Intro

• Movies are magic. Or at least the closest thing we have to it. With the power of the camera, we are able to be transported to worlds far beyond our imagination. We may make believe, at least just for the time we are in the cozy, dark theatre, that toys can talk to each other. That a galaxy far, far away is not too far if you own a Jedi X-Wing Starfighter equipped with hyperspeed. Or that our whole lives might be just a computer simulation run by machines of the future as Keanu Reeves uses kung-fu to thwart evil men who wear office suits to ensure the survival of the human race. All right, I might have went a little too far there but the point I am making is: anything is possible in the realm of cinema.

[Neo kicking some major a** in The Matrix Reloaded]

• Fantasy is a great tool to entice the audience to immerse itself into the world a movie maker is trying to create, but an even more powerful tool is the use of reality. A bit of action here and a pinch of fiction there is fine and make for great eye-candy but if the audience can not relate to what message the movie is trying to send to them, then the movie is entirely for lost. Movies that use simple, everyday life to connect with people and make them think that they are not alone, that reach out to the heart and move an audience emotionally (not necessarily make them cry; the emotion could even make an audience member feel uneasy or even slightly disturbed) are truly what make a masterpiece of a movie. A simple, light-hearted conversation between the best of friends can be much more effective than gunfire and explosions. The trick is to find the right balance of both a great story and some amazingly stunning visuals.

[Great, emotional scene from The Basketball Diaries. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a teenage basketball prodigy turned heroin addict]

• Just in case you didn't know yet, this blog will be about my thoughts and opinions about what makes a great movie, which direction the movie industry is going, and just about all aspects of cinema you can think of. So please continue reading my blog entries and join me in appreciating, studying, and utterly enjoying the awesomeness that is movie-making!