About Combustible Celluloid

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Jeffrey M. Anderson has been a working film critic for more than 14 years. A staff critic for the San Francisco Examiner from 2000 through 2003, Jeff returned to freelancing in 2004. His work has since appeared in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, the Oakland Tribune, The San Jose Metro, the Las Vegas Weekly, Common Sense Media, Greencine.com, Cinematical.com, and Movies.com. In 2008, Jeffrey completed his MA in cinema from San Francisco State University. In addition to creating and maintaining Combustible Celluloid, Jeffrey is also working on his first book. His particular areas of expertise are horror, Iranian cinema, silent-era cinema, and Westerns. Jeffrey is a founding member of the San Francisco Critics Circle.

Jeffrey first fell in love with the movies at age six while watching Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Afterwards, his father took him out in the backyard with an 8mm movie camera to show him how to turn a boy into a werewolf, make a Tonka truck roll, and make his little brother disappear. The movies he makes now feature his son, Alex. At the movies Jeffrey prefers an aisle seat.

Combustible Celluloid's Mission Statement

Combustible Celluloid is my own attempt to continue to learn about movies. For two years, I wrote about new movies on a regular basis. I continue to write about them, but without a regular column and deadline except for my own humble page.

I found during my stint that watching loads of new movies week after week can be exhausting and disheartening. Bad movies have been made for as long as movies have been made, but the old ones are forgotten, and seeing them as they come out can cause one to lose enthusiasm. Therefore, I try to watch as many old movies as I can. Whenever I go to the video store, I go straight past the "new" section right to the dusty shelves in the back. A great, well-made old movie brings me more pleasure than catching up on the newest blockbuster, or "personal independent" movie (not that they're all bad, mind you). So, while I toil to tell readers about the newest releases, I long to recommend some older relic that many not have been rented in months, or better yet, a new re-release that can be seen in theaters.

Please have fun. I've become excited over 60-year old movies that I've seen for the first time, and so can you.

- Jeffrey M. Anderson, 1997

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"Waiting for Jonathan Demme" -- Jeffrey M. Anderson as photographed by Dino Vournas in December of 2002.