ABOUT THE SITE AND ITS CREATOR

I should've posted this the moment I'd had the site up; apologies for the delay, to those who are seriously curious as to why this site exists and what makes it what it is.

Cinema Junkie is a film achive/review site that primarily services the area of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, but before I delve into the specifics of IT, perhaps it'd be prudent if I gave background on myself (in order secure the credibility of what I've created).

For several years, I've been an enthusiast in film (of all genres, be it classic, mainstream, indie, animated, or foreign), watch 200-300 films a year, have probably seen well over 3 000 over the course of my life, and most notably, 70 of the 74 films to have won the Best Picture Oscar (and over half of all the films to have ever been nominated). My all-time favourite film is 'Charade' (1963), but other personal favourites include 'Horse Feathers' (1932), 'The Great Dictator' (1940), 'An American in Paris' (1951), 'Watership Down' (1975), 'Eraserhead' (1978), 'Ed Wood' (1994), 'The Thin Red Line' (1998), 'Smoke Signals' (1998), and the recent 'Waking Life' (2001).

I'm also entrenched in the art of filmmaking, so much so that, not only have I acquired a B.A. in English Literature (much of which has covered film studies), but I am a constant weekly peruser of imdb.com, rottentomatoes.com, metacritic.com, Roger Ebert's site at suntimes.com, etc. (who has been generous enough to write to me on a couple of occasions), keep up with all major awards shows and festivals (from Cannes to the Oscars, to the Indies, to even Cinefest, a repertory film festival that annuals graces the Sudbury region), have acquired a library of film-related material (in which some of my contributions appear), and am currently seeking employment as a screenwriter (one of my completed screenplays is currently being perused by a number of major Canadian film production companies).

I'd written for Northern Life's 'Wow!' magazine (the largest entertainment magazine to service the Sudbury area) for a period of a year as respects the love of my craft, but had discovered the internet to accentuate my putting my love of the craft out to a far greater audience.

As respects the site, the archive portion lists all the films I've seen (the majority of which are available on VHS/DVD), gives basic details (e.g. director, actors, MPAA ratings), and gives two forms of evaluation: my written critique (which evaluates quality of performance, agenda, rendering, editing, cinematography, etc.) and an iconic rating of 0 to 4 tumblers (a visual display of a movie's quality that distinguishes masterpiece from irredeemable dreck).

There is also a section devoted to current films playing in the Sudbury region (or current films I've seen, elsewhere, that deserve mention), and a section devoted to essays on rare films that will be exclusive to this website (I've also been a collector of cinematic rarities for a number of years). Once I post links to my site at imdb.com, the site will be readily available for worldwide access. Examples of films to be reviewed that have no review anywhere else on the internet include 'Inchon!' (1982; one of the most expensive films of the 1980s, now only viewable on one channel in the world), 'Going Overboard' (1989; Adam Sandler's rare first feature, which only exists in limited release because of its budget and its notoriety), and 'Snowboard Academy' (one of Jim 'Ernest P. Worrell' Varney's last films, which went straight to video because of its almost masterful awfulness).

Anyway, I hope the site proves a service in your moviegoing/video renting.

Gabriel Noël, © 2002