Friends

02:53 pm - July Reviews, Part 3
MOVIES
7/25

Hollow Man (Prewatch, 2000, Paul Verhoeven, Blu-ray) - 9.0
Kevin Bacon leads a team of scientists who have discovered how to make living beings invisible, and when he figures out how to also make them visible again, he decides to test it out on himself. Once invisible, he becomes somewhat mischievous, but after the re-visible process fails, he starts going crazy. This whole movie is pretty crazy. I felt satisfied with the exploration of what would happen to someone with this particular power, done in Verhoeven’s trademark over-the-top, highly sexualized style. And the special effects are mostly fucking awesome. I loved the creepy burn victim mask they made him. It’s no RoboCop or Total Recall (two of the best sci-fi movies ever made), but it’s still an effective and swayze sci-fi thriller.

7/26

(500) Days of Summer (2009, Marc Webb, 35mm, Kabuki) - 9.0
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel meet and start dating, and he falls in love, but she apparently doesn’t. I thought it was told in a really amazing way, and always felt realistic, and both of the actors were great and really fucking nice to look at (I’m not sure who was more in love with Zooey, Gordon-Levitt’s character, or the director and cameraman). Maybe one of the best and most effective movies I’ve seen about love and heartbreak.

7/27

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002, Park Chan-wook, Projected DVD, Bridge) - 9.5
A deaf-mute needs money for his sister’s kidney transplant, so his girlfriend convinces him to kidnap his former boss’ daughter, and things go really wrong from there. Every character ends up either seeking, or being on the receiving end of vengeance, usually both, and this results in a whole lot of killing. I wasn’t really thinking about it while watching, but this kind of plays out as a modern, violent noir, which is one of my favorite genres.

Old Boy (Rewatch, 2003, Park Chan-wook, Projected DVD, Bridge) - 9.5
A man is kidnapped and locked up for 15 years, without ever knowing why, and one day, he’s let out, and given only a few days to figure out what he had done wrong. Lots of violence and disturbing themes, some good dental torture, a live octopus being eaten, and just a lot of shots and scenes that are really amazing. I had seen it before, but liked it a lot more the second time around. It’s fucking great.

Lady Vengeance (Rewatch, 2005, Park Chan-wook, Projected DVD, Bridge) - 9.0
A woman does a bunch of years in prison for kidnapping and killing a little kid, and when she gets out, she tries to make atonement for what she’s done by seeking revenge on the actual killer (spoiler?), and gathering together some parents of the other kids he’s killed so they can take vengeance as well. I wasn’t that interested in the themes of atonement and the whole angel thing, but at least it was still fucking bleak, and the lead actress was awesome.

7/30

Thirst (2009, Park Chan-wook, 35mm, Bridge) - 5.5
A priest volunteers to get some disease that makes him puke blood and blister up all over, and it eventually kills him, but then it doesn’t because he’s a vampire all of a sudden (I guess he got a blood transfusion, but I totally missed that part), and then he meets a girl and they have sex even though he’s a priest and feels bad about it, and they’re in love maybe, but I don’t know, it was confusing. So first off, 5.5 is totally not that terrible of a rating you guys, so stop freaking out. It means I almost kinda liked it. What it also means in this instance is that I was fucking exhausted when I watched this movie, and there is a definite possibility that this contributed to my thinking it was way too long and really boring. There was a whole bunch of shit that I really liked about it, I just felt that the awesome shit never seemed to last long enough. But I’d be willing to give it another try sometime when I’m more alert.

