“Hey Everyone!”- Spider-Man from Captain America: Civil War
Welcome to my blog, Spinning the Cineweb! For those who don’t me, my name is Alex Angelopoulos or, if you would prefer to call me by my “movie nickname”, I am the Friendly Neighborhood Film Nerd! (For the record, my film teacher and mentor Mr.Berchick gave me the idea for that nickname and yeah, I’m sticking with it!) If that nickname rings the bell, then chances are you have seen me the Hatboro-Horsham magazine show Under the Hat doing movie reviews for the segment To Watch or Not To Watch, alongside Billy King (AKA the King of Cinema). If you do know me, then also chances are you might know that I have done movie reviews for the Hat Chat, my school newspaper, for several years at this point (jeez, I’m starting with a lot of ‘chances are’s- I bet you’re wondering if this means I’m going to be a repetitive blabbering idiot but don’t worry, I am not THAT blabbering *cue rimshot*).
So yeah, in case it wasn’t obvious enough (and for those who don’t me because if you do, then you already know this next part), I am a ADORE movies. Film has always been something I am extremely passionate for about for as long as I can remember. Hell, I’m pretty sure that if there was an actual blood type called “Type Cinephile”, then my veins would filled to the brim with that blood (Holy Analogy Batman!).
Anyway, I’m getting off track here. Obviously, the spotlight of this blog is going to be, wait for it, Movie Reviews & other movie stuff (Gasp! So Shocking… to anyone with the deduction skills of a 2nd grader). Now, typically what you expect from a movie critic such as myself would be the most elegant and professional of styles that would make the pinky extend far when you are drinking a glass of afternoon, something (heck, for anybody who actually has read my Hat Chat reviews, then you know that I have gone for a more “professional style there)… yeah THAT AIN’T HAPPENING HERE!
For the style of everything write for Spinning the Cineweb, the style for this blog is going to be as informal as the very intro post I am writing as we… speak? Write??? What is it?! Anyway, shocker, the guy writing this blog who has made a “Holy ___ Batman” joke and joking parentheses marks/jabs is going for an informal style. Weird, right? (Note the OBVIOUS sarcasm of that comment… or at least I hope it seems obvious)
Now, when I originally thought it would be a good idea to create my own blog, I obviously had hopes that the movie reviews I wrote would be focused primarily on new releases. But with me starting this in the midst of the Covid-19/Cornavirus outbreak, that obviously will not the case for a while. And that also extends to that “other movie stuff” bit I mentioned up top, since I would also like to extend my cine-mania to other things (such as trailer reviews, lists/rankings, Oscars discussions when Awards season kicks in, etc.) and whatever I do in that regard will also be dependent on what is able to be done in these strange and unprecedented times. ***Also as an important side-note, this little paragraph will most likely be the extent of my discussions about this pandemic, since I want to keep this blog as (hopefully) a nice way to escape life and just enjoy something for a while. Not to say that stuff should is not important and shouldn’t be talked about at all, but given my hope to entertain here, any more mentions wouldn’t fit too welll at all.***
Anyway, to get back on-topic (another thing you’ll probably notice- I can get VERY tangential at times, so hopefully you’ll be able to find fun in that), until I’ll be able to review new releases, I’ll basically be reviewing whatever movies I do see, no matter how new or old or whether I am seeing it for the first time or the, not first time (boy that was awkward, ignore that!). Another idea that I have is to at some point (and potentially in-tandem with new releases when the world hopefully gets back to normal) start doing movie review “marathons” of sorts where I could review a series’ entire lineup over the coarse of several weeks and/or months- depending on the choice of marathon. This is a concept that Somecallmejohnny, who is easily one of my favorite YouTubers (I love all his videos and I highly recommend them), has been doing for years with his video game reviews for years and I am looking forward to the idea of borrowing that marathon concept.
“Wait a minute sir! You also said you would talk about other nerdy things too, is that?!?!” Right you are reader who is clearly attentive enough to realize that I put “& Other Nerdy Stuff!” in the tagline. Yes, my nerd-dom does extend to many other nerdy things like the worlds of Marvel & DC, Star Wars, Nintendo games, and more. While I am certainly going to put the focus on film for this blog, be prepared for an occasional dosage of some more nerdy goodness.
“Um but SIR! You also said mentioned that this is ‘Spinning the Cineweb 2.0′ so you are cheating on us or WHAT?!?!?!” Ok first off, how the hell could I, the writer, be cheating on an audience that I can only sort-of picture in my head (unless you decide to leave a comment of course). I mean that’s just.. no- it’s stupid and I don’t like it, NEXT QUESTION (even though I’m not transitioning into another question… boy am I a weirdo)! Secondly, yes, I am not actually a “blog-virgin” as I have already done something very similar to this for my Senior English class just a couple of months ago. It was definitely a lot of fun and it has basically become the prototype of what I’m gonna’ do here for Spinning the Cineweb (senior???). The only real difference is that I’m not doing this for a class and I don’t have to necessarily be ‘anonymous’ (even though everybody in my class TOTALLY could tell who I was the whole time), so here- I get to whatever the hell I want! (Also, side-note: if there is anyone who is ACTUALLY returning from that blog to here then thank you so much! …even if just so happens to be only Mrs. Hughes 😉 )
Well, I think I have rambled on enough at this point and at this point, I think you shoul all know who I am…
I’m Your Friendly Neighborhood Film Nerd!!! (Yes, that is a 2002 Spider-Man reference by the way. Yes, that was my catchprase for the Senior Englsih version of this blog and yes- that is TOTALLY going to be my catcphrase again for here!!!)
P.S. For anyone curious, I’m going to leave the links for all of the other places that I have done movie reviews for (such as the Hat Chat and Under the Hat) in the about section, along with other things I have done/worked on. So be sure to check that out for those curious!
Spinning the Cineweb 