Please remember that you are choosing to read my opinions.

I should explain something now since I've decided to review movies as the opprotunity arises. I like watching movies. I usually find something I enjoy about them. Between my mom and dad, I've seen a lot of crappy movies. If I want to watch a really good movie I usually have to either purchase it myself or, better yet, make it sound really good to one of my parents.

You could say I inherited my love of movies. My dad has always been a movie buff. From him I get my love of science fiction, comic book movies, and the better action movies. I also get my distatste of Westerns from him, though he absolutely loves them. As a kid, westerns were a far cry from exciting. John Wayne may have held some facination for my father, but not me. I also used to hate MASH, the long running wartime comedy starring Alan Alda. I've since come around to MASH, and I even like a few westerns.

From my mom, I'd say I got my love of comedy and horror flims. It's no wonder that the Evil Dead movies became some of my favorite movies of all time. Some of my earliest movie memories revolve around horror movies. My one fear as a kid, aside from various insect fears, was Freddy Kruger. Nightmare on Elm Street remained one of the only movies that scared me until rather recently, to my embarrassment. I got my feel for more psychological suspense movies from her.

 As for comedy, it's not so much that my mom is the connisseuer of comic movies, but she has a hearty laugh and likes to laugh. She might not exactly like the kinds of movies that I do all the time, but she doesn't say so. She laughs.

But my entire family is this funny. They are all infinitely better at weaving a spoken story. I always need more time to think about what i'm trying to say, and where I am going with my words. I came to appreciate a good story from my family. My brother could make something as mundane as a hunting story into an epic struggle between the forces of good and evil. My dad could sit down and tell a hundred different stories from his rowdy youth, or something as simple as a card game, something that isn't all that exciting without some dramatic elements added in.

How I've come by my specific tastes in movies isn't too hard to say. Until a few years ago my favorite movie would have been Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.. It still is a favorite, but mostly for Gene Wilder ( a personal favorite) and the nostalgia it still evokes. Then I started thinking that I could write my own movie. I took it upon myself to watch more and more movies that were considered to be American classics. I watched everything from Citizen Kane to Some Like it Hot. I didn't study the movies, but tried to drink in the experience and get a feel for what a great movie played like.

I didn't learn what made a great script, and it didn't help my finish mine. It helped me understand movies a little more, and sometimes when watching a movie now I feel like I know where the movie is headed because, as the saying goes, it's all been done before. But every so often a new movie comes along that is enjoyable and has something to added to the footnotes of film history. Those movies are the ones that I enjoy the most.

What I've come by myself is my love of the independant films and foreign films. I like independaent films because they usually haven't been fully corrupted by hollywood yet. The film makers are often not afraid to try something a little artistic or experimental, and not afraid to use no-name talents to achieve their goals. In foreign films I stand alone in my family. I think I'm the only person who can sit down and read a movie and still enjoy it. Still, it's nice to see the vast differences between movies made in mainstream America and those of other counties. Foreign films aren't afraid to push the envelope a little bit, and the best part.... it's harder for me to tell how bad the actors are doing when I can't understand a word they say.

But, from this, I hope you can tell a little something about me. Maybe something good, maybe something bad. Eventually I'll give you a glimpse of some of my favorite movies and what I like about them, but for now I'll stick to the more contemporary movies.

The next movie I'll review is The Grudge and i'll let you know why I'm holding a grudge... towards the filmmakers.