About Second Reel

I got my BA in Film Studies in 1992 and never did anything with it. This blog is my mid-life crisis. Enjoy!

I wish I could watch all of my favorite movies at the same time, all the time.

If there is a special type of OCD for movie fans, this blog is proof that I have it. Whether sorting shots from a scene into symmetrical piles, pairing up movies into thematically compatible double features, or comparing stats of actors bearing a physical resemblance, my compulsive need to categorize is given free reign. (See? I just sorted myself!)

If there is a deeper theoretical layer to my interest in film, it is based upon the notion that once a work is released to the public, it is out of the filmmaker's control and its "meaning" now belongs to — and is essentially created by — the viewer. This is not to say that I have no regard for the creative action involved in film production, nor that I believe communication is given to chance in a world of semantic chaos. I only wish to underscore the notion that our interaction with film — or anything else — is influenced by our personal history and experience, and because everyone's history and experience are different, so can be our perceptions of film — or anything else.

Thanks for reading!