Why We All “See Our Own Movies”

Fred Gleeck: Movie/Book Reviewer

I spend a good por­tion of my free time read­ing books and watch­ing movies. Since I always have an opin­ion (ask my wife) I decided to set up this site to share those insights with you.

As a busi­ness per­son I read a lot of non-fiction. BUT, I also read a fair amount of fic­tion as well. You’ll find reviews of both here.

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been a movie FREAK! I remem­ber me and my best friend Chip, who I grew up with in the Philip­pines, going to see three movies in a row.

Not long ago I saw three in a row and won’t do that again. By the time I got out I had for­got­ten what hap­pened in the first film. One a day MAX from now on. Well .… maybe TWO!

In 2004, I went on a MOVIE CRUISE with Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper. It was a lot of fun. BUT, what I’ll never for­get is what hap­pened after we screened the first film on the cruise.

BEFORE the film was shown, both Richard and Roger said they thought this film reminded them of “The Grad­u­ate.” Holy Crap! I thought I was in for an amaz­ing movie. After the film, mine was the first hand up in the audi­ence of 225 or so film buffs.

My ques­tion, which I directed to Roger Ebert (the only film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize) was: “Roger, did we see the SAME MOVIE???”

His answer became a story I tell in vir­tu­ally ever speech I give, regard­less of the topic: “NO, we all see our OWN MOVIE!”

How true is that?

So if you dis­agree with my opin­ions on EITHER the books or movies I review, no prob­lem. You have seen your own movie or read your own book.