Greetings, faithful readers! Just wanted y’all to know that we launched FilmNet yesterday. “The circle is now complete!”
Go to the site now. It looks pretty great, if I do say so myself. Check out our blog to hear about all the cool features we have to offer. Watch some cool videos and (shameless self-promotion!) read the reviews.
Did I mention the address? It’s FilmNet.com.
As one of the behind-the-scenes people at FilmNet, I get to see how the site is shaping up as we fast approach our launch date. And I have to say, I’m getting really excited! This is going to be the ultimate site for film lovers - THE place for news, reviews, and the best of online movies.
I’ve been busy writing reviews and working hard to awesomify our review section before we pull back the curtain in September. This has been a decidedly mixed summer at the movies. (Harry: You’re still a wizard. Michael Bay: Could you tone it down just a wee bit?) On FilmNet, you’ll find reviews of movies playing at a theater near you, as well as critiques of the latest DVD releases and an extensive catalog of what are essentially nostalgia pieces - movies that came out a long time ago but we’ve decided to revisit. And, of course, reviews of your short films!
But I can’t do this all by myself, people, and for two reasons: 1) I am only one man; and 2) That’s not what FilmNet’s all about. This is about building a community of film fanatics, and we want our review section to have the same diversity of opinion as any other great user-driven Web site.
So if you like writing about movies, please send us your reviews! On the site, each review will have its own page, with your byline, stills from the movie and ratings on a five-star scale. The review page will link to a profile page, where you can pimp just about anything you want: social networking sites, other places where users can read your work, whatever! Please include a star rating along with the name you want your reviews to be published under. You can e-mail me at sbshupe@filmnet.com.
During my brief stint as an online movie critic, one thing I learned was just how much gold there was out there to go digging for. I can safely say I reviewed some of the best movies I’ve ever seen, period: How To Say I Love You, Playtime with Schlompkins, Honour Wedding, Paranoland, Papiroflexia, Pencil Face and Patrick Boivin’s masterpiece, Radio (the first of many, I suspect). And that’s just to name a few!
I got exposed to some cool new music, like Danny Malone (my new favorite ginger-haired indie-folk artist), Brooke Waggoner (a formidable lyricist/vocalist, not to mention a strikingly photogenic screen presence) and KEXP - Seattle. I learned about international affairs while watching eye-opening documentaries on the Middle East and Africa.
Most of all, I just had a really great time seeing young artists honing their craft. I can honestly say I saw significant improvement in such artists as FetusFilmsInc and DingBatComedies, whose delirious Preacher Man was a surprise sleeper hit. In the months ahead, I’ll be using this blog to follow the progress of these and other filmmakers. I definitely need to check out the new feature film recently completed by Fetus Films, a horror flick called I.Q. And the prospect of a new season of Zomblogalypze, created by Miles2GoFilms, has me hungrier than a flesh-eating zombie. I’ll also be posting updates and reviews of the Deep River (by Adam Stephenson) and Karma Kula (by ninjaigang) series. And I’ll continue to follow the work of Patrick Boivin, Michael Maxxis, The Minor Prophets, Films Royale, mmmcake and others.
I’d like to close with a few shout-outs to a handful of the filmmakers I’ve “friended” (in the online community sense of the word) during my time as MiamiMovieCritic.
Patrick Boivin: I love your genius.
Fetus Films: You guys make me feel lazy.
Minor Prophets: You are the masters of WTF comedy.
Miles2Go Films: You give British humor a good name.
Adam Stephenson: You are an auteur-in-the-making.
Great work, guys and gals. I’ve had fun getting lost in your films. If you have any questions, or if there’s a film you’d like me to spotlight, just shoot me an e-mail at info@thesplice.com.
