June 7, 2005 2003
2 January 2003
I read your fascinating article on [omitted] while writing a book on Godard. I had already decided to use [omitted] as the kind of film that Godard despisees and loathes but i would like to reference your piece.
14 February 2003
I just happened upon your review of [omitted]. You expressed what I believed but couldn't vocalize... I then glanced thru a few more of your reviews... I've bookmarked your cataogue as Favorites...so I'll be looking at in the future... appreciation for your simple, short and insightful comments
19 February 2003
I read your review of [omitted] and I found it thoughtful and very good... I don't know why I'm writing. I just finished reading it and was wondering if anyone ever writes to someone that reviews movies on imdb to thank them for their thoughts...
4 March 2003
I'm a film student at the University of Southern California. I'm a big fan of the IMDB website, but I keep on seeing these bizarre, very intellectual comments posted which make no sense to my fragile young mind. Eventually I've come to realize that they're posted by this tedg character, who has done comments on (almost) every movie I can think of. Well, I suppose that you put your e-mail address so people can e-mail you when they see your comments, so I thought, what the hell, I'll just try and see what this guy's all about. See, I didn't do this to say, "Hey, you were way off on[omitted]" or something stupid like that, I'm just interested by your apparent in-depth knowledge of film theory and extremely distinctive way of approaching movies, and writing comments on movies, for that matter.
6 March 2003
I've been reading your imdb comments for the past year. They are quite interesting and unlike anyother that I've read before. (I wonder if you get many of these letters from other Imdbers?)... I agree with many of your observations and greatly anticipate your books. Have you successfully completed your "shopping around" for a publisher? I hope so. Tell me about it... Anyway, I'm running a little long here. I'm 20 years old and I dream of becoming a filmmaker. I've dabbled in screenplays, embarking now on writing a short, and have for the past 2 years been making little video's with my Minidv. I wonder if you have any advice for me. Thanks for reading this letter, please write back... Can't wait to read your books.
25 March 2003
I find your user comments on IMDB most enjoyable. Thank you.
31 March 2003
I thought I'd comment on the [omitted] comment, it was interesting reading.
26 April 2003
found you on IMDB... Thanks for MOVIE reviews
25 May 2003
I love reading your reviews on IMDB, but as a young-spawning filmmaker at the age of 19; I'd be interested in books that you've read and found enlightening as far as telling a story through images goes. And, I know it may not be that area because you seem very critically oriented, but what tips would you give to a growing writer/filmmaker with his first film.
29 May 2003
... I can assume from your prolific reviewing that you like watching movies. I was especially pleased that you seem to be one of the very few who actually understood what [omitted] was about.
18 June 2003
Just a quick note to tell you I really enjoy your reviews... Nice to see such thought and reverence in film commentary...a respect for what the medium is or could be. I am a... well I'm becoming a little too old to an aspiring anything, but nonetheless aspiring writer. Your reviews are daunting for someone trying to create, but daunting in a way that should push to another level. Now if I could only devote the time to work that I do to reading your reviews:) thanks for the time.
18 June 2003
I agree with you on alot, not so much on others.. but you can never be accused of putting too little thought into the comments... I've probably read 25 or so.
19 June 2003
Your comments on [omitted] were eye-opening, not only as they relate specifically to this film, but to the art of cinema in general. Thank you... I happened on the index page for all your other imdb.com reviews. My goodness. I'm a complete amateur when it comes to film and film criticism, so I'm no fit judge, but you seem to be so much more literate and exacting and knowledgeable in your reviews than what professional reviewers I've read. I only understand a tiny fraction of what you address, but, well, just...thank you. You've given my brain a lot to try to digest.
20 June 2003
just wanted to write a quick note and say I really enjoy your comments on the IMDb. I don't remember how I first found your comments page but I was struck first by how prolific you were, and then by the depth of your insights on such a wide swath of different films from Andrei Rublev to Zoolander. anyways, guess I just wanted to say I'm a fan, and keep up the good work.
20 June 2003
jeez man i read some of your reviews and theyre amazing i think if youre not a journalist or if youre not working in the media you should be
23 June 2003
You don't know me but I just had to e-mail you and say how impressed I was with the... imdb.com reviews you've done!... They should pay you...!
29 June 2003
I'm in college right now hoping to become an majoring in Film/English in hoping that I might be a director someday... I am a "fan" of your many, many, many reviews and have learned many interesting insights from them. And, two, you said that you were writing a book about folding techniques in narrative cinema. A couple of questions: When is the book coming out? What is it called? I look forward to reading it. Thank you for your cooperation and the wonderful, insightful reviews.
15 July 2003
[Am I actually writing fan mail? I guess so... here's your fan letter...] I happened upon one of your "user comments" at IMDb (I don't remember for which film) a while ago, and through the comments-by-author page, I've read a good portion of your writing on that site since then. I thoroughly enjoy your insights on filmmaking and watching, and you've given me a long list of movies I need to rent. Thanks for sharing your interesting opinions.
I was wondering if you have a web site devoted to this interest of yours, or if there's any other more convenient way to keep up with your new submissions than manually scanning a list of almost 1200 comments. I would be delighted if you had a weblog and I could simply point my RSS aggregator at it. If you don't, consider this message a vote of confidence that there is at least some interest in such a thing. One person's enthusiasm is probably not enough to justify it, but hey, maybe you get emails like this all the time.
Typically I would offer any needed assistance with the technical aspects of such a project here, but I'm going to completely fall prey to stereotypes and assume from your email address that you've got that part covered. I hope I don't go to hell for that.