July Top 9
1. Johnny Mnemonic
2. Bruno
3. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance
4. Gang Boys
5. The Quick and the Dead
6. S Club 7: Artistic Differences
7. (500) Days of Summer
8. Double Blast
9. Moving Target

TV
7/26

Daisy of Love Season 1 (2009, Mark Cronin & Cris Abrego, VH1) - 9.0
Daisy from Rock of Love is given 20 guys, and tries to find her true love amongst them. The first couple episodes were fucking insane, and it was immediately a welcome relief after Rock of Love Bus and For the Love of Ray J, which were fucking shit. I felt really bad for Daisy because in the first half of the season, there were hardly any eliminations. Guys just kept leaving on their own. Eventually, it worked itself out, though, and I think more people cried when they lost than on any other VH1 Love show I’ve seen. Pretty much the whole season was compelling and funny and awesome. I really want Fox and It (from I Love New York/Money) to have a talk show.
Current Music: S Club 7 - S Club

01:15 pm - July Reviews, Part 2
7/17
Cold War Triple Feature

WarGames (Rewatch, 1983, John Badham, 35mm, Castro) - 8.5
Matthew Broderick is a hacker who wants to play the newest, state-of-the-art computer game Global Thermonuclear War, so he hacks his way into what turns out to be a government computer, and makes it look like the Russians are actually attacking. Ally Sheedy is adorable, and so is Broderick. Great movie.

Red Dawn (1984, John Milius, 35mm, Castro) - 5.0
The Russians and the Cubans attack a small town, and a renegade group of high school kids, including Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, and Jennifer Grey fight back. I liked the premise, and I liked that it went all the way with it. The first time it shows the kids actually killing the Russians, I was fairly shocked. But for me, it was a bit too serious, and I found it really hard to get into. My favorite parts were watching Lea Thompson and Jennifer Grey being tough as fuck, and it just kinda made me wish that the movie were about a group of all girls fighting the Russians. It would’ve been a completely different movie, but most likely a more fun one, and most definitely a better one.

Invasion U.S.A. (1985, Joseph Zito, 35mm, Castro) - 7.0
Villainous character actor Richard Lynch is a Russian intent on invading the U.S., and Chuck Norris is the one-man-army who is not going to let that happen. I was pumped for this movie, and really needed something campy and violent to pick me up after Red Dawn, and as soon as I saw in the opening credits that it was produced by Golan/Globus, I knew I had nothing to worry about. Golan/Globus have often scared me with how tapped into my psyche they are. They’ll take a simple idea, like 80’s Stallone Action, or 80’s T&A Comedy, and deliver exactly the movie that I want to see out of that. (See: Cobra, or The Last American Virgin, for the best examples of this.) Invasion U.S.A. starts off strong. There’s an early sequence that takes place in an unbelievably gritty, sleazy hotel, where Richard Lynch slams a woman’s head into the metal coke straw she’s using, shoots a drug dealer in the dick (one of the most gratuitous acts of violence I’ve ever seen), and then throws the woman out a window. It is absolutely incredible.
But it kinda goes downhill from there. A lot of people get shot, and there are a ton of explosions, but that’s not always good enough for me. There’s not enough blood. I don’t expect to see gore in an action film (though I kinda did from this one, as it’s from the director of Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter and The Prowler), but I need to feel the violence a little more, or else I end up disconnected from it, and kinda bored. Norris has a couple of decent one-liners, but for the most part, he just says shit like “You’re about to get killed.” The last five minutes picks up again, at least, with a fantastic Western-style showdown with bazookas, and I can’t help loving anything that concludes on a freeze frame. Overall, it’s a good movie, just not the amazing one I had hoped for.

7/18

Heathers (Prewatch, 1988, Michael Lehmann, Projected Blu-ray, Bridge) - 8.0
Winona Ryder is friends with some popular high school bitches all named Heather, but she actually hates them, and then she meets Christian Slater, and they start killing people. There is some amazing dialogue, and in many ways, it is, or should be, a perfect dark comedy about high school. I had seen this before many years ago, and though I didn’t remember the actual movie very well, I did remember thinking it was really good, but somehow off, and not quite as good as it should’ve been. I felt the same way on this viewing, and I think it’s the score that fucks it up. It sounds like a brooding, emo version of early 90’s computer game music. It’s too in-your-face, too, like it’s constantly trying to remind you that the subject matter is dark, and it just ends up being distracting.
As a sidenote, I know that I complain about digital projection a lot, or at least, occasionally. But, for the most part, this only applies to IndieFest/Another Hole in the Head at the Roxie, because I’m reasonably certain that they find actual prints, record them off the screen with a VHS camcorder, dub them back and forth five times, upload it to youtube, then record that off the screen with the monitor’s brightness turned all the way down, and then they show us that, with the color settings incorrectly way off and a black filter over the lens (I’m not even kidding, I really do think they do this. And even if they don’t go that far, I know for a fact that they screen things digitally even when 35mm is available). But the projector at the Bridge (and the Red Vic as well), is much better quality. Heathers was shown digitally only as a last resort, because Peaches (this was shown during Midnight Mass) has wanted to show it for 12 years and no known print exists, and it was even on Blu-ray. The result may not be an equal substitute for film, but it was definitely satisfactory.

