This time two years ago, little old Stevee Taylor sat down at her computer and decided to write a review on Let the Right One In. It was an awful review, only about a paragraph long. Nowadays, little old Stevee Taylor sits at her laptop each night and writes semi-good reviews on movies which are, on average, about five paragraphs long. Let's just say, in the past two years, the quality and quantity has gone up a bit!
Seriously, I'm extremely proud of this blog. It makes me so happy when I wake up in the morning and look at the comments I got on a post I did the night before, and have people reading my work, and sometimes loving it. In fact, when I won that LAMMY in June for 'Best New Blog' I was the most excited I've ever been in my life. So excited that I forgot that I'd just had my tonsils out and my voice wasn't sounding the best, but I just had to ring Mum and Dad and scream my exciting news at them. Needless to say, I didn't have much of a voice for the rest of the day.
To celebrate this milestone, I revamped my 100 Favourite Films list. It seemed like the right time to do it. I hope you guys like the list, it's got a lot of new movies in there!
Now, I really don't think I could have kept this blog going without a few people's support. In fact, at the end of January, I wrote in my diary that I was going to give up blogging because no-one ever commented on here. It seems you guys heard me, somehow, because after that I've had at least one comment on every post. You guys are amazing! Here's some people I'd like to thank, and plug at the same time (in no particular order):
Tyler @ Southern Vision. He's a fellow NZ blogger who really does know a thing or two about just about every kind of film there is...especially indies and foreign films. His lists are the best, too!
Lesya @ Eternity of Dream. Lesya really is a sweetheart who has been around these parts for quite some time. She's been my most loyal supporter, and her blog is pretty awesome, too! Her reviews are always so smart and informative.
Cherokee @ Feminising Film. Cherokee usually leaves me long comments...in fact, on one post, we had a conversation which lasted for 65 comments! Her blog, which she finally opened earlier this year, is a pretty amazing one. Thanks for introducing me to Perfect Blue!
Anna @ Defiant Success. Anna kindly tweets me a whole lot of links that have something to do with Ralph Fiennes or people like that, and I always love them. Her site, filled with lots of small reviews, is a comprehensive guide to a plethora of different movies.
Ryan @ The Matinee. Probably one of the best bloggers in the business, and a man who inspires me with his great writing, Ryan is over at a new space and kicking ass. Plus, his TIFF coverage was awesome, man!
Scott @ Front Room Cinema. Scott is one of the nicest guys in the blogging business, and he has a great knowledge of technology and such which makes for an interesting read. His site has such a great variety of stuff, I'm jealous!
Castor and the team @ Anomalous Material. This site will tell you everything you need to know and more about movies that have just been released, future movies and sometimes some movies from the past. Such a great community going on there!
James @ Cinema Sights. James is known as one of the most knowledgeable of us film bloggers, and he's got a great reviews site which proves that. And he loves Terrence Malick. Which is cool.
Kai and Dylan and the team @ Man, I Love Films. Formerly the people behind The List and Blog Cabins, Kai and Dylan moved onto better things with their awesome, comprehensive site which has everything and anything.
Steven @ Surrender to the Void. The reviews written on this site really make me envious. They're so detailed! There is a great variety of reviews on this site, so you should definitely take a look!
Brent @ The Silver Screen. Another Kiwi blogger, who really likes going to cinemas a lot. He always comes back with some interesting and funny reviews!
Sebastian @ Films from the Supermassive Black Hole. Probably the biggest fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt ever (I mean, who couldn't love the guy?), Sebastian always has great stuff on tap at his site.
Simon @ Four of Them. Truly one of the funniest sites ever. And I just don't give out that honour willy nilly.
Jack @ Jack L. Film Reviews. Jack and I may not have very similar film tastes, but I do really love his site. He's extremely knowledgeable about film, which is impressive considering how young he is!
Ruth @ "...let's be splendid about this." Ruth is a lovely blogger with a truly splendid and lovely personality and site!
Mette @ Lime Reviews and Strawberry Confessions. Mette is a similar age to me and she loves Bollywood films (and Confessions of a Shopaholic!). Reading her site, I'm quite interested in Bollywood films...I'll have to go for a look through the small section we have at Blockbuster!
Tom @ Movie Reviews by Tom Clift. Tom's reviewing style is so fluid and so nice that I can't help but feel a little jealous. Plus, he's a 'critic' on Rotten Tomatoes, which is my ultimate lifetime goal!
Dan @ Public Transportation Snob. Dan always has the most interesting stuff on his site, reviewing a variety of films that I haven't even heard of. Which is a good thing.
