Jump Your Bones

So. This poster is just awesome.

Word on the street is that this is the new Bones poster for Comic Con, and it is making me even more excited for season 7 to start up ... in freaking November. TOO LONG.

E

Rise Against - Hero of War

This is one of the few songs that I've become obsessed with lately, not necessarily because I love it, but because I really don't know how I feel about it. Rise Against's Hero of War tells a tragic story of war from the point of view of an Iraq veteran.

When I first heard the song, I was appalled. Lyrics about pissing in a captive's hands and shooting an innocent girl with a surrender flag don't really shout out the most patriot/pro-military of messages. And so I turned it off.

Then, a few weeks later, I found myself thinking about the the real message, about the turmoil that these men and women must be going through when they come home from a tragic experience.

Hero of War isn't an anti-military song at all, it is just an honest account of a vet struggling with his conscious and the things that he has done. This may not be the most upbeat of songs to be listening to on the 4th of July, but I think that it is an opinion that is too often concealed.

Give it a listen:



E

Day 3: A New Project!

Being on my third day in Unemployment-Land, I have officially started work on a new writing project. For the past few weeks I have been doing little ditty writing exercises here and there to clear my mind from my last screenplay, but now I am finally ready.

The plan: write an impossibly low-budget, Indie script set in New York. And I mean LOW budget. Nothing extraneous. Nada. Something very prosaic, where it's all about the people. Stripped to the bare bones of human interaction. I've never written with production in mind, so it'll be a different vantage point. I want it to be accessible to low-budget directors and producers, young artists like me looking to make a break.

I love the last two scripts that I've written, but they are by no means "low budget" - they involve wars and nuclear power plants, armies and European travels. This will not be that.

The Goal: Work long enough and hard enough to have a solid draft finished by July 1. 30 days and change for 120 pages ... oy!

I'm taking up the life of a real freelancer, writing from 9am-5pm, with only a break for lunch and errands half way through. I will be a slave to my computer, regardless of the bright sunny weather gloating me from outside my window (such as the case right now).

This is now my job, so stay tuned...

-E

Is This Real Life?

I am unemployed. I am broke. I am an artist. Today, it all feels official.

For the first time in my life I have the time to write what I want, whenever I want. No master, no authority figure. On one side, it is liberating; the only rules and bounds that I face are those that I have set for myself. The other side of the coin, however, comes with a world of uncertainty and fear.

Writing is great, but paying my rent is even greater.

A travel journal, originally, this place has seen all sides of my opinions and view points - from my thoughts on Glee to Pat Robertson - so now, it is time for another shift. This will be my outlet, a portal into the life of a nobody Brooklyn writer trying to become a somebody.

For some preliminary information about my writing side, I am a film, theatre, and television writer with an odd love of pretentious literary fiction (I do hold a BFA after all, so it comes with the territory). I am terribly opinionated. I like what I like, and when I really hate something I always have a reason. Hate then, is separate from appreciation. I can appreciate a piece and yet truly hate the way it is written (cough, Virginia Woolf, Gertude Stein, cough), and I think that this is a necessary awareness for all writers. Appreciation of voice. Because, answer me this: what is a writer without their voice?

-E

[yes, I am aware I used "their" for "his or her" - I hate that gender neutral thing.]

What's Up Detroit?

I have to admit that after watching this commercial, I not only wanted to buy a Chrysler but I wanted to actually go to Detroit. Very well done, in my opinion. Check it out:



-E

Black Swan's Visual Effects

I had a lot of issues with Black Swan, that goes without saying. But I also hold a great appreciation for the film on a visual level. Story aside, it's really stunning, in my opinion. I was slightly confused as to why the film got completely side swiped by the Academy ... until I realized that all of the key images were graphically enhanced. Check it out:

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

Because I was feeling nostalgic and in the need for some beautiful animation...



-E

Amazon's EBook Publishing Scandal

This has just been a week of discovering publishing mishaps...

