For the next week I'm going to blog about music. I love music as much as I love film. You've probably noticed that over the years here.
The great thing about music is that it has nothing to do with my career. I can't sing, can't play music. So my love for it doesn't get caught up with my own ambitions and insecurities and all that stuff.
So, for the next week, this is a music blog! I feel liberated already to lift the shackles of 'film blog'. Maybe I should rename the site for a week. 'Kid In The Corner With The Headphones On'. Okay, that's terrible. No renaming. Just no writing about films or filmmaking for a week. That's something to sing about.
Sunday 6 May 2012
Saturday 5 May 2012
Important Questions: Please Answer!
1. What great films have you seen recently?
2. What TV show are you currently working your way through?
3. What song describes how you're feeling right now?
Please answer in the comments section!
Friday 4 May 2012
Headhunting The New Salmon Girl On The Way To Heaven
1. I saw 'Salmon Fishing In Yemen' today. We got in there late (due to my friend Charlotte faffing around with the whole popcorn issue, which I'll explain shortly). We missed the start and then nothing made any sense. Ewan MacGregor was doing something with Salmon, or taking Salmon somewhere, I don't know, I still don't really know-- I didn't get it. And I was all bitter and angry that Charlotte made us miss the beginning of the movie, so I was in a rage for most of it.
Anyway; eventually the film won me over. Ewan and Emily Blunt are just so darn likable. The film is likable. It just slowly works its spell on you. The first half of it you're sitting there repeatedly saying 'Why the fuck do I care about salmon?'. After a while, the people in the cinema say "Stop saying why the fuck do I care about salmon?" so you stop saying it, and focus on the movie.
And it wins you over. A very satisfying movie watching experience, just don't ever go to the cinema with Charlotte. Here's why.
2. The worst thing about buying popcorn, apart from it spilling all over you, is women who steal all of it, as I explained here. I've learned my lesson -- when Charlotte said she likes salt popcorn, I immediately ordered the sweet popcorn. So she had to buy her own; HA! That will teach her. No more popcorn stealing; perfect.
All was going to plan, but then she decided she wanted to buy some pick 'n mix... so off she went to stock up on sugar-covered-strawberry-thingys and cola-bottles and strawberry-thingys-that-aren't-sugar-covered and many other things. She took ages!
So we missed the start of the movie. I sat there ANGRY AS HELL. But luckily, I had MY popcorn to myself.
But then I got extremely curious about the salty popcorn. I offered her my popcorn. She said "No thanks". Did she offer me some of hers? NO!
And then she started munching away on the sugar-covered-strawberry-thingys. EATING POPCORN AND SUGAR-COVERED-STRAWBERRY-THINGYS at the same time. WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS! She was sitting there munch-munch-bite-yum-yum-oh-this-is-so-delicious RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! What!!? And offered me none!? I sat there, ENRAGED!
3. 'Headhunters' is a cool film. It's Norwegian. The first half is riveting, the second half is very good, but not riveting. I give it a 7/10 but it's a strong 7/10, meaning-- definitely go see it if you can.
4. Seen her in a heap of stuff recently and, as a result, I'm currently a little in love with Emily Blunt.
5. I'm listening to Phil Collins. Everyone likes Phil Collins, just admit it.
6. Collins is cool, but he's not a hero of mine. For that you need to be someone like Jackson Browne. It's not just the voice, or the lyrics, or anything you could make a reality show about --- it's something deeper. He just has wisdom. And soul. All the indefinables.
7. I started watching 'New Girl', because the recommendation came from a friend I completely trust. That's how word of mouth works. It needs to come from someone whose tastes and beliefs we believe in. She said "Watch 'New Girl' and love it, or I don't know you." It's wonderful! Fresh, funny, just a pure joy to watch.
8. 'My Fellow Americans' is a very heartwarming and hilarious movie. I just can't get enough of watching Jack Lemmon. Still makes no sense to me that he's dead. How can somebody like that pass away? He should still be here, making movies.
10. 'The Double' is a decent flick. When Richard Gere and Martin Sheen are on screen -- they carry real weight, dramatically. I'd watch Martin Sheen in anything. Or I could just watch him again and again in 'The West Wing', which of course I do.
11. Phil Collins - Something Happened On The Way To Heaven. Come on, that's a good tune right there. My parents like Phil Collins, so I blame them. But blame is a strong term -- maybe they set me on this path. There's often been this joke in my family -- they're like where did he get all this film stuff from? Interestingly, I've always linked it strongly with music. When I give examples of creativity or artistry, more often than not I look to musicians rather than filmmakers, because it's easier to spot and explain. And I think so much of my tastes and sensibilities come from listening to my parents records when I was a kid. It was stuff like Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Diana Ross! And I know, uncool right? You wanna be able to say your parents were into Led Zeppelin -- but actually, listening to Phil Collins right now; I can hear me in it. The music my parents have always loved is good, honest, heartfelt stuff. It's not about whether it's cool or mainstream, it's about it being truthful and connecting. That's what I've always gone after in my work. I have great parents and they have terrific taste in music, you should know this. They love a good bit of Motown, too.
