Top 5 Mettel Ray Posts

This is my 700th post and what better way to celebrate yet another milestone than to look back and realize how much you’ve grown over the years. When I started, I was pretty much a rookie at everything, including expressing my thoughts and now, after writing hundreds of posts, I can say I’ve reached a place in my life where I can honestly say I’m proud of my ability to write coherent and meaningful paragraphs. So to give myself a little pat on the back, I’m going to share my favorite posts I’ve written among all the 700 here on Mettel Ray.

Bonus: It’s not really about writing but more about literally gathering and shuffling through data – Our Movie Alphabet came together with the help of 41 bloggers and I just summarized the information. Yet, there’s a vivid memory of me working for hours and hating that Excel table a while before I was finally able to publish one of my absolute favorite Blogathon results.

5. Coffee Talk series, started on June 2014

There have been various series here on Mettel Ray, some have disappeared and some tend to pop up now and then, Coffee Talk was a new addition last summer that filled in an important void. In other words, I love writing but sometimes there’s a need to write something different and those posts are best described as essays. So creating Coffee Talk has helped me to express myself in regards to topics that might not come up in any of the other posts.

4. The Place Beyond the Pines review, published on May 13th, 2013

Almost two years has passed since I penned that review and I can still remember how proud I felt that day. It’s so thorough and coherent with the added value of using images that correspond to the actual analysis – the kind of review I aspire to write every time I sit behind my computer. Though I haven’t spoken about The Place Beyond the Pines since then, I still feel like that movie somehow changed me, even though I can’t describe how exactly.

3. My Movie Alphabet, published on November 5th, 2012

By far my most successful post to date was exactly 300 posts ago and I remember it like yesterday! What started as my own little celebration turned into my first Blogathon (thanks to The Movie Waffler’s recommendation) and it was simply amazing. I really can’t say more about it except that I feel like that will forever remain my finest moment here.

2. Whiplash review, published on December 8th, 2014

There’s a part of me that loves reviewing a movie that sparks an interesting idea while writing – Whiplash did that. While I was typing and gradually analyzing Whiplash, I remember coming to a conclusion I didn’t expect – perfection being the villain. Now, the reason this review is one of my favorites is because the reviewing process itself created a new understanding of the movie I might have never gotten if I hadn’t written about Whiplash. It sort of gives you a new sense of pride, the fact that the process of blogging manages to create new set of meanings to the movies.

1. The Fall of Paul Spector, published on December 18th, 2014

Writing about television shows has always been a tradition here on Mettel Ray but nothing has ever come close to The Fall and Paul Spector. Then again, that show was literally one of the best things I’ve seen on TV in a long time and being obsessed helps when you start writing. I love the cleverness of the title, I love the usage of images, I love the balance between descriptions and the analysis of events. So without a doubt, it is my favorite post so far!