If you’re in a Toronto movie theatre, and you see a headphone-sportin’ guy with a book nearby whose drinking a cup of tea…it’s probably me.
Welcome!
I’m Ryan McNeil and I’ve been writing and podcasting from this space since summer of 2007.
In that time, I’ve done a lot of thinking. Thinking about what I want to say, and how I want to say it. I’ve thought about what I want this site to be, about what it is, and what it isn’t. I’ve never pretended to be Roger Ebert or Gene Siskel. I’m not a go-to when it comes to industry trends, and I’ve only ever won two Oscar pools.
All the same, there are two things in life I love; I love to write, I love conversation, and I love the movies.
So by starting this mad little experiment, I hoped that I could express my love for the movies through my writing and the conversations on the podcast. Sometimes these expressions are nothing but slight filler, but other times I’m actually been quite proud of what I’ve created.
So before I go on, let this serve as my mission statement…a declaration of principles in the spirit of Charles Foster Kane.
There will be days where I’ll write just a few sentences. There will be other days when I write one thousand words. In both instances, I write to express myself honestly, my passion for film, and to entertain whatever tiny audience has gathered in front of my soapbox.
More than anything else, the most rewarding thing about writing and podcasting from this space has been the people it has allowed me to interact with and meet face to face.
So if this is your first time visiting, or your one-thousand-and-first, thanks for stopping by and fuelling this continuing cinematic conversation.