My Movie Obsession

I've always had a thing for movies ever since I could remember which truthfully isn't as far back as it sounds. I suppose it all started in fifth grade, thanks to Gladiator. I remember having rented it, and after seeing it I couldn't believe--I was just speechless is what I was. I was literally dumbfounded by the beauty caught on camera and was captivated by the story. I loved the movie so much, I memorized most of the lines.

That year I followed Gladiator and its cast to all the awards ceremonies--not literally, but I was there glued to my TV screen when they aired, hoping it would win. That was the very first year I watched the Academy Awards, and ever since then I haven't missed a year, or any other major awards in film for that matter.

Not even a few months later, I believe, I went to go see A Knight's Tale. It wasn't the best movie I had ever seen, but it's memorable in the fact that it was what kick stared my weekly trip to the theater. It was also the movie that inspired me to make my own film. I'm much too embarrassed to tell you all about it, but it was huge project I wanted to take on. I wrote the short 20 something page script my self, using some of my friends as inspiration. I got as far as casting the "what would have been my first ever" movie, complete with contracts and everything. Obviously fifth grade was my year.

Sadly, my larger than life ambition wore away over the summer. But my fascination for movies, luckily stayed with me. I continue to watch movies on a weekly basis, and have come to terms that a week without a movie is a week unfulfilled--at least in my terms. I have developed the habit of watching new releases on their opening weekend, and have come to possess several quirks you might consider beyond weird:

• I never watch a movie more than a week old in theaters. Independent and limited releases exempted.
• I prefer to watch in larger auditoriums
• I prefer having a full house
• I keep my ticket stubs in a photo album
• I listen to critics
• I watch movies at night, never when the sun is still up

I will watch anything and everything, with the exception of gory horror flicks., and find it difficult to accept some one's decision not to see a movie based on who directed it, who stars in it, or who wrote it. I am not bothered with being historically correct. I'm there to be entertained and quite possibly be taught a valuable moral lesson, not to be educated with historical facts I can learn elsewhere.

I think you can tell a lot about a person from the type of movies they watch, or don't watch. It does take a certain degree of maturity and intelligence to watch certain films and enjoy them. For example, Brokeback Mountain.

I dream someday about having a career in the movie business, whether or not I'll pursue that dream, however, is unclear. I am continuing the goal I never finished: I am making a movie. Not with the same script I wrote back then, when I was still simply a novice at storytelling, and when my mind was still naive. I have collaborated with a close friend of mine, and it is his story we will capture on film.

My main job (among other minor tasks) in this project, currently untitled, is Director, and to make things clear, it is a real movie, nothing like the home videos you see on Youtube.

My love of films has greatly developed through the years, and I look forward to the future. I only hope it is a future with film.