I am deeply passionate about the art I consume. I like to drill down and figure out what makes a piece of art resonate with me. I like reading about the stories behind art and the process behind the things I admire.

Here’s a post talking about what that means.

Reviews serve as an easy gateway into doing something creative. I have a rule on letterboxd that I should write at least one line about a movie I see. Usually it stays one line, but sometimes I find that as I think about what to write, I have far more to say.

All art is a conversation between you and the artist. A review is you sitting down and participating in the dialog that this artist has initiated.

Writing a review also provides a sense of clarity to me. All writing does, but this practice gives me the sense that I’m engaging with the material in a deeper sense. The process of articulating why I feel a certain way about a piece of media forces me to research and reckon with my own taste. I find this process very enjoyable. I’ve gotten to the point where I can watch a film and nail exactly why a certain moment doesn’t land for me.

A small caveat to this is that I do find myself “writing” the review while I am still consuming the work. There was a point in my Letterboxd/GoodReads journey where I would consume for the review. I slowly grew out of it.

The main reason I write my reviews is largely the main reason I do anything online. I like displaying parts of my personality so that the people who end up reaching out to me are much more likely to find me interesting. It’s a nice litmus test to see if we get along, and interesting discussions come about when we don’t. Shouting praise about something can convince close friends of mine to watch it and also allow others to find out that I have seen/read this specific artwork that they thought only they knew about.