Monday, April 11, 2011

A Trip Down Memory Lane.

Wow, I can't believe it has been almost three years since I made a post on this blog. I was so into it for a while. I guess I let myself take too much of what other people said to heart. I'm not sure what prompted me to make a new post after all this time, but I guess taking a look at my page today for the first time in years, I was feeling a little nostalgic. Nostalgic of what, I'm not quite sure. Spending hours writing stuff that hardly anyone would read? Jeez, who knows? I guess this time, unlike most of the times in the past, I did it because I felt like writing, not because I wanted to feel important or like I was in some way contributing to the internet, which I never really was. Sure, I was able to get in a few early reviews and such, but looking back, my writing wasn't really good enough for a person to consider it a worthwhile review to read. But I wanted to be a part of things... I found myself as a regular on the message boards, among the most jaded of movie goers. People who couldn't enjoy a movie unless it was wanked out by Tarantino. I spent too much time there. I found myself becoming jaded, letting other people's opinions affecting the way I view movies. I guess that makes me easily manipulated, but if the general mindset is that a movie is bad, you tend to view it through shit-goggles. I hate that I let myself become that way. But in the end, I guess I'm getting better... these days I can look at an action movie that has 36% or something on Rotten Tomatoes and go into it not expecting greatness, and ending up enjoying the time I spent watching the movie. And that's what movies are all about to me. Enjoying yourself. Do I still live under the illusion that I could become a great movie critic? No. It would be nice, but I don't think I am nearly good enough to be able to do it. Although admittedly, I do feel like my opinion is just as valid as some of the schmucks you see on Rotten Tomatoes.

Though definitely not without it's faults, my time as an internet douchebag did provide me with some good TV and movie suggestions. Had I not spent so much time there, I may not have taken a chance with the shows of Joss Whedon, who I have since become a huge fan of. Heck, at the moment I've got a stack of Buffy/Angel comics on my shelf and an autographed photo of Charisma Carpenter next to my bed. If that doesn't scream geek, I don't know what does. And don't even get me started on my weird guy-crush on James Marsters (come on, the guy is just awesome). So allowing myself to be opened up to new things can be a positive thing. Three years ago, if someone had suggested I watch Sarah Michelle-Gellar spend seven seasons stabbing vampires, I probably would have dismissed them immediately.... but now I'm willing to give new shows a try, and quite often I've ended up enjoying them a whole lot.

Another show I've given a try in the past year is Doctor Who... when I say that, I'm talking mostly about the 2005 reboot series, though I'm slowly getting into the original as well. It took me years to get around to giving it a shot, and I'm glad I finally did. There's so much fun and adventure to be had. Plus, I love the concept of a show that doesn't have to constantly get bogged down by casting issues, because you know there will be a whole new lead in a few years.

Yes, I am well aware that this is simply turning into a "what I've gotten into in the past three years" post. But hey, what's wrong with that... as I've discovered today, it's interesting to look back and see what your tastes were like at a certain point. Looking through my older posts, I see that a lot of my favourite movies/TV shows have changed, and at the same time, a lot of it has stayed the same. I'm still a giant dork who collects everything Dragon Ball that he can get his hands on (no, not the Fox movie... I won't get into that)... that's not something I expect to change. Being "that Dragon Ball dork" is part of who I am, and it's a part of me (believe it or not) I actually like. So looking at all this, my tastes do not change so much as broaden. No, I don't like everything that I liked several years ago, but most things I liked I can still at the very least enjoy. A lot of movies I listed under favourite movies would still make that list. Let me put it this way, I add more movies to that list than I take away.

So at this point, I'll close off again.... for another three years? Maybe. Or maybe I will just keep writing... it's kind of nice to have a page that's all mine. As long as I don't get into my old mindset that there's no point in writing if nobody is reading it, there's no reason why not. I'll just treat it as a sort of movie diary. Something to do when I'm bored.