HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY TO SAVAGE CINEMA!!!

It has truly been an experience of surprises.

When I began Savage Cinema while sitting in the basement of my parent's house while visiting them for the holidays, never did I imagine that five years would pass by and this experience would still be in existence. Certainly I had hoped. But never did I know or even conceive that this site would have endured for this span of time. All I knew on that day was that I loved movies, I loved writing and I wanted to really try to write about movies for real because until that time, everything was just being written inside of my head and I just never thought that anybody anywhere would give a whit about anything that I had to say.

Five years on, and while I still strongly realize that the world really has no need whatsoever for anybody else like myself writing about movies, I am feeling so very thankful to have had this outlet to perform something that is just so very important to me. And again, I thank all of you out there for taking any bits of your most valuable time to spend it reading even just one review that I have written. With everything in the world that takes up your attention, to spend any of that time on something that I has released into the world has not been lost on me at all.

Your support, encouragement and willingness to cheer me onwards is indeed the very fuel that has energized my own passions and pursuits and I sincerely hope that you know that when I do sit down to write the next review, I am indeed trying my very best, for myself as a writer and for you as readers, to create something of value, or at least, of interest.

What a grand surprise it has been to keep chugging along my way and discover that nearly 500 postings have been written. What a surprise it has been to discover that I have somehow achieved a small readership. What a surprise it has been whenever any of you have contacted me about something that I have written or have inquired if I am going to see a certain movie to then write about. Who knew that anyone would be interested in anything that I had to say and then, look forward towards any future writings? To all of those situations and experiences, I am simply not able to thank you enough.

Your encouragement has supplied me with tremendous courage in regards to my writing. I was truly so terrified when the very first time I hot the "Publish" button and now, I feel a sense of accomplishment. You gave me to courage to not only keep Savage Cinema flowing, but also to begin the sister site Synesthesia, which will hit its 2nd birthday in April 2015. And even then, and most of all, you gave me the courage to finally reveal the creative writing I have been up to over the years as I have been gradually releasing installments of my novel Tales From Memorial Union. As one event has led to the next, I remain so joyously surprised, humbled and so, so thankful.

This past year, the surprises advanced even more as I must send a most special THANK YOU to the formidable Wendy Rose Watson, a writer/poet/artist as well as the U.S. Editor of Zani, the U.K. based independent online publication, for thinking enough of what I have been doing to have shared a few of my reviews with an even larger audience. In the past year, my reviews for "American Hustle," "The Wolf Of Wall Street," "Dawn Of The Planet Of the Apes," "Under The Skin" and "Gone Girl" have all been published via Zani and her confidence in me has just left me so happily speechless and I could never thank her enough for her belief in me.

Even further than that, possibly the biggest surprise of them all occurred in the most natural way. While home sick from work one day, I happened to catch "Purple Rain" on television, a film that I had not seen for perhaps a good 20 years or so and the experience of watching it again left me so inspired that I wrote a new posting. That particular posting has become the most read review that I have ever written with "hits" now having reached 1215 possible readers! That would have been more than well enough for me, but nothing could have prepared me for having received a very lovely message from none other than Albert Magnoli, the director of "Purple Rain"!!!! The organic nature of this surprise just speaks to the purity I wish that Savage Cinema will hold forever--one that I just abut my love of writing and movies and nothing else other than that. As I have always expressed to you, I do not make any money from this venture and I am not connected to any organizations within the movie industry on any level. This is my passion, my outlet, my vision, my heart and soul and I hope all of those elements are evident to you with each new posting.

THANK YOU all for helping me reach five full years of Savage Cinema.  Are you ready for Year Six? I hope so. I want to keep writing until my fingers fall from my body, dear readers. I hope that you will all still be here to keep taking this journey with me.