No Foolin'

Perhaps making this declaration on April Fools' Day is not a good idea. After all, I have from time-to-time played pranks on my readers (including a fake review of a movie that didn't exist and a glowing review of a universally reviled title). In this case, however, I am serious. A reader recently suggested that I abandon "ReelThoughts." After all, he wrote, "it's tough to have a blog if you only write something once or twice a month." People get tired of checking in day after day, and eventually they don't bother. So I have decided to change the focus of "ReelThoughts" slightly, letting it become a more typical blog. I will still occasionally post longer articles and/or commentaries, but, for the most part, this section of the website will be filled with short, somewhat random musings and rants. The average entry won't be very long - perhaps only a paragraph or two - but the goal is four to five new ReelThoughts per week. That should increase traffic and interest. (As in the past, most ReelThoughts will still be about movies, but there are times when I'll touch on television, books, politics, philosophy, or wherever the topic takes me.)

The Bad E-mailer

If you have sent me an e-mail and haven't received a response, my apologies. Usually, I'm good at keeping up with e-mail, but I have recently fallen behind. Let me state this up front - I read every e-mail that I get. Typically, after reading something, I put it into one of two boxes: "rely needed" or "no reply." Unfortunately, I have been negligent and the number of messages in the "reply" bin is extraordinarily large. So, to catch up, I will do a purge, then start anew. It's nothing personal, and you can blame my sloppy housekeeping. If you sent me something that you believe deserves a reply, please re-send. After the purge, I will be caught up and it will be a few months before I start to slip again.

Featured Reviews

Every once in a while, if you stop by the Current Movies page, you may run into a new addition called the "Featured Review." It won't be there all the time, but will pop up when I see a movie that I want to alert readers to earlier than the usual one-week window that I have for posting reviews. The first such movie was Sin City. I saw it 2 1/2 weeks before its release date, and wanted to get the early word out about how incredible it is.

There will be more Featured Films in the future (often after I attend a film festival). There are only two qualifications: I have to like the film (that means at least 3 stars, more likely 3 1/2 or 4) and it has to have a U.S. distributor. (No sense frustrating readers by lavishing praise upon a movie they may never get a chance to see.)

This week, there is no Featured Film, and it's hard to say when there will be another. Hopefully, soon. Thus far, 2005 has continued the mediocrity brought to the fore in 2004. I eagerly await the next movie I will be able to laud.

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