About Me

Me. Take it or leave it. (Please don't leave it.)

Before getting to the actual blog, I thought I should post a little information about myself in order to better explain who I am and why I'm doing this. Reading is optional, as it only tangentially relates to the reason I created this thing in the first place.

My name is Alex Goldberger. I was born and raised in Louisville, TN, just outside Knoxville; it was okay. I'm currently a student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, because I was not accepted to Vanderbilt*. In the absence of a fully-formed film studies curriculum, I have tried to construct one as best I can with a double major in Journalism and Electronic Media (emphasis on the second part) and English, with a minor in Cinema Studies.

My career aspirations are still rather hazy; I know that I want to work as a writer, but whether that means being a journalist, novelist, or screenwriter, I'm still not sure (not that any of them are particularly realistic professions in terms of financial security). I would love to work in the film industry, but I don't have enough experience with film-making at this point to say whether it's truly what I want.

In terms of qualifications for doing this sort of blog, I'm afraid I don't have many concrete accomplishments to offer. I took part in a film studies course at Duke University a few years ago as part of the Duke TIP program, and I've taken a couple of film classes so far in college (Intro to Film Studies and Writing the Screenplay, if you must know).

Throughout the years, however, I've done a lot of reading and viewing on my own with the intent to learn more about film as an art form. There are still huge gaps in my knowledge, to be sure, but I feel comfortable in saying that I know a good deal more than the average film-goer about film history and film theory.

My main source for film news (other than Twitter) is /Film, though I've grown more and more frustrated with that site in recent years (more on that in a future post). My favorite critics are perhaps rather conventional choices, but for me they are unparalleled in their consistency: Roger Ebert and James Berardinelli. I'm also fond of The A.V. Club for their occasional pieces on the film industry.

One of the most useful things for an aspiring film buff is a list or database that purports to list the greatest films of all time. Two sources that I found greatly helpful during my early film education are the American Film Institute's various 100 Years... lists and Roger Ebert's Great Movies series.

Even better than one person or organization's list, however, is a list that compiles and averages all other lists into a kind of super-list of the world's most acclaimed films. Such a list exists at They Shoot Pictures, Don't They?, and I can think of few better resources for those wishing to dive head-first into the depths of film history.

Finally, I guess I'll conclude this post with a list of my own: my favorite movies. This likely deserves its own post, so I'll just list the names for now and leave explaining my choices for later.

While I would never claim that these are the greatest films of all time (as I haven't seen every single film ever made, nor do I think I ever will), these are what I consider to be the best I've ever seen.

Enjoy my 20 favorite movies! (Ranked in order):

1.  Rear Window (1954)
2. Casablanca (1942)
3. Goodfellas (1990)
4. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1967)
5. The Godfather Part II (1974)
6. Ikiru (1952)
7. Amadeus (1984)
8. Chinatown (1974)
9. Taxi Driver (1976)
10. The Third Man (1949)
11. Finding Nemo (2003)
12. A Serious Man (2009)
13. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
14. Network (1976)
15. Annie Hall (1977)
16. Notorious (1946)
17. It Happened One Night (1934)
18. The Social Network (2010)
19. Barton Fink (1991)
20. Lost In Translation (2003)

See you next time, everyone!


*Just kidding, any university officials who might read this!

Here goes!

I feel a bit uneasy starting a blog about film, for a few reasons:

1. I am by no means an expert on the subject, though I'm very passionate about it.
2. There are already many great film reviewers and film blogs and film news sites out there, and I fear my opinions, in the end, cannot hold a candle to them.
3. My skills as a writer are still in their infancy, as far as I am concerned, so I worry if I will even be able to eloquently express my views.

Still, I am starting this blog with the hope that regular writing on the subject will encourage me to continually foster my knowledge of film, and through practice to hone my skills as a reviewer and essayist.

I don't expect many people to read this until the above hopes are realized and the blog becomes worth reading to anyone who doesn't already know me, but this is likely a good thing, as it will free me to toil in  comforting anonymity until I am good enough to deserve better. If and when that happens... we'll see.

For now, the best audience for this blog is likely those people who are in a similar position to myself. Anyone who has, for whatever reason, been drawn to film as an art form, and is looking for a kindred spirit with which to discuss and learn about it, could likely find something useful here. As I said before, I am passionate about film, but I am still learning.

I don't consider my views to be infallible, and expect them to sometimes be flat out wrong. As with any worthwhile film critic, however, I hope to accurately express my point of view at whatever cost. It isn't important for everyone to agree with me, but they should at least know why I feel the way I do about a film (or director, or genre, etc.).

With all that said, I'm excited to start this blog, and hope that someone, anyone will enjoy reading it as much as I will enjoy writing it. Enjoy!