Hello, my name is Daniel LaTourette. I created this account a week ago but, for some reason, I haven't actually posted anything yet. I go to school at the University of Rochester in New York (though I live in South Carolina) where I am studying film and film production. Unabashedly, it is my ultimate passion. When kids said they wanted to be astronauts or a race car driver I said I wanted to make movies. This is a dream I am going to accomplish and hope to express myself through stories and images. Having said that, if I wasn't so passionate in film it would probably be injected into music. Though I'm outrageously horrendous at the guitar, my knowledge of classic rhythm and blues and how emotional I get with this music astounds even me. Then, of course, there are video games. I love video games as I started them in 1995 and haven't stopped since. I like to push forth the issue that games are art and I would also like to push for video game education, since I feel the majority of people, at least in the US, are not informed about gaming and all the concepts that come with it. These next few paragraphs will just give you a taste of some of my favorites of each category.

I'll talk about video games first, as this is a video game website. I enjoy all kinds of game as long as they are fun, engaging, creative, and compelling. Shigeru Miyamoto is an inspiring figure to me in video games. His creativity as well as his positive outlook on pretty much everything is something that should be highly respected. Of course, that means I thoroughly enjoy the Mario franchise, Zelda, Pikmin, and anything else Miyamoto designed. Hideo Kojima and his Metal Gear Solid franchise is one of my favorite story-driven games ever. I just played the fourth one last month and had an incredible time. Fumito Ueda and his mythic games of Ico and Shadow of the Colossusare at the top, as well. Other favorites include the Half-Life series, Pokemon, Smash Bros., Bomberman, and a plethora of puzzle games. I hope to blog about a lot of these games. I won't be up-to-date with the games because of money and school, but I'll try to blog about a new game that I would love to get as soon as possible.

Film is such an easy thing for me to talk about, so you will seeing plenty of film blogs on old and new movies. Not really reviews, but rather dictation on my experiences. I don't necessarily have favorite movies but influential movies. The film I always regard as the film that made me want to direct is 2001: A Space Odysseyby Stanley Kubrick. Other films that have heavily influenced me are Scorsese's Raging Bull, Fellini's 8 1/2, and Chaplin's City Lights. Like games, I like all types of films that are fun, engaging, and truly emotional. Acting-wise, my favorite actor is Tom Hanks for his humor (much like mine) and his fun outlook on life. My favorite actress has to be Meryl Streep. So many powerful performances that always get me it's impossible for me to ignore her. My favorite contemporary actors are Leo Dicaprio and Ellen Page, who, ironically, will both be in next month's Inceptionwhich I am excited about.

Finally, music really makes my soul dance. I am a die-hard fan of rhythm and blues which includes the blues, soul, rockabilly, classic rock, and funk. My favorite band is Chicago...the old Chicago. Their first half decade was one with great jazz and blues rock with my favorite guitarist, Terry Kath. Other favorites include Booker T & the MGs, Santana, Sam and Dave, Bo Diddley, Keb' Mo, Allman Brothers, Taj Mahal. I also really enjoy film music. Elmer Bernstein, Bernard Hermann, and Howard Shore are among the few I listen to. I will also try to write blogs about the music I listen to since it is something I don't talk about that much.

Hopefully, I'll be able to blog at a steady place. I have many accounts on other sites but I always ended up fading. I'll also make sure to check my friends' pages and read what they have to say.