Saturday, September 22, 2012

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Movies, opinions and reasons

(For the record, those aren't my DVDs. But this is the right picture to use, since X-Men & Fellowship of the Ring, two of my favourites are in that pile)


If you asked me when was the exact moment I fell in love with films, I can't quite tell you. My earliest memory of watching a film in a cinema was Ghostbusters, which was back in 1984. I was seven years old at the time. I recall being scared of seeing those ghosts on screen, even though the film is basically a comedy, and a good one at that.


I can also recall being in secondary school at the time blockbuster films like Jurassic Park and Speed first came out. I was living in my hometown for the second time in my life. Jurassic Park is an awesome film which was groundbreaking back in the day, and I still love it even now. I think it was at this point when I started to pay more attention to movies and what they stood for.


Six years ago, I started Familiar Fantasy, the film review blog where I would give my opinion on the latest films showing at the cinemas. The best thing about my blog is that it's strictly reviews only. No film news, no celebrity updates, no trailer postings etc. Just reviews, which makes the blog's purpose singular and unbiased as much as possible. And unlike most people who have blogs like mine, I write for the sake of getting my opinion out there, and that's it. Most people would have these stupid ads all over the place, earning money and whatnot. Me, I don't care about that.


For quite some time now, I realised that my posts back in the day were not as good as I had hoped. Deep down I felt like I wasn't being as honest as I wanted to be, but now I'm getting better at writing honestly and being as concise as possible. It's hard actually, because I'm not much of a writer, so giving an opinion on something you love still requires inspiration of some kind.


These days I find myself challenged by other reviewers who have their own FFs. I've looked at a few of them, and they seem large, occasionally unkempt sites but quite ambitious too. They all have their own views, which I strongly disagree with at times, because frustratingly they seem more interested in panning a film rather than judging it fairly. And they're all Malaysians, which I find fascinating. But I leave it to them to say what they want, since they're just like me.


Films hold a special place in my heart. I love watching a story unfold the same way a bookworm loves reading a novel. Whether the story is familiar, original, mysterious, unpredictable, funny, dark, bloody, sad or tragic, I'd be there to see it happen, as long as it's entertaining. At times I wonder if there's anyone out there who gets the same feeling I do when sitting in a dark hall, that moment when the lights go out and the projector comes on, and the story comes alive. When it begins, I'm along for the ride till the end. I do my darndest not to be distracted by anything else, be it other noises, fidgety patrons or the cold atmosphere. I use the word 'wonder' because people these days only care about their cellphones. When I think about it, it saddens me. It's tragic knowing that the art of watching movies has been ruined by technology that 90% of the world can't do without. Cellphones are a disease, and you can't deny it when you see how people won't let go of them even when they're driving. If only there was some way to disable cellphones as soon as someone walks into a cinema hall....gosh I wish someone would invent something like that.


I truly wish I had more time for my movies. I must admit with great shame that there are tons of DVDs in my room just waiting to be played. Time is my greatest enemy, it always makes me choose to stay away from what I love. Perhaps I have myself to blame too, for occasionally fooling myself into believing I will make the time for them someday. But I haven't given up yet.


Let it be known that if you want to spend quality time with a loved one, you can't go wrong with a film you both can agree on. Likewise, if there's a girl out there who wants to impress me, she just needs to find the right film. And unlike most film lovers, I'm not so fussy.