Marshall and the Movies

I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated.

– Francis Ford Coppola

Movies are my life.

I have no idea where this inspired idea will take me, but I know that the first thing that I write will somehow come full circle.  I wish I had something philosophical or deeper to say, but I think that sums it up pretty well.

What do I hope to accomplish with this?

I wish I knew the answer, but right now I just don’t.  I don’t have a detailed goal or a mission statement … yet.  Who knows, maybe in the next days or weeks I will come up with one, but right now I am just drawing a massive blank.

For me, the important thing is that I am starting this.  Many other people have a problem finishing things; I am not a part of that group.  I have trouble getting things started.  A lot of times, I have a great idea, and when I try to start it, it doesn’t quite turn out like I want it to turn out, and I get too lazy to fix it.  But that ends now, at 11:47:50 P.M. on Monday, July 27, 2009, according to the clock on my nifty MacBook.  I don’t know where or when this will end, but it starts now.

So, my initial thoughts on this undertaking:

I love movies, but I don’t want everyone who reads this to become as big of a movie lover as I do.  Then I will have manufactured a society of obsessive movie fanatics, and as fun as it would be to have people that I could really relate to, I don’t know if I would wish my level of infatuation with movies on anyone else.  What I do hope to do is to inspire a deeper appreciation of movies, foster a desire to discuss movies, and connect with people through the glorious medium of film.

I don’t want the site just to become a forum for me to review movies.  Much of the time, it might just tend to turn into that.  I don’t want to become merely “Marshall the Film Critic.”

I need to watch some more classic movies.  I call myself a “cinephile,” but I haven’t seen many of the movies that have defined the art of cinema.  As of this posting, I haven’t seen “Citizen Kane,” “Gone with the Wind,” “Casablanca,” or a single movie by Alfred Hitchcock.  I fully expect jeers for that, and I am certain that I will hear people call me out as not being a die-hard movie fan.  In my defense, I have occupied myself with seeing the defining films of the ultra-modern era of film (mainly the new millennium).  Hopefully, as time goes on, I will find the time to watch these classics and put them into perspective.

What the heck am I thinking?!?  I am a full-time student with hours upon hours of homework each night.  And on top of that, I have a season of athletics, two musicals, one play, two select arts companies, volunteer work, religious commitments, college searching, standardized testing preparation – and trying to retain some vestige of a life.  How on earth am I going to have time to maintain a blog?  My guess is that this will become an incredibly self-serving project, giving all the time I spend watching movies some sense of purpose, but if people actually take time out of their day to read my thoughts, I will no doubt feel the need to give them what they desire.  And much of the time, I will want to leave the world of pre-calculus and physics to write about the world of cinema.  But please, dear readers, do not let me!  It falls under the category of “the greater good.”  I will most assuredly want to write, and you most assuredly will want to read, but I desperately want to go to college, and if I do not do my homework, I will not go!

I constantly come up with ideas for movies, and I flesh them out in my head for days.  However, my laziness kicks in and eventually they just end up in my Microsoft Word document called “Ideas as they come.”  Right now, there are 6 movies that have been fleshed out enough to land in the file.  I just can’t seem to work up the stamina to write the screenplays.  A few months ago, I sat down to write a screenplay, and somehow along the way, it turned into a play.  Don’t get me wrong, I love plays, and I am very happy with the way that my story turned out.  But my dream is to have some part of myself reach the silver screen.  I don’t care if I write the screenplay, act in it, direct it, produce it, or even key grip it (I don’t know why, but I love including the key grip in any sort of discussion about the crew of a movie).  I hope that as this blog develops, I can find the strength to bring one of my ideas to fruition.

There is so much else I want to say, but I’m sure it will all come out with time.  I cannot wait to get started sharing my love of movies with the rest of the world.

It is now 12:18:48 A.M. on Tuesday, July 28, 2009, according to the clock on my MacBook, and 12:27 according to my bedside clock.  I need to fix that, and maybe I will.  I have a giddy rush from writing this first post, and I want to put it to good use.

But now, as I try to finish this post, I am trying to come up with some sort of a signature sign-off.   And at 12:23:26 A.M., it hit me!

Until the next reel,

Marshall

P.S. – If you don’t understand it, that’s why God gave us Google.