Month: February 2022

The Movies That Inspired Me

Over the last 30 years, I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of movies. So many, I can’t even remember them all. But within the last few years, some of them have had a major impact on me personally. These are the films I credit with my decision to pursue a career in film-making.

One of the first movies that influenced me was Logan. To be completely honest, I never got into the X-Men. Never cared for them. Never really understood them. Logan was a movie that forced me to look into the X-Men and what they were. And as a result, Magneto became one of my favorite villains in Marvel.

The way Logan was put together…written, filmed, the acting, it really did inspire me. The storytelling is some of the best I’ve seen. I loved every bit of that movie. To this day, Logan is still one of my Top 10 favorite movies of all-time, maybe even Top 5. I’ll still go back and watch it from time to time too.

The second movie that really influenced me was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The first one was great, and it was a nice addition to the MCU. The second one took a more emotional route, and I felt that was the right call. I loved the theme of it, and James Gunn is an absolute genius when it comes to making films that are both funny and heartfelt. While it did have fancy effects and cool sets, it also showed me that movies can be character driven. And when starting out with a low budget, you need characters to carry films.

The third movie I’ll talk about is Inception. While I didn’t understand the movie at first, I came to love it. The first time I saw it, I was very confused. I didn’t understand what was going on at all. Since then, I’ve come to love the movie. I’m super fascinated by the idea of controlling dreams, running missions in other people’s dreams, and just the idea that people got hired to implant ideas in other people’s heads. Inception solidified my love of Christopher Nolan movies, and as a result, he’s become my favorite film director.

If I’m being completely honest, Marvel has had a huge impact on my desire to make movies of my own. Everything they do is just so exciting and fun to watch, and that’s the stuff I want to do one day. I love the stories. I love the characters. And most of all, I love seeing these characters come to life. My ultimate goal is to make a Marvel movie one day. Will it happen? Probably not, but I can dream, can’t I?

I’m forever grateful for the films I’ve seen over the years, especially the ones that truly inspired me to take this path. Being a successful filmmaker is going to be tough, but I also don’t see success in dollar signs. If I make a movie, released it, and a couple of people see it, that’s success. I did what I set out to do. I made a film and released it.

But, as Saito, a character from Inception said, “Don’t you want to take a leap of faith? Or become an old man, filled with regret, waiting to die alone.” Eventually, I’ll have to take that leap of faith. I’ll have to jump into unknown territory for a chance at something more amazing. If I don’t, I’ll be stuck in the same spot forever. I have so many stories to tell, and I hope that one day, I can share them with the world.

Snapping Back to Reality

At the beginning of January, I went to Colorado for a week with two of my friends and one of my brothers. It was an amazing week. I’ve gone there every year for the past five years except 2021 because of Covid. I didn’t know what Colorado looked like at the time, and I didn’t want to risk getting sick. To make up for it, we went to Wisconsin instead.

The trip to Colorado was broken up into two parts. The first half of the week we spend on the mountain at Winter Park. While I can’t compare it to other ski resorts in Colorado because I haven’t been to any, I can say that I really do enjoy going there. It’s not super crowded and we’ve been there enough to know our way around pretty well. It feels familiar.

We skied for 3 days, which is the usual, and then we headed down to Colorado Springs, a place none of us have been to before. While it wasn’t all that exciting, we did go to the Garden of the Gods. It is beautiful there. What made it better was the fact that it was sunny out as well. Colorado truly holds some of the most amazing views in all of the United States.

I can go into more detail on the trip, but that would take way too long to do. Instead, watch this video if you’re interested: Colorado 2022. I basically made a whole video about the trip including some footage from on the mountain while skiing. There’s a part in it where I fall into a big pile of snow. It’s great!

What I really want to say is that Colorado this year was different. It was harder to come home. Covid had us locked up for so long, we forgot what it was like to be free; to do what we want. We went to Colorado and started 2022 off the best way possible.

I’ve been home over a month and I keep thinking about that trip. The fun we had. Living life without worry. Waking up knowing the next day would be filled with fun and excitement. Now, every day is the same. I wake up, do some stuff, go to work, then go to sleep, and do it again the next day. On my days off, I’ll play some video games or do some other random tasks. But I’m not truly free. I’m free to do what I want in a very confined space.

It’s not that I don’t like playing games or my job. I love the life I have, but to be able to just travel, see new places, do fun things all day every day, it’s not a luxury I have. Humans weren’t put on this planet to work all the time. We aren’t here to be miserable. We should be allowed to go out and have fun too. We should be able to enjoy the things this planet has to offer before it’s too late.

In September I’m supposed to go to Germany for a week. That trip will be absolutely amazing, but I already know it’ll be so hard to come home. I’ve never left the United States. The farthest I ever traveled was to Hawaii almost 20 years ago.

Germany will be a completely different experience that I can’t wait for. The things I experience there will most likely change how I view things. And while I’m excited to go, I’m afraid it’ll change my mentally. Not necessarily for the worst, but change it in a way that’ll make me want more. I’ll want to see more. I’ll want to travel more. I won’t be happy just sitting at home and and going to work.

In the meantime, I can only remember the fun times and enjoy the present. We all need a break from reality every once in awhile. My next break won’t be until April at the earliest, maybe July. It seems far away, but it really isn’t. Life is meant to be enjoyed for the short amount of time we’re here. We should all take advantage of that when we get the chance to.