I love my job.

No, really, I do. I'm one of the few people in the world who actually managed to luck into a job that I like to do and am qualified to do and pays decent money to do it.

I work for the online division of a major metropolitan newspaper. I even have a cool, totally meaningless title. New Media Programmer/Content Editor. That means I'm what NetSlaves refers to as a 'fry cook'.

My job involves working with our website, creating pages for new sections and special features that appear in the paper, maintaining existing pages, blah blah blah. I also get rare opportunities to actually sit down and write something. It's nice to know that journalism diploma is coming in handy.

battle royale

As I mentioned yesterday, my first movie review as a part of this company is online. The link to it is running right below the link to Roger Ebert's review. I'm so proud.

(He didn't like the movie anywhere near as much as I did. He's probably just in a pissy mood this week. X-Men rocked.)

Writing a review is hard work. I used to do it for a local portal site (until the bastards went belly up. Still owe me two months pay).

On one side writing reviews is totally cool. Most media screenings are during the day, and it's nice to get up from your desk, say 'I'm off to the movies' and leave for three hours. Sweet.

There are downsides though. Sure, you get to see all the new movies before your friends (bragging rights are very important), but you have to watch a lot of crap.

I don't remember the name of the movie, but I remember this nasty Japanese road film shot in Iceland. Yuck. An hour and a half I'll never get back.

You also have to write the damn thing. Writing a review is much like writing an online journal entry. You are writing your feelings and opinions, but you are also writing to an audience.

'Who is this guy?' they are wondering. 'What the hell does he know about movies? Why on earth should I trust this guy's opinion about what I should see?'

You have to resist pandering to your audience. I always find myself trying to talk about movies in some high falutin' tone, like some professor in a movie appreciation course at the local college.

But that isn't my voice. My voice has much more sarcasm in it.

I tend to write two reviews. One where I write all the malarkey just to get the crap out of my system, and then I go back write something that people would like to read.

Well, that's the plan anyway.

Let me soothe your ego

Back up. What was that again?

You talk the talk, but... never mind

Take me home, big fella