 
It's sort of quaint that I still announce projects here. I've been sending press releases and Facebook posts all day.
Nevertheless, let it be officially noted that today I gave the Internet Overthinking Ghostbusters.
I'm hoping my Webhost doesn't get flickery. This project uses more clicks and bandwidth than TGOL. On the other hand, this is never going to be as big as TGOL. It's not something you can laugh at, or waste a few minutes with and forget about like some silly viral video. (TGOL blew up the minute I posted it because people could enjoy it after reading the first scene, they were sharing just based on the image and the title.)
Who knows what will happen. I've gotten a couple of Ghostbusters sites to post it, and Metafilter just picked up. I'm excited about the National Film Registry campaign aspect, and I think that will help get some eyeballs on the project.
In short, I've tried to take advantage of the Web here. I didn't want to just dump the manuscript of my book (however unfinished—the last chapter really is a mess) on the Web and call it a day, I wanted to make the most of this being a free project. Eyeballs are more important than whatever small amount of money I could have gotten by other methods.
But it's always a little scary to put something like this out there. You watch the clicks pile up and you think, well, it's out there now, I hope it was a good decision. I think what throws me is the fact that it's on my server space and I can see the clicks coming in. (And where I can log on and make changes if I want, ha ha.) If I didn't know where people were coming from when and how fast, if it was just a number that happened to increase when I reloaded (like a YouTube video or something), I wouldn't think of it as people all coming in to look at my thing, I'd think of it as a something-out-there, something I didn't have to think about or look after. Stupid, I know.
Nothing much intelligent will be said tonight, or tomorrow. Gotta give people a chance to read. Clicks are useless. I'm looking forward to when people _read_.own3d by this 3m0t10n:  full r0x0ring out 2: CW11 News on TV |
(1) "Terms of Endearment"
Maybe I'm a philistine, but I didn't dig this. I much prefer "Stepmom", its closest cinematic child, which the critics dismissed.
Debra Winger sure is full of life, though, and Jack Nicholson is funny. I found the film more affecting the second time when I watched with commentary. As if seeing it and hearing it buried under someone's memories made it hurt more than the raw incident itself. Oh, who knows.
(2) "The Blind Side"
I watched this on TV on a whim. That is the only acceptable way to watch it.
I guess it's not a bad movie, but it just seemed so unnecessary. The summary of what happened to this young man is an interesting story when told in one sentence for a logline. But it didn't get any more interesting as a two-hour movie.
That said, I thought Quinton Aaron was quite good. And I guess it held my attention, or I'd have turned it off. The family seemed like a nice family and all that. Oh, who fucking cares.own3d by this 3m0t10n:  bored r0x0ring out 2: no music, no nothin' |
This is ancient but I want it sidelined somewhere for posterity.
Mister Glockwork:
I saw Ghostrider with a bunch of my friends on opening night just to heckle it. We even held a contest to see who could throw out the best heckle.
Apparently my friend had the same exact idea as me because as soon as Ghostrider first appeared we yelled out "HOW'D IT GET BURNED?" in our best Wicker Man impressions. The audience loving lost it and the rest of the movie turned into a MSTK riff fest.
Falstaffs Honor:
I don't think this story is true, because I doubt most of the audience was familiar with internet videos about Wicker Man.
Factor Mystic:
BUT IT WAS A MST3K RIFF FEST I TELL YOU
FitFortDanga:
When I went to see Schindler's List, the first time Amon Goeth appears onscreen, I shouted out "ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!" and the whole audience cheered and asked for my autograph. It was awesome.
Adrianics:
Just like that time I went to see Atonement and when that faggy guy with the stupid moustache gave the chocolate to that kid I yelled 'YOU GONNA GET RAPED' and I swear that the audience was laughing so hard they had to stop the film for a few minutes
Zach Hoagie:
When I watched No Country for Old Men I yelled out "ADDITIONAL PYLONS" then Jesus came from heaven itself to give me a high-five and all the women in the audience formed a line to blow me.
jdwalsh:
Haha, yes. When I watched [POPULAR MOVIE] I yelled out [OBSCURE INTERNET MEME] and [POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM AUDIENCE]
Falstaffs Honor:
This one time, I saw Meet the Spartans and I said "hey that's not funny" and the audience sacrificed a heifer in my honorown3d by this 3m0t10n: calm r0x0ring out 2: "Saturday Night Live" on TV |
Yesterday was unique.
Yesterday I was called upon to be part of a gathering of "Lebowski" fans for an upcoming segment on "Nightline".
Let me say up front that I was not personally interviewed, so the chances of me getting my own little bit on TV may well be low, unless they take a bit from me in the group discussion or the speech.
