An inspired idea

I've been trying to get back into blogging for a while but as my favourite Tumblr says, you need to have a theme. It never worked too well for me to just write what I was thinking, and even less so now that facebook keeps people up to date on my comings and goings much more easily and succinctly than a blog.

The SAY media empire has taken a firm hold of me, and my three most visited websites are now www.xojane.com, www.remodelista.com and www.hellogiggles.com. Now, HelloGiggles is both my favourite and the one I am least interested in overall. It is not as relevant to my immediate interests as XO or Remodelista, because it appears to be targetted at a younger demographic than me. I find hugely important articles there, but I find that they are usually important because they give me a point of connection with my students (their target deomgraphic) rather than something for me to ruminate on. However - there is one series that has absolutely captivated me for the past 7 weeks or so, and that is OLD LADY MOVIE NIGHT. The writer, Anne T Donahue, watches an old favourite movie, and does a live-blog/commentary type thing while watching. Her format is to make 25 points, opinions or questions throughout the movie, with and intro and conclusion to bookend it. Basically, its the best thing on the internet in my opinion, and I want to steal it - sort of.

Ms. Donahue selects movies from a reasonably shallow pool. As an (I assume) 20-something, she choses movies that impacted her childhood and/or early adolescence. Such choices as 10 Things I Hate About You, Blue Crush, Now and Then, and Centre Stage are defintely ones that left a lasting impression on me, and on Ms Donahue as well. The genius of her series isn't just that she says what alot of us are thinking while watching the movie, but that she re-examines her orinigal 10-year old, or 16-year old, or 18-year old self in her posts, by contrasting what she thinks now of certain scenes with what she thought then.

I want to expand on her series for myself, and attempt to select from a wider pool of movies - chick flics, action movies, trilogies +, old and new. The only criterion for selection for inclusion in my blog is that it be a Re/Watch - not an original viewing. This isn't to say I won't watch a movies two days in a row to make it a Re/Watch. I also want to get into television, series as well as independant episodes. Maybe even songs! Anything that provokes opinion and nostalgia. I will also not restrict myself to 25 opinions/thoughts/questions - I'll go on as long as the movie goes on! The pause button will be used and abused.

Pop culture has always been, and I expect will continue to be, my outward and also my secret passion. People know I like TV and movies but even those closest to me probably don't realise how much time every day, week, month and year I actually think about these things. It took the brilliant Anne T Donahue to make me realise it myself! I've got a constant stream of chatter running through my head all the time when I watch movies and tv, so its time to let it out.

First movie up for Re/Watch is: solid favourite The Rock. This won't be a Re/Watch - this will be a Rererererere../Watch. I'm not exaggerating when I say I've seen this movie upwards of 50 times easily.

Stay tuned x