_few_dollars_more.jpg |
Along with the rest of Leone’s filmography, this was the first film where other factors other than the story and how entertainment it were just as important in determining whether it was good or bad. The extreme close-ups, the vast landscapes, and the mesmerising score of Ennio Morricone had a powerful effect on me that still lingers to this day (rewatching The Good, the Bad and The Ugly (1966) a month or so ago, the moment in the graveyard when Morricone’s Ecstasy of Gold starts playing sent a tingle in my spine). It also helps that Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef radiated magnetism as actors.
3. Chrono Crusade (Yū Kō, 2003-2004)
 |
| From http://images.absoluteanime.com/chrono_crusade/index.jpg |
I had watched anime series in my youth, such as Pokemon (1997-Ongoing) and Yu-Gi-Oh! (2000-2004), but like a lot of anime on Western TV it is edited for content deemed unsuitable for children. This was the first series, even if viewed in a English dub, that I watched the whole of uncut (unfortunately it wasn’t the first thing I saw uncut, which would be the first four episodes of Ikki Tousen (2003), which I eventually watched the whole of much later, but let’s forget that to avoid embarrassment). Chrono Crusade, despite its numerous flaws, was gripping and struck an emotional chord with me. It helped a lot by the fact the main female character was around the same age I was watching it for the first time (sixteen, which I didn’t know until the end of the series and created an even stronger emotional effect because of it), and that visually her character design was memorable to me. The series lead to me exploring more anime, which not only fed my obsession with Japan, but would lead to my interest in cultural items from other countries. Hell, the series’ setting of 1920s North American, and the decision by the late American distributors ADV to have slang of the time in the English dub, lead to an obsession with the Roaring 20s America I still have.
4. Ichi The Killer (Takashi Miike, 2001)
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| From http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000092WBY.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg |
5. Satantango (Bela Tarr, 1994)
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| From http://www.lovefilm.com/lovefilm/images/products/7/70637-large.jpg |
Starship Troopers made me interested in films, while For A Few Dollars More made me aware of the different factors that made a piece of work art, and Chrono Crusade fed my interest in works from other continents and countries. Ichi the Killer and Takashi Miike would lead me by the hand to world cinema. Then, about one or two years ago, I discovered the podcast and a show called Left Field Cinema. Presented by a man named Mike Dawson, it was a great show I still listen to (and has a great forum), but it did an episode on an obscure Hungarian film called Satantango, a novel adaptation about alienation, backstabbing and downtrodden people which had a feature length of seven hours and twelve minutes. Since it was freely available, and the description of it being one of the longest films ever made almost posed a challenge daring people to watch it all, I naturally got hold of it.....and I have never been the same ever again. I have been truly thankful to Dawson for covering this, as it became almost the final test to see if I was a true cineaste or not. That I own the three disc UK DVD, and hold its director Bela Tarr as one of my most highly regarded, I passed the test (although I still desperately want to see Tarr’s work before his 1988 feature Damnation). Satantango is also, along with Mike Figgis’ 2000 film Timecode, which splits the screen into four smaller ones following different characters, the only movie that has bled into my dreams that night after first seeing it. All it took was the first sequence, a continuous black-and-white 10 minute scene of cows walking across a field, and I have developed an obsession with seeing films of all types and genres regardless of what they are and where they are from.
I hope you like this brief history of the creation of this blog. I may presume this is too egotistical after posting it and feel guilty, but to be honest creating a film blog is already feeding my ego and I can’t turn back now. If anyone wants to comment on this or anything else, there is the option although if there are some technical hiccups I will fix them. From now on, I will try to add posts as much as I can, from small and large reviews and opinions on films, even drift into areas such as music, books and anime if the idea takes my fancy. At some point this blogger will be able to write a good blog as long as he doesn’t become lazy about it.
Enjoy.
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