Ladies and gentlemen,

Friends and family members,

Readers of old and initiates of new,

Movie Hell is going bye-bye.  Or, at least, taking a break.  After X
years and Y hundreds of weekly postings, I believe I've had my fill
of movie reviewing.  And maybe even movie *watching*.  Over the last
few weeks/months/movie seasons, I've found myself looking forward
more to *skipping* flicks than seeing them.  And, friends, if that
ain't a big-assed sign that Something's Wrong(tm), then I don't know
what is.  Blame Hollywood, if you need a villain; the Dream Factory
having become the unquestionable Crap Factory of late.  Or maybe age
and the growing appeal of *non*-escapist activities.  Or just chalk
it up to a passel of *other* obsessive interests that Yours Truly
has developed in the decade or so since starting this thang.

So as of now, I'll be turning the rest of my creative energies else-
where-- to toys and toy fire trucks and all the *real-life* appara-
tus waiting out there; to essay writing and tale re-telling and
transcribing all those *other* oddities yet plumbed from my memory
banks.  I'm gonna try *creating* art instead of critiquing it, me-
thinks, playing with photography more and sifting through the thou-
sands of snaps I've filed but not "done enough" with.  There's read-
ing to resume, journeys to take and music to be both made and appre-
ciated more fully.  In short, Everything Else Mike Likes.  (And, of
course, which will eventually find its way to www.legeros.com)

As for the rest of the Movie Hell infrastructure, here's the rest of
what's happening:

  o Movie Hell Dot Com will remain in place. Though no longer
    updated with new reviews, the thousand-plus archives will
    still be available.  No other changes are planned until I
    resume reviewing, die, or sell the domain name (moviehell
    .com) for an obscenely high price.

  o I'll no longer be reading the "trades," keeping an ear to
    the "buzz," or attending any "sneaks," so save your ques-
    tions regarding "what have you heard about ________?"  If
    I'm successful at stopping these habitual behaviors (yeah,
    right), I won't have the first idea about an answer.

  o I'll likely continue responding to reader-submitted ques-
    tions about *previously* reviewed films.  Or until I get
    tired of even *that* and being answering each query with
    "go away."


Folks, it's been fun, *really* fun.

Chow.

mjl

ps-- If adrift and needing a new critical voice to anchor to, try
     either of these two summary sites:  www.rottentomatoes.com or
     www.mrqe.com