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I know it's hard to believe, but
I've been on
Cinema-Crazed.com for a full year. Yup, 365 days of Tony
Farinella on this website. First and foremost, I'd like to thank
Russ Emanuel for introducing me to Felix and this website. If not
for Russ, I wouldn't have met Felix. I'd also like to thank Felix
for hiring me and allowing me to do my own thing. Felix has never
told me what to write, how to write, or what to say on this
website. He's allowed me complete freedom on this website, which is
greatly appreciated. Felix and I are alike in many ways. You see,
we are both bachelors who love to write about movies. Writing about
movies is our passion. This is all we do. We watch movies, think
about movies, and write about movies. It's 24/7 with us, which is
why we get along so well as friends. Because I'm the type of person who likes to look back and analyze things, I'm going to give you a little history on myself as a writer and as a person. I know I usually write a column about movies, but I want to take this time, on my 1-year anniversary, to tell you how it all started. Yes, it's going to be personal and long-winded. You've been warned. Ever since I was a little kid, I've been an observant person. I've always looked around and noticed the little things around me. When I take my daily walk, I look around and take it all in. I look at who's around me and who's doing what. I've just always been fascinated by people and what they do and how they react to situations. When my parents got divorced, I would observe their situation. What went wrong? Why didn't it last? When I went to High School, I would observe teachers and read their body language. I've always noticed stuff that most people would miss, which is why I love reviewing movies. It goes hand-in-hand with my personality. It also helped with girls! I knew right away if a girl didn't like me. That said, it's hard to tell when they do like you. But that's another story for another time. As you can tell, that's where the roots were planted for Tony Farinella as a film critic. I'm always thinking, analyzing, and noticing a ton of stuff in my every day life. It's really helped with my film critic career and my interviewing career. It's helped me in noticing what's important to the filmmaker and also what's important to film fans. The key to being a good film critic is bringing your life experiences and emotions with you. You have to make it mean something. With all that said, I didn't discover my passion for movies until 2003. I've always watched movies and paid attention to them, but I didn't think of it as a job until around 2005. I actually started out as a pro-wrestling journalist from 2000-2004. I traveled all over the Midwest, covering the sport of pro-wrestling as a young pup for the now defunct website, Chicagowrestling.com. It was a fantastic learning experience for someone my age. I was only 16-years-old, and I was getting a chance to see the world, interview wrestlers, and learn about life. You learn a ton about yourself during those long road trips in a car with a bunchy of smelly wrestlers. I even got involved in the wrestling business as a manager for New Breed Wrestling in South Bend, Indiana and AAW Wrestling in Chicago. It was a wonderful time in my life that I'll always look back on fondly. But, I felt like it was time to move on and do something different. I didn't really see a future for me in the pro-wrestling industry. You really don't see a ton of pro-wrestling journalists who make it big. Even so, I learned so many valuable life lessons during my time on the road as a pro-wrestling journalist. I also made a ton of great friends as well. If not for my time spent on the road, I wouldn't have been ready for the movie business. My pro-wrestling career and my high school career ended around the same time. After high school ended, I really didn't know what to do with myself. I was confused. I didn't know what to pursue or where to go. To be truthful, it was a pretty scary time in my life. To make matters even worse, my mom died in July of 2005. I just couldn't handle all the pressure, honestly. I really missed having my mom around and having her support. No matter what I was doing, she supported me. She always believed in me and always stood behind me. Needless to say, life wasn't looking up for Tony Farinella. Not only was I confused about what to do with my life, but I also didn't have my mom by my side. I would sleep for 12-13 hours a day, and I gained a lot of weight. I was really in a bad state of mind. Finally, something hit me. It was time to get off my ass and do something with my life. But what? Hmm. How about movies? I mean, movies are great for avoiding reality, ya know? If I was having a bad day, I would put in a movie and forget about my troubles. When you go to the movies, you're alone for 2 hours with the screen. You don't have to worry about your own problems and your own fears. You can live through the characters. Great, isn't it? Why not write about them? Why not let it all out through my writing? Yes, I figured out what to do. I was going to write and make my mom proud. I wasn't going to let myself turn into a victim. The rest, as they say, is history. Well, not really. It took a lot of hard work, a lot of determination, and a lot of passion to keep with it. But half the battle is figuring out what you want to do. Once you know what you want to do and you keep with it, it's hard to stop you. Sure, you'll go through a lot of high points and a lot of low points, but in the end, you'll see results. I look at my results, and I'm amazed. My reviews, columns, and interviews are featured all over the Internet. It's truly amazing. It took 2 years for people to notice me and pay attention to me. I dealt with a lot of rejection and a lot of naysayers. Hell, I never thought ANYONE would let me write for their website. Now, a ton of websites are allowing me to write for them. They also allow me so much freedom. I can't stress that enough. As a writer, you need freedom, but you also need advice. You need to listen to people who have done more than you and been around longer than you. It's the only way to get better. You need to stick to your vision, of course, but it's okay to change things here and there. There's always room for improvement. And you always need to think outside the box and expand your audience. You can't stay in the same spot for your whole life. You always gotta be ready for the unknown. Before I go any further with this column, I'd like to mention that I'm not writing this column to brag. That's not my intention. My intention is to show you how anything can be done in this life. I've suffered through a lot, but I've lived to tell about it. I want to give people hope. In the past year, I've had the pleasure of interviewing such stars as Eli Roth, Darren Lynn Bousman, Sylvester Stallone, Roy Disney, Danielle Fishel, Penelope Anne Miller, Amanda Detmer, Adrian Lyne, Aaron Yoo, Scott Frank, Mike White, Leslie Easterbrook, Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall, The Olly Girls, Fred Dekker, Josh Hutcherson, AnnaSophia Robb, Mario, Trevor Morgan, Reverend Run, Shauna Macdonald , and many, many more. I've had my interviews quoted and mentioned in The Chicago Suntimes (twice), The Chicago Tribune, The Toronto Star, and other major newspapers. It's been an amazing ride. And it's not over yet. I want to get on Rotten Tomatoes before it's all said and done. I want to be quoted on DVD boxes. I want to work for a major newspaper. I want to do it all. People used to tell me it was a pipe dream, and I should get a "real" job. Now, I'm glad that I listened to myself and kept on doing what makes me happy. I never thought any of this would be possible. If you had told me I would be writing this column a year later, I would have thought you were nuts. NUTS. I'm starting to learn that nothing is nuts and nothing is impossible. Honestly, I don't have all the answers. I'm only 22-years-old and I have A LOT to learn and A LOT to discover, but I'm ready for whatever comes my way. I know I'm probably sounding like a broken record here, but just believe. Life is too short to be doing something you hate. I'm going to leave you with a quote from the movie Flashdance "When you give up your dream, you die."
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