This is to be a collection of personally written movie reviews, and this project is driven by two loves of mine: The first is a fondness for writing. The second is naturally a fondness for movies.
To be effective in conveying one’s thoughts in words, I believe that those words must have love and conviction. I have a deeply rooted love of expressing my thoughts, and there are few things in life that satisfy me as much as a detailed collection of musings. It discourages me to see people try to convince others with only the most minimal and bare-bones arguments, and so I try to convey not just how I feel about something but why I feel the way I do. If I can’t make my views seem as reasonable and well-explained as possible, what’s the point of sharing them?
But why do I love movies? I see cinema as a combination of narrative and presentation. While narrative tells us what is going on, presentation allows us to care about the characters, events, and circumstances that drive the central story. For a movie to have strong presentation, that movie must rely on the cooperation of many diverse elements. The actors and actresses must perform to the best of their abilities, whether with fullness of body language or with voice alone. The cinematography or world design can easily tell a story without exposition: What is the world like in this movie? Is it pretty or ugly, fantastic or modern, idealistic or realistic? And is this world, in its beauty or horror, all that it appears to be? The musicians and sound conductors have what I believe to be a very underrated job, as the strong use of sound can work wonders when establishing an overall mood.
I love movies that can tell engaging stories even when nothing is being said and nothing is happening, that know when to be powerful and when to be silent, and that know how to be deeply passionate about the stories they tell. Even a movie without a complex plot can win me over with a strong passion for whatever story there is, and even a strong central plot can be brought down by a lack of enthusiasm from the actors or directors.
I love movies that can blend the subtle with the overt to make something that appeals evenly to the senses, the mind, and the heart. I love the unique challenges involved in proper pacing of a film: Unlike a book or a video game, a theatrical production can’t easily be put down and picked up again where the viewer left off, so the movie must be long enough to complete its story, short enough to be reasonable for the viewer, and well paced enough to keep the viewer consistently interested.
A movie that manages to make all of these elements work together, becomes more just than a movie; it becomes “art,” and in my opinion this art deserves a lengthier opinion than a few short “yay” or “nay” lines on a page. And this is why I write, because I wanted to give something more elaborate, more complex, and hopefully perhaps more thought-provoking.
I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to a dear friend who gave me the encouragement, advice, and support that helped motivate me to begin this project. If you are reading this, my movie-loving friend, consider this a dedication. And to those others of you who read this, know that I sincerely appreciate every moment of your precious time. God bless!
Projected Realities 