tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53099324667953358272024-03-10T08:57:09.582-07:00Kid In The Front Row Film BlogI don't really care how much the latest superhero film took at the box office, although I'd probably know if you asked me. When I watch a film the main thing I am looking for is a good story. I like it when I look up at the big screen and can see a part of me staring back at me. More than anything, I am still looking for Jimmy Stewart and Jack Lemmon and Billy Wilder in every film I see.Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.comBlogger1139125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-20827784549959230982022-12-12T11:22:00.002-08:002022-12-12T11:22:36.606-08:00The One Where We Gave Up Our Passions And Dedicated Our Lives to Social Media It's tempting to live nostalgically. I remember this blog with a fondness that I can't put into words. I was at a creative peak that I've struggled to match since - full of youthful exuberance and confidence. In the first four years of this site, I created over a thousand blog posts. In the nine years since, I've posted 64 times (and only 4 times in the past seven years).My blogging persona Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-51222171233568191182021-05-30T18:41:00.000-07:002021-05-30T18:41:55.574-07:00 2am with a song you love 2am with a song you love changes you, it transforms you. It's hard to get to that place where you're.... transformable. Most likely, you're asleep. Or if you're awake, you're on Instagram, looking at some person you don't know or some person you used to know. Or you're flicking through the TV, looking for an answer to something even though you're not quite sure of the question.But the right Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-79433484312828116202021-05-24T14:18:00.002-07:002021-05-24T14:25:56.369-07:00Little Creative YouYou spend your youth trying to get some place. You start a band, you write a novel, you shoot some movies. You're not entirely sure you know where you're going you just know you must record the demo, paint the picture, film the horror flick.You do it on instinct, making magic in the middle of the night with your best friends and by best friends I mean those guys you met the previous Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-89087676061760107442015-10-09T05:09:00.003-07:002015-10-11T12:59:05.393-07:00What Was This Place?I'm a little in awe of the me that used to write this site. I was posting almost daily. Full of ideas and, not to sound egotistical, but insights (sometimes). I had so much to say. And looking at the comments, so did all of you. We had a real debate going. We were in something together.
But as with so much of the internet, eventually it becomes an abandoned wasteland. Over a thousand blog posts Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-11428364457190190482015-08-14T16:33:00.000-07:002015-08-14T16:33:33.480-07:00Where You AreOutside of expectation, of notions of what matters - away from the idea of who you think you should be and what that person should say -- somewhere there is where you reside and that's where you're playful fanciful crazy alive anything goes you.
Like a mixture of sad songs that only you know, a pick n' mix of feelings you didn't know you had and places you didn't know you wanted to see. Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-35353216103550277642014-11-12T07:40:00.000-08:002014-11-12T07:40:05.936-08:00Embrace The New Entertainment Landscape or DieI grew up wanting to write and direct films. I'd hide away in my bedroom night after night watching every film I could find. Hollywood films, European films, anything and everything. I found what I loved and I knew exactly what I wanted to do, and it's informed everything I've done since.
But if that sounds like an inspiring sentence, it isn't, because I did the wrong thing. I fell in love with Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-62271352389964212042014-07-14T05:05:00.000-07:002014-07-14T05:07:16.809-07:00Palisades Park on a Sunday Morning in July
"Lovely sometimes changes us, sometimes not."
What is the definition of a movie? What is a music video? In fact, what is a song? For years we've been force fed art in a particular way. A movie in a bloated two and a half hours in an over-expensive cinema, and a song in a committee-written, scientifically-proven concoction ready-made for the charts.
But the internet has blown things wide openKid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-53417832072245245102014-04-20T23:15:00.000-07:002014-04-20T23:49:38.685-07:00Dito Montiel's 'BOULEVARD' - A Review
It's 2.00am and I'm exhausted but I need to tell you about this film I just saw at the Tribeca Film Festival.
I was excited about Robin Williams returning to television with 'The Crazy Ones', but could never quite get into that show. And the world is currently buzzing about the prospect of a 'Mrs Doubtfire' sequel, but if you really want to see Robin Williams excel, you need to see him Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-69788947551672805152014-04-19T09:48:00.000-07:002014-04-19T09:48:02.890-07:00WOODY ALLEN In FADING GIGOLOWhat a fun film! We get to see Woody Allen being Woody Allen.
