About

I can’t claim to be a film critic, historian or even much of a reviewer. I just like movies. What I do on Piddleville with my “reviews” is try to determine why I like or dislike the various movies that I see. It should be added that I see far more than I ever get around to writing about.

What most interests me is this: given the way movies are brought out, huge numbers of movies are missed, lost below the tidal waves of weekly blockbuster releases and their accompanying hype. It’s inevitable because movies are, after all, a business.

But they’re also art, both high and low, and the number of people who work on them and devote their craft, enthusiasm and effort is astonishing. It seems wrong that their work be missed, never heard of or heard of only passingly. So while I’m interested in the big releases and the famed classic movies, there are many movies I see and think, “Wow. That was really good. Why did I hear so little about it?”

That explains much of what is on Piddleville. On the whole, I’m far more interested in and (I think) inclined to write about those movies I like rather than those I don’t. After doing this for some time, it is clear to me I favour screwball comedies, romantic comedies and westerns (which I think of as masculine romance).

There is a lot about old movies — you know, pre-colour, even a few pre-sound — and this is because there are many of those movies I loved seeing when I was young (often on TV). I like to go back to see if I still love them and, whether I do or don’t, figuring out the why.

And that is more or less what Piddleville is about. Oh yes, my name is Bill. I also own and maintain the blog Writelife.