JUST TO CLARIFY...

I just want to clarify something about my page. You've all noticed I have disclaimers on every page stating that negative comments won't be published. I have my reasons for that. 

My main reason is, I want this page to be a fun thing. Fun for me personally as I love films and writing so this is a great way to combine the two. I also want this to be fun for anyone who stumbles across it. Maybe you're led here while you're searching online for something else, you start scrolling through my lists and you find films you've never seen before and in the end you will enjoy them as much as I do. 

I am not a professional film critic and I'm not making any money from this page as a professional blogger. What I write here are MY opinions of the movies I see. I refuse to debate with anybody regarding my personal opinions and experiences... not on social media and certainly not here. 

I won't have anybody posting abusive comments to me or anybody else who leaves positive feedback. If you absolutely must post negative comments, then head over to Twitter or TMZ and you can be just as ugly as the others who troll those sites. 

My page is not a democracy and freedom of speech only applies to me here. You are more than welcome to start your own Blogger page if you feel what you need to say is important, it's free and you can write whatever you want as long as it's within Google's rules. 

I post about films I've seen and like. I won't have someone I don't know scolding me because I haven't posted about a certain film I either have never seen or didn't like enough to write about it. 

That said... I will publish kind, respectful and constructive comments, and I definitely accept recommendations for films. I don't know about every film ever made, so if you think of something that will fit in on one of my page themes, buy all means, politely tell me about it. If I haven't seen it, I'll add it to my watch list, and if I like it, I'll post it. 

I don't think it's too much to ask to have a place online where people can positively enjoy the content without having to see cruel comments. If people would take it upon themselves to just be nice, I wouldn't have to do this... but here we are. 

To all of you who visit this page regularly and to those of you who are new here, WELCOME and THANK YOU! 

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SHORT FILMS

Photo from Google Images

Usually when I start a new spotlight page, I accompany it with a blog post. I launched a Short Film Spotlight Page a couple of weeks ago and I neglected to write the related blog post and for that I apologize. 

I received a "comment" that asked me what the point was to spotlight short films. This person called the people who make them "too lazy to make real movies". As always, I refuse to post negative comments because that's not the vibe I want here, but if anyone else is thinking that, I will address the topic of why I love short films so much. 

First off... people who make short films are NOT lazy. Producing a short film is a hell of a lot of work. So I want all of you to get that crap out of your heads if that's what you're thinking. 

As usual with all independent film productions, money is THE factor. 

Many film makers opt to do short films so they can tell their stories with less money. 

Many film makers will use the money they are able to get, make a short film, put it out there on the festival circuit and hope to gain attention from investors to adapt their short film to a full feature length film. 

Many short films are made as part of short film competitions for money to be used on their next film project. 

Many short films are made for school projects. 

Whatever the reason, there are countless fantastic short films out there and I want to spotlight the films I enjoy so they can be appreciated by all of you as much as I appreciate them. 

I decided to only spotlight short films that are available somewhere for the public to see like YouTube, Vimeo, Amazon, VOD, Compilation DVDs, etc. 

It's a shame that so many great short films have been made, which I really enjoyed, but for reasons unknown to me, the film makers have tucked them away and they aren't available for the public to view. Hopefully this will also inspire some of those film makers to make their films public in some way so we can all enjoy them. 

I often go to local short film festivals. Every major city has multiple festivals for different categories every year. I love that I can see so many different, wonderful stories in the same time it takes to watch one full length feature film. I especially love it when the film makers are there to talk about their journeys of making the films. To someone who has never been to a film festival before, it may sound odd, but once you start going to them, you find yourself loving them and can't wait for the next one. 

I have one last thing I want to discuss in this post. Just because you  have a computer and you have the ability to write just about anything you want as long as it's within the web site companies terms and conditions, that doesn't mean you should forget how to be a kind and compassionate person. 

People work long and hard to create their art, whether it's film, television, pottery, painting, music, photography, etc. You may not like it, and that's fine for you, but other people do like it. So how about you try, the next time you see something you don't like, just move on and don't say anything. 

Leaving cruel and mean comments on something regarding somebody's art is a much bigger reflection on your personality than their art. Do you really want to live day to day being a nasty bully over things you don't like or don't care about or would you rather engage positively in things you enjoy? You have the choice to be a kind person or to be an asshole. 

Think long and hard before making comments. That goes for every website. Try to be a decent human being.