My favourite film of his is 'Manhattan Murder Mystery', because it's just so darn funny. The jokes fall out of his mouth like a breeze and you don't even realise he's making a joke until you notice that you are in absolute hysterics.
But Woody tends to hide from the fact he's one of the funniest people alive. He goes for Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-21787595633046990982014-04-13T06:11:00.000-07:002014-04-13T06:11:17.099-07:00A FRAGILE TRUSTIt's 7pm and I have no plans for the evening. So I look up what movies are playing. See a documentary I'm intrigued by, 'A Fragile Trust: Plagiarism, Power, and Jayson Blair at the New York Times.' It's starting at 7.30pm at the Quad so I jump on the Q train and head into Manhattan.
Just as the movie's starting I leave my seat near the front and head to the back, because this couple down theKid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-21114676326075009782014-03-29T09:37:00.000-07:002014-03-29T09:37:48.322-07:00We Make Art BecauseWhat else is there?
We make art because everything else is temporary.
We make art because it's hard.
We make art because sometimes we can create something that is better than ourselves.
We make art because we want to impress people.
We make art because we don't care what anyone thinks.
We make art because of that empty feeling.
We make art because it Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-89320244468248384372014-02-10T15:53:00.001-08:002014-02-10T15:53:00.704-08:00Right Now When someone dies, you look back at the text messages, the emails, the tweets, the everything. You get wrapped up in this fight to find out -- did you get it right? Did you respond to messages? Did you initiate messages? Did you turn up or did you constantly reschedule?
When it comes down to it, all that matters are the things that mattered -- and you either succeeded or you failed.
And if you Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-42833653862232986572014-01-26T07:47:00.000-08:002014-01-26T07:47:11.981-08:00Conversation with a GhostSuddenly, floating into my head, came the lyrics 'where have you been have you been to the races' and 'is your sister in braces' -- and I felt the urge to listen to the song again.
Only problem was - I had no idea what the track was or who sang it (sung it? someone please teach me English), just a memory of that part of a song, about going to the races and the sister in braces. I wasn't Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-73000717679868013372014-01-18T06:59:00.002-08:002014-01-18T06:59:33.660-08:00Social Media Basics
1. You have to be authentic. Be yourself. Everybody is being marketed at all the time, but now with so many choices, people look for what's real.
2. You have to be specific. Nobody wants to hire someone who can do everything, they want someone who can do one thing really well.
And you need to be able to prove it. Everyone speaks a good game, but how is your track record?
3. Blog. Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-6158197504262183122014-01-08T13:35:00.000-08:002014-01-08T13:35:39.296-08:00ABOUT TIMEHave you seen the latest Richard Curtis movie, 'About Time'? It's beautiful. It got slagged off in the press a fair bit. I remember skimming through some bad reviews and also a piece in The Guardian or somewhere where some feminist was annoyed that Rachel McAdams was in another time-travel movie where she didn't get to time travel, or something like that.
It's a wonderful movie. Richard Curtis Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-25999636156292477232014-01-05T17:34:00.002-08:002014-01-05T17:36:06.763-08:00JENNA ELFMAN Interview I love Jenna Elfman. What an amazing actress! She's typically described as energetic, funny and quirky, and while she is all of those things, it's important to not dismiss the fact that this is an extremely hard-working and talented actress (and mother of 2!) at the absolute top of her craft.
Like many of the characters she has portrayed, Jenna is an breath of fresh air, even when doing anKid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-75114330389784820532014-01-04T17:06:00.001-08:002014-01-04T17:06:41.975-08:00Alexandria in the Front RowI think Alexandria's comment on my article '2014 - Don't Rush' has reminded me of what it is to be a Kid In The Front Row.
She's 16 and has a level of passion and self-awareness that most can only dream of. And even from the way she responds to a blog post, you can see that she's a talented writer.
Alex, and keep making movies. The world needs people like you.
