Film and Felt

I became enamored with cinema in 2001 after The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring left me punch-drunk, created ecinemacenter.com to track my thoughts, and never looked back. My love of all things celluloid quickly grew, from sword-and-sandals epics to somber chamber dramas, and I became a member of the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) in 2003; I remain one today, though I took a leave of absence in 2006 for reasons described below.

The starving artist route began to wear on me, so I opened Aboveground Realty (www.abovegroundrealty.com) —a residential real estate brokerage located in Tribeca (downtown Manhattan)—in 2005, and I’m happy to say that we’ve grown into a strong, ethical company with a focus on high end lofts and apartments (rentals & sales).  I love my work, but if there’s a downside, it’s that most of my energy has gone into building my company for the past two years, leaving me with less time than I’d like to focus on my other interests. Luckily, that era has now passed. We’re established, and I have a core of agents that I’m comfortable with in place, including an excellent second-in-command; now, it’s time to implement the proper balance into my life. And best of all, owning my own firm allows me the flexibility and balance that I’ve always craved, if not flat-out needed, in my life.

As a result, I’ve launched filmandfelt.com to chronicle my three biggest passions in life; cinema, sports, and poker. Movies will remain the primary focus here, and I’ll be making it my goal to write, at the minimum, capsule reviews of every film I watch. However, to keep things fresh, this site will be more multi-pronged than ecinemacenter. If I play an exciting session of poker, either live or online, I’ll discuss some strategic concepts as well as post any particularly interesting hands—I’d expect the 2 + 2 crew to respond with some thoughts occasionally! And when the sports world presents me with some interesting food for thought, that’ll be covered as well.

And outside of work and the topics covered in this site? Well, I love spending time with my beautiful wife Francesca and toy poodle Kiki, relaxing with friends, reading, political banter, fine wine, and all sorts of other good stuff. Feel free to email me with questions, thoughts, or scathing criticisms. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy the site!

Cheers,

Gabe Leibowitz