His new memoir, Silver Screen Fiend: Learning about Life from An Addiction To Film, recounts a period of his life guided by a steady flow of celluloid and popcorn, while he navigated his career through comedy clubs, television, and ultimately, the Big Screen.
“To the majority of the planet,” he writes, movies “are an enhancement to life. The way a glass of wine complements a dinner. I’m the other way around. I’m the kind of person who eats a few bites of food so that my stomach can handle the full bottle of wine I’m about to drink.”
And boy did he drink in a lot of movies. Between 1995 and 1999, Oswalt consumed nearly 700 films, from classics and obscure independent quirks to summer blockbusters. He kept track of each one on his calendar and by marking them down in film encyclopedias.
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While the film industry lurches forward, Oswalt said he remains optimistic about the future. He continues to see movies in theaters—he saw The Imitation Game right after Christmas—but not nearly as much as during his “training” days.
“I still haven’t directed a film,” he says, “but films don’t direct my life, either. So that’s something.”