Anyway; eventually the film won me over. Ewan and Emily Blunt are just so darn likable. The film is likable. It just slowly works its spell on you. The first half of it you're sitting there repeatedly saying 'Why the fuck do I care about salmon?'. After a while, the people in the cinema say "Stop saying why the fuck do I care about salmon?" so you stop saying it, and focus on the movie.
And it wins you over. A very satisfying movie watching experience, just don't ever go to the cinema with Charlotte. Here's why.
2. The worst thing about buying popcorn, apart from it spilling all over you, is women who steal all of it, as I explained here. I've learned my lesson -- when Charlotte said she likes salt popcorn, I immediately ordered the sweet popcorn. So she had to buy her own; HA! That will teach her. No more popcorn stealing; perfect.
All was going to plan, but then she decided she wanted to buy some pick 'n mix... so off she went to stock up on sugar-covered-strawberry-thingys and cola-bottles and strawberry-thingys-that-aren't-sugar-covered and many other things. She took ages!
So we missed the start of the movie. I sat there ANGRY AS HELL. But luckily, I had MY popcorn to myself.
But then I got extremely curious about the salty popcorn. I offered her my popcorn. She said "No thanks". Did she offer me some of hers? NO!
And then she started munching away on the sugar-covered-strawberry-thingys. EATING POPCORN AND SUGAR-COVERED-STRAWBERRY-THINGYS at the same time. WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS! She was sitting there munch-munch-bite-yum-yum-oh-this-is-so-delicious RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME! What!!? And offered me none!? I sat there, ENRAGED!
3. 'Headhunters' is a cool film. It's Norwegian. The first half is riveting, the second half is very good, but not riveting. I give it a 7/10 but it's a strong 7/10, meaning-- definitely go see it if you can.
4. Seen her in a heap of stuff recently and, as a result, I'm currently a little in love with Emily Blunt.
5. I'm listening to Phil Collins. Everyone likes Phil Collins, just admit it.
6. Collins is cool, but he's not a hero of mine. For that you need to be someone like Jackson Browne. It's not just the voice, or the lyrics, or anything you could make a reality show about --- it's something deeper. He just has wisdom. And soul. All the indefinables.
7. I started watching 'New Girl', because the recommendation came from a friend I completely trust. That's how word of mouth works. It needs to come from someone whose tastes and beliefs we believe in. She said "Watch 'New Girl' and love it, or I don't know you." It's wonderful! Fresh, funny, just a pure joy to watch.
8. 'My Fellow Americans' is a very heartwarming and hilarious movie. I just can't get enough of watching Jack Lemmon. Still makes no sense to me that he's dead. How can somebody like that pass away? He should still be here, making movies.
9. Season 6 of 'Seinfeld' is beyond genius.
10. 'The Double' is a decent flick. When Richard Gere and Martin Sheen are on screen -- they carry real weight, dramatically. I'd watch Martin Sheen in anything. Or I could just watch him again and again in 'The West Wing', which of course I do.
11. Phil Collins - Something Happened On The Way To Heaven. Come on, that's a good tune right there. My parents like Phil Collins, so I blame them. But blame is a strong term -- maybe they set me on this path. There's often been this joke in my family -- they're like where did he get all this film stuff from? Interestingly, I've always linked it strongly with music. When I give examples of creativity or artistry, more often than not I look to musicians rather than filmmakers, because it's easier to spot and explain. And I think so much of my tastes and sensibilities come from listening to my parents records when I was a kid. It was stuff like Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Diana Ross! And I know, uncool right? You wanna be able to say your parents were into Led Zeppelin -- but actually, listening to Phil Collins right now; I can hear me in it. The music my parents have always loved is good, honest, heartfelt stuff. It's not about whether it's cool or mainstream, it's about it being truthful and connecting. That's what I've always gone after in my work. I have great parents and they have terrific taste in music, you should know this. They love a good bit of Motown, too.
Thursday 3 May 2012
THE SON OF NO ONE - Film Review (DVD)
I love this movie.
I have yet to find anyone else who shares my opinion, but screw it. And yes, I'm probably a bit biased, because I've always been a bit of a Dito Montiel fanboy. 'A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints' is one of my all time favourite films.
'The Son Of No One' crashed at the box office, never made it to the cinema in Europe, and has received negative reviews everywhere.
But it resonates with me. And that's all I can really care about. I'm a fan of Montiel's movies because of how they impact me personally. The emotion in the film is, at least to me, extremely real. And it bugs me that people are slamming the performances of Pacino, Tatum and Katie Holmes, because I think they were fantastic!