"I'm 16 and I love movies and Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-43687632480596599212014-01-01T18:40:00.000-08:002014-01-01T18:40:45.617-08:002014 - Don't RushFilmmaking is one long apprenticeship.
We all rush to sound like experts. It's like when you're at a short film screening and some 19 year old tells you how she was inspired by Godard and Tarantino, and how she wanted the camera angles to signify a metaphor about contemporary culture's relationship to technology. But then you see the film and it's terrible.
Not terrible in a 'not for me' sense Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-20331594507957524902013-12-29T17:03:00.000-08:002013-12-29T17:03:52.871-08:0011am Friday Morning, Los AngelesI didn't even tell Matt that I was coming to LA. I got in touch with Tina, his wife, and told her to keep it a surprise.
Tina and Matt headed to Hollywood and Highland for 11am on the Friday morning, meeting point: Johnny Rockets diner.
I crept up behind them and, over-egging my English accent, said, "excuse me, could you tell me where Buckingham Palace is, I'm looking for the Queen."
Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-50765929435826884952013-12-28T16:59:00.001-08:002013-12-28T17:01:51.262-08:00The Word 'No' Makes You An ArtistNo, I will not dumb this down.
No, I will not wear that.
No, I don't believe in sharing that message.
That's powerful. Are you all about taking the pay check, or do you stand for something?
In the long term, the artist's dream is to tell the stories they want to tell with the resources and expertise they need to do it properly.
While you're building towards that level, your decisions and actionsKid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-17829643204160005482013-12-28T15:46:00.000-08:002013-12-28T15:46:55.108-08:00Where are the artists?I think it's important to make art. It's important to write when you have something to say, to paint when there's a feeling you want to express. Art is an exploration, sometimes it's great, sometimes, not so much.
But that's art. You don't get it right every time. Nor should you. It wouldn't be art if you got it right every time.
That's the problem with Hollywood, they are so scaredKid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-73515155991164969982013-10-27T04:00:00.002-07:002013-10-27T04:00:14.067-07:00STEPHEN MERCHANT - Writer/Director/Actor InterviewHis new show is the HBO comedy 'HELLO LADIES'. His old shows include titles you may recognise, like 'THE OFFICE' and 'EXTRAS'. Along with Ricky Gervais he also created one of my favourite films, the subtle and brilliant 'CEMETERY JUNCTION'.
Not only is STEPHEN MERCHANT one of my favourite comedy writer/directors, we also like a lot of the same stuff , which is precisely why I began this Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-66790623002833143302013-10-20T17:36:00.002-07:002013-10-20T17:40:20.691-07:00David Jason's Autobiography - A Lesson in LongevityFor those of you in the USA, you might not know who he is. But here in the U.K., he's television royalty.
We love him for many reasons, but mostly for 'Del Boy' in "Only Fools and Horses". I feel happy just thinking about that show. Makes me feel all warm and English and proud.
And I've not even got to the part in the book where he talks about the show. I'm still reading about his humble Kid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-48103811350808585092013-09-07T18:50:00.000-07:002013-09-07T18:50:07.907-07:00The Longevity Factor: Your Acting Career Is Not What You Think It IsRecently I watched a film from the 80's, 'Turf Turf' starring James Spader and Robert Downey Jr. Spader was the lead. Later on Downey would get the Oscars and the franchises, but for a time, James Spader was the man.
And I watched 'Say Anything' and 'Singles', where we see tiny parts for Jeremy Piven. He was fun, he was engaging on screen. But he wasn't Ari from 'Entourage.' It just wasn'tKid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5309932466795335827.post-42880189321493404622013-09-03T12:59:00.000-07:002013-09-03T12:59:26.081-07:00LET ME WATCH WHAT I WANT TO WATCH!
"Now I have already mentioned that there was a disturbance in my heart, a voice that spoke there and said, I want, I want, I want! It happened every afternoon, and when I tried to suppress it got even stronger. It said only one thing, I want, I want! And I would ask, 'What do you want?' But this is all it would ever tell me."
-Henderson The Rain King
So, I really want to watch an episodeKid In The Front Rowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17498466805415882523noreply@blogger.com0