Do I think I could do any better?
The question anyone who sets themselves out to critique movies is guaranteed to have to face is: can you do any better? If you are Roger Ebert, for instance, we have Beyond the Valley of the Dolls on hand to answer in a resounding “no”.
Me? I went to film school. Here’s the proof, the last film I made as a student in the Rochester Institute of Technology “Film & Video” program, back in 1989.
It’s called The Ring and is actually the end-of-semester joint project of my team, Ambrosia Pictures. (The freshman class was split into teams, so as to foster the ability to work with others.) We worked out the story together and the basic look and feel of the film. I acted mostly as director and the entire thing was edited by me (my favorite part of filmmaking) at home in my living room (where I am sitting and typing this today).
Anyway, I enjoyed my time making movies at RIT, not so much going to school. We parted ways completely within the year and higher education and myself agreed to disagree. (Of course, I work at the University of Rochester School of Nursing these days, but I have pledged to learn as little as possible, I swear.)