I'm going to take a vacation.

It's strange to even type that, because vacations are illusory in my world.  I find it hard to switch off the machinery of my daily life in a way that would genuinely mark something as a real vacation.  The last times I think I pulled that off were in Hawaii with my wife before Toshi was born and then right after he was born.  Those two times, I think, were my most successful vacations, and I look forward to taking a full week with my kids and my wife to enjoy some downtime before they leave on an extended trip to Argentina and I kick off trips to Toronto, Fantastic Fest, and the fall movie season.

Since we launched HitFix and my own Motion/Captured blog back in December of '08, I've watched the readership grow, and the site itself has slowly but surely added new faces and voices to the mix.  It's been an exciting process so far, building out Team HitFix, and when we take a trip en masse to an event like Sundance or Comic-Con, it's a nice reminder of how strong a team that can be.

We've just added one more new name to that roster, and I want to introduce him to you before I leave on vacation, because you're going to start seeing his name here on the blog, as well as other places on the site.  He's not completely new to the site... he's been doing most of our video editing for a while now, and he's definitely someone we all feel comfortable welcoming to the team.

Now it's just a matter of you guys getting to know him, and the only way that's going to happen is time.  I have no idea how closely Alex and I are going to agree on things, and it doesn't ultimately matter.  He and I could digest films totally different, with radically different takes on almost everything, and as long as he has a strong voice and can explain his positions, he's a welcome addition to the blog.  I am not so insecure about my own opinion that I wanted a mirror to join the blog.  In fact, the opposite is true.  I want someone who can bring a new voice to the blog, to add more perspective.  The more of that there is, the better the blog will be.  That's the point of having comments for the readers, and it's the benefit of adding Alex.

So do me a favor... from Monday the 2nd through Sunday the 8th, I want you to treat Alex as you would treat me.  He'll be posting a lot of interviews I've gotten prepared and a few reviews, so it's not like I'll be completely absent from the site.  I just won't be reacting to breaking news until I'm back a week from Monday.

In the meantime, you'll be able to enjoy print interviews with Will Ferrell, Todd Solondz, Jay Roach, Eva Mendes, and Adam McKay, as well as two very special long-form interviews with Edgar Wright and Rob Reiner.  I'm really proud of the Reiner one.  It's a full hour, and there were no holds barred, so we ended up talking about his whole career.  You'll see reviews of "The Extra Man" and "The Other Guys" and "The Expendables", and you'll see a ton of video content with the casts of "Flipped" and "Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World."  Throw in the last of my Comic-Con coverage, and it looks like it'll be a really good week for you guys here at the blog, and a great week for me to enjoy some downtime with my family.

Win/win, indeed.

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You can e-mail me at drew@hitfix.com or follow me on Twitter, where I'm DrewAtHitFix.