'Smoke'

I've probably stated this a dozen times since I started this dumb project that a big reason I took this on was because every year that we live thousands upon thousands of books, films and records are released and we ingest less than one percent of all of it.

I feel this is a shame. Tons of people doing something they feel is important and a vast, vast majority of it is ignored.

Smoke is a reason I'm doing this project.

In 1995, I was 15 years old. Living at home. A sophomore in high school. I went to countless films. Sometimes two visits to the theater every weekend. I had a gross and shallow knowledge of filmdom. I was dumb, into bands and guitars and stuff. I really didn't have any time or patience for girls.

Smoke was released in 1995. Although it was released by Miramax and starred Harvey Keitel and William Hurt, two guys I had no idea about then. It also made just $8 million in the box office, which tells me it was probably not given a full release (it was indeed an independent film).

Still, it took place. It was done, released and put out on video without me ever knowing about it. I watch it 16 years after the fact and I love it.

Rich storytelling is lost in films anymore. We rely too much on actors, CGI and boredom to keep us interested in films. Instead, why not have a really good story with good actors portraying people we care about? That's what Smoke is. Keitel is a tobacco store owner in Brooklyn. William Hurt's a heartbroken novelist, who likes baseball.

Mixed with some peripheral characters that invade their comfortable existence and shake things up for the uncomfortable for the better. It's a good film. And it only took me 16 years to find it.