What does that mean to you?

Well, first it means that you should not send me hate e-mails telling me how wrong my opinions are. These are my thoughts on movies that I like, and directors I admire for one reason or another. If you don't agree, then go to some other fine cinema website that you might consider safer ground. One good place to find propaganda on movies you like is a movie's official site. They adore themselves.

I adore very little. I cannot say that I do not like a certain category of films, such as all Hollywood films, or all Independent films. But I will say that I know quality when I see it, I know originality when I see it, and I know trash regardless of where it comes from. Sorry, Scorcese and Coppola (I mean all three Coppolas) fans, but what you're watching is not the "very definition" of a movie. A movie should be honest, it should be well made (not necessarily meaning a big budget), and a movie should be fierce. This does not mean a movie should necessarily be "entertaining" in the traditional sense; a boring or painful story is just what you get when you submit to honest filmmaking. If you don't feel like putting the film on every day when you wake up, or when you have a few friends over for a couple of drinks, then too bad. Doesn't mean it's not a great film, it just means it's not pandering to your insecure need to laugh or shout out at an exploding car every three minutes.

Who am I?

My name is Andrew, and I work as a civic engineer, and lead a private life as film critic - mostly for my own amusement, but also for all my friends...whether they like it or not : )

I am an avid moviegoer, and attend a number of film festivals regularly around the world, and generally when I travel (which is often) I try to find a new festival that I've never attended. Most major cities have a few festivals now, so there is rarely a shortage. The only thing I lament is the loss of a really good quality art house, where the owner or manager actually puts some thought into the program. But that's a subject that's probably been written about by more artful people than I.

So are there only x great directors?

My list of great directors is not complete. I hope to update my list frequently, but depending on work, this may not happen as frequently as I'd like. But keep checking back just in case! Just so it's clear, though, my omissions do not include: Quentin Tarantino, Oliver Stone, Scorcese, any Coppolas, David Fincher, Robert Altman (who is letting him make movies?), Robert Rodriguez, James Cameron, George Lucas, or Spielburg.

They DO include Jane Campion (with the exception of the inexplicably bad "In The Cut"), Steven Soderbergh, John Frankenheimer, Spike Lee, Eric Rhomer, Hitchcock, Truffaut, Roman Polanski (until "Bitter Moon"), Woody Allen (before he lost it), Luis Buñuel, John Huston, Luc Besson, Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and a number of others. Hopefully I'll get to them all.

I also hope to find time to post a few movie reviews, although my work load has been more than usual lately, so I'm not sure when or if I'll find the time. For now, though, enjoy the rest of the site.