CREDIT: MGM
Alison McGee explores cinema in her new column, McGee's Movie Moments.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls: gather round for the latest and, by my count, greatest insight into the evolution of the biz we all know and love so much... show.

Movies have come a long way since they were first invented before the turn of the 20th century. From synchronized sound to colour film to high definition and 3D technology, there isn't much that remains untouched in the world of Tinseltown; there isn't much left unscathed. If you're itching for the newest Avatar flick and can't wait to see your favourite children's movie remastered with each new era of film, then you can probably stop reading right now. However, if you are one of those sensitive souls who longs for a theatre where actual film is still used, or someone who refuses to watch anything with the words "part 17" in the title, then we have something in common and reading these few paragraphs might just be worth your time.

Sure, I wasn't actually alive during the days of Old Hollywood, and some may call me pretentious for delighting in the nostalgia of a past that was never actually mine, but whether you lived it yourself or not, there is something to be said for the magic of Old Hollywood; for the beauty and timelessness of films made because they aroused a passion in someone, not because the studios want to bank on a franchise which has made them a pretty profit time and time again.

I may not know it all about the movie business, I may not know every tidbit and every star, but I know quality and I know when it is clearly lacking in an industry that seems to have lost quite nearly all of its creative soul.

So join me this year if you will; take a moment from your studies on this journey as we ponder the big questions, like why do some people insist on believing that Avatar has somehow outdone Gone with the Wind in the race for highest-grossing movie? Why do Disney and Pixar feel the need to remaster every children's classic into the third dimension?

I don't know it all and I don't pretend to, but I know what I like and I know that I'm not alone in that. So if you want to hear one woman's insights into how the film industry is changing rapidly and why some of us don't think that's a good thing, then read on, fellow cinephiles; read on and rejoice because you're not alone in your love of good cinema.