So I've been watching a lot of the BBC's Sherlock lately. (If you don't get BBC you can watch it online at Amazon; not sure about Netflix streaming.) It's fucking fantastic. The pilot is one of the best pilots ever, just excellent writing. Benedict Cumberbatch's Aspergers-y Holmes is a great creation, perfectly captures the vibe of an arrogant genius child who demands attention (reminds me of a certain type of home-schooled kid) and can't control his impulses. I'm about to watch the final episode of the second season.
I also saw Haywire, which I liked (the script is nothing, nonsense... the actors seem to be having fun... Gina Carano, the MMA fighter who plays the lead, is a better actress than I expected but more importantly just gorgeous and magnetic... far more appealing than the vast majority of actual movie star actresses).
And Contraband, which I was interested in because it takes place in New Orleans. Fine, competent, entertaining.
And The Grey, which stayed with me and is not your average multiplex film. (Odd that I saw this so soon after seeing, and liking, Joe Carnahan's much-hated The A-Team.) I was shivering and squirming throughout, really pretty miserable. It's just punishing. The shots of the freezing wind whipping across the snow... I'm with Roger Ebert, who wrote in his review that he went to see another movie after The Grey screened, but he had to walk out because he was feeling so pummeled after watching The Grey that it wouldn't be fair to review the other movie. Here's a good post on it. For the record, I liked the end.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
ODDS
Great article in the New Yorker about the prison system.
They're posting pictures from the Teen Wolf set on the show's tumblr almost every day. Exciting to see stuff dreamed up in the writer's room actually getting filmed right now. The pool scene they just posted a glimpse of is going to be great. So is the scene that the "claws on ice" image is from.
They're posting pictures from the Teen Wolf set on the show's tumblr almost every day. Exciting to see stuff dreamed up in the writer's room actually getting filmed right now. The pool scene they just posted a glimpse of is going to be great. So is the scene that the "claws on ice" image is from.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
GREAT DIALOGUE
Sometimes I read or overhear a really vivid phrase or exchange and I've got to take it down for posterity, to use later or just for inspiration. The transcript of the conversation between the Italian Coast Guard captain and the captain of the Costa Concordia who abandoned the ship as it was sinking is such an exchange. Really extraordinary.
—De Falco: “You go aboard. It is an order. Don’t make any more excuses. You have declared ‘abandon ship.’ Now I am in charge. You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me? Go, and call me when you are aboard. My air rescue crew is there.”
—Schettino: “Where are your rescuers?”
—De Falco: “My air rescue is on the prow. Go. There are already bodies, Schettino.”
—Schettino: “How many bodies are there?”
—De Falco: “I don’t know. I have heard of one. You are the one who has to tell me how many there are. Christ.”
—Schettino: “But do you realize it is dark and here we can’t see anything...”
—De Falco: “And so what? You want to go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home?
—De Falco: “You go aboard. It is an order. Don’t make any more excuses. You have declared ‘abandon ship.’ Now I am in charge. You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me? Go, and call me when you are aboard. My air rescue crew is there.”
—Schettino: “Where are your rescuers?”
—De Falco: “My air rescue is on the prow. Go. There are already bodies, Schettino.”
—Schettino: “How many bodies are there?”
—De Falco: “I don’t know. I have heard of one. You are the one who has to tell me how many there are. Christ.”
—Schettino: “But do you realize it is dark and here we can’t see anything...”
—De Falco: “And so what? You want to go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home?
SEVERED HEAD
Ken Baumann just sent me this exciting article. (Best part: "Two females were hiking with nine dogs...") A severed head was found in a bag beneath the Hollywood sign. Man. The Secret History of the Lord of Musahi comes to mind, as well as a weird kind of envy. After I die, cut off my head and put it in a bag under the Hollywood sign.
Monday, January 16, 2012
WEEKEND OF EH
Been mostly in front of my computer with the TV on in the background for the whole weekend. It seemed as though the AFC and NFC championships might be entirely composed of four "local" teams for me: Saints (born in New Orleans); Ravens (grew up just outside of Baltimore); Patriots (college in New England 2000-2005); and Giants (lived in New York 2005-2010). Alas the Saints got knocked out. But it did mean that for the first time in two years I was actually watching football games.
