Movies are food for the soul. At least, that's how Michael views them. Ever since he was old enough to lay down the spoon and take up the remote, Michael has admired the silver shrine with ardor. Thrice a day, he serves up another cinematic meal, until in his third decade he finds it easier to keep track of the movies he hasn't seen than those he has. Okay, that is a gross exaggeration, but Michael is well-versed in the ways of Hollywood. With an eye that catches everything, and a mind that quickly compares both the banal and the beautiful with the scores that have gone before, Michael has made it his mission to present the moving picture in words that recreate each creation's many angles.
If one were to follow the spectrum all the way to its other end, then embark on a box seat and paddle onward with an empty popcorn bucket, he might eventually make it to Joel. This recluse counts his movies each year the old fashioned way—digitally—but doesn't see this as a sign of anything but numerical inferiority. Rather, Joel is able to appreciate (or impugn) each experience as though it were a first. To Michael's extensive background and familiarity, Joel adds an independence and freshness. Unaware of jaded plots or fading actors, Joel endeavors only to capture the nascent experience of the moment—before it, too, becomes obsolete.
