Hope Cruz

My name is Hope Cruz and I’m a novice freelance writer and devoted cinephile. I'm a graduate from San Francisco State University with a degree in Cinema Studies, emphasizing on theory and criticism. I’ve had a lifelong affair with films and can still remember the moment I fell in love. The year was 1985 and the first movie to completely overtake me emotionally was, "The Goonies", directed by Richard Donner. At age seven my passion found me, and like an unstoppable juggernaut, it collided its way into my heart.

The experience of watching films evokes many positive pleasures. They are a mirror device that reflect our world back to us or serve as windows into the unknown. They help us bridge the gap to some of our fragmented worldviews or introduce us to other cultures, lands, and people. Film uses many tools to express thoughts and emotions that we identify with. If we find ourselves thinking about a film long after it finishes, we know it had substance, but sometimes our own thoughts gain greater resonance from reading reviews.

The focus of my blog is to deliver thoughtful film criticism. These days most everyone is a self-proclaimed critic, but rather than give trite commercial reviews like "Skyfall" being the most awesome movie ever, I’ll deliver thoughtful reviews that appreciate cinema as an aesthetic art form. The makeup of a good critic entails many facets. They offer insight, not just an applause meter to determine if a film is worthy of the price of admission. The purpose of a critic is to explore a film’s visual style, tone, technique, structure, and ideologies such as class, gender, race, sexuality, politics and religion. They dig deep like an archeologist excavating artifacts.

Critics of this caliber include legends such as Pauline Kael, James Agee, Roger Ebert, Anthony Lane, and David Denby. These intellectual giants are an inspiration. They have evolved the art of film criticism and forged a rising interest in film culture. In no way am I comparing myself to them, I come nowhere near their greatness, but what I will bring to the table is my passion for film. The love of life, humanity, art, truth, drama, beauty, dreams, humor, and sensations are the reasons I love film. It is my hope that I can reflect this through my reviews as I harness my voice and evolve in my own thoughts and writing.