From 2015 to 2018, I was a writer and editor for a film review site called Front Row Central. I had the luxury of writing with some of the brightest, funniest film lovers I’ve ever met. After three years (and several more before that), we all agreed that the site had probably run its course and decided to close up shop. It was the end of an era, at least for me. I had been writing with these people on and off for nearly ten years.
I was never really in it for the fame or the glory. I did manage to get a review blurb on a DVD, which was pretty cool, but it just so happened to come right as we were shutting things down. The recognition was nice, but I did it because I just plain loved doing it. Writing about movies was one of the few things I knew I was good at, so when Front Row Central folded, I’m not gonna lie, it hurt a little bit. It felt like losing one of my senses. Suddenly I didn’t have to go to the movies every Friday night, or worry about hammering out a piece as soon as humanly possible. No one was asking me to do it anymore, so I just…stopped.
And honestly? I miss it. Not just the thrill of the hunt, I also miss having a place to write about movies at my own pace, just for me. Sites like Letterboxd are great, but I really feel like one voice lost among thousands. With a blog, I can at least fool myself into thinking there are people paying attention. It’s the digital equivalent of sitting at home and talking to myself. I know I’m just blathering into the ether, but it makes ME feel better, dammit.
So here we are. A new blog for a new year. I don’t know where this will take me, but we’ll find out together.
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS: A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION
The other night I finally caught up with Paul Schrader’s First Reformed. It’s clearly a story that matters deeply to Schrader, but it hit closer to home for me than I had anticipated. It’s a movie about grappling with faith in the face of personal, even global, existential despair. Paul Schrader obviously has misgivings about the church—misgivings I can relate to—but watching this film made me realize that I really don’t know enough about this man or his work to fully grasp where he’s coming from.
I’ve seen the short handful of his films that any good student of cinema should: Taxi Driver, Last Temptation of Christ…Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist… But I want to get to know this particular filmmaker better, and fill in some of the gaps of my film education along the way.
So here’s what I propose: Once every week or two in 2019, I’ll move chronologically through the filmography of Paul Schrader. Films he’s written and/or directed are on the table here; I want to gather the full measure of this man’s work.
Do I have any clue what I’m in for? Only slightly. I realize this means I’ll have to subject myself to the notorious The Canyons, as well as forcing myself to watch Dominion again, but I think this is a worthwhile exercise. And who knows? If this experiment is successful, I might tackle another filmmaker next.
There’s a new year ahead of us and plenty of gaps to fill…
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