Chris Pandolfi

Growing up a shy kid in a quiet suburb of Los Angeles, Chris Pandolfi knows all about the imagination. Pretend games were always the most fun for him, especially on the school playground; he and his friends would assign characters to themselves and perform in several ridiculous but fanciful improvised skits. They had no audience, apart from their own company. Although Chris is no longer a child, he still uses his imagination on a regular basis. He even relied on it to get him through college. It eventually earned him a Bachelors in Creative Writing, followed shortly thereafter by a Masters.

Film is, for him, one of the best outlets there is for the imagination. Writers can put it into words and illustrators can visualize it, but he believes it takes moviemakers -- a special group of people -- to bring the two together and make the whole thing come alive. He yearns for that connection, not only to story, but also to character, theme, and visual symbolism. If he gains insight, be it intellectually or emotionally, he will consider the film a resounding success. Of course, he isn't so elitist that he doesn't indulge in films made purely for entertainment; his all-time favorite movie is the musical version of Little Shop of Horrors.

Although he has always appreciated the art of filmmaking and the entertainment it brings, it wasn't until 2006 that he began writing movie reviews for new releases, which first appeared on Amazon.com and later spread to sites such as Lunch.com. Still residing in Los Angeles -- a place he has dubbed the Land of the Movies -- he's currently an editor-at-large for Popzara.com, where he goes by the alias Dr. Invisible (he hasn't outgrown his shyness). He's also a contributing critic for GoneWithTheTwins.com, a movie review website run by brothers and Arizona natives Mike and Joel Massie.