Random 10

1. I missed the beginning of a movie the other day because the guy in the corridor thought I asked for 'Scream 4' when I asked for screen 4.

2. I gave a talk over Skype to a college in Wisconsin a few weeks back, and today I received a thank you card signed by everyone. That absolutely made my day.

3. Easter Egg for breakfast. I'm considering it. Will see how I feel in the morning.

4. I've been resisting but I'm tempted to get on board with this whole Royal Wedding thing. It's a media phenomenon and I guess there's a lot to learn from it. And it's romantic and all that crap.

5. I wrote a blog last night, which I didn't post, because it was weak. This happens quite a lot, whether it's blogging or screenwriting, a lot is garbage. But as this is a random blog post today, here's my unwanted baby:

"3am"

Woah, don't you just love the night? All your problems stay gone for that golden hour at about 3am when it's too late to be tired and too early to be concentrating. You listen to a song and all you have to do in the world is listen to that song.

All your problems are gone, forgotten, left to the daylight. You can really hear the song. And you've found quiet. It's so quiet that you hear everything so loud.

Daylight is about worrying, and making the sale and the compromise and proving you're right and wishing you were wealthier. The nighttime is spent thinking about those things.

But not that moment at 3.14am when you hear the subtle whirrings of life outside your window. Suddenly everything makes sense and peace is yours.

Be happy if you witness this. It's the glory afforded to persistent insomniacs, but only if they're lucky. You can't plan for it or look for it, but once in a while you find the spirit of the night breezing into your life at 3am and it's everything.

6. The producer of my latest project and me have different instincts on everything. I just wanna hide away until the shoot and then get on with the job. But I'm not Woody Allen, I'm not successful enough. I have to chat to investors and be smiley and all that stuff. I'm not so good with that. I mean, I'm passable, but generally uncomfortable.

7. Most of the music I listen to was recorded by the fans in the back of arenas, hiding their microphones from the security staff. There's just something great about live recordings. Not the perfect official releases, but the rareties from some gig in 1997. I think, in an ideal world, I want my films to capture that feeling. That feeling of an extended version of your favourite song, where the band improvise some magic that existed in the moment, for the moment, because of the moment. We're just lucky it got captured. I want to make films that are like that. Somehow.

8. If you make a comedy, your first time will never get the laughs you want. It's a misunderstood art form. It's harder than anything. People will cry before they'll laugh.

There's nothing worse than your jokes dying in a cinema. But it is satisfying when, despite cold silence, one person TOTALLY gets it.

9. Perfect example of the bootleg music. Adam Duritz is singing a Robyn Hitchcock song, 'She Doesn't Exist Anymore' and I didn't realize music coming out of my phone could sound so good.

And this song will break your heart. Especially this version, from this show. Email me and I'll hook you up.

10. I like that you are all here. That you come back. There's so much content on the net. So many people writing about the same things I write about and its amazing to me that you're here. I massively appreciate it and hope I please more than I fail. Thanks for sticking around.

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10 For The Weekend

1. Alex Gibney is a great documentary filmmaker. "Client 9: The Rise And Fall Of Eliot Spitzer" is a telling documentary about politics, the banks, and how men throw away everything for high price call girls. The film will definitely get you thinking.

Today I watched "Taxi To The Dark Side," the film he won the Oscar for. It's a film about the brutality used by American forces towards terrorism suspects since the Iraq war. The more you watch things, or read things or investigate things; the harder it is to have any sense of who the good guys are in the world. Maybe that's always been the case. Remember in school? Nazi Germany was bad and everyone else was good. Now everybody's bad and nobody's good.

2. Mariah Carey has been irrelevant for years. Nobody listens to her music anymore. But in "Precious" she drops the big breasted diva act and does something incredibly human. Amazing.

3. I met Bill Nighy a few weeks back. I was sitting in the front row of the cinema and spotted him two seats away from me. At the end of the film we chatted for a bit. If you think I'm name dropping you should see the way he casually mentioned Judi Dench.

4. I still haven't seen "Black Swan."

5. When was the last time you watched a movie without a physical or psychological problem? Most of the time we're stressed because of our day, or worrying about tomorrow's meeting, or shifting awkwardly because of a back pain, or feeling restless because of hunger. When is it ever perfect?

6. Does your girlfriend/boyfriend understand your creativity and career choices? Can they support it? Do they know when to leave you alone? Or are you single because of these very difficulties?

7. Have you noticed how your favourite TV shows always have the best theme tunes? Its impossible to love a show and hate the music.

8. You ever been caught between creativity and laziness? You can't be lazy cause you wanna be creative.. But it's not there, not happening. So you don't create, and you don't chill, instead you aggressively log in and out of your emails and make five coffees an hour; the purpose being 'to get working as soon as the coffee is made.'

9. I won a bloggie award last year and It'd be incredible to win for the second year in a row. The realistic part of me says a blog is just a blog. But the ideological side of me says that this blog represents an idea. It represents and champions stories and independence and passion and pure enjoyment of the cinema. And when something represents those things, it needs support; because the other side are over-represented. They have money, advertising budgets, hundreds of staff; and they advertise brands; and they wipe outanyone with a unique voice. So these little awards and links from people, plus the positive word of mouth -- they really mean everything. You can vote for me in the best entertainment blog category here.