7/20

Dream to Believe (Rewatch, 1986, Paul Lynch, VHS) - 11.0
The second greatest movie ever made, and the most rewatchable. I may have seen Showgirls a lot more times, but these days I only watch it when it’s playing in the theater or if I’m showing it to someone. Dream to Believe is one of very few movies I actually crave rewatching on a semi-regular basis, even at home by myself (or in this case, with Erin), while I would normally be obsessing over all the movies I haven’t seen once. Here’s my full review, if you’ve never read it.

The Promotion (2008, Steve Conrad, DVD) - 7.5
Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly are assistant managers at a grocery store, and they’re both applying to be full managers at a brand new branch in a better area. They’re both good guys, but they each end up having to fight dirty in order to compete against one another. The story is simple, sweet, and relatable, and both actors are great.

7/23

PG Porn: Genital Hospital (Short, 2009, James Gunn, Internet) - 5.0
Love the title, but this one really doesn’t work. It was one of the first ones shot, and was originally going to be released as a package deal with the whole collection, like a bonus episode, and I can see why they wanted to go that route. I think if they had released it early on, I would’ve appreciated it a bit more, but since they’ve gone on to make much better, and much more elaborate episodes, seeing a “new” episode now that is so simplistic, ends up falling flat.

7/24

The Quick and the Dead (1995, Sam Raimi, Roku) - 9.0
Sharon Stone comes to a small Western town seeking vengeance against Gene Hackman, and the town is having a shoot-out tournament, where only the quickest comes out alive. Fucking awesome concept, with bits of Raimi’s innovative style, and an impressive cast. Great fucking movie.

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12:19 am - This makes me smile
I'm not really a dog person or a soldier person, but wow...

November 12th, 2009

pip	04:17 am im in love...........his name is jordan catalano he was left back........twice once i almost touched his shoulder in the middle of a pop quizzzz Current Mood: my so-called life Current Music: ...my so-called life!

01:23 am - COFFEE!
Things you should know about coffee.

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November 11th, 2009

09:20 pm - Linda Blair Reviews, Part 3
7/5

Fatal Bond (1992, Vincent Monton, VHS) - 6.0
Linda Blair falls for a sleazy asshole, and decides to give him a bunch of money and go on a road trip with him after knowing him about a day. A girl he cheats on her with turns up dead, and he probably did it, and then LB finds another dead girl, and assumes it was him, but then at the end, it turns out he’s innocent, and I guess it’s a happy ending for them even though he’s still a dick. It was alright. Had it’s moments.

7/8

Double Blast (1994, Tim Spring, VHS) - 8.5
Joe Estevez is trying to find some treasure, so he kidnaps archaelogist Linda Blair to translate some shit for him, but he runs into trouble when a young kickboxing brother-sister duo get involved and repeatedly beat the shit out of his bumbling henchmen. I knew I was in for something special when the opening credits actually explained who one of the stars was, as seen here. It’s kind of a retarded movie, if you can believe it, but also a fucking great one.

7/9

The Heart of the Lie (1992, Jerry London, DVD) - 7.5
True crime drama about a woman who is convicted for killing her husband’s ex-wife, but may not be guilty. Pretty good story, and I thought the lead was really good. They did a kind of ok job of setting up some other possible suspects, and remaining somewhat objective over whether or not she did it. I much prefer the original title, Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer? The Bambi Bembenek Story, but the DVD makes up for the change by listing Fullscreen as a Special Feature, which I always find hilarious.

7/10

Moving Target (1988, Marius Mattei, VHS) - 8.5
Someone on a motorcycle is trying to kill everyone to get a key that I guess unlocks riches, but we never actually find out, and so there’s this blond girl on the run who is topless throughout the entire movie for no reason whatsoever, and she hides out with a tennis star who might be her father, and they have a ton of sex, and there’s also a persistent news reporter, whose cameraman is working for the bad guys, and Ernest Borgnine is a detective trying to figure out what’s going on, and Linda Blair occasionally shows up, but doesn’t seem to actually serve any purpose. By the end of the movie, even the characters themselves don’t seem to have any idea whose side they’re on, and everyone just starts randomly shooting each other. And on top of all that, the soundtrack and score are fucking incredible. This was a tough one to track down, but definitely worth it.

Roller Boogie (Rewatch, 1979, Mark L. Lester, 35mm, Bridge) - 9.5
Linda Blair is a rich girl with inattentive parents who, despite being a musical prodigy, is more interested in rollerskating. She meets Jim Bray, a rollerskater with a shot at the Olympics, and hires him to help train her to win the Roller Boogie Contest. It all goes wrong, though, when some businessmen threaten to burn down the roller rink if the owner doesn’t sell them the property, and so the owner is forced to shut down, unless all the rollerskaters can band together and come up with a plan. This movie features an incredible performance from Jim Bray, and one of the best and most adorable from Linda Blair, as well as some funny turns from almost every secondary character. What’s most amazing about this movie, or well, there’s actually a fucking ton of things that make this movie amazing, but one of the most amazing things is how well it segues 70’s movies into 80’s movies. The tone of it, and certainly the fashion and the music, still make it feel like a 70’s movie, but the personalities, the brand of humor, the way in which the fashion and music are utilized, and even the entire plot would later be recycled in many classic and defining 80’s movies.

10/4

Repossessed (Rewatch, 1990, Bob Logan, DVD) - 2.0
Parody sequel to the Exorcist with Linda Blair all grown up with a family, and she gets possessed again, so Leslie Nielsen shows up to give her an exorcism, and Ned Beatty shows up to televise it. It’s not a bad idea, but the jokes are fucking excruciating. Linda Blair isn't especially gifted with comedy, anyway, but it's usually cute when she tries (like in Double Blast or S Club 7). But here she's fucking brutal (through no fault of her own, obviously, she's clearly a victim of terrible writing and direction), and Leslie Nielsen is equally awful. I had seen this before and didn’t like it, but it’s way worse than I remembered. Fucking terrible.

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pip	02:45 pm - tweetz i tweeted this shiz: 07:59 All of roo's labwork is normal. # automatically shipped by loudtwitter

pip

10:11 am
madeline has been sick a lot the last while. we had a bunch of blood work drawn & a ton of tests done the last two weeks.. one of her doctor's called me last night -- all of madeline's labwork is normal. no cancers, no cystic fibrosis, no immune system problems, no nothing abnormal. this is great news except for the part where she's still ill 25% of the time (and thus misses 25% of school days (though she is still #1 in all of 1st grade & her testing results are off the charts)), and we are still clueless as to why. here's to hoping its allergies.

and on a much more horrifying note, can you believe this piece of shit only gets ONE YEAR in jail for this shit? i hope a fellow inmate takes justice into his own hands, the judge certainly didnt. plead out from a shiv in your rectum, dickwad.
Current Location: 40515
Current Mood: disgusted
Current Music: owl city - ill meet you there

Tags: anger & wrath, family, knife, maddy, madeline

09:42 am - Iron & Wine
"Daddy's ghost behind you
Sleeping dog beside you
You're a poem of mystery
You're the prayer inside me

Spoken words like moonlight
You're the voice that i like

Needlework and seedlings
In the way you're walking
To me from the timbers
Faded from the winter "

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01:01 am - Inspiration from a gasoline pump
This made me smile.