Amazon, I support your policy on publishing everyone. As a writer, I really, truly do. I am also all for free speech, really, I am. But a book promoting pedophilia? That is the crime of all crimes and is something that can never be defended. Ever. End of story.

The independently published ebook in question is titled, "The Pedophile's Guide to Love and Pleasure: a Child-lover's Code of Conduct" by Phillip R. Greaves.

Here's a BBC's article... it has more info on the whole deal, all of the drama, the controversy, what have you.

-E

Happy Halloween!

"Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it." 
- Mean Girls

-E

Best.

The world's two greatest evils combine!

Classic? I think so.

-E

My Mind Is Blown: The Von Trapp's Are REAL?!

I don't know if I'm just slow on the uptake or something, but my lovely roommate has just informed me that the ever so lovely and charming Von Trapp family - aka those Sound of Music kids - is real! Well, at least, they are the inspiration for the film. How did this happen, you might ask? Well, let's recap, shall we?

So, being my ever outstpoken self, I happened to mention that I am not the biggest fan of The Sound of Music (said conversation came out of notification that the entire cast is going to be on Oprah tomorrow) and my roommate was highly taken aback.

"What? The Sound of Music was very important to my childhood. It's like my White Christmas," he said. He obviously knows my movie preferences.

In my usual fashion, I made some smarky comment on how I was dissatisfied with the kid being a Nazi and them simply running off into the hills at the end (hope I didn't give anything away there). I just don't happen to find that ending very satisfying. "I think it's overrated," I said.

"But that's what happened, they were real," he said.

And I was shocked. Literally. I sat with my mouth open, catching flies, for quite a long period of time. How can that be true? A European Patridge Family can't possibly exist! Nuns don't go singing on mountains! They even spoof it in Moulin Rouge, for crying out loud!

Alas, he (my roommate) even went to the trouble to find the proof for me, and I'm a sucker for facts ...

Check out some links that will make you question your childhood movie-watching forever:
1. http://www.trappfamily.com/story
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_von_Trapp
3. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000E3713M

Here's a glimpse at the REAL Maria Von Trapp ...

I guess Julie got the scenery somewhat right ...

And, alas, in reality they did not run off to the hills and escape. Instead, the Von Trapp's just boarded the next train for Italy and were on their merry way ... it's not AS exciting, come to think of it, but still sort of touching, in a way.

My mind will continue to be blown for the remainder of the evening.

-E

Words To Live By?

 

Just because.

-E

Banksy Tags The Simpsons

Street artist Banksy took it to the 20th Century Fox studios for an October episode of The Simpsons, where he was given the opportunity to storyboard and direct the intro. My thought: how did he get away with this? More importantly, why did they let him do this? Honestly, I found it mildly offensive, that whole portrayal of child and factory labor and all.

Thoughts?
-E

Words From A Sudo-Pretentious Writer ...

I go to art school, I've gone to Tisch, and therefor I have a defacto air of pretension surrounding me. As much as I hate it, it is something that I am aware of and embrace wholeheartedly, but I do attempt to do everything in my power to supress my "know it all" urges.

This is not one of those times.

Being a writer is hard. It is work. End of story. It is something that you have to study and work at every day. It takes talent and skill and discipline, so it angers me when people think that they can do it, too. What has prompted my frustration, you might ask? Well, it's been a general mash-up of things, honestly. It's the pre-med student that thinks putting sentences together is easy, the architect that insists Waiting for Godot is a spiritual metaphor, or the uncle/aunt/insert-elder-here that says, "Oh, I've lived a crazy life, if I could I'd take 6 months off and write a novel." Yes. Because writing is that easy. I want to tell that person, "You do that. In fact, why don't we switch places, and while you're taking that six months off I'll go run your investment firm on Wall Street."

People forget that writing is actually a field of work, an art form. There is a reason I am earning a Bachelors of Fine Arts IN Writing. It is because I have worked and studied the craft for four years, just as a doctor has studied medicine and a business executive has studied business. So yes, I find it insulting when someone else says that they can do it too, "if only they had the time." We would all do anything if we had the time. I would be a surgeon - if I had the time - but you don't see me cutting into people just because I've watched the Health Channel one too many times.

