"Choose Life. Choose a Job, Choose a Career Film Blog."
An afterimage is an image that persists in the eyes or mind after exposure to the original image. I'm sure it's corny to open this with a word definition, but at least I didn't open with "Webster's defines this as...".
In any case, the concept of an afterimage is what this blog is built around. Movies (art in general, really) have a way of sticking in your mind long after you've stopped engaging, even if you didn't enjoy them.
My relationship with art has manifested as hyper-fixations over the decades. In my 20s, my life revolved around music. I listened to every album in every genre I could, and I tried to incorporate it all into the music I was writing. I never made it as a performer, but I did work on the industry side for awhile.
In my early 30s, the desire to keep up with music waned, and I traded that energy for comics. I read everything I could, all genres, all artists, indie and major. This energy didn't extend to trying to create comics like it did with music, but nonetheless, they had all of my attention.
As my comics enthusiasm began to wane in my late 30s, I remember compiling a spreadsheet that tried to normalize movie critics' end-of-year "best of" lists. I wanted to see if I could find the best movies of that year, and I figured that was the best way to get an "objective" consensus (I basically stole Metacritic's methodology). Thus was lit the spark that led to my current fixation with movies in my 40s.
"How Can You Not Be Romantic About Baseball Movies?"
Plain and simple, my favorite thing to do is watch and talk about movies. I love the communal experience of going to a theater, watching stories around a silver screen campfire. I have regular virtual and in-person watch parties with friends and I'm a member of multiple film clubs. Those clubs are packed with people who've watched way more films than I have, but they're all welcoming instead of intimidating. Ultimately, they've empowered me to feel more confident about my reactions to movies, particularly when I disagree with them.
Over the past couple years, my friends have encouraged me to start writing down my film reviews, and I've finally decided to listen. I'm not schooled in theory or film history, nor do I have any experience as a writer.
All that means is I've got new things to learn, and I couldn't be more excited.
Rating System
I'm just using a standard 10 point rating system that can be mapped on to a 5 star system. The only reason I'm not using stars is because I like the aesthetic of numbers, Otherwise, the only thing worth nothing is that I'm not giving objective reviews of anything, I'm going purely off of feeling.
I think this is in keeping with the afterimage idea, something subjectively experienced. Putting aside whether art can truly be "objectively" viewed in any case, there are plenty of "bad" movies I like and "good" movies I don't. This also isn't the place for hot takes or snarky commentary. Any low scoring reviews won't be takedowns, and I can usually try to find something positive about whatever I'm watching even if I really dislike it. Good vibes only.
One Last Thing...
I just want to give a shout out to Nelson Fraga for designing my logo.