But I enjoyed just hanging out with a bunch of fans for hours on end, and who cares if there's commercial benefit to any of it. Shit, I ended up giving away nine or ten books just to be in the spirit of the thing. (I even gave one to Bill Weir, the Nightline anchor, who I totally did not recognize, I wonder if he thinks I'm a moron, ha ha.)
We were served White Russians that were very very heavy on the Russian, if you take my meaning. Lot of vodka. And I'm not just saying that as a non-drinker, everyone thought they were strong. Well, it loosened me up like nobody's business, and I got through my speech rather well, I thought, remembered nearly every word without hesitation and even had a nice off-the-cuff remark or two. Let's just hope that wasn't all liquid swagger, ha ha.
A rather funny thing happened. I lost the hard copy of my speech. I had no choice but to do the whole thing from memory, which, thank Christ, I was capable of, except the very last bit which I never committed to memory, I was always planning to read it. It was quotes from the Buddhist Atisha, so instead I subbed in a story I'd read about a Zen master just the other week. That saved my ass.
Anyway my speech was in my bathrobe pocket. It never occurred to me to check there. The hazards of multiple articles of pocketed clothing.
Went out for burgers with the Dudely Lama and his cohort, wrapped things up. The segment airs in May, during sweeps week, so I'm told.
A couple of years ago a book called "Room" came out and much fuss was made over it.
I have now read "Room" and can tell you that the fuss was deserved. The author makes the gimmick work and goes in amazing directions with it. I wasn't necessarily a fan of all the things that happened in the story, I felt she got away from the best-potential stuff as the time went on, but that's all quibbles. Folks, I read this whole thing in two sittings and I was angry at the interruption in between.own3d by this 3m0t10n: pleased r0x0ring out 2: no music, no nothin' |
Talked to Lindsay on Thursday to figure out a post-mortem on the Ghostbusters book. I think I've figured out how to make it a Web project with some heft and a purpose and an angle. But it still is scary to pull the trigger and kill something you spent a lot of time on, on and off. (Killing it? Or giving it new life?)
I thought I had a new idea for her, a book on chick flicks. I'm not so sure. What that project needs is a very "Maxim" magazine sense of humor, rough and tumble. I am too gentle, too kind.
Having hell of a time with Kindle stories. I just find it so hard to come up with plots. I'm great on concepts, not things that happen. And so many of the things I write are stupid, junky. I blame screenwriting, where everything has to happen in condensed fashion. I can't write a real conversation any more. Everyone is too busy delivering their marketing-friendly catchphrase.
Have a TGOL promotional event today, sort of. A good way to celebrate Shakespeare's birthday. I'll explain later. I'm still remarkably unclear on what's going on, aside from what I intend to say when the spotlight is on me,
Quick write-ups of movies I've watched of late, I had this sitting around and kept forgetting to post it.
(1) "The Perfect Host"
Like many thrillers, this movie falls apart if you think about it for more than, like, six seconds, but it really is a lot of fun to watch. David Hyde Pierce in a crazy-killer movie? Hell yeah. It's basically Niles Crane meets a Hard-Candy-ish two-person scenario, but my God does DHP knock it out of the park. Your enjoyment of this film will be in direct proportion to your enjoyment of Niles Crane.
(2) "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2"
I never in a million years thought this would happen, but I liked Part 1 (which I was planning to skip) better than Part 2.
I have many complaints. Voldemort has just never been good on film and this movie lets him talk more than I remember from other films—he just always looks so week, so powerless, I've never bought his menace. Snape's flashback was a tad rushed. The quest to destroy Horcruxes one after another takes on a very video-gamey feel (I hated that shit in the book and I hated it here).
I liked the very quiet opening, and I liked the design of the destruction of Hogwarts. Lots of nice skies. And some nifty effects no one has seen before. There's a moment early on where the kids might drown in reproducing metal that had me wondering how the hell they did it.
I will freely admit that I spent most of the movie lost and wondering what was happening—"Who's that? What's that place? Why do they have to do this?"—and that's my fault. For some reason on film the details seemed more important, like I thought I was missing something. In the book I remember having more confidence that I could enjoy it without remembering every damn detail.
As it stands, this has been an incredibly inconsistent series of movies, even when they weren't rotating directors. I would call 7.1 Yates' best film. And I take back all my complaints about splitting the last book into two films, every word. I thought it would lead to two flabby, actionless movies. Well, I've seen what happens when you focus on the action, now, and to my utter surprise, on film (not the book) I preferred the camping trip.
What can I say. Sometimes I'm wrong, wrong, wrong.
(3) "Someone Like You"
Bullshit movie that probably worked better as a chick lit book. I tried to 'see' the novel as the movie played, sometimes I do that.
The title should not have been changed from "Animal Husbandry" because the extended metaphor sticks out like a sore thumb.