16 July 2003
I am a freshman in college and if I could be anything I wanted, I'd be a filmmaker. I have never taken any formal film classes and therefore have had to teach myself everything I know about film from the few valuable writings I have found and personal viewings of films. I live in the middle of Georgia, which means I'm not saying much when I tell you that I know a great deal about film compared to most people in this area (in a nutshell, I'm not new to film). I happen to stumble across your IMDB comment on [omitted] yesterday and have since started reading all your comments. Your writings are changing the way I look at film. I was wondering if you could send me your list of filmmakers and actors you mentioned in your comment on [omitted] and if you could, a list of some great films. Also, I was wondering when your book will be available.
20 July 2003
I saw your comments index at
21 July 2003
I've been reading through a lot of your movie reviews on IMDB.COM and I've come to think you're an interesting person at the least. - You have great sight! Thanks for the reviews, I enjoy reading them more so than actually watching some of the films. =)
27 July 2003
I am working at becoming a filmmaker, living in Los Angeles. I had just watched the film [omitted] and looked up a review of it on Imdb.com, finding your review first. I was intrigued at your writing, mostly the way you explored elements that others would neglect, such as the use of the narrative. I've spent the last two hours reading other reviews of yours, and with so many that you have written, I'm destined to spend many more hours doing so... I commend you on your wildly interesting reviews at the Imdb.
31 July 2003
Just wanted to say good job on all your reviews, I always look forward to reading them. Thanks again!
25 August 2003
You have written an immensely perceptive and very helpful piece. Thanks: you enhanced my appreciation of a film I already liked very much.
16 September 2003
I am writing in regards to your movie reviews on IMDB dot com. It would be an understatement to say they pique my interest. In fact they intrigue and excite me in a way that I have not experienced in a while. To risk sounding fanatical (which I am far from, just an eager student of connections and repetitions) I am amazed by their depth, scope, clarity yet brevity. They make sense even though many of the ideas you mention regarding film, narration, and the camera are foreign. Therefore if you have the time I would appreciate it if you... told me where I might be able to see some other samples of your writing (which I assume must exist). The cinema as the subject matter would be find but equally if not more so I would like to read on other subjects be it history, science, politics or whatever. Thank you.
17 September 2003
the breadth of your interests (and labor) is amazing. If the glass bead game were real and you a player, your rookie card would be worth a lot.
20 September 2003
I have been reading your reviews for some time now and indeed found them quite inspiring. In fact they have had a catalytic effect in my search for new contexts and ways of approaching other art forms as well.
14 November 2003
Your reviews are insightful - do you have a website? Or even more specifically do you do any consulting work?
19 November 2003
I really enjoy reading your comments on IMDB. You've helped me become a better film student.
19 November 2003
just wanted to say nice review and keep on writing.
29 November 2003
I've been impressed by your comments on films on IMDB
3 December 2003
Anyway, as a young, impressionable film student, I've spent the last year and a half of my life pretty much trying to absorb as many films and ideas about film as possible, trudging through books on film theory that I can only begin to understand, and plumbing the online archives of all of the regular film critics everybody else always talks about, and looking at a few voices from the amazing IMDB website. But, now having read over a hundred or so of your comments, I can safely say that the ideas you've presented in these comments have intrigued and challenged me more than any others I've yet seen. Going to film school at USC, I'm constantly reprimanded by professors and peers alike for suggesting that maybe there's more to movies than plot (a slight exaggeration, but only a slight one), and yours is the first voice I've found that provides a cohesive argument by which I can begin to understand what cinema is really meant to be.
But I'm still just beginning. Reading your comments I feel like I'm assembling a massive puzzle, beginning to see a much larger world beyond the world in which I used to think I knew something about film, now trying to understand the visual in cinema more deeply because, well, next semester they expect me to actually make my own films, and I don't want to walk into this new endeavor empty-handed. But I sound like a underprepared student about to beg for answers for tomorrow's exam. Not at all; to paraphrase something you often say in your comments, I'm looking at building my life around the films that I love (as far as being able to make my own films, I consider that a nice bonus), and any guidance you could offer, no matter how slight, would be wonderful and, who knows, maybe life-altering. The concept of folding I'm still struggling with, and I still don't get the redheads thing.
As a lifelong student of acting craft, I love your ideas on layered performances, even as I struggle to wrap my brain around them. Any readings you could refer me to, any ideas I should look up, anything at all would be much appreciated. Also, when I e-mailed you some time ago, you sent me two lists, one of your required for cineliteracy films, and another of those that were worth watching, both of which I have since lost in a computer switch; they would both help me out immensely in my studies. I realize I'm kind of asking for a massive amount of information and may be imposing on your own schedule (this e-mail is quickly becoming a short novel), so if nothing else I wanted to send this to thank you for placing your insights in such an accessible forum, as they have been a catalyst to opening up an entirely new world for me, not only in film but, at the risk of reading too deeply into all of this, in my life itself.
P.S: Even if you never respond to this, I will be eternally grateful to you for leading me to the work of Peter Greenaway. Amazing, baffling stuff, ruined me on other directors for a month.
4 December 2003
hi, i'm a fan of movies and i was cruising the comments for [omitted] on imdb and found your comment page. I checked out your comments on [omitted] and [omitted] among the other films you commented on that I strongly agree with. I truly admire how you mamage to put every film-watch feeling into some sort of specific perspective and still seem funny sometimes. What I'm most curious about is your all time top five favorite movie list. now, "here we have" this tradition that i have to ask every film lover i know. if you say you're not a list person, that would be trying too hard to be wise, cause the truth is, every one has to come up with a list at least at one point of their lives, and list making never goes away in our minds. i'd really appreciate if you could make the list, and thanks for your patience in reading this rubbish.
10 December 2003
Like your writing on IMDB.
21 December 2003
I've read almost all of your comments on The Internet Movie Database, and I find them very interesting. You are one of the few people in this world whom I know I can trust when it comes to giving recommendations on film.
