A Collection of 250 Movies is Just the Beginning
Boston University junior Eric Eisenberg has a collection of more than 250 movies and does not flinch at spending $9.50 to see the latest film release.
“I just love movies,” Eric said. “Any movie coming out that looks remotely interesting, I bolt to the theater.”
Eric said that Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino films rank among his favorites, but he is open to all film genres.
There is more to this 21-year-old redhead from Maplewood, N.J., than movies. Eric is also interested in writing, politics, sports and his friends and family. A news-editorial print journalism major at BU, Eric said writing is a big part of his life.
“I’ve always considered myself a writer,” he said. “One of my favorite things to do is write. I have taken writing classes before and found that journalism really seemed to be the perfect profession for being a writer.”
Eric’s interest and exposure to journalism goes back to his high school years. During his senior year at Columbia High School, a controversy at the school involving the difficulty of integrating the poorer minority students into the upper level classes. This put his high school in the media spotlight. The controversy sparked many changes to the Maplewood community including the dismissal of many school administrators. Eric said the New York Times still keeps an eye on his former high school.
His real interest in journalism took shape when he began to write for his high school newspaper. His first assignment was to do a report on the ultimate Frisbee team, a sport he said was invented at Columbia High School.
“I got some great interviews and it just became a great story,” Eric said. “It sparked something in me, and I knew that journalism would be a big part of my future.”
Eric described being a film critic as his ultimate dream job.
“To be able to combine my love of film with my writing career would be an absolute dream,” he said.
He thinks he would excel at film criticism because of his knowledge about film and his love for movies.
“When I see a bad film, it just makes me despise the lack of intelligence in America,” he said.
Eric said he is grateful his parents and friends are in full support of his career goals.
“He’d be great at it,” said Jonathan Wilkie, 21, a friend of Eric’s for the last four years. “He collects movies. He knows everything about movies. He can answer a movie trivia question before the guy will even finish the sentence. It’s just what he loves.”
Eric’s friend and roommate, Michael Clement, 20, said Eric’s appreciation for film would make him a very effective critic.
“He really understands what makes movies good and he can appreciate why other people may like a certain film even if he personally didn’t like it,” Michael said.
Eric’s friends also said he possesses an extremely loyal and genuine personality.
“Eric is a really loyal friend. He would do anything for his friends. He is also always really fun to be around and that’s one of the things I like most about him,” said Katrina McGillis, 20, a friend from college.
Jonathan added that Eric still knows how to have a good time.
“I guess his only other hobby right now is drinking beer,” Jonathan joked.