My name is John and I’m a film enthusiast. I did not set out initially to become a film blogger but it grew out of my obsession with films and keeping track of films that I liked and wanted to remember.
Back in 1999 I had already accumulated a large collection of
my favorite films and was taping films from TV and keeping long detailed lists
of what I had recorded and wanted to record. Those original beta tapes, by the
way, are all obsolete now and I had to throw them all out years ago and
replaced them with another now obsolete technology VHS tapes. I still own some
of those. And when DVDs came out it was like a revelation, digital picture quality that would last and collecting films became a so much more attractive.
While searching for films to record I noticed that there
were many films that I was unfamiliar with and curious about. I needed to expand my knowledge by watching
more films, and I don’t mean the stuff they show on television; rife with
commercial interruptions and bleeped out dialogue. Sacrilege! No, I was now a
film purist. A film must be seen uninterrupted in the best video and audio
quality possible and the film is not finished until the last credit roles. To
this end I decided to methodically keep track of films that were being released
in theatres on a weekly basis in order of release dates, so that I could
remember which movies I was interested in seeing and which movies I had seen
and liked. At the same time I kept a log of every film that I had ever seen in
my lifetime and organized this film viewing log by genres.
As time went on I created more movie lists, which eventually
I collected into a journal of my film viewing history and I called it my film
journal. This journal eventually grew so big and contained annual critic’s top
10 movie lists, annual critic’s best rated films lists, viewing logs, film
festival winners lists, Oscar winners lists, essential film lists, animation
lists, favorite directors lists, my favourite films and you name it and I had a list for it, that by
2005 I thought this hobby would be too unwieldy to contain on paper in a binder.
As these lists were already in word document form on my computer drive, when blogs became free and easy to use tools for keeping your diary or journal in one place that could be shared with other people, I thought it would be the perfect forum for my movie lists. Not only could I keep and organize all my lists in one easy to access place, accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world, but I could also write about my film obsession and maybe eventually even start writing my own movie reviews.
As these lists were already in word document form on my computer drive, when blogs became free and easy to use tools for keeping your diary or journal in one place that could be shared with other people, I thought it would be the perfect forum for my movie lists. Not only could I keep and organize all my lists in one easy to access place, accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world, but I could also write about my film obsession and maybe eventually even start writing my own movie reviews.
After years of tinkering with the blogger program, the blog
turned out to be even better than I expected. I started out posting general
information blogs about movie trends, movie awards and movie critics and only
posted once every couple of months, but eventually I began to blog about
specific films I’d seen and started posting more often.
What I enjoy most about movie blogging and listing is recalling and reliving the fond memories I had during the film viewing experience and finding ways to put them into words. I love seeing the world from many different perspectives and expanding my view of the world and all the people and creatures that live in it. I can remember every film I’ve ever seen and usually I remember the titles too. But just in case I forget, I have plenty of lists to help me remember. Even if no one else reads my blog, I enjoy reading it.
What I enjoy most about movie blogging and listing is recalling and reliving the fond memories I had during the film viewing experience and finding ways to put them into words. I love seeing the world from many different perspectives and expanding my view of the world and all the people and creatures that live in it. I can remember every film I’ve ever seen and usually I remember the titles too. But just in case I forget, I have plenty of lists to help me remember. Even if no one else reads my blog, I enjoy reading it.
To find out more about my blogging life and view my movie
lists, go to my film journal.
JP
Why do so many people love to own their favourite films on video? Why do they make such a connection with some films that they must make them a part of their own personal collection? Some films are so representative of our own lives, or dreams, or ideals that we want to associate ourselves with those values. To own those special films that make us feel good about ourselves open our minds to new perspectives we are saying "these are the values, and experiences that I believe in and I would like to share with others". Thus we are connecting with our values and others who share them by making these films a part of our lives.
