Movies and TV Shows

Here's a list of some of my favorite movies and television shows. Like the rest of the site, it's still under construction. Please pardon my dust!

Movies

TV Shows

Another retro hipster, eh?

As you've probably noticed, you won't often catch me fangirling over newer movies or shows. This isn't out of some misplaced sense of nostalgia, but mostly because newer films have almost no sense of place. They're almost all filmed against a green screen with nondescript lighting, and everything that makes the movie worth watching is done in post -- a process that frequently bankrupts the companies to whom this task is outsourced. The end result has become predictably bland and boring. In filmmaking, I feel that the background and lighting of a shot are just as much characters in the story as the actors, and it's unfair to synthesize these things on a shoestring budget and then expect the result to have a soul.

There's an even more important bone I have to pick with these newer movies and shows, however. And that is best summed up, oddly enough, in the words of Jesus.

Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

People who read the Greek classics will write Shakespeare. People who read Shakespeare may write Hemingway. Someone who reads Hemingway may write like Tom Clancy. But someone who reads Tom Clancy may end up writing shit.

George Lucas lived an interesting life, and made the Star Wars films. The people who made the Disney Star Wars sequels, grew up watching George Lucas films. And it showed.

You will never be greater than that to which you aspire, but you may, if you're very lucky, acheive its equal. The television and film industries have suffered greatly from this phenomenon. The snake eats its own tail. And that's why I prefer content made before 2020. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk!