Focus Features

Tell us about your blog.

It started out as a music in film or a movie soundtracks blog – and that’s ostensibly still the mandate – though that’s increasingly becoming stale because my writers and I have moved towards being a regular movie news site for no real reason other than I follow my whims. After two years of chasing down music soundtrack stuff, I wanted to write about other things and the frame started to widen. There’s also a big group of contributors so that’s probably another reason why the spectrum has opened up to what the original idea was. So it’s a film news blog with an emphasis on music when it comes up and feels natural, but I try not to force it if it doesn’t feel right anymore. It becomes a boundary and that’s exactly why I stopped writing for “real” publications, if you will. I wanted to have the freedom to say what I wanted and how I honestly felt about any topic. I also want the freedom to say, “this now bores me and I want to write about something different.” Next week we’ll probably be a food blog.

How would you describe your readers?

Cranky, cantankerous, lacking in humor. BIG Terry Gilliam fans. As in, they’ll come to your home and freak out on you for suggesting a certain trailer looks sort of silly. We’re a bloggers blog or like a player’s coach which means only a few select people appreciate us. Or something like that…

Do you have much contact with the people who read you?

No, not really and that’s probably for the best. If I had my way, we wouldn’t have a comments section. I always liked The Onion and A/V Club when it was a one-way street of authoritarians telling the masses what was good, but they changed the model because traffic is god unfortunately. That’s not a dig on them. Everyone has to do it. I suppose I have contact with the blogger friends I’ve made by just doing what we do.

Tell us how – and why – you started your blog?

I wanted to start a blog for years, but figured there were already way too many music blogs, many of them chasing their tails covering the exact same thing. Then I had this eureka moment when I realized – and I guess this is duh, but it didn’t feel that way at the time – that I should combine my love for music and film. People always used to say when I first started, “That’s a very good niche you found yourself,” but that’s giving me too much credit. None of it was premeditated or constructed in that manner. It took me two years to figure out the concept because it didn’t occur to me, so I really just stumbled upon the idea, realizing rather stupidly that most of the music articles I had written in the past – my favorite ones – were about film. But I was a music writer who went to school for film, so it all really circles back and funnels into the same place.

How do you find things to blog about and how do you decide that an entry is worth being in your blog?

It’s gut instinct. I usually know within five seconds if I can write about it or not and then 10 seconds later I’m generally crafting something. That is, unless I’m busy.

What is your favorite blog entry?

You write so much, it’s easy to forget. All the writing I did in 2007 is great for me. I look back on it – a slower, more thoughtful pace and perspective – and I don’t even recognize that person. “Who was that writer?” Any time we generate original stories or break news, which is far less often than I would like, those articles become my favorite. I suppose my recent favorite is one where we broke news on about a dozen new Criterion Collection titles, but I myself did not write it. I suppose I liked my “Inglourious Basterds” casting picks before the movie was cast. I still think half of them would have been better choices, but that’s me I guess.

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Tell us about your blog.

It started out as a music in film or a movie soundtracks blog – and that’s ostensibly still the mandate – though that’s increasingly becoming stale because my writers and I have moved towards being a regular movie news site for no real reason other than I follow my whims. After two years of chasing down music soundtrack stuff, I wanted to write about other things and the frame started to widen. There’s also a big group of contributors so that’s probably another reason why the spectrum has opened up to what the original idea was. So it’s a film news blog with an emphasis on music when it comes up and feels natural, but I try not to force it if it doesn’t feel right anymore. It becomes a boundary and that’s exactly why I stopped writing for “real” publications, if you will. I wanted to have the freedom to say what I wanted and how I honestly felt about any topic. I also want the freedom to say, “this now bores me and I want to write about something different.” Next week we’ll probably be a food blog.

How would you describe your readers?

Cranky, cantankerous, lacking in humor. BIG Terry Gilliam fans. As in, they’ll come to your home and freak out on you for suggesting a certain trailer looks sort of silly. We’re a bloggers blog or like a player’s coach which means only a few select people appreciate us. Or something like that…

Do you have much contact with the people who read you?

No, not really and that’s probably for the best. If I had my way, we wouldn’t have a comments section. I always liked The Onion and A/V Club when it was a one-way street of authoritarians telling the masses what was good, but they changed the model because traffic is god unfortunately. That’s not a dig on them. Everyone has to do it. I suppose I have contact with the blogger friends I’ve made by just doing what we do.

Tell us how – and why – you started your blog?