Film isn’t just entertainment. A good film makes you think, and can educate and enlighten people with a message, or moral. The best films have the ability to present a fully realized, self-contained world into which the viewer can be totally absorbed. For a short time we forget about everything, and experience a totally new universe through the eyes of totally new characters. Film can transport us backward in time as well as forward. It can teach us our history, and present a vision of the future. Cinematography, locations, costumes, actors, set design, special effects, editing, music, etc. if mixed together in just the right way can create a believable world into which our imaginations can run free. The whole look of the film is as important as the story.
Film is a collaboration of many art forms. Together they form a vision of life that is indistinguishable from reality. No matter how fantastic the vision, it can be made to look absolutely real. This is why film has become such a popular art form. Everyone can enjoy it, and there is a film for all tastes. Film can also be a document of every aspect of our lives, in every culture and in all parts of the world. It’s a way of seeing all our experiences in all parts of the world. It can even create experiences that don’t exist, in places that don’t exist.
It wasn't until I had seen Star Wars that I realized the power that film could have. I later discovered that every film creates its own feeling and reality. Everyone sees something different in a movie. What people experience while viewing a film depends on individual taste, and life experience. A film that one person loves, another might find completely boring. One's experiences are always changing. A film that you saw at one point in your life might not have had any resonance at the time, but it may suddenly have a much greater appreciation of it later in life. After you have had certain experiences you may remember that film and say "mmm, I understand that film so much better now"
Some films grow on you. With every re-viewing of it, you see things that you may have overlooked before, or understand things that weren't clear to you before. 2001: A Space Odyssey had this effect on me. The first time I saw it, the experience seemed quite boring because I had grown up watching the fast paced (at that time) movies like Star Wars. But after viewing it again and again I began to appreciate it for its beautiful cinematography, and its realistic vision and story. Today it's one of my favourites, but you can't go in with preconceived notions.
Later I discovered other films that had a strong effect on me. Metropolis – 1927, Seven Samurai – 1954, THX 1138 – 1971, The Three Musketeers - 1973, Logan's Run - 1976, Star Wars – 1977, Quest for Fire - 1981, Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes – 1984, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen – 1989, Apollo 13 – 1995, The Lord of the Rings – 2001, In This World – 2004, Babel – 2006, Avatar - 2009. They all seemed to have a similar storyline that I was drawn to. So one day I wrote it down and called it the Formula. Later I found the exact terminology for this formula written by Joseph Campbell in a book called "The Hero With A Thousand Faces". In the book he writes about a formula that runs through world mythology, and I realized why these stories were so powerful. This formula seems to be hard wired into our subconscious. The formula is called "The Hero's Journey" and it is described generally as follows:
"The hero, setting forth from his common day hut or castle, lured, carried away,
or else voluntarily proceeds, to the threshold of adventure. There he encounters
a shadow presence that guards the passage. The hero may defeat or conciliate
this power and go alive into the kingdom of the dark, or be slain by the opponent
and descend in death (dismemberment, crucifixion). Beyond the threshold, then,
the hero journeys through a world of unfamiliar yet strangely intimate forces, some
of which severely threaten him (tests), some of which give magical aid (helpers).
When he arrives at the nadir of the mythological round, he undergoes a supreme
ordeal and gains his reward. The triumph may be represented as the hero's sexual
union with the goddess-mother of the world (sacred marriage), his recognition by
the father-creator (father-atonement), his own divinization (apotheosis), or again -
if the powers have remained unfriendly to him - his theft of the boon he came to
gain (bride-theft, fire-theft) ; intrinsically it is an expansion of consciousness and
therewith of being (illumination, transfiguration, freedom). The final stage is that of
the return. If the powers have blessed the hero, he now sets forth under their
protection (emissary) ; if not, he flees and is pursued. At the return threshold the
transcendental powers must remain behind; the hero re-emerges from the kingdom
of dread (return, resurrection). The boon that he brings restores the world (elixir)".
- Joseph Campbell
JP