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November 10th, 2009

thewakingself

05:59 pm - That was about as much fun as cow tipping in a hailstorm.
So. This was a first. Immigration officials whisked me off and interrogated me. Twice. Of all the countries I've been to... where did this happen?!

Not Italy, where there was no customs of which to speak. I walked straight off the plane and onto a train headed into Rome. No one blinked.

Not in Germany where I: Time #1) was wasted and could barely stand up straight when going through customs--because there was a metric fuck-ton of turbulence and I anesthetised myself with alcohol for oh, pretty much an entire international flight; Time #2) was completely sober and pissed off the passport stamper by not understanding her German (in my defense, she didn't understand my English, so it's highly likely I didn't deserve the enraged German yelling and vice versa).

Not in the Czech Republic, where I had to bribe an official to stay on a train. I asked if he took credit cards. Alas, he did not. But my ten Euros, he was happy to pocket.

Not in Mexico, where I--along with twenty others--was carting in 50lbs (each) of prescription medicine for indigents who needed it desperately. It was HIGHLY illegal to bring that donated prescription medicine (and toothbrushes and stuffed animals and clothing and other basic toiletries), even though we were traveling with three MDs. I did this on two separate occasions.

Nope. Not in any of these dicey situations, or any of the others not mentioned here in which I so very often seem to find [aka: put] myself.

NO.

I'm traveling. On legitimate business. With my boss. Who's the director of my company. And who is of Dutch descent AND DIDN'T EVEN GET QUESTIONED ABOUT WHY HE WAS TRAVELING FROM SOUTH AFRICA TO CANADA VIA THE USA.

OH, CANADA.

As for NaNo? I'm here. Stage two: conscious incompetence. THIS STAGE SUCKS. SO HARD.

We hatesssssssss it.

In happier news! I'm halfway through draft two! Please see the preceding paragraph.

Current Location: A hotel bar in Toronto
Current Mood:

bitchy
Current Music: OH, CANADA.

Tags: made of crazy, makes me say oh haha in retrospect, nano can kiss it, stabbity stabbity stab, things that suck, what the em effing eff!!, when capslock attacks, wip it into shape

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02:35 am - Hacked Roombas used for live-action Pac-Man game.
This is pretty cool.

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November 9th, 2009

fake_lj_deaths
[jessehanus]

09:13 pm - Help for school article
Hello everyone,

I'm a third-year journalism student at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) and am in the process of writing my final story for my newswriting class.

I am writing about Munchausen by internet and it was suggested by the moderator of this site that I post here.

I am looking for anybody with personal experience relating to this topic. Maybe you have fallen victim to this disorder, had a friend who did, or simply witnessed an account of it. I would love to hear from you.

Once completed, the article will be posted on ourblook.com under the university project section.

I am interested in doing short phone interviews, email, or skype. Whatever works for you.

My article is due on Friday so the sooner I can hear from people, the better.

Thank you,
Jesse

Current Location: Rochester, NY

Tags: (non-fake_lj_death), (random)

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November 8th, 2009

toddzombie

12:00 pm - 1955
Isabelle Huppert
Susan E.S. / 1969-1973, Mt. Lebanon H.S., Pittsburgh, PA
"basia bulat" put her with your Girl of Mt Lebanon high

Capt. Jeffrey Osborne --

they called him "Tiny Rollins" in boot camp

It's Amy Garrett, Stupid
The Astounding Vanjefe -- the 9-foot piece of shit dressed as a bear so you'll be more inclined to warm up to him.

Language Cues (1 of a million)
Doktor Frankenjefe on Gristina: "I was just her way of getting a free place to stay in Manhattan for a few days ... Her eyes were/are full of jealousy, envy, spite, greed, SELF-ABSORPTION in the highest of degrees /ETC"

Current Music: "as strong as samson" /procol harUm

November 7th, 2009

10:56 pm - July Reviews, Part 1
MOVIES
7/4

Independence Day (Prewatch, 1996, Roland Emmerich, Roku) - 8.0
Aliens attack the Earth, so Bill Pullman, Will Smith, and Jeff Goldblum fix it. Fun movie with some awesome action sequences. I loved the design of the aliens.