Bonjour Tristesse. This site specialises in indie, foreign and cult cinema, which I love. Plus, the design on this site is super nice!
Univarn @ A Life in Equinox. There is plenty to like about this site, from the random ramblings and rants to occasional reviews. One of the best blogs out there!
Andrew @ Andy Buckle's Film Emporium. I've always liked Andy's site because he is very up with all the movies coming out, and being in Australia, he usually gets the movies at the same time as us. I just don't know how he writes so much!
Jandy @ Jandy's Meanderings. Jandy wrote the sweetest thing about me and my blog not so long ago, that it put me in a really good mood for days! Her site is pretty sweet, too, with it's cool design and awesome content!
Nikhat @ Being Norma Jeane. Dearest Nikhat is like my soul sister from across the internet (damn, that sounds cheesy). We have extremely similar tastes! Apart from the fact that she puts The Pianist over Schindler's List but hey, that's a tough decision to make.
CS @ Big Thoughts from a Small Mind. Also joining my ever growing list of the best blogs in the business is this site, which I really really like. Apart from when CS asks us to choose between Amy Adams and Michelle Williams. That's a tough one.
Maria Sofia @ FILMflare. This site is so stylish, my eyes just love it. Maria Sofia always offers up some great comments on here too, which I'm grateful for!
Andrew @ Encore's World of Film & TV. I always remember that Andrew gave this site it's first appearance in a links post. I've always been proud of that one. He has some great reviews and other stuff on his site!
Film Intel. This site is so great and consistent with it's reviews, especially as I've seen most of them so I can easily relate to some of them. Great stuff!
Toby @ blahblahblah gay. Toby has an interest lot of stuff on his site. He's not easily impressed, but his reviews are damn insightful!
Dan and the team @ Top 10 Films. Dan is a regular commenter here, and I just love his site, it has just about everything on there!
Ruth @ FlixChatter. This is a site which I always feel relaxed going to. It has such a nice feel and warmth to the place, I love it!
Everyone @ The Large Association of Movie Blogs. How could I not thank these guys? They make being a movie blog so much easier, and so much more fun!
They call it the 'terrible twos', but I hope that Cinematic Paradox won't end up being that terrible. It's been a blast, folks, let's hope I see you here this time next year!
Congratulations on the Anniversary Stevee! It's always a pleasure to stop by your blog. Don't ever give up writing about film, celebrity and entertainment. Your passion and insight is infectious and you should be super proud of what you have put together over the last two years! You will always have a reader in me, and I wish you the best for the years to come!
ReplyDeleteHappy celebration Stevee. And how cool you are to thank others as well. Your blog is awesome!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment concerning this fellow Kiwi!! Actually I thought of you today because I saw the trailer to War Horse just before seeing Real Steel! There seems to be a shade of the novel How far To Babylon? to it...but that isn't a bad thing. Or I could be just imagining it!
ReplyDeleteWell done on two years. Blogging can take a lot of time and many people let them slide after a while. At times it feels like an unpaid job and I can see while many give it away. That or just lack of readership. It can be very dis-heartening to spend time writing a post to have no one read it! My Goldfinger post took me almost 8 hours of research, notes, writing, and yet it hasn't been read!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINEMATIC PARADOX!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are awesome and an incredible blogger. And so bloody talented, it makes me sick. But in a good way :P Keep up the good work soul sista!!
Btw, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the top 100. You get like a billion points for putting Mean Girls in your top 10 :D
Happy anniversary. I am where you were two years ago, writing crap reviews hoping to get better. Now your blog is amazing and I hope to get where you are in two years!
ReplyDeleteYay! Happy blog birthday!
ReplyDeleteWoooo... Happy Birthday, Stevee! Or as we say here: Tillykke med dem Geburtstag (mixing together German and Danish).
ReplyDeleteThank you soooo much for honoring us other bloggers, I appreciate it so much. Tomorrow's going to be the first birthday of Lime Reviews, and you're one of the bloggers I look up to - you've achieved so much in two years! I hope I'll be at the same stage next year, that would really be cool.
I've basically followed every blog you mentioned here (that I wasn't already a follower of), haha, so my reading list is looong now.
Hehe, I didn't know Confessions of a Shopaholic was so unloved in the film blogging community ;). And I'm so happy I inspired you to maybe watch some Bollywood films. Not that I put them above Hollywood films - after all a good film is a good film, no matter what film industry we're talking about.
Okay, this comment became rather long.
Congrats Stevee! Two years is very impressive in blog years. Thanks for the comments about my site! You also list some blogs that I haven't read yet, so I'm looking forward to checking those out. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteCongrats! I haven't been blogging long, but your site is one of the better blogs I've come across in my internet travels. Here's to two more years and beyond.
