It really is funny how much that seems to summarize everything that's happened since last update without the need to add nuance but the levels of support that I've continued to receive continue to stagger me and I owe it to all of you that willingly take time out of your day to read my work, if not myself, to be as transparent as possible. So without further ado...
State of Life
Lately it feels like every time I start to get ahead, I hit major snags that keep me jogging in place and speeding toward the same dead end. For all of the follies of my luck however, which have included some substantial automotive troubles among other financial woes, the time between updates has not been without its upsides.
2020 marks the beginning of a new year and the first year in a while since I am no longer bound to the hazardous, ethically questionable, and overall soul sucklingly exploitative and terrible employers that I used to work for.
My new job isn't without its hiccups but its reasonable pay, reliable hours, and built on a solid foundation of communication in a way that actually has me willing to wake up and see the next day more than not.
As some of you may have noticed based on the upload schedule, I've also finally figured out how to finagle said reliable hours to the benefit of uploading. The time working my way to that point has left me to do a lot of self reflection on how far I've come, where I should be going, and how to get there, leading me to realize that before I can properly determine a course for this blog's future, I need to take a step back and rediscover things.
What does that mean content-wise? Well...
State of Reviews
By and large, reviews will remain unchanged. I'm always seeking to grow and experiment with my style of critique as the years have molded me into a much different critic from who I was 6 years ago, much less the 9 years since starting this blog for the first time.
That said, as long as movies are coming out, I'll be reviewing them. That much will remain consistent and barring the occasional flux in release as I continue to hash out routines balancing my life to keep the content coming, I don't ever foresee that changing.
State of Writing Series'
Now we get into the big changes. When I first decided to relaunch Crit.Hit, I knew that whatever I chose to do needed to accomplish a lot of objectives at once.
I needed something that spoke to my interests that could capture wide audiences, that was relevant to current times, welcoming of a new perspective, able to capture my manner of critique while also helping me to expose myself to more and more content as a fresh face to film reviews in desperate need of stepping outside of his shell.
Young and Stupid, Return of the King, Happily Never After, etc.
While it would probably be arrogant of me to say that I cringe looking back at my oldest work the longer time passes, these will always have a spot in my heart for their usefulness as stepping stones of development in a major turning point in my life.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end.
Currently I have no future series' planned on the docket as my format for content will be going through a substantial overhaul.
This does sadly mean that Younger and Wiser, will remain an unfinished project. I have tried numerous times to morph the thesis into something that I can produce for but it just doesn't seem to come together without me falling into habits and trappings that I've long outgrown and need to move on from.
That's not to say editorial content is dead. Far from it. There are many an experiment I will be working on this year but as I struggle to come to terms with who I am today, I can't shackle myself to something that represents what I was for even another few minutes, try as though I may just for the sake of finishing something that probably wouldn't have ended particularly well anyway.
Don't think for a second however, that this particularly means I've lost my newfound appreciation for YA literature. Far from it. Which brings me to...
While it would probably be arrogant of me to say that I cringe looking back at my oldest work the longer time passes, these will always have a spot in my heart for their usefulness as stepping stones of development in a major turning point in my life.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end.
Currently I have no future series' planned on the docket as my format for content will be going through a substantial overhaul.
This does sadly mean that Younger and Wiser, will remain an unfinished project. I have tried numerous times to morph the thesis into something that I can produce for but it just doesn't seem to come together without me falling into habits and trappings that I've long outgrown and need to move on from.
That's not to say editorial content is dead. Far from it. There are many an experiment I will be working on this year but as I struggle to come to terms with who I am today, I can't shackle myself to something that represents what I was for even another few minutes, try as though I may just for the sake of finishing something that probably wouldn't have ended particularly well anyway.
Don't think for a second however, that this particularly means I've lost my newfound appreciation for YA literature. Far from it. Which brings me to...
State of that "Novel I've been Writing"
Nearly 3.5 years ago, I announce my desire to chase a bout of inspiration that had struck me and chased it I did. And it still has a waaaaaaaaaaaaaaays to go.
It's a novel that I've been passionate about and a project that I've banged out in my head over and over and over again until I have neared what I believe may finally be a finished state for a first rough draft.
Writing this thing has been a journey in and of itself but as much as I'd love to share it here, I also need to think about the release platform and method that would benefit it best, which would definitely not be squeezed in between weekly movie reviews.
With that said, I have some ideas in mind and I look forward to testing some waters in the coming months this year.
It's a novel that I've been passionate about and a project that I've banged out in my head over and over and over again until I have neared what I believe may finally be a finished state for a first rough draft.
Writing this thing has been a journey in and of itself but as much as I'd love to share it here, I also need to think about the release platform and method that would benefit it best, which would definitely not be squeezed in between weekly movie reviews.
With that said, I have some ideas in mind and I look forward to testing some waters in the coming months this year.
State of the "Worst of the Year"
The year is thoroughly underway and as you have no doubt noticed, a celebration of the best films of 2019 is clearly visible but for the first time, not the worst.
Last year I made the declaration that Crapshoot, my annual look at some of the worst Hollywood has to offer, would be ending with a look at the duds of 2018, as I was finally seeing so many films, bad movies included, through out the year, that making a traditional top 10 worst of the year was finally looking to be more feasible.
Little did I realize I would be spending more time escaping my hell hole of an employer last year than watching movies in theaters but the fact remains, why seek the worst of the year if you're slowly becoming exposed to it over time?
Sadly, attempting to do so has led to another revelation and decision that I've made moving forward regarding Crit.Hit's future.
I will not be doing, worst of the year lists. Ever.
There are enough films that Hollywood shovels out every year that are technically well made but cynically produced in such away that piss me off on a personal level, that to wallow in the total failures of the art form just for the sake of producing a little bit of vinegar that can probably be found anywhere else and in more profound detail is not an efficient use of my time and resources.
The internet age has made the scene of media criticism an angry, dour, cynical, joyless, and frustrating place to be but I don't even make this choice to harangue the idea of negativity.
Being outraged and tearing things down can be fun. I'm not above it and anyone that says they are is a liar on some level. I have no problems discussing the negative and will do so happily but only in a way that I feel is in and of itself, constructive or at the very least uniquely diverting.
Speaking of negatives.
State of Fromage
DragonHeart 5 exists.
The Shatners are coming back. It's not a question of if. Just a matter of time. Not saying when or how often yet. But, it's happening.
State of Star Wars
Here's another one long overdue.
Last year, some of you may remember me mentioning my willingness to finally tackle the contested nature of "The Last Jedi," something I've been reluctant to do as the current state of "Star Wars" discourse continues to devolve into a dumpster fire carrying train-wreck barreling toward a nuclear meltdown.
After months of development I seemed to finally be settling on a thesis before I had to put the whole thing on ice to seek out a less self destructive job to settle into. By the time I was ready to work on it again, I sadly had to put more overtime in at said job due to a number of life complications that I'm only now beginning to hopefully ease out of.
Then "The Rise of Skywalker" happened and everything simultaneously went back to square one and became more clear than ever before.
That write up is now more of a "Star Wars" sequel trilogy write up and that's gonna take time. But boy can I not wait to get to work on it.
...And that's the the most pressing of it.
There'll be plenty more to come, announced and/or otherwise but above all else, I really wanna thank you dear reader, for making each day just a little bit easier.
It was a rough decade but a new one has begun and I'm not wasting any more time in making it one worth remembering
No comments:
Post a Comment