Tuesday, January 4, 2011

WELCOME TO TWO OPINIONATED BITCHES ON FILM!

Welcome to the launch of our new blog.  This is a blog dedicated to me and my partner in crime's observations, thoughts, philosophies, rants, insinuations, and (most of all) our completely bitchy ass opinions on the art of filmmaking and the films themselves.  This will be a no bullshit blog.  In other words - anything goes.  We have been known to be two of the most vulgar and offensive people in a room and that isn't going to change with this blog.  If you are easily offended we may not be for you.  And as the title of the blog suggests we firmly believe that we are always right even when we both don't agree (which is frequent).  I'm sure this will cause many a wonderful and funny fight on the blog between us, but just know there is always love behind every swear word, insult, and fist fight (though those will be avoided since we are in separate states for the moment...). We plan to cover many a topic on this blog including (but not limited to) awards coverage, especially the Oscar race, actor profiles, movie reviews, great movie articles, and whatever projects we come up with.  The blog will expand and grow in the months to come and we hope you enjoy the journey with us.  We will also have frequent guest contributors that are personal friends of ours that share a similar obsession with filmmaking.

Now let us introduce ourselves as I am sure you are dying to know who the hell is writing this damn blog.


Sean Knight

I first became obsessed with movies when I was around five years old.  It was when I saw E.T. The Extraterrestrial. As a child that movie captivated my imagination.  It told a story I could connect to on both an emotional and imaginative level.  When I was young my father was in the military and as a result the family moved around quite a bit.  I spent much of my youth overseas and though I would never want to lose or forget that experience I cannot deny that at times it was quite lonely.  I would make friends and then quickly lose them when we moved on to our next destination.  E.T. was a movie about friendship and it made me long for a friend from another world that I could have a deep personal connection with.  E.T. also sparked my imagination like no other film before or after.  I began to wonder what existed outside of my small world and the idea of space and other beings was fascinating to me and still is to this day.  But the thing E.T. really did for me was that it opened my eyes to the possibilities of filmmaking and the limitless imagination that could exist within the medium with the right man (or woman)  behind the camera.  As a result I wanted to become a filmmaker for most of my life.  In high school I attended The North East School of the Arts in San Antonio TX.  I studied college level film for four years of my life.  Many of my student films competed and were shown in film festivals all over the United States including the youth forum at the Sundance Film Festival.  I won a best directing award for the short film "Marian" at the Locomotion Film Festival.  But two thing happened my senior year of high school that changed everything.  The first was that I auditioned for the shows in the musical theater department.  I was encouraged by my partner in crime on this site to audition and as a result I was cast as Cinderella's Prince in Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods".  I had always admired theater as my parents had taken me to see quite a few Broadway touring shows in my lifetime and most of my friend had always been theater kids.  But now something clicked in me and I discovered that I actually really loved being on stage.  But more than that I connected with the music of Stephen Sondheim and I began to see the artistic possibilities that existed within the musical theater.  It was no longer about spectacle and chandeliers dropping.  It was about character, emotions, and story.  I was hooked, but I still wanted to make movies. But then something else happened that senior year that changed my life forever.  Right before graduation my brother Max died.  He had a rare heart defect and it took his life when he was only 30 years old.  It was a major blow to my family and it has taken us many years to heal from it.  I went off to the College of Santa Fe a few short months after his death to study film and found myself unable to cope.  I wasn't ready for the stress of college at the time and worst of all I had lost my passion for studying and making movies.  It wasn't a creative outlet for me anymore.  My heart wasn't in it.  I went home for a year and gave myself time to mourn and begin the healing process.  But that year I also made a decision. I was going to become an actor.  My brother himself had acted when he was young and he was apparently quite good.  It was both a way for me to move on and find myself again as well as a way to honor my brother.  I went to Columbia College Chicago and graduated with a BA in Musical Theater Acting in 2009.  For the past two years I have been a working actor in Chicago and have loved every moment.  But I'm still very passionate about film.  I have spent years reviewing films and spouting off my opinions to any friend or family member who would listen.  I'm sure I've driven quite a few of them insane and on more than once occasion I have been told that I should do it as a profession.  And while this blog is not quite a professional film reviewing site, it is a way for me to get my views out there.  But I do owe it to Jeanette (or Jamie as many others know her) as it was her idea to start this blog.  I have known her for over 10 years now and she is one of the great loves of my life, even if I don't find her sexually appealing (I happen to swing for the other team :) )  But I will let her introduce herself.  Enjoy the blog and thanks for reading!

Jamie (Jeanette) Link

Happy Feet is the scariest movie ever made. End of discussion. Robin Williams. Dancing Penguins. Couldn't do it. The first movie I ever saw in a movie theater was The Little Mermaid. I remember standing in front of my chair and Ariel was pressed free willy style on the rock. You know what scene I'm talking about. It's the reprise to Part of Your World and the wave is crashing up behind her. That one scene in that movie is what keeps me coming back. Movies make me feel like I'm on an adventure. It's a rush for me. Because of that I have very high expectations. Yes, silly movies are fun. I love stupid movies (just look at my movie collection). It's only in the last couple years that I have started to really nitpick. Sean, who you just met, is what I like to call a snob. His expectations are so high and he is so passionate about it. I love that about him. He's also really fucking headstrong. It took me a couple years to have the confidence to discuss a movie with him. Now? I could fucking care less if he disagrees with me. That's what makes for fun conversation! He has taught me a lot of film and the art of filmmaking. I value his opinion, I respect him, and I love him with all my heart. We may some pretty mean things to each other (and many that may offend people) but know that we don't mean a word of it. We've been best friends for 10 years now and it's been a fun journey.

 Now that I've gotten that out of my system, let me introduce myself! My name is Jamie (Jeanette) Link. I hail from the great state of Texas, but don't get it twisted, I don't do republican. I started acting when I was 7 years old. I started out working at San Pedro Playhouse in San Antonio, Texas. I was a member of the kid's acting troupe. I worked at that theater from the time I was 7 to when I turned 17. Through acting I was able to channel all my creative emotions into something. Creating characters became a fun adventure for me. It was through meeting other kids who were  involved with SPP that discovered my Alma Mater. I attended North East School of the Arts where I majored in Musical Theater. Attending an Arts High School was the best decision I have ever made. I was surrounded by other artists who were so comfortable with themselves. Individuality was encouraged and that is very rare in high school. I changed my name to Jeanette right before my freshman year. I figured I would spice things up a bit! I thought my middle name was so hot. HAHAHAHA. I met Sean on the bus one day my freshman year. I randomly asked him for his number and he looked at me like I was crazy. But, I still got those digits. I called him that night and asked some random question. That was 10 years ago and we've been best friends ever since. We balance each other out and that is one of my favorite things about our relationship.  We're two of the most offensive people when we get together. We're very blunt and are not afraid to challenge each other. Because of Sean, I have grown to become a HUGE movie buff. I mean, being best friends with a crazed movie fanatic will bring anyone to the dark side. We don't see a movie without consulting with each other. I really hope you find this blog entertaining. Please take everything we say with a grain of salt and know that we mean no offense. We're just two passionate movie people. Oh, and I'm a HUGE basketball fan. GO SPURS GO.

I'm also obsessed with Ryan Gosling.

....and Kate Winslet.

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