When I was younger, I overtook my parents\’ video camera. By the age of 12, I knew how to operate the clunky camcorder while my parents struggled with the manual. I created small videos. There was a short video I did which was my version of Alanis Morisette\’s Ironic. In it, I had my sister (she was only 11 then, I probably was 12) play all 4 parts while I directed it. We took the video in the my mom\’s car. One person who recently saw it was shocked that my sister and I didn\’t get into trouble (aka grounded by the parents) for sitting in the driver\’s seat and turning the ignition to the first position (thus only turning on the radio, AC, etc.). Yeah, I guess not!

And yesterday at my digital video class, we had a class assignment of creating a short video with ACTION. I got to play the part of the person who is running late and my other classmate was the one who was waiting for me. The entire clip was about us talking on our cellphone basically yelling \”where are you, i am almost there!\” to each other. Then shots of me running up the stairs, a shot from above, a shot from the side…and then me jumping off a balcony. Then a shot of my classmate screaming and then you hear a dull thump. Then a shot of me lying facedown on the ground…then suddenly I start groping for my cellphone…and lift myself up…and start running again yelling, \”I am almost there! I am almost there!\”

That experience reminded me how much I love movies too. The magic of it all. And how I had always wanted to be involved in the background. Even as a film critic. Just to provide the entertainment.

I make a list of movies I intend to see this summer like my sister. Tell me if you want to go see it with me! I also feel guilty for being influenced by the thing called $10,0000 marketing campaigns.

In the theater:

Fahrenheit 9/11 (I have already seen Roger and Me and Bowling for Columbine; why is it playing off Ray Bradbury\’s greatest novel?)

Spiderman 2 (I saw Spiderman 1 when I first met Seth and we have plans to see it the last time we will see each other – the drama! did I give away the ending?)

Harry Potter – POA (the urgency isn\’t great, but then I probably won\’t buy the dvd until all 7 have come out; I like box sets)

King Arthur (because I need mindless entertainment and a crowd pleaser for my superficial blood; and also Kiera has that charisma about her)

Supersize Me (always wanted to see it, but never got the chance; also I don\’t like going to movies alone)

I, Robot (I have a feeling that this might bomb, but I like the premise)

The Bourne Supremacy (for my sissy\’s b-day!)

Festival Express (a documentary look at music…supposedly good, but I remember how The Man of La Mancha almost made me fall asleep)

Garden State (because I liked the trailer music)

Control Room (obviously slightly biased documentary of al-Jazeera, the Arab television network, but why avoid seeing something that impacts us indirectly?)

Saved! (being surrounded by Christian friends in college, it\’s finally good to see a movie that addresses all those issues)

Shrek 2 (funny that I don\’t talk to those people who I went to see Shrek 1 with…)

On video:

Infernal Affairs II (because Infernal Affairs I was good)

Better Off Dead (\’80s movie!)

Bend It Like Beckham (by the time I was available, everybody else had already seen it)

Good Bye, Lenin! (a German movie about maintaining the communist days for his mother\’s health when she went into a coma before the Berlin Wall fell)

Dancer in the Dark (it has been years since I wanted to see it and I still never got around to it)

Kikujiro (see BEAT in the days of Battle Royale)

The Adventure of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (see the pre-Matrix, pre-LOTR Hugo Weaving)

Osama (fictional account of following a girl who disguises herself as a boy to survive in a strict Muslim country)

The Station Agent (again another indie)

In America (the journey from Ireland to America – with Samantha Morton last seen in Minority Report)