"Well. I'm back."
It’s been an interesting two years as my fingers, shaky with anticipation, return back to the website that has brought me and, if I am to believe countless emails, others so much joy over the past several years. I’m not going to lie: I never thought I’d be back in Juneau, Alaska, let alone with the opportunity to revisit the world of film criticism. But just as Bilbo Baggins resumed life in his little Hobbit hole after years of adventures, so I see myself returning to my little corner of the internet to see if I’ve still got it.
What a great ride these last two years have been. I’ve been travelling, first to Nashville, Tennessee, then all the states in between there and Alaska a little bit at a time. I eventually settled, for a year and a half, in Washington State, where I worked on a market garden farm, fell in love, and finished and published my first novel (which you can buy here). And it’s a strange thing, friends, holding a novel in your hands that someone has paid you to publish; for as much as I enjoyed getting dirty with potatoes, something inside of me awoke—I knew I needed to go back to school to get my master’s degree and move on with a career in academia. So, long story short, I returned to Juneau and entered into Alaska Pacific University, where I’m currently working on my low-residency MAP. While here, I quickly re-connected with the University of Alaska Southeast, and it felt good to be home. Except, of course, for the nagging feeling that something was missing. Of course, that something was Film as Art.
Expect more essays from me soon, including lists for the best films of 2009, 2010, and my picks for the top films of the ‘00 decade. I will update as frequently as I can, as my studies allow; I expect one good essay a week should be in order, at the very least. In the meantime, please enjoy my first review in two years, and know that as I wrote it, I knew that returning to Film as Art was absolutely the right decision. The joy I felt in this website for the four years I did it flood back as I post new material now, and I finally understand that for all of the soul searching I’ve done in the past twenty-four months, I wouldn’t want to be in any other place than this Hobbit hole. I thank, above all else, your readership for creating this feeling of contentment. What a strangly humbling opportunity, to tell people whether or not their movies are any good. It's a contradiction that I fully embrace.
Now, back to the Reel World we go!