ReplyDeleteWow, has it really been two years?
ReplyDeleteI've been knocking about your blog for about a year and it has gone proper quickly, man! And my god, 65 comments? I don't know why we didn't just exchange all those comments through emails!
And you're very welcome about introducing you to Perfect Blue, pretty stoked that it has made your 100 film list too! (Which is awesome by the way.)
Congrats again, Stevee!!!
Oh thanks. Congrats on the 2 years.
ReplyDeleteHappy Blog Birthday Stevee! Thanks for including me in that fine list.
ReplyDeleteCongrats. Have to be honest and say I haven't followed you that well, but plan on from now on. Oh! I mean your blog and not in real life, just to be clear :-)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations
ReplyDeleteAnd i realize i haven't been commenting as much as i should have. I keep forgetting about the code thing after and don't realize my comment didn't get published :(
Congratulations! I'm just discovering your blog, but like what I've seen so far!
ReplyDeleteHAPPY BIRTHDAY! Keep up the blogging! Love reading your posts.
ReplyDeleteWow. Two years. I cannot imagine making it that far; I'm only at eight months! Stevee, you have managed to consistently publish work of an above-average quality for a blogger. I am astounded at the level of maturity, reason and humor you put into both your reviews, tweets and comments. Yours is a blog I am madly in love with; every post is dripping with such rhythmic linguistic quality and a heartfelt love of the topic of film that it's almost too much to handle. You're an amazing author, a great blogger and a top citizen. Thanks for keeping us all entertained, and for reaffirming that a mature, reasonable love of film can be obtained by all ages. I am proud to raise the can of beer sitting next to me high into the air and salute you for all your frutiful, reliable and gracious efforts. Well done, Stevee Taylor. :)
ReplyDeleteTwo years is indeed impressive (I just celebrated my own second anniversary a couple of days ago). Nice one!
ReplyDeleteAndy - Thank you! I shall try not to ever give up writing about film...I think that since I have started this blog there is absolutely no chance that I will give it up!
ReplyDeleteMonty - Thank you! If I remember correctly, you were one of my first followers. Thanks for that!
Brent - Cool! I reckon War Horse will be good. Yes, I've had a lot of dis-heartening moments while having this blog, particularly up until about March this year, so I'm surprised I lasted this long! But if you like what you are doing, then just keep at it. And I don't know if you are a member of the LAMB...if you're not, you should definitely do that!
Nikhat - I'm sorry that I make you sick! Haha, thanks!
Mean Girls is just amazing!
mrg - You've got a good thing going at the moment, keep it up! Seriously, there's always room for improvement, and having a blog is a great way of improving your writing and your style. Definitely keep at it!
Anna - Thanks!
Mette - Oooh, that's funky! Thanks!
I feel like I don't honour other bloggers enough, so that's why I did this. I'm really nothing without my fellow bloggers!
This time next year I'm sure your blog will still be amazing. Just keep it up!
And yes, Confessions of a Shopaholic is awesome, thank you very much.
I'll be checking out some Bollywood movies when school ends. I'm always open to broadening my film watching horizons!
Dan - I guess it is quite impressive! And I'm glad you are following some of the other blogs, they really are awesome!
Robert - Thank you!
Cherokee - Yup, it has been two years. It is really hard to believe that.
Haha, I know, we really should have emailed each other!
I had to include Perfect Blue. I really loved that movie!
Steven - That's okay. Thanks.
Bonjour Tristesse - Thanks! And you're welcome!
Raghav - Thanks! And I'm glad you are following the blog, not me, haha ;P
Julian - Thanks! I'm going to take off that bloody code thing. To be honest I just need a better commenting system!
NeverTooEarlyMP - Likewise with your blog. Thanks!
James - Thanks! I'll keep it up, I hope!
Tyler - I've already thanked you for this lovely comment. It's just so lovely, I really can't thank you enough! It's people like you who keep me blogging!
James - It is, isn't it? Thanks!
Once again, happy birthday to Cinematic Paradox!
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm so thrilled to be called your most loyal supporter, thanks!
happy birthday stevee, you movie blogging thing ;)
ReplyDeletelove cassieeeee
Lesya - Thanks! And it is true!
ReplyDeleteCassie - Thank you darling :)
I am new around here, but let me just say Happy birthday! Your blog is wonderful and I will be checking it regularly from now on! Have a nice day! Ps. Jessica Chastain is becoming my obsession, too! I just saw Take Shelter, she is amazing!
ReplyDeleteBonjour Tristesse sent me here to wish you a happy birthday! Congrats! Keep it up! :D
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