And in the foreground I was working on some maddening shit. I wrote a very long short story/short novella over the holidays that now, on re-reading, seems deeply exasperating to me. All first drafts do, though. No, that's not true. I was fucking around with it for much of the weekend. At least writing's cheaper than going to therapy.
And in the foreground I was working on some maddening shit. I wrote a very long short story/short novella over the holidays that now, on re-reading, seems deeply exasperating to me. All first drafts do, though. No, that's not true. I was fucking around with it for much of the weekend. At least writing's cheaper than going to therapy.
Friday, January 13, 2012
BNCF REVIEW
Elizabeth Hand, a terrific author (whose Available Dark is out soon) reviewed the rerelease of Brand New Cherry Flavor for the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and calls it one of the best horror novels she's read in the last few decades. I've been singing its praises for a long time, and will again: it's awesome. Read it if you haven't.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
ALARM
Man, how humiliating.
The unmistakably jarring sound of an iPhone marimba ring interrupted the soft and spiritual final measures of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 at the New York Philharmonic on Tuesday night. The conductor, Alan Gilbert, did something almost unheard-of in a concert hall: He stopped the performance. But the ringing kept on going, prompting increasingly angry shouts in the audience directed at the malefactor.
That happened to me once, sort of. I was at a small advance screening of a movie made by some people I admire (there were maybe 20 other people in the audience) and just like with the Philharmonic guy, my phone was off, but the alarm was set (from a previous night) for a time that happened to fall during the screening. I didn't realize the phone (Blackberry Bold) would turn itself on for the alarm. But then in the middle of the screening, at a particularly dark moment, this maddening jangly noise starts to come from my bag, and of course it takes me a moment to realize it's me since I thought my phone was safely off. Fortunately no one shouted at me, but I feel for the guy. Mortifying.
The unmistakably jarring sound of an iPhone marimba ring interrupted the soft and spiritual final measures of Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 at the New York Philharmonic on Tuesday night. The conductor, Alan Gilbert, did something almost unheard-of in a concert hall: He stopped the performance. But the ringing kept on going, prompting increasingly angry shouts in the audience directed at the malefactor.
That happened to me once, sort of. I was at a small advance screening of a movie made by some people I admire (there were maybe 20 other people in the audience) and just like with the Philharmonic guy, my phone was off, but the alarm was set (from a previous night) for a time that happened to fall during the screening. I didn't realize the phone (Blackberry Bold) would turn itself on for the alarm. But then in the middle of the screening, at a particularly dark moment, this maddening jangly noise starts to come from my bag, and of course it takes me a moment to realize it's me since I thought my phone was safely off. Fortunately no one shouted at me, but I feel for the guy. Mortifying.
Sunday, January 08, 2012
DEBATES
Huh. For all this talk about the Republican debates, I watched one for the first time tonight. Romney looking on in patient exasperation, resisting the urge to check his watch, waiting to be crowned... the loathsome worm Rick Santorum squirming and gulping; what an evil, awful figure, he's like the villain in a Stephen King novel, like that church lady in The Mist who gets trapped in the grocery store with them... meanwhile Ron Paul being generally appealing, talking about ending the drug war. I wouldn't vote for Ron Paul because I want the government to provide citizens with health care (and, you know, roads and bridges), but I do love it that he supports immunity for Wikileaks whistleblowers.
And Jesus, watch the ad at 2:40... he's right, that's the kind of ad progressives dream of seeing our candidates have the guts to run.
edit: wait, found the whole ad, it's longer
And Jesus, watch the ad at 2:40... he's right, that's the kind of ad progressives dream of seeing our candidates have the guts to run.
edit: wait, found the whole ad, it's longer
Thursday, January 05, 2012
VIZZINI/COLUMBUS
My friend and screenwriting partner Ned Vizzini (our first TW episode shoots soon!) will be co-writing a YA fantasy series with Harry Potter & Home Alone director Chris Columbus--officially announced today in Entertainment Weekly. Awesome news! Congratulations Ned.
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