JOURNEY INTO CLASSIC FILMS - A BLOGGERS PERSPECTIVE

Ever since I was a small child I can remember falling in love with black and white movies. Granted, that's most probably because my parents couldn't afford to buy a colored television at the time. Nonetheless, the fact remains I've loved this opaque form of entertainment so much, I've now decided to interview an expert in the field. Her name is Kristen. She is vintage movie blogger. And this is what she told me.






1) What are your own origins, Kristen? Plus what path did you take in life prior to getting to where you are today?   I’m a California girl who lives in Sacramento (far from the movie capital of the world) with my mom, brother, dogs, and guinea pig. I’m a college student currently getting my Master’s in English and cannot wait to leave school and move to Los Angeles where the movies are made. I started writing movie reviews for my school newspaper and eventually stumbled upon a film reviewing job on Craigslist. I’ve been fortunate to write movie reviews for 'Entertainment News International' for over five years and never looked back.

2) How did your blogsite, ‘Journeys Into Classic Films’, come about?   My blog started out as a grand experiment to see if I could actually keep a blog running for longer than a week. As a contemporary film reviewer I was interested in reviewing movies I couldn't review normally, predominately movies not out in theaters on Friday. I started my blog with the intent of spotlighting forgotten movies, both classic and contemporary. Eventually, I saw the huge amount of classic movie blogs popping up (movie blogs exploring films pre-1970) and decided to shift to exclusively classic films.

3) Has your site had any acknowledgment in the press or in the media?   I’m fortunate to work closely with 'Warner Archive' and '20th Century Fox' who have graciously worked to provide me exclusive review materials and interviews with celebrities in conjunction with upcoming events. A 1980s TV movie review I wrote about was spotted by Robert Davi’s, of the Goonies fame, who's agent worked with me to interview him. My blog’s also turned me into the classic film writer for Awards Circuit, opening up the door to me becoming a full-fledged member of the press myself.

4) What theme tune taken from popular culture would you assign to your site?   Considering the theme of my blog I’d say “Hooray for Hollywood”.

5) If you could get a celebrity – either living or dead – to promote your wares, who would you choose, and why would you want to choose this particular person?   1940s film star Veronica Lake is my site mascot and I would be honored if she felt I was contributing positively to the classic film community and wanted to promote my work. Unfortunately she’s been dead for over 30 years now.

6) What have you learnt about yourself through this endeavour?   I've learned a lot about writing. As an English major I've always prided myself on my writing abilities, but in writing daily it’s forced myself to meticulously analyze my grammar and work on word repetition and strengthening my skills.

7) What were the main obstacles you had to contend with?   I think the main obstacles were letting the various classic film studios know I’m out there and get their respect, allowing me to provide more content to my readers

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8) If ‘JICF’ had a motto, what do you think it would be?   “Just because it’s devoid of color doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie.”

So there you have it, my friends. My great mate Kristen and her life as a classic film blogger. When you have the time please check out her website and facebook page. Trust me. She really does know her stuff.