Welcome to FTS’ brand new feature Word Around the Campfire where all of the FTS’ contributors take turns answering the question or topic of the month. This month we’re looking at our review writing process and style.

I geek out about Star Wars and anything Fantasia related. I just absolutely love love love those films and want to know as much as I can about those films.

That’s a pretty broad question but I guess I can geek out about award season. I’ve been watching the Oscars sind 2010, which for a European means staying up until the morning comes on a Monday. I don’t watch the other award shows completely but when the nominees for the globes come out I try to watch the important ones. Then when the winners are announced I try to catch up on those. And when the Oscar nominees drop I go on a big Oscar movie watching frenzy. This being said, I’m pretty bad at predicting the winners, except for the obvious ones. But I do love watching the show, so much that I am depressed for a whole week after that Sunday night because it’s all over.

My award geekism also extends to the Cannes film festival, where I always watch the movie that’s on the poster for that year (or if there’s an actress/actor on the poster, I watch their most acclaimed movie) and the movie that won last year (because, let’s be honest, there’s no possibility of watching it until a year after it won). I also enjoy seeking out the National Indian Film Award winners, since that’s the only award to be taken seriously in India. I understand if people are getting tired of award season but I never will. Except for the year I spent in the US, it’s hard to keep updated on the new releases because of the whole separate release schedule in Europe. So award season always gets me back in the mood to watch important new movies and get back on track.
… And yes, the dresses are very important too.

I love good design so anytime that is incorporated into film I absolutely geek out about it. Whether it’s brilliant opening credits, well-designed dvd packaging (the biggest reason I geek out over Criterion) or simply a perfectly crafted title screen – I adore those details. If you use an interesting or unique typeface, I’m there for it. If your credits involve some artful complexity, I’m savoring every second. Well-designed movie posters make me giddy. One of my favorite film related websites is artofthetitle.com which features wonderful dissections of title sequences.

I’m really into following director’s work and my favorite is David Fincher. I’m sort of amazed at not only the films he makes but how he makes them. This extends to a lot of other directors as well but Fincher is so talented and his behind the scenes know-how is incredible. I also love learning about special FX work both digital & practical. I think it’s insanely fascinating.

I tend to get sucked into movie series pretty easily. When I was younger I caught Star Wars on tv and watched the whole trilogy as quickly as I could. In high school I got into the Bond films and systematically went through those. Since then I’ve gotten into The Lord of the Rings and The Avengers. I like individual movies too, of course, but I seem to go through movie series phases pretty often.