But I'm being too harsh, I guess. I enjoyed the film while it was playing, I found Hugh Jackman charming and Ashley Judd just as cute as all get-out. Maybe it's just been a week for movies that don't make any Goddamned sense.own3d by this 3m0t10n:  blah r0x0ring out 2: no music, no nothin' |
Shitty couple of days on all fronts. I'm having trouble with two separate clients paying me. That's the least of it.
Lindsay wrote last night. The Ghostbusters book is not selling. I thought I'd prepared for this; I really hadn't. It's not the not-selling-the-book that bothers me, it's the what-next. I can't seem to give her anything she can sell. And I'm not sure what I want to do with this book now that it's dead. I thought I could make a Web project out of it, but… I'm still missing the crucial elements in my head that will make it work as a proper Web project, and not just a manuscript thrown online. I need to figure out an angle.
If I had another book proposal sitting around, believe me, I'd dump it on her right now, I wouldn't mind shoving this project into a drawer. But everything I have is already in the drawer now. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I know I just need to keep producing. Keep cranking out Kindle pieces and hope someone likes them. Keep plugging TGOL and hope someone buys it. But the well can't last forever. Can it?
The one bright spot in this whole fucking week was the PBS contest and I only won that by begging a lot. But it should put a smile on the actors' faces, which is nice, I think.own3d by this 3m0t10n: listless r0x0ring out 2: CW11 News on TV |
(1) "Bridesmaids"
I really wanted to like this and it came up short.
The film worked best when it was what it advertised, a raunchy ensemble comedy. One more set piece with all the ladies, with a little less of the romantic subplot, would have really had this thing balanced out. I missed some of the supporting characters when they were offscreen.
I can't fault the gags that are there, however, and I'm hoping this will pave the way for more female-driven comedies.
(2) "Being Elmo"
I enjoyed this, of course; great fun to see footage of Kermit Love before even "Sesame Street" had happened, and to hear his voice from those days. I don't know if one learns anything new and life-changing from this genial documentary but it's just nice to see people in action.
  
Remember that contest "Ronan and Alyssa" was in in January, to be on PBS? Which we lost?
Well, on Monday morning completely out of the blue I got the e-mail that it's been thrown into another round of voting for a second chance at things. I didn't even know such things were possible, or could happen. I just assumed when we lost, that was the end of it.
Anyway it looks like once again my silly old film needs votes by 5 PM Eastern on Wednesday. The winning film will air on Channel 13 this Saturday night.
Click. Vote. That's it, that's all.own3d by this 3m0t10n: grateful r0x0ring out 2: no music, no nothin' |
Kindle stories cranking along. Pretty sure I'm finishing the final draft of my April story tonight. I think I finally cracked the May one as well, in terms of format, in how I approach it, though it still needs more work.
Last night I had a moment of bizarre inspiration to write a very odd little musical monologue. That's the best way I have to describe it. I'd love to shoot it, but maybe in 2013. When I've found a leading lady who can do it (I know no one who could pull it off but Carolyn and she is not a geographically feasible option, ha ha). I want something smaller this year. I wouldn't mind doing something bigger next year, really commit some money and energy to it and make it a blowout. But what to do in 2012? What?
Still. It's been so long since a decent and actionable idea came into my head for a short.
One thing that's been annoying me is the SAG-AFTRA merger. A lot of actors I know are now SAG and it's not something I really wanna deal with. I make tiny little movies with low paperwork and low budgets and nobody telling me what I can and can't do with my film, with my schedule, with this and that.
(1) "Super 8"
Fucking bore of a movie and I don't care what anyone tells you.
JJ Abrams likes to talk about the mystery box. Well, he opened his box too early. I liked this movie when we were seeing things from the kids' perspective and they didn't know much about what was going on, they were just trying to make their little movie, sort of being Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. The more we saw the monster the less happy I was. Does that make sense? I almost would have liked if this had been structured like "Unbreakable" and we just saw right up to where the monster's fingers were revealed, or something, and then the movie ended.
There's too much that's contrived, or that just plain doesn't make sense. And it's so depressing to see these expensive effects and set pieces and just not fucking care.
(2) "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen"
Is this a great movie, no, but it's a fun one, and hard to describe. It's about a fisheries expert and a pretty girl in the investments world who are thrown together by the government on an oil sheik's boondoggle project in the hopes of creating good PR story for Anglo-Yemeni relations.
The cast is good; Kristin Scott Thomas in particular has fun in a lively comic third-banana role. The occasional shifts in tone between comedy and drama don't always work. But mostly… you know, I haven't read the novel, but the fact that anyone could have read whatever novel this movie came from and thought "there's a movie in there" just astounds me. So delightfully odd and specific.own3d by this 3m0t10n: lethargic r0x0ring out 2: CW11 News on TV |
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