I've always thought I expressed myself much better in writing, with time to collect my thoughts, rather than in person and off the cuff. So when my friend Peter Labuza—a fellow cinephile and talented up-and-coming critic in his own right (he blogs here)—invited me to be the featured guest in the third episode of his new podcast The Cinephiliacs—well, I didn't hesitate to say "yes," and going into it, I think my excitement about just being asked to be on the receiving end of an interview overrode whatever personal anxieties I might have had going into the recording process.
After we were done recording the episode, though...oh boy. Fellow journalists might know of a certain regretful feeling that I've sometimes gotten after conducting an interview: that gnawing feeling that comes with the realization of questions not asked, lines of questioning not pursued and so on. On the receiving end of an interview, though, it became a question of things not said or things I wished I had articulated better. In this particular case, for instance, after I had finished recording the podcast with Peter, I immediately regretted not mentioning one of the most important film critics in the development of my cinephilia when he asked me which film critics I read early on: Jonathan Rosenbaum, he formerly of the Chicago Reader and without whom I may never have even heard of the likes of Hou Hsiao-hsien, Béla Tarr, Abbas Kiarostami and many other world-cinema juggernauts. I guess that kind of thing is what happens when I try to shoot from the hip rather than at least do a bit of preparation.
Oh well. Maybe, in my earlier and more insecure years, I might have taken this as a sign to never voluntarily do another one of these kinds of podcasts again. These days, though, I'm more inclined to just take it in stride, as yet another feather of life experience to put in my figurative cap. Hopefully I will have another opportunity to do something like this in the future.
In the meantime...well, the third episode of The Cinephiliacs is out there—or, more precisely, here—for all of you to listen to, if interested. (You can go even further and subscribe to Peter's podcast on iTunes here. And if you like what you hear, by all means, kick in a few dollars through PayPal here to support the podcast.) Any and all feedback—for both of us, really—is welcome!
No comments:
Post a Comment