As for me being biased; it's because I love the style, I love the stories, I love the team he has around him. The music Jonathan Elias and David Wittman created, it seeps right into me. How to describe it? There's just something about their sound --- the subtlety of it, the rawness. It has truth in it. And you know what I think about Jake Pushinsky's editing. Also, the way the movie was shot by Benoît Delhomme, I felt like I was right there! I felt the same with '..Saints'. Dito has a way of placing you right in the heart of the movie. I didn't grow up in New York, I was never involved in crime; but these movies feel like they were about me. There are precious few filmmakers who can achieve this feeling; and that's why I crave it.
The film seamlessly flows between the present and the past (a similar device was used in 'A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints') - and again, and sorry to overuse this word, but it resonates. It's just the way I am, the way my brain works -- I'm in the present moment but always conscious and present in where I came from, who I was. The structure of this film, the way it's edited, it feels extremely natural to me.
A few issues bugged me at first. I don't know if they had problems with the sound mix, because there was a heap of dialogue I couldn't make sense of. Either it got better after a while, or it stopped being important to me, because I sank right into it and had no complaints.
'The Son Of No One' is like a great crime novel; the character gets deeper and deeper into the shit, to the point where he has nowhere to turn, no-one who can make it okay. And gradually it unfolds that the whole police force is corrupt and working to protect him. The film ends with him having to make a decision -- to figure out where his loyalty lies, and it's riveting.
But look, I'm wise enough to know that if a film gets trashed to the extreme this film has been trashed -- then it must be less than perfect. But I don't see the prejudice of my bias as a bad thing, I just see it for what it is -- I bring myself into the movies I watch. Who I am and how I process the world, and art, it's there in the room with me. And something about 'Son Of No-one', 'A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints' and (to a lesser extent) 'Fighting' really works for me. I respond to the emotion in them, I relate to the characters and the predicaments. Most importantly of all; the watching of these films completely grabs my attention and won't let me go.
Wednesday 2 May 2012
What Do The Failures Add Up To?
I'm having one of those nights.
It was years ago and I had this idea, a concept that a producer loved. He said "let's make it!" So I signed some dumb contract, for no money, and he immediately got in another producer and they tried to completely rework my idea.
And they'd come back to me with ideas and suggestions. They'd send me away to write new drafts and treatments and all sorts of nonsense.
Looking back, it was all a pile of amateur nonsense. But that was a year of my life.
Then I was a producer on a movie. Not really, though, that was just the name they gave it, unofficially. It was never in writing. I cringe even writing that. Why are we dumb enough to do things that aren't in writing?
My 'producer' role entailed casting most of the actors, organizing schedules, and basically being the dude who people moaned at before, during and after the shoot. So I got all the bullshit, but I had no power! We'd fall behind schedule or someone would need some money so they'd come to me. But I was just the powerless guy. A glorified production assistant with a phantom 'producer' title, running the show yet not really running the show at all. The director was the one calling the shots. He was the real producer, too. But he'd use me for the paperwork and phone calls and bringing people together. But when I'd say "we need to move on!", it'd hold no weight.
Nothing happened with the film for years. And I got more and more phased out. I think they finished it and I'm pretty sure I don't even have a credit. That was two years of my life.
I tried putting a feature film together for me to direct. We got close, real close. But there were so many roadblocks. After numerous renewals of the option agreement - despite casting it, crewing it and rehearsing it, the producers had been unable to raise the money. I didn't renew the option, and walked. That was two years of my life.
The film industry is tough because so often, people are certain you're doing nothing. But you know better, so you dedicate yourself to something you believe in. But when it falls to pieces, you end up with no product. And you have no money in your pocket.
I blame no-one. Sometimes it was bad luck, sometimes I was foolish and naive. And you know what I hate? When actors say "you have it so easy, cause you can create your own work, but actors have to suffer". I've heard that so many times, and it's so hugely ignorant.
We're all failing one project at a time, and the truth is; the longer you spend on something, the harder it is to pick yourself up after it crashes. True accomplishment comes from delayed gratification, the longer projects. When you write a tweet, or a blog, the good feeling comes instantly, your work is done! When you plan a movie and work at it for two years -- and fail, the blow is so huge because the delayed gratification gets delayed indefinitely.
And with no positive outcome, you're left alone with it. And deep down you fear that anyone who ever thought you were talentless or over-reaching is absolutely right.
So you rush to produce something new. You plan to write a masterpiece immediately. You force yourself to do it right. But hold on: Rush? Immediate? Force? These things are unnatural, and you kill your creativity.
You have to remain fresh. You have to feel the joy. That's the only way you create anything that resonates. It's like when actors carry the resentful residue of a hundred rejections into their next audition, they turn people off. It's just like a guy desperate for sex after years without it, he emits something that repels. That's how it is with nearly every aspect of creativity. You have to get past the rejections and depressions and failures that have become internalized. Every new project has to be NEW! The let downs of the past are just the past, and you've learned so much from them!
Don't over-identify with your failures. We're all going through them, and they're not as personal as they seem. It's just what happens, and you're better equipped the next time.
So you take a deep breath. You open final draft. You begin writing a new screenplay.
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