Stories in general -and films in particular- in a rapidly changing world


I haven't written any film reviews for a couple of years -damn it, time does fly-. I used to, for an independent student site. I had this crazy idea that it would help me both with my language learning (I had just arrived in the UK from Spain back then) and with my writing skills.


Surprisingly, it was a rich experience that did help me in both these aspects (yey!), and even beyond. It got me thinking about films' flaws and strong points in what I thought it was sharp and incisive way. Well, it wasn't that sharp, actually, but it did force me to understand a little better how stories are structured (that and several script books, god bless Robert McKee), which in turn helped me -and still does- write my own stories, not for modest less in need of a good old-fashion structure.


When that review-writing period ended (mainly due to my editor and myself not getting on very famously), I was sorry to stop writing altogether. But since I was also busy with a new study program that lied ahead at the time and it wouldn't have been easy to keep doing it anyway, I just let it go.

In this time, I have continued going to the cinema. Sure. My films-per-week average doesn't go below two unless something VERY serious happens. I love stories. All sorts. And I believe that films still are one of the most powerful ways of telling them. I also believe that, as long as we don't forget that entertainment has rules, and that they need to be respected (“please don't bore me”), or at least understood before we can break them, films still have at least a little life longer before being taken over completely by the new media platforms. But only if they don't forget. Ironically enough, these new platforms are also giving everyone the chance of speaking up, of saying “I really hated that” or “I couldn't believe how good this other one was!”. Every day, millions of people make the global wisdom grow by modifying a wikipedia page, adding an entry to their blog, or posting their new vision on youtube. And those views affects other people's, and help them making up their minds. And I believe it also affects the way that stories, and films as one type of them, evolve.


Today, with no frill but with quite a lot of excitement, I start using this site again, powered by my renewed resolution of publicly writing again and contributing to this wonder. Like all those other people before me, I take the chance to speak about what I love, and to share my views and material with all of you who regularly lean regularly into this fascinating universe which the web is becoming. Let this be my humble contribution to this new and increasingly complex world of opinions, stories, and entertainment.



No comments: