“Thank You”
justalrightreviews.com is an ambitious attempt to break into the oversaturated movie reviewing world made by a teenager in the death grip of life. Running for just over three years, justalrightreviews.com is home to over 500 reviews, only about 200 of which having been read. This may come as a shock to the frequent readers of the website, all two of you, but it’s time I took this dog out back and put an end to its miserable existence.
When I started justalrightreviews.com I can honestly say that I was at the end of my rope. My best friend was moving away, my days consisted of mainly playing xbox, and I almost failed out of high school and was forced to attend a night school with who I can only describe as ‘public school rejects’. I felt as though I wasn’t being heard. I had all of these opinions and thoughts rolling around in my head but no one to listen to them. Enter justalrightreviews.com.
These reviews, if you can even call them that, are not good. Especially my early ones. But they gave me an outlet. I can’t deny the benefit this website has provided me. It not only acted as my therapist, but also helped me hone my writing skills (the quality of which can be debated). Oh, and it helped me learn Photoshop. Do I regret starting justalrightreviews.com? Absolutely not. If I was sent back in time I would probably start sooner if I’m being honest. It would have been nice to be known for something in high school.
As of late I’ve realized that my heart just isn’t it anymore. It’s a little disheartening to put in so much work and receive absolutely no feedback, but I’m not trying to blame anyone. If anything I’m at fault for trying to penetrate a market that is chock-full of assholes in graphic tees spouting the exact same opinion about whatever new superhero movie is gracing the big screen. Although I can look back fondly on my reviews for what they have given me, I can also understand that they’re not good. I mean they’re not bad, but they don’t stand out in any way shape or form.
I’m going to focus on other creative outlets that will hopefully give me more satisfaction. I understand now that art has to please the artist first and foremost, and anything else is just a bonus. With that in mind, these reviews have been more of a burden than a benefit to me for some time now.
This isn’t necessarily the death of justalrightreviews.com, but it is taking a hiatus. Who knows when it will come back. I’m going to reserve this website for movies that truly speak to me. If I see something and am utterly unenthused, no longer will I force myself to shit out 500 words about how mediocre of an experience it was. That’s not good material. I understand that now.
I’m not going to stop watching movies, or even rating them (ironically my least favourite part of the review process). Everyone has an opinion, and me stepping back from justalrightreviews.com does not mean I am getting rid of mine. I wish I could, but I’m afraid it’s here to stay. I just won’t be writing long-form reviews for every single film I watch.
Maybe this is a mistake. There is a very real possibility that I will be right back here in a few months as if nothing ever happened. But right now it feels like the right decision.
I know I didn’t have to write this, especially considering the fact that no one reads these things (that’s pretty much my catchphrase now), but this adventure treated me well and I felt obligated to give it a dignified death.
Thank you, sincerely, to every single person who even so much as glanced at one of my reviews. I would love to say something cheesy like “I did it for you”, but I didn’t. I did it for me. I did it because I liked it. I did it because it helped me. But still, thank you.
I give justalrightreviews.com an A+
justalrightreviews.com 
Hi
I’ve been reading your reviews for quite a while now, and I really liked them. I’m just one of those people who only comments when they have something to say/want to start a discussion and rarely do, hence why I didn’t comment so often :). Sad see you go, but if you no longer enjoy writing, then you shouldn’t do it. I hope you’re feeling better than you were when you started your blog and I wish you nothing but the best for the future.
Bye
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Thank you for the kind words! I really appreciate you taking the time to leave this comment. Rest-assured that I’m not giving up writing. It’s in my blood. I couldn’t drop it if I tried. I’m only shifting focus to less-structured avenues. Giving myself a little more freedom with subject matter helps keep things fresh.
I’m glad you enjoyed my reviews. I’m sure they will make a comeback in some form down the line but for now they’re place firmly on the back-burner. Thank you once again for the comment. It has been a pleasure to be a part of the movie-reviewing community.
– Jacob
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The tragic irony that this is the post that lead me to discovery you. I decided to take a look at what you got and I wish you took more pride in what you have here because it is some really good stuff. Over 500 reviews is quite the accomplishment, especially with the thought and care you seem to have put into them. I think we all the time take for granted how fascinating it is to just immortalize our thoughts and share them across the globe with the power of the internet.
I can certainly relate to your points about frustration and somewhat of a resentment towards the “trendy” competition. I also relate to the fatigue and sort of the disingenious posting, and especially how you feel about your audience size and quality of posts. Always do right by you, and if you think it’s the right move to step away because of how you feel then by all means do it.
I would think it is rather unfortunate to lose someone who’s genuine about their writing because of these discouragements. You said that you’d wish you had gotten some decent feedback so I guess I’d like to give you somethings to consider. I really like the look of your site it’s very clean and matches well with your main image as well as posts having big dynamic main images. However, I don’t know if it is the best layout for you as besides for the archive tool it’s hard to search your big beautiful library of reviews. Write whatever you want, but I’d maybe suggest trying to experiment more. It seems most of your content is just raw reviews which are always nice to read but the titles aren’t that engaging, opening quotes make up for it a little. I think that it does yourself a disservice that you have a good personality but it’s not being sold well to your audience in regards to content, format, or presentation. Finally if you’re concerned about audience I would maybe think of who am I trying to attract whether it is internet browsers and thinking about how to improve your SEO or if you’re trying to attract other blogs through wordpress and what tags or features can I use to appeal to other writers.
Feel free to explore the community of reviewers here, you never know whose content can inspire you or what neat interactions can keep you determined to keep on keepin’ on. Sorry to leave you such a novel, I wish you the best of luck and to be content with whatever you decide to do but I’m sure you’ll be doing “just alright”.
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Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment. I truly appreciate the feedback you’ve left, and the points you’ve raised have been rolling around in my mind for some time now.
In terms of my website design, I’ve been mulling over giving it a facelift for ease of use and appearance, but unfortunately my lack of coding skill as well as motivation kind of put a stop to that before it even began. And I kept my titles simple because I resented the idea that I had to “sell myself”. That’s something I still have a problem with. I’ve always been of the mindset that if you do honest work, you will get honest results. Unfortunately this isn’t possible at all, especially in the world in which we live today where anyone can make anything and have it available to everyone. This isn’t meant to counter the points you’ve raised, I truly do appreciate the feedback, it’s just to illustrate that these are things that haven’t gone unnoticed to me.
Ironically I share your sentiment about only finding me now. Me posting this has brought a lot of supportive voices out of the woodwork which I didn’t know were there in the first place. It’s easy to get lost in your own mind when you’re only staring at a screen and sending your work into the ether that is the internet. I still do think I need to step back and focus on more rewarding (at least for me) avenues for my writing, but I doubt this is the last you’ll see of me on this website. And hey, to hold you over I have three years of reviews to read through (but I would only read the more recent ones; It took me about a year to find my voice).
Thank you again for the comment. It really meant a lot to me
– Jacob
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