Marshall and the Movies – A Month in Retrospect

28 08 2009

You know what your problem is, it’s that you haven’t seen enough movies – all of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.

– Steve Martin

31 days ago, I sat on my bed with my computer and a dream.  Never did I think it would reach where it is today.  I had feared that the blog would just be a new outlet for my obsession, but it would really end up being me talking to myself.  Yet as I am writing this post, the blog has just passed 1,700 views.  Not too shabby.  So, I think that thanks are in order.  THANK YOU, READERS!  This blog has become somewhat of a success because of you.  And I especially commend those of you have commented, whether on your own will or as a result of my constant prodding.

Usually anniversaries are a good time to sit down and reflect since the original event.  And I intend to do just that.  In my first post, I laid out a very rough mission, if you will: “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.”

Have I reached the goals that I set out?  Overall, I think I have made good progress towards them, but my work is by no means finished.  Of those three categories, I think I have done the best job of connecting with people through movies.  I have several movie blogs that I now check because they stumbled upon my blog and commented, and I felt the need to pay it forward and read their blog as well.  Some of these excellent blogs include Joel the teen critic and James the Central Florida film critic. The blog has served as a great conversation piece among friends and acquaintances at school, allowing me to talk without being reticent about my obsession.  One post even inspired an hour long debate with a friend.

I can obviously work on fostering a desire to discuss movies, seeing as I have 1,707 views and 43 comments.  For those of you who don’t have a calculator within reach to do the math, that is a meager 2.5% of all viewers who have left a comment.  I hope I am not nagging about commenting, but the blog becomes a project in vain if I can’t get your input.  And as for inspiring a deeper inspiration of movies, hopefully that will come with some of my guided projects that will be starting soon … I PROMISE!

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Marshall and the Movies – The Year Ahead

19 08 2009

Dear Reader(s),

Today marks the day where I return to the glorious routine of school.  As you can imagine, homework and studying will come before this blog.  But “Marshall and the Movies” will not die!  I have a plan, and it is getting ready to be executed.  According to my aunt, a good blog needs to have a routine so that any readers will know what to expect when they are visiting the site.  So, drumroll, please…

The Routine

  • Every day a random factoid about myself and my life with movies will be posted.
  • Check back on Friday when I reveal a new weekly feature!  (UPDATE: It has been revealed.  Check out the F.I.L.M. of the Week here.)
  • I am going to be starting the Top 10 project soon and once I get going, I will post articles throughout the weekdays, one movie per week.
  • Reviews and other features and columns will pop up periodically, so keep checking back because you never know when I will post one!

Overall, I hope you bear with me this year.  It will be hard, but hopefully I can keep up the quality of the writing of this blog while maintaining accountability.  I will probably make some mistakes, but I’ll always try to learn from them and make sure that they don’t happen again.  And if you notice a decline in movie reviews, just know that school is getting really hard and I am channeling all my time and effort into it.

Until the next reel,
Marshall


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A Very Proud Moment in the History of “Marshall and the Movies”

13 08 2009

I have been shamelessly plastering my articles all over the film blogs I love the most, and I have received some warm recognition.  But today marks a very proud achievement for me and the blog.  Possibly the most respected movie critic of all-time, Roger Ebert, has acknowledged “Marshall and the Movies” and lauded its goals, specifically the “Mindless Moviegoing” feature.

Roger Ebert's Comment!

Thanks to anyone who has ever read this blog because if you didn’t, I would just be a neurotic teenager talking to myself.  Go see movies like “The Hurt Locker” and “(500) Days of Summer!”  Go off the beaten path!  Explore the boundaries of cinema!  I can’t think of anymore things to say that end in an exclamation point!

Until the next reel,
Marshall


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