Chris Jones(XCVII)
- Producer
- Actor
Chris Jones; is the owner and columnist of Overly Honest Movie Reviews and has been since its creation in September 2018. The first film publicly reviewed was the documentary QUINCY about the life of American record producer, singer, and film producer Quincy Jones. Sadly, many original reviews were lost when Facebook unceremoniously removed the Overly Honest Movie Reviews page for it to be lost forever.
He originally got into film in grade school, having watched many major blockbuster films over the years, but he was never too serious about it. At that point, he decided he wanted to work in the industry, specifically, wanting to work at Industrial Light and Magic. Even reaching out to them about an internship when leaving school. He took several different film courses, including the history of film and actual hands-on ones such as editing and camera work.
It wasn't until after college that his true love for film came to the surface when he was introduced to the book 1001 MOVIES YOU MUST SEE BEFORE YOU DIE (as it stands right now, there are 1,245 total films because of additions and subtractions each year.) While making his way through that list, he realized that he only knew the surface level of film history. So taking the next natural step by starting to watch the prominent Oscar category films each year before the Oscars (best picture, actor, actress, director, etc.) After that, he went on to try and watch all of the nominated films each year and has continued that trend.
That gets us to the present, living in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest. Needless to say, that presents a challenge because not many international films, documentaries, or sometimes even animated films show up around him. While it has become easier with many films coming straight to streaming, there was still a lot that he couldn't quickly get. That is when he decided to review films; he started reaching out and asking. Hundreds of films later, he's doing what he loves daily, even though he still has a long way to go to get where he wants to be; never imagining that he would be reviewing films for all the places I have.
He originally got into film in grade school, having watched many major blockbuster films over the years, but he was never too serious about it. At that point, he decided he wanted to work in the industry, specifically, wanting to work at Industrial Light and Magic. Even reaching out to them about an internship when leaving school. He took several different film courses, including the history of film and actual hands-on ones such as editing and camera work.
It wasn't until after college that his true love for film came to the surface when he was introduced to the book 1001 MOVIES YOU MUST SEE BEFORE YOU DIE (as it stands right now, there are 1,245 total films because of additions and subtractions each year.) While making his way through that list, he realized that he only knew the surface level of film history. So taking the next natural step by starting to watch the prominent Oscar category films each year before the Oscars (best picture, actor, actress, director, etc.) After that, he went on to try and watch all of the nominated films each year and has continued that trend.
That gets us to the present, living in the middle of nowhere in the Midwest. Needless to say, that presents a challenge because not many international films, documentaries, or sometimes even animated films show up around him. While it has become easier with many films coming straight to streaming, there was still a lot that he couldn't quickly get. That is when he decided to review films; he started reaching out and asking. Hundreds of films later, he's doing what he loves daily, even though he still has a long way to go to get where he wants to be; never imagining that he would be reviewing films for all the places I have.
