About

Shoot the Critic

Many times I ask myself, "What am I in the mood for?" and subsequently spend hours on the Internet researching good movies or television series to download, rent, or – on the special occasion – watch at a theater. The searches can be tedious and endless, and I often come up with very little. Most reviews are too long without giving you much of an idea of whether or not you'd enjoy the film (or even if the reviewer him or her self enjoyed it). So I decided to make a site where I could help others out in making their rental/download/netflix choices. I also wanted a site where I could organize my own film and TV criticisms and general ideas on cinema/television-related events and happenings. The site consists of two main categories: recommendations and features. But they are both essentially geared towards "recommending" films.

Features

Lists. I will often post a list, usually a "best ten/five." I do year-end lists as well as date-relevant lists geared towards a certain genre, such as romantic films for Valentine's Day or war films for Veteran's Day.

Articles. Some films inspire longer, more elaborate "reviews" that more closely resemble newspaper or magazine articles than my short recommendations. Other articles center on a recent cinema/television phenomenon, event, or mere observation.

Recommendations

Every week or so, I recommend anywhere from one to three films. The recommendation consists of a short description of the film with a comment or two on what makes it great and worthy of your viewing. These recommendations go into a database, which can then be navigated by the reader by either genre or year. These are all films I've enjoyed watching and that I would recommend to almost anybody. I often state who I believe would most like the film.

Me

My name is Anahí Arana. I was born in Argentina, grew up in Brooklyn, and now live between Buenos Aires and New York.

I write content for web sites, do translations (Spanish to English), edit texts, teach English, and write subtitles. I also study literature of different languages.

Television

I used to watch television. Then stopped. Then began downloading recommended shows and realizing once again that I love good television. I'll watch anything on HBO. Favorites include the usual suspects of The Sopranos, The Wire, Six Feet Under, and Oz. But I also think networks like FX are making great TV, comparable to the standards of HBO and AMC. 

I have to thank NBC for its fantastic job of creating great comedies. But the Brits also win me over in the comedy category, with shows like The IT Crowd and The Office

Films

I have an intense need to watch a good film. There is nothing in the world like a beautiful, perfectly paced and acted, and intelligently written movie. Nothing. And, if you're really lucky, you'll get to see it on a big screen. Favorite current directors include Tarr, von Trier, Kiarostami and the Dardenne brothers. Classics I won't ever pass up are Bergman, Hitchcock, and Kurosawa.

If you have any questions (about film, television, or this site) or want to contact me about anything at all, please email me at arana.anahi@gmail.com.