7/13

The Hurt Locker (2009, Kathryn Bigelow, 35mm, Embarcadero) - 6.0
Jeremy Renner plays a wild bomb diffuser in Iraq who pisses off his partner (Anthony Mackie) a lot. The dynamic between Renner and Mackie (wild vs. restrained) is a bit reminiscent of another Kathryn Bigelow film, but neither actor here has anywhere near the charisma of Patrick Swayze or Keanu Reeves. They also don’t seem to be in love with each other, and they never even go skydiving. Obviously, it’s unfair to compare this film to an unmatched masterpiece such as Point Break, but honestly, I didn’t really feel any connection at all to these characters. The movie is well put together, and there are some fairly tense sequences, so I did still like it, but I had definitely hoped for more from Bigelow.

7/14

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009, David Yates, 35mm, Metreon) - 8.0
Voldemort is still wreaking havoc, but the kids continue on at Hogwarts, and mostly spend their time pining for each other. I like the HP storyline no matter what, so I was kept entertained throughout, but it did start to feel long after awhile, because it takes fucking forever to really get anywhere, and there’s not much action in it. I guess the book was like that, too, but for the movie, I needed to see more stuff happening, or at least get a better sense of constant dread and potential danger. There’s an attack on the Burrow somewhere in the middle, and it was an adequately done sequence, but I can’t say I felt any tension. Once Dumbledore and Harry finally set off on their mission, though, things picked up, and it was excellent for the remainder of the film, all the way through to the finale, which left me suitably distraught.

TV
6/25

S Club in Miami Season 1 (1999, Andrew Margetson, Youtube) - 9.0
The S Club 7 are sent by their agent to a shitty hotel in Miami. The humor, especially in the first few episodes, is remarkably similar to Spice World, which makes sense since it’s the same screenwriter, the brilliant Kim Fuller. And it’s practically as good as Spice World. Most everyone in the band is really great, but I got really upset with Paul in the episode where he was put in charge and instantly started acting like an asshole to everyone, and it took me well into the next season to finally forgive him. Alfie Wise as the hotel manager was great, and everytime he tried to describe the UK, it was amazing.

6/28

S Club 7: Back to the Fifties (2000, Andrew Margetson, Youtube) - 9.0
The S Club leaves Miami and heads to L.A., but on the way, they drive through a time-warp and end up in a small town in the 50’s. They meet a diner busboy who is being tormented by the local motorcycle gang, and decide to use their S Club powers to help out. It’s fucking great.

6/29
S Club 7: Boyfriends and Birthdays (2000, Andrew Margetson, Youtube) - 7.5
The S Club ends up in a trailer park, and hangs out with some family, and Rachel’s boyfriend wants her to quit the band and move back to the UK. Some funny stuff, but story wasn’t great. There was too much shit with kids.

7/6

S Club in L.A. Season 2 (2000, Andrew Margetson, Youtube) - 9.0
The S Club 7 give up on Miami and move to L.A. to find fame and fortune. I liked this season even better than the first, and I felt like I was really getting to know every character a lot better. I even forgave Paul because he was pretty funny in the episode Mr. Muscle. Linda Blair is on this season, too, as their landlord, and sometimes she was funny, but honestly, she was kinda bad a lot of the time. The movie they made in Making Movies was a really fucking good movie.

7/11
S Club 7 Go Wild! (2000, Simon Fuller, Youtube) - 6.0
I know the title sounds exciting, but this is not actually about the S Club 7 flashing their tits and dicks for the camera, censored by a just-in-time graphic of the number 7. The only nudity you see here is that of endangered animals, as S Club travels around the world to learn about them. Kinda nice to get to know the members of the band a bit, but not terribly exciting. Tina’s baby panda was really adorable.

