Davis: That's part of your problem: you haven't seen enough movies. All of life's riddles are answered in the movies. (Grand Canyon)
For the second straight year, my Matchflick column falls on the same week as my birthday. In fact, last year my column fell on the same EXACT day as my birthday, which is July 11th, 1985. I'll be 22-years-old on Wednesday of this week. It's hard to believe that I've been on Matchflick.com for over a year. It goes without saying that I love writing about film. To me, it's the most fun you can have without lubrication. Yes, I went there. I also love thinking about film. Every year on my birthday, I always stock up on different movie related items. For my birthday last year, I purchased books on Marlon Brando and Sean Penn. Marlon Brando and Sean Penn have always fascinated me. While they are fantastic actors, they're also very unique individuals with unique politics. I also purchased The Crossing Guard, Dead Man Walking, and A Streetcar Named Desire. I was very happy to see A Streetcar Named Desire on DVD with so many special features. I was also very happy to finally find The Crossing Guard on DVD. I had such a hard time finding that film.
Even with over 400 DVDs in my collection, I still don't own a lot of my favorite films. While I've seen A LOT of movies, I'm still behind with my movie viewing. I have this sick obsession with owning movies. I can't own a copy of the film or anything like that. I need to own the DVD with the packaging and everything. I love the thrill of buying movies. DVD Tuesday is my favorite day of the week. On my birthday, I go hog wild with buying films. If you stand in my way, you might get hurt. My favorite store, without a doubt, is the used DVD store. That store is heaven to me. First of all, the films are very cheap, which means I can buy a lot of films. I always ask for money or gift cards on my birthday. I don't want any nerdy sweater, bygod. I want movies and more movies! Second of all, the used DVD store has a lot of hard-to-find movies. It's full of classics! I've found so many great movies there. I could literally spend hours in that store and search through the bins like there's no tomorrow. If loving used DVDs is wrong, I don't want to be right, baby. I bought Grand Canyon there for only four dollars. Yes, four dollars. That should be illegal in forty states. Lawrence Kasdan is not happy about it.
It doesn't matter how old you are, you can always discover something new about the cinema. There's always a movie that you haven't seen or a performance that you haven't seen. That's what drives me. Even at 22-years-old, I still have that drive and that ambition to discover everything that the cinema has to offer. I want to know as much as possible about movies. I love watching and WRITING about movies. Movies have really gotten me through so much in my life. Not to get emotional on my readers, but my mom passed away in July of 2005. She passed away six days after my 20th birthday. What did I do during that time? I bought a bunch of movies and locked myself in my bedroom and watched them all. I'll never forget that weekend. A local Hollywood Video store was going out of business, and they were selling all of their DVDs for only three dollars. It was almost like a gift from god. I really, really NEEDED that. I needed an escape from reality. Movies are very therapeutic. They can make us smile during the toughest of times. Movies are ALWAYS there for us. Even after we've lost friends and parents, movies are still there for us. They'll never leave us.
Movies have treated me very, very well. They've allowed me to interview some of my favorite actors and directors. Because of movies, my name has been featured in major newspapers. While it might seem like I'm bragging, I'm really not. I'm just so humble and grateful for everything. I'm grateful that Seth Leonard gave me a chance to write for Matchflick.com. I'm also grateful that Tim and and Brandon have allowed me to continue to write for Matchflick.com. I'm grateful to every site that allows me to write about movies. At the end of the day, I'm just a movie geek with a lot of time on my hands. Whenever I get an e-mail or a message from someone about my writing, it really makes my day. My head is always flowing with movie-related thoughts. When I'm in the shower, I'm thinking about movies. Please keep your perverted thoughts to yourself! When I'm taking my daily walk, I'm thinking about movies. I've actually been thinking about this column for the past month. I just didn't know how I would put my thoughts on paper. It's hard to describe something as complex and unique as movies. While I'm doing my best with this column, I'm probably leaving out a lot of stuff. I'll never fully be able to put into words what movies mean to me.
Even though I'm still a young pup, I've lost my passion and love for a lot of things. I've also gone through a lot of different phases in my life. I can say with confidence that I'll never lose my passion for the cinema. It's too strong and vivid. I BLEED movies. It's a part of me. I've been through a lot with movies. You just don't forget all that. I'm still taping Ebert and Roeper every Saturday night at 10:35pm on ABC 7 Chicago. I'm still writing my column for Matchflick.com over the weekend. I'm still buying DVDs every Tuesday at Best Buy or Walmart. I still get excited over new movies. I still love doing interviews. I'm also still buying a boat load of DVDs on my birthday. I'm still single as well! That's a different column for a different time. With me, movies come first. Where will this crazy movie business take me? Your guess is as good as mine. I just know that I'll never stop loving movies. Even after I've seen tons of bad movies, my passion is still alive and well. My passion to write about movies is still alive and well. My passion to discover is still alive and well. If you don't have passion, why do you get up in the morning? To be honest, I've never been a 9-5 guy. I've always thought outside the box.
Before I end this column, I want to encourage all of you to never lose your passion in life. I know that sounds cliche, but it's beyond true. Life is far too short to spend it doing something that you hate. You should spend it doing something that you love. While it's a long road and it's full of ups and downs, it's worth it. I truly believe that. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're wasting your time. In fact, I encourage you to listen to them. I encourage you to remember their words of negativity. Whenever I have any success, I know it burns them up. They want to see me fail. In some weird way, I love to listen to the naysayers. It motivates me to no end. It also pushes me to bust my ass to prove them wrong. I'll never allow myself to become some flunky at some dead-end job. I'll never wake up and hate going to work. You see, you can't put a price tag on happiness. Even though I'm broke and living day-to-day, I'm living out my dream. If I die tomorrow, I'll have peace of mind. I took a lot of chances and dared to dream. I dared to do the impossible. I hope to continue to follow my dreams for the next 22 years and change. Without our dreams, we are nothing. Thank you for everything, movies. You've treated me very, very well.
Davis: There's so much rage going around we're damn lucky we have the movies to help us vent it.
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| Single and Loving Flicks |
Every other Tuesday
Expect the unexpected from Tony as he'll give you his columns on the way movies used to be, the way movies are, and the way they should be.
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| Tony Farinella |
Tony is an Oak Lawn, IL based film reviewer and columnist looking to have fun and share his unique views on film with everyone. Tony also has an unhealthy obsession with Vanessa Lengies, but that is neither here nor there.
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