10. And point 9 matters and is worth believing in because things are changing. We're in control now, not the big corporate guys. Nobody knows how the future will play out. They're hoping 3D lasts forever, but it won't. The future is being decided by fifteen year olds with flipcams. We can hold on to old ideas of filmmaking and distribution, or we can reinvent things ourselves. The playing field is getting more even. If your video is genius; three million people on YouTube will see it. if you make a second one that's just as good, another two million will see that.

You created them videos. You own them. Some corporate guy will offer you a big cheque to make a commercial or to write a screenplay for the studios. But it's up to you now, not them. You're the kid with the camera. The corporate guy wants money, you want a career. You're in the driving seat. Don't forget that. Nobody knows anything. If you have the talent: keep making stuff until you're so brilliant that they'll be asking YOU how the future will look.

Do you have 10 for me?

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Dancing Blog To Blog.

I Love My Rainboots is a great place to start - you can feel the energy and originality bouncing off the page. The Struggling Actress rarely seems to be struggling at all - especially when it comes to blogging. The name Mind Body Psychotheraphy will either excite you and make you think 'nonsense.' Either way, check it out; it's inspiration, and it's colorful. I Love Being Gay is not something I've ever felt the need to say, but this new blog certainly does. I find the Jungian Psychology blog fascinating, and I continue to be jealous of the non-stop creativity of Color Me Katie. I also like Asleep In New York but cant' quite explain why. The Intermittent Sprocket comments a lot more on my blog than I do on his - so, I'm trying to even that up by mentioning him here. Wild Celtic is always writing something new - how am I meant to keep up? Because I Saw The Film is so cool.

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Box Of Chocolates.

It's funny how the world works. You can be having the very best time of your life - but someone, somewhere else, is in downfall. It can be someone you know, or someone you don't know, I guess it really doesn't matter. But somewhere between living and dying, we're all going to travel around the wheel. There's something scary about that, but there's something really beautiful about it too.

And you look back at your life - there are the times you got the girl, the times you stayed up all night with new friends, the time you travelled to warmer climates, and there are the times you didn't get the girl, the times you sat by someone's bed-side as they slipped away, there are times you were stuck inside yourself with no idea how you would get out and do anything with your life.

I guess this is when a lot of people try to figure out the meaning of life, or look to God, or whatever. God can exist or not exist, life can be meaningless or important, either way-- we're on this big wheel that goes round and round until it runs out of energy. At any given moment, you can be flying high, it's all champagne, flowers and parties. But one more spin and it's smashed cars, broken dreams and day turning into night.

Sometimes it really jumps out and hits you -- you can be facing a moment that is literally life or death, and you turn to your closest friend, and they're trying to figure out which dress to wear to the party. But one year later, you're holidaying in Jamaica with your new wife, and that friend of yours is in a wheelchair now, and she doesn't quite feel confident enough to get back into a dress just yet. There's something really profound about noticing that polarity, and it doesn't really happen when you're stuck in your head, in your home, worrying about why your broadband isn't working, or being disturbed by how late the bus is. It only comes when you're faced with true life - when you're at the height of happiness or the depths of despair.

And that's what I find quietly beautiful about it all. Sometimes, a joke shared at someones hospital bed might be the funniest thing you ever hear. And you wouldn't have laughed like that if you were sat at home arguing on a forum about iPhone apps. And you realize, that car crash, that cancer, that break-up, whatever it is - it holds a lot more gold than pretty much everything else.

Your life is going to cycle. If you're laying on a beach, or buzzing around the streets of New York -- make sure you enjoy it. Life is to be enjoyed, and you deserve as many amazing experiences as you can find. Don't fear those bad times slipping in, because they're part of the tapestry of the wheel. I'm not saying you should 'be positive' like some cheesy self-help book; but even if the worst imaginable thing has happened, keep your eyes open, because some spark of life and magic can be found in the most subtle of things. And when life turns to shit, you notice the gold amongst the mud, that's where the silver lining is.

I guess what I'm saying is, whichever side of the wheel you're on - the other side is waiting for you; so if it's going to come, you may as well welcome it.

"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."

-Forrest Gump

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random thoughts at 1am on a saturday.

District 9 is pretty cool. It's actually not what I expected, but was cool nonetheless. The Purple Rose Of Cairo really is a perfect little film. I am uploading a short film privately to YouTube to get some feedback from people I trust. I'm tired of editing. I think I'm really going to indulge in some Woody Allen films in the next few weeks, I watched 'Hannah & Her Sisters' again today. Michael Caine kind of annoys me in it, but it's an amazing film. Woody really is a genius. I think you should all watch the documentary 'Tyson,' even if you don't like boxing. Diablo Cody is a good person to follow on Twitter. Looking at the analytics for my site, somebody found the site by googling 'is the kid from Home Alone dead?' Rest assured, he isn't. I will be announcing the book winners very very soon. I am going to make a gritty New York film soon. I am also going to write a rom/com, but don't worry nothing too cheesy. I love LoveFilm, what a great idea. (The equivelent of Netflix for most of you), I have some old Ernst Lubitsch films to watch soon, I think it's about time Tom Hanks went back to making special movies, not just mehh movies, I have some really exciting interviews coming up here soon, I need to sleep, I'm up early.

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