Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Celebrating Three Years of The Cooler


So it’s been three years of doing this blogging thing. And, wow, this past year went by too quickly. Glancing back at 2010’s anniversary post, I see that last February, too, I made reference to a busy day job keeping me from my (healthy) movie obsession, and here we are again. The good news this time is that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and so I feel safe predicting that 2011 will include a noticeable increase in activity around these here parts, which is great because too often this past year I felt frustratingly disconnected -- from the blog and even from cinema (I think those things are related).

And yet, now that I look back, I have to say that given the significant time constraints – and, as always, let me make it clear that I’m grateful to have a cool and demanding day job that rewards all of the time I put into it – I’m quite pleased with what I was able to do in this space over the past 365 days. I didn’t write as often as I would like – or, more to the point, I didn’t get as much time to ruminate and create as I would like – but somehow there was time enough to continue The Conversations series with Ed Howard, and to finish off my coverage of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series, and to pay tribute to the King of Cool (with the help of various talented bloggers from the cyberhood) with the Steve McQueen Blog-a-thon. I also got to meet some fellow bloggers face-to-face for the first time – Ali Arikan and the Olsons (Kevin and Troy). And in online form I got to hang out in Dennis Cozzalio’s Tree House with Dennis, Sheila O’Malley and Jim Emerson, which was fun. All things considered, it was a good year.

But the year ahead will be better. Last year I got to make my first video essay, and I’d like to do a few more video installments this year. I’d also like to be less obedient to the current release schedule in order to write about films from years past – although going to the theater is such a relaxing part of my average weekend that commentary on new releases will always be a staple here. I’d like to sprinkle in a few more brief posts now and then, and when time is tight I’ll try to overcome my tendency to wait for a rainy day that might never come and instead I will write what I can, even if it's frustratingly brief. I’d like to host some sort of blogathon-type event, and perhaps more importantly I’d like to take part in the many such celebrations put on by fellow bloggers, as it pained me to miss Tony Dayoub’s David Crongenberg blogathon, and Adam Zanzie and Ryan Kelly’s Steven Spielberg blogathon and the almost-current (and past) For the Love of Film blogathon(s). And I’d like to meet more bloggers face to face – a quick trip to NYC this spring would go a long way in that regard – and also be better about interacting online (in comments sections, on Twitter, via e-mail, whatever), debating the issues and celebrating the reviews that hit the sweet spot. I’m excited about it all!

I hope you’ll join me.

Sincere thanks to everyone who has supported The Cooler, through thoughtful comments, through links via social media, or just by reading. And thanks to my fellow bloggers who inspire me over and over again with their own work. Let's have another great year.

12 comments:

Bryce Wilson said...

Cheers good sir. I'm looking forward to another great three years.

Ed Howard said...

Congrats on the anniversary, Jason! I always look forward to new posts here, so the promise of more in 2011 can only be a good thing.

Sheila O'Malley said...

Congrats, Jason! Hope to finally meet you if you ever come up this way. It's been really nice getting to know you a bit this year, and, as always, love to read your thoughts on things.

Troy Olson said...

Congrats on another year! Whatever you lacked in frequency you certainly made up for in quality (especially looking to the Conversations and 30 for 30 posts -- all must read stuff).

Glad to have had the chance to meet you face-to-face, also. Plus, you bought -- always an easy way to endear yourself :)

Unknown said...

Congrats, Jason. Reading your work at the Cooler and the Conversations has easily been some of the highlights of film writing on the web this past year.

Craig said...

Congratulations, Jason. As Steven said, The Cooler and The Convos are two of my favorite stops on any given day. Looking forward to more of your work in the coming year; it definitely has a Daniel Plainview vibe.

Jason Bellamy said...

All -- Thanks so very much!

The Film Doctor said...

Congratulations, Jason. Your blog maintains a high standard for us all. I've been especially impressed with your recent conversations with Ed.

Sam Juliano said...

Congratulations!

Jason Bellamy said...

Very belated thanks to FilmDr and Sam. Thanks for what you guys do at your blogs and what you bring here. It keeps me going.

Tony Dayoub said...

A belated congratulations to you on your 3rd anniversary (I celebrated my 3rd last month). I look forward to reading more of your insightful work in the future.

Adam Zanzie said...

Damn... I'm trying to find my Thesaurus so that I can find an alternative synonym for "congratulations" (so that this isn't just another boring post), but I can't seem to find it. Ah well.

Congratulations, Jason! You're one of my go-to blogs, and you should be proud--it's not easy to maintain a site on Blogger for three years (I'm not even 2 years old yet). You don't need to feel bad for not submitting a piece for me and Ryan's Spielberg blogathon; I recall that you participated in some of the discussions, and all of your comments were excellent.

This is a little off-topic, but speaking of Steve McQueen, have you ever seen Baby, The Rain Must Fall? I recently recorded it off TCM and I'm planning on watching it pretty soon. It's the only movie McQueen ever made with Robert Mulligan, which makes me all the more thrilled. I don't think anybody wrote a piece on it for your McQueen blogathon last year.