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Hello, fellow LAMBs…I’d like to take a quick moment or two to introduce myself. My name is Ivan G. Shreve, Jr. (Hmm…raised eyebrows and a slight gasp…the usual reaction...) I’m just one of the many movie mavens who’s proud to be a member of The Large Association of Movie Blogs…perhaps you’re familiar with my blog, Thrilling Days of Yesteryear.
(chirping crickets)
Well…no matter. The reason why I’m eating up bandwidth is to give you the skinny on a brand new feature that’s being introduced here at the LAMB: one that for a lack of a better title we call “Classic Chops.” Just as the “LAMB Chops” links to essays about films and “Bloody Chops” to posts on horror/science fiction/B-flicks, “Classic Chops” will perform a similar function, concentrating on classic movies.
What defines a “classic,” you may be asking? I e-mailed a few of my fellow classic movie bloggers and we decided that the best definition was to use that yardstick that determines which movies are discussed in the old movies buffs’ bible, Leonard Maltin’s Classic Movie Guide. On the cover, Len’s book reads “from the silent era through 1965”—and we felt that was as good a classification as any. So “Classic Chops” will highlight essays on films released in 1965 and before, allowing those bloggers with a passion for old movies to have a bit more of a presence here at the LAMB.
Now, as Phil Donahue was often fond of saying: “Help me out here, people…I can’t do this alone.” And truer words were never spoken—the success of what I hope will be a long running feature here at the LAMB depends on submissions from supporters like you. If you’ve written a post on a pre-1965 film recently…or even not so recently...why not submit a link to same by e-mailing me at classicchops@gmail.com? By that same token, you can also volunteer a link from some other LAMB’s blog that falls within the same parameters…particularly if that individual’s a little on the shy side. Since the inaugural “Classic Chops” post will begin June 2, I ask only that you submit links to me no later than 6:00pm EDT on June 1st.
I have to tell you, I’m pretty stoked about this venture and I’m going to give it 100% to make sure it’s a success. But again, it will mostly come from you – if you have any suggestions, comments, questions, petty gripes, recipes, etc. feel free to address them to me at the aforementioned Classic Chops e-mail. I’ll try to get back to you as soon as it’s possible…barring famine, flood or a case of the sniffles.
This is great! I've often wondered which ones were the classic blogs and this will give great exposure to more of them.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. All very exciting!
ReplyDeleteLike it.
ReplyDeleteI love it! fantastic idea! And, the way you wrote the post for this has forced me to follow your blog now too!
ReplyDeleteSimon
www.screeninsight.com
Great idea, Ivan, I'm glad you're following through on this. Considering how little interest I have in a good 99% of new releases these days, I think the LAMB will benefit tremendously from a place to showcase those writers focusing on older movies.
ReplyDeleteActually, now that I think of it, that 1965 cutoff could easily be pushed forward; it seems a little arbitrary to define "classic" as 1965 and before. From my perspective - and I could be wrong - the point of a feature like this would be to reward and showcase those bloggers who look to the past rather than always writing about the same big new releases everybody else is. It'd be better to set the cutoff later than 1965 for those purposes, at 1970 or maybe even 1980. Just a thought...
ReplyDeleteSo excited about this, and I'm glad the cutoff date is moveable (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and such wouldn't be eligible then.)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea, and it's nice to see some love spread out to the Classic film blogs.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! Though my tastes are eclectic, my blog focuses mostly upon classic films. I think my first post will be on Bresson. Or Godard. No, make that Billy Wilder! I can't make up my mind:)
ReplyDeleteI agree with 1965 as a cut off because it's Leonard Maltin's cut off. I think way too many film bloggers would flood the Classic Chops with films from the 70s and 80s and that would drown out posts from the previous decades.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, this is a great idea and I'm so glad Ivan took it on. But we do need some kind of list of the Classic Film bloggers on here.
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ReplyDelete"But we do need some kind of list of the Classic Film bloggers on here."
ReplyDeleteIt's not 100% complete, and the accuracy is in the eye of the LAMBs (I don't dictate what categories people are in, it's up to them to tell us), but "The LAMB Categories Spreadsheet" ought to be the place to start for you. You can sort, filter, whatever, and you'll get a great start (of the 516 LAMBs on that list, 83 put down "Classic Film" as one of their categories).
It can be found here: http://blogcabins.webs.com/LAMB%20Categories.xls
I don't think I'm going to have the time to get it in the 1st one, but PLEASE keep doing it and I'll send in an article for the 2nd Classic Chop.
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