7/12
S Club 7: Artistic Differences (2000, Jeff Jones, Youtube) - 9.0
On their big move from L.A. all the way to Hollywood, Bradley and Paul have a falling out and Bradley joins a rival boy band called Guys Incorporated. But everything works out in time for an extremely abrupt ending where the S Club manages to win the Battle of the Bands before anyone else even has a chance to play. Funny and great as always.

7/16

Party Down Season 1 (2009, Rob Thomas/John Enbom/Dan Etheridge/Paul Rudd, Roku) - 9.0
About a group of caterers, who mostly have larger ambitions. The entire cast is made up of some of my favorite comedic actors, with Ken Marino, Adam Scott, Jane Lynch, Ryan Hansen (always a delight on Veronica Mars), Martin Starr, and Lizzy Caplan (whose work I don’t really know that well, but I liked her in Mean Girls and Cloverfield, and loved her in this). And always featuring exciting guest stars (mostly Veronica Mars regulars, as it’s from the same creator). I thought every episode was really great and hilarious, but my favorite was the one with Steven Weber, who had an amazing gag involving his fingers. I’m very glad this got picked up for a second season, although extremely disappointed Jane Lynch can’t come back.

BOOK
7/16

How Not to Make a Short Film: Secrets from a Sundance Programmer by Roberta Marie Munroe - 9.0
A very well-written book by an expert on short films about how to make (and how not to make) festival-ready shorts, and about the process of filmmaking in general. Incredibly useful and inspiring. My movies thus far were obviously not made for the purposes of big festivals. The most I’ve ever hoped for were some bar screenings, an online audience, and possibly an opportunity to sell a few DVDs. And the Popcorn Dangerous movies I’m working on are strictly for fun and experience. But Skimmin’, a script Doug and I have been working on for longer than I care to admit, was always something we regarded more seriously. I don’t actually know what my aspirations are in terms of the movie-making business, but it does sound fun to me to make a “real movie” with an actual experienced crew, who set things up for us and make everything look, sound, and feel legitimate. And there’s also appeal to “getting my name out there.” We always just figured we’d rally up friends for help on Skimmin’, but this book made me feel like it’s possible to arrange something a lot more professional and reliable. The budget has become an even larger issue than it already was, but once we sort that out, I think it will be an amazing time. Thanks, Roberta Munroe!
Unfortunately, though, I had Doug read the book, and rather than find it inspiring, he found it terrifying, so Skimmin’ is being delayed for awhile. I promise that it WILL (probably) still happen, though. Just don’t know when. In the meantime, we’re about ready to start shooting the second episode of Capturin’ the Freedmans.
Current Music: Lady Gaga - The Fame

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11:29 pm

This is who I wish I could be sometimes.
Was there a better, kinder, more loving human being in recent memory other than Fred Rogers?
Maybe the Dalai Lama. A handful of others, I imagine.

I'm sure there are lots of people like Fred Rogers or the Dalai Lama out there who aren't well-known and go about their day being kind, loving, and supporting.

How does one get to be a Fred Rogers without faith?

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04:37 am - The World Is Just Awesome
(Thanks,

divalion !)

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November 6th, 2009

greatfire

08:37 am - Inking Process
So after a week on Part II, the perfect number of pages to do per day has been determined (so that I don't get worn out but on the other hand so I don't feel like I'm not doing enough work.)

It is 2. Two pages.

FIRST: I work on them somewhat at the same time, and because it is cold and humid here, I need more time for the ink strokes to dry and so I can run my hand pretty much from upper left to lower right once, hitting down major blacks and the initial shapes. But if I try more, I smudge the inks so then I switch pages.

SECOND: Going back and forth in this way, I run through both pages a few times and I am usually done with two pages faster than when I worked on one page at a time. Before, I was constantly dawdling around the edges and over-inking details; I don't actually know how I spent 6 hours on one page. Now I am done with two pages in 3 to 4 hours.

At this rate, the projected timetable for book completion is:

Part II - 46 pages - approx. Thanksgiving

Part III - 48 pages - approx. Christmas

Part IV - 48 pages - approx. my birthday

COINCIDENCE??!?!?!????!!!!!!11111
Yes.
Current Mood:

optimistic