Cinematic Catharsis Turns Five!

Friends, today marks my blog’s fifth anniversary. I know there are lots of movie bloggers out there who have been doing this a lot longer than I have, but half of a decade on the web isn’t too shabby, especially if you convert it into dog years (there’s probably a connection somewhere).  

In this relatively short span of time, I’ve seen quite a few blogs come and go. More frequently than not, the reason they pack it in is because it’s just not fun anymore. I guess that’s why I do my best not to hold unrealistic expectations or push myself to post on a specific schedule. The sure road to burnout would be if I were forcing myself to write. If you ask me a year from now whether I still enjoy blogging, I might have a different answer, but I doubt it. The whole blogging thing has been a trial-and-error process, but my basic mission remains the same: writing about the kind of movies I want to see, and sharing my enthusiasm about the flicks that slipped through the cracks over the years.  

I can’t isolate the exact moment when I caught the movie bug, but it’s always been gestating inside my brain. As the youngest of three, I was constantly exposed to a variety of movies that other kids probably didn’t (or couldn’t) see, and spent many hours on my own, watching the classic genre greats on TV. Working in a mom and pop video store in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s also helped hone my tastes, but I credit Michael Weldon as my primary influence. His seminal underground movie guide, The Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film, and its equally influential follow-up, The Psychotronic Video Guide shaped my cinematic palate, for good or ill. Thanks to Weldon, and film enthusiasts of similar ilk, I developed my mantra: life is too short for ordinary movies.

So, what’s on the horizon? For the immediate future I plan to keep doing what I’m doing, and I hope you’ll keep coming back. I just wrapped up a second guest spot on Todd Liebnow’s sensational Forgotten Filmcast, which appears on his site ForgottenFilms. I’m thankful he invited me back to ramble on about one of my favorite subjects, and I hope he could salvage a few minutes from my contribution (Watch for it soon). In the remains of the year, I’ll be participating in five blogathons, and will devote an entire month to film noir with Noirvember. I’ll kick off 2016 with Japan-uary V, and following the lead of my recent voter’s choice experiment on Twitter, I’ll put February’s theme to a vote. Further down the road lies a more ambitious project. You see, I’ve always harbored a hidden agenda. The last thing the world needs is another movie book, but that’s my long term goal. In my own small way, I like to think I’m carrying on Mr. Weldon’s work. And, no, I’m not delusional enough to say I’m working on the third volume he never wrote, but I regard my filmic ramblings as a spiritual descendent. Okay, now that I’ve stated my intentions on my blog for the world to see, I’m holding my feet to the proverbial fire.

Thanks to all who make Cinematic Catharsis one of your regular, or semi-regular, stops. Your support means more to me than you’ll ever know. As always, stay tuned…