New Directions

It feels like just yesterday when I posted the "Declaration of Principles" here at The Cinema Doctor.    Yet, it was four and a half months ago and I have now had enough time to evaluate the endeavor.  I left my good friends at Pajiba in mid-July out of dissatisfaction.  This had nothing to do with Dustin, Dan, or Brian and everything to do with me.  I wanted to review more new releases, as I felt like I was getting pigeon holed with the film retrospectives, and yet the site had too many smart, funny, and amazing writers with seniority to make that dream a possibility.  


I thought that starting my own site and putting more of an emphasis on media at large from a more academic standpoint would prove fulfilling but dream of turning what is essentially a personal blog into a widely read site for criticism just was not feasible.  Between a 9-5 job, dissertation revisions, academic job hunting, and a personal life, I was lucky to post one or two articles a week.  I watched as web traffic gradually declined on a monthly basis because I simply could not keep interest in the blog single-handedly.  For every early review like Hugo (2011), which spiked traffic immensely thanks to the embargo-free sneak preview I attended, I found myself with ten reviews that I had put a lot of time into and only a few people read.  I slowly resigned myself to that outcome.  There just aren't enough hours in a day...  


Yet, I found out last week that I had been slightly underestimating myself.  I was contacted by some old college friends from UW-Milwaukee who were starting a new web publication.  They had followed my work since my undergrad days of writing for the UWM Post and asked me if I might have time to serve as the chief film critic for Cultural Transmogrifier.  I agreed and started producing content for the site, which launches this week.  I am thrilled to be a part of a loving family of writers again and I hope that this new project can fulfill both my desires to produce the content I want and to reach a proper audience.  Some of my fondest memories at Pajiba came out of our dynamic as a team, supporting one another when commenters went crazy and ribbing one another when we disagreed about the latest Tarantino film.  I look forward to working with my old friends and you can follow us over at www.ctzine.com.  The site is still in the design phase, but we'll be launching this week.  


As for The Cinema Doctor, I'll be shutting up shop for the most part.  I may run the occasional piece of Comics Studies or Video Game criticism or post a course syllabus once in a while, but the bulk of my work will now be running at Cultural Transmogrifier.  I just want to take a moment to thank a few people for their support over the past couple months.  First, to Pajiban Mswas at BGW Designs for the wonderful logo.  Secondly, to Dustin, Dan, Joanna, and Brian at Pajiba for the support.  Third, to my wife Nicole who had the patience to let me sit out a couple adventures to write up reviews.  Another thank you to Grae Drake at Popcorn Mafia for inviting me onto her podcast.  Finally, a big thank you to the readers who migrated over from Pajiba and the friends who kept the faith.  

The Best Media of 2011 (Version .80)

Another month, another revision...  This time with the beginnings of a ranking and links to my reviews!  

The Black Keys-El Camino (2011)

I was more than a little skeptical when I heard that The Black Keys's Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney had been able to record another album in just over a year after their phenomenal Brothers (2010).  Sure, The Beatles were able to harness that kind of energy in the 1960s and both The Roots and Kanye West have been able to produce quality work in a short period of time.  However, for every group that is able to pull off that manic work pace, there is a Mars Volta that seems to miss the target more and more with each hastily prepared album.  Thankfully, and this has been a damn strong year for music, Auerbach and Carney fall into the former category and their seventh record, El Camino (2011), is a hell of a ride.  

A Dangerous Method (2011)

A brief disclaimer is in order before I follow through here.  I haven't picked up much psychology reading in quite a while.  I read Sigmund Freud as an undergraduate in literary theory courses but we never read Carl Jung.  I took a couple classes in psychology as a sophomore in college.  The bulk of the psychoanalysis I've encountered in the past six years has been in the form of film theory and, never being much of a devotee to such approaches to spectatorship, my understanding is crudely general.  Essentially, if you're looking for a scholarly analysis of David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method (2011) from such a context, I am unable to provide it.