My desire in film criticism has always been to celebrate the cinema in its diversity, to explore the pleasures and mystique of good movies, and to tackle the cultural resonance of film as both an art form and a vehicle of entertainment. I love to look for signs of creativity and commitment in even the most demeaned genres, and dig as deeply as I can into the meaning of cinema’s most important works and the methods of their creators.
I've been writing about cinema for several years now, and TheShiznit.co.uk has existed in some form or another since 2004, but it's only recently that it's taken off and I've found likeminded writers - like those in the OFCS - to share it with. The site's M/O is pretty loose, with regular news, reviews, editorial pieces and list-type features - but everything is written from a personal point of view. I kid myself we like to write about serious film, but really, we tend to be distracted by big, shiny movies - and I suspect that's the way our readers like it too.
I'm a critic who writes about music, comics and movies, currently focusing mostly on film. I try to approach film from a variety of angles, and write about a wide spectrum of cinema, including foreign and independent film, avant-garde film, and classics. One of the most important values I try to maintain in my film writing is avoiding the constant emphasis on "the now," the pressure to always write about every new film that comes out, often at the expense of deeper discourse. Instead, I try to just write about whatever interests me at any given moment. I look forward to being a member of OFCS and interacting with more of my fellow film writers.
I shall strive to maintain the highest level of quality and professionalism possible -- or at least as much as horror movies will allow. I've been critiquing horror movies for a couple of decades but only in the past few years have I discovered that I can make some semblance of a living off of what I would do for free. God bless the Internet! I hope that the OFCS will open doors for me and lend some respectability to the nonsense that I write.
After working for Cinematical since a month or so after its inception, I transitioned over to Movie City News in October 2008. I enjoy films of most genres, though I'm admittedly not crazy about cheesy rom-coms and I've only recently begun warming up to horror with a little hand-holding and guidance from horror-buff friends. I particularly enjoy foreign and independent fare, which is a good thing because I spend a good deal of time on the fest circuit. Lately, I have a serious fetish for the Danes.
I hope to be an active participant in OFCS and to serve the organization in whatever way my skills, such as they are, may be of use. When actual skills aren't needed, I'm always on hand to offer pithy remarks or scintillating conversation.
I began One Film Beyond in June 2008 after the prompting of friends and colleagues to create a site expressing my fascination with movies. I hope folks particularly enjoy the weekly “One Film Wonder” entries.
Favorite films are always in flux but The Third Man, Ikiru, and The Road Warrior are never far from the top. I look forward to the dialogue and feedback from the OFCS membership.
I have been writing full-time about film, television and media since 1991. I have written for or been on staff at Daily Variety, TV Guide, Saturday Review, The Motion Picture Guide, America, Catholic Digest, The Museum of Television & Radio (Paley Center), The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, and The British Journal of Aesthetics. Since 1999, I have been the editor of Cineman Syndicate, a service that provides newspapers and online outlets with movie and DVD reviews. In addition, I am a regular contributor to Boxoffice, ReelTalk Movie Reviews, Catholic News Service and am the media correspondent for Catholic Digest. I look forward to being an active member of the Society.
I have been interested in movies since junior high, but it wasn't until high school that I took a journalism class and decided I liked writing about film. I ended up as the Arts & Entertainment Editor of my high school (Kentwood Invictus) and college papers (Green River Current) for a combined 5 years before my editor at the time told me that I should only cover local material. I moved to the campus radio station The Pulse 1330 and co-hosted a weekly program called Bullet Time for a year before the radio station closed down and I had to leave school for financial reasons. After three or four years away from film writing, I was accepted to the DVDTalk review panel in February (where I write DVD and theatrical reviews) and the Boxoffice.com staff in August (where I write features, reviews and daily news updates), and I run The Following Preview, where updates are sporadic now that I write for Boxoffice. I often read other critics and wonder if my writing will ever be as good as theirs, but in the meantime, constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.
Along with my blog partner, Roderick Heath, I maintain Ferdy on Films, etc., a film review and commentary blog dedicated to reviewing films from every corner of the globe, from silents to today's hottest films. My goals as a film critic are to be accurate, engaging, informative, and ecumenical. I like to shine a light on those "offroad" films that may be overlooked, and I increasingly cover film festivals with complete reviews. I hope my membership in OFCS will help me better my knowledge of film history and criticism, expose me to cinema in other countries I might not have access to, and provide collegial support in the development of my skills and site.
I'm relatively new to this game, having covered film steadily since 2005. I'm a fan of most any genre, or at least I'd like to think so, and, well, since we're being honest here and all, I must confess to never taking much of a liking to popcorn. I know, weird, right?
I hope that my membership in the OFCS adds credibility to my work, and that it may help me earn both the respect of colleagues and the interest of potential employers alike in this ever-changing industry of ours.
I look forward to being part of this esteemed body.
The subtitle of my site is "Sci-fi, Horror, and General Whoopass." What I cover falls largely under the heading "genre cinema," though I don't always color within those lines. I also lean more toward the seldom-seen and under-reviewed instead of those movies for which you can't swing a dead cat without hitting a review. I look forward to being a charming gadfly in the OFCS, consistently demolishing the definition of "canon." And "worthwhile," for that matter.