I wanted to start a blog for years, but figured there were already way too many music blogs, many of them chasing their tails covering the exact same thing. Then I had this eureka moment when I realized – and I guess this is duh, but it didn’t feel that way at the time – that I should combine my love for music and film. People always used to say when I first started, “That’s a very good niche you found yourself,” but that’s giving me too much credit. None of it was premeditated or constructed in that manner. It took me two years to figure out the concept because it didn’t occur to me, so I really just stumbled upon the idea, realizing rather stupidly that most of the music articles I had written in the past – my favorite ones – were about film. But I was a music writer who went to school for film, so it all really circles back and funnels into the same place.

How do you find things to blog about and how do you decide that an entry is worth being in your blog?

It’s gut instinct. I usually know within five seconds if I can write about it or not and then 10 seconds later I’m generally crafting something. That is, unless I’m busy.

What is your favorite blog entry?

You write so much, it’s easy to forget. All the writing I did in 2007 is great for me. I look back on it – a slower, more thoughtful pace and perspective – and I don’t even recognize that person. “Who was that writer?” Any time we generate original stories or break news, which is far less often than I would like, those articles become my favorite. I suppose my recent favorite is one where we broke news on about a dozen new Criterion Collection titles, but I myself did not write it. I suppose I liked my “Inglourious Basterds” casting picks before the movie was cast. I still think half of them would have been better choices, but that’s me I guess.

What was your most popular/controversial blog entry?

Well, neither I nor my writers purposefully court controversy (that would be kind of lame), but referring to the above question about fans. The Terry Gilliam fan site seems convinced we hate Terry Gilliam because we didn’t exactly love the trailer to Parnassus and said so. Even Gilliam himself mentioned us in a video interview. I don’t know what to say about that other than 1) we wrote about Parnassus more than any other film site on the web this year – other than the apostle-like websites devote to the film and Gilliam—and 2) If you want to know who we really dislike, well ask yourself this. Why don’t we write much about every little thing around Gore Verbinski or Stallone projects? Uhh, because we don’t really care. If we’re writing about you a lot, clearly we care. To say we had it out for someone we disliked and purposely dogged them all year – as they charge – is just ridiculous.

Is blogging the new path to fame and fortune?

Hell no. In fact it’s probably the direct path to the poorhouse if our blog is any indication.

What separates journalism from blogging?

Everything. We just can’t even compare, but for better or worse blogging is the new journalism. Journalism is facts and hopefully reporting and speaking to the source to get those facts – though there is an argument to be made that sometimes “facts” are subjective depending on the subject – it’s digging and pounding the pavement. It’s a hell of a lot of fun when you’re in the thick of it. There’s nothing like doing an interview, chasing down a lead and breaking a story. There’s a high like nothing else, but that’s hard to achieve these days unless you’re the New York Times or someone with real access. Blogging is completely different. It’s framing, reframing, speculating, guess-work, opinion and hopefully driving along with the daily conversation in your arena and contributing something valuable to the dialogue. I do lament the loss of true journalism and do think most blogging is sub-par, but it does allow you a sort of freedom that fact-based journalism didn’t. How many times has a publicist dicked me over because I was a nobody and they wanted to save a story – one that I alerted to their attention in the first place – for a bigger publication? More times than I care to remember. After a while, I wouldn’t wait, and that’s a nice freedom. Blogging in general can be terrible, but if you do a good job and bring some insight and unique perspective to what you do, hopefully you’ll get noticed.

Who are the bloggers that you read religiously?

Anne Thompson, Stu at Movieline, Jeffrey Wells, Lane at Vulture. But let’s face it and admit something to our selves, at least the bloggers of the world: we’re all reading Variety and The Hollywood Reporter too so let’s finally give respect to some of their writers and reporters. Without them most bloggers would have nothing to write and rehash about. Let’s give some kudos to Michael Fleming at Variety and Steve Zelchik at Hollywood Reporter (among many other writer/reporters). If I had my druthers and pick of the litter, I’d be doing what those guys are doing: being on the frontlines, breaking news and reporting it first. No re-regurgitating it like most of us bloggers do. Let’s be frank about it. The relationship to blogs and the trades are like sharks and remora fish, which is why the trade embargo to me a few years ago was baffling.

How has your life changed because of your blog? Has it gone in any new directions because of your newfound prominence?

Newfound prominence? Are you talking to the right person? I’ve discovered exactly this: Respect from your peers and the some of who I consider the most dignified people in the community is incredibly satisfying on a personal level, but at the end of the day seems to unfortunately mean jackshit and certainly won’t pay even a dime of your bills. If I were smart, I’d sell out and write about blockbusters and 3D and write about it with hushed reverent tones. But I’m not smart, ‘cause if I was I would have gone to law school and not given this a second thought.