Get into a conversation about a story or a novel or a movie with a writer and chances are you will get a debate. It's not a conscious thing; that's the way our brains work. We analyze and judge and criticize anything that makes an attempt at telling a story. If someone out there has found a way to turn that part of their brain off, then please, let me know! I do not say that a TV show/movie/book sucks because my life goal is to rain on your parade or because I think that I am smarter or more intelligent. I say that a TV show/movie/book sucks because it is conventional or stock or unintelligent. I say that a plot is cliche because it is, and nine times out of ten, I've seen Faulkner, Joyce, Saunders, O'Connor, Murakami, Marquez, Pamuk, MacDonagh, Wilder, or Beckett do it better.

-E

The TED Is Coming to Pratt!

One of my favorite addictions (that I will opening admit to) is coming to Pratt this year! That's right, world -- the TED!

Who, pray tell, are they inviting, you might ask? Well, I'll just tell you ...

• Hosts
• Scott Heiferman
• Chris Kazi Rolle
• Speakers
• Dr. Haresh Lalvani
• Barbara Bush
• Nelson George
• Swoon
• Ben Bronfman
• Daniel Iglesia
• Dr. Prabhjot Singh
• Karl Chu
• DJ Spooky
• Nate Ball
• Ami Dar
• Tracie Morris -- (my old studio professor!)
• Sam Cochran
• Dr. Mitchell Joachim
• Fabien Cousteau
• William Katavolos

This is epid. That's right. EPID. I can't wait.

-E

Michael West still dominates my life.

I'm just saying.

Here is his latest interview, describing his play Freefall from Edinburgh ... by far one of the best professors that I've ever had.

-E

"Inception" isn't all too insightful afterall

I saw the new talk of the town -- Inception -- last night at the Union Square Regal, and honestly, I was no where near as impressed as I was told I would have been. I spent the two-plus hours waiting for my mind to be "blown" and for my realm of logic to be so screwed that I wouldn't know which way was up, but instead I found myself being lead through on a leash.

The plot isn't all that original, if you think about it. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a "thief" who goes in to people's dreams to steal top secret information from higher-ups. The movie centers around his final mission, to plant an idea into a man's brain, something people claim is impossible (the actual act of "Inception"). He formulates a team and then the mission happens. As simple as that. Standard. Cliche in structure, almost.

Let me get down to what I found bothersome, though: Christopher Nolan needs to stay behind the camera. If he is going to try and get away with writing a blockbuster film, he needs to first learn how to actually write a proper story. The heart of any story, any script, lies within the presence of it's characters, and if the audience can hardly recall the characters' names, let alone their motives, there is obviously a lot of work that needs to be done.

Why were they there? What was their motive? Who were they? How did they get involved? What was in it for them? All of these questions are left completely unanswered throughout the film, primarily because they weren't addressed from the beginning. DiCaprio's character is the only one driven by something greater than himself and he is the only one with any level of measurable dimension. All of the other character are merely props in Nolan's CG-fueled film.

That being said, Nolan also needs to take a class or three about how to successfully write dialog. If you're going to give an audience flat, uninteresting characters, at least give them something compelling and witty to say rather than just have them read from an instruction manual.

Rule Number One: Show, don't tell. This is something that writer's are trained from the beginning. Show the story, don't just explain it through dialog. That, is called a cop-out. Yes, the effects were brilliant and as an audience, we were shown this marvelous dream world, but the exposition took away from that every time a character spoke. It was as if the characters were telling us the rules to a game we were already watching.

Rule Number Two: Trust your audience. Going with the above, exposition isn't needed because the average movie-goer is smarter than you may think, they just aren't given the chance. For all of those people who say that Inception is confusing or insightful, they simply weren't watching or listening closely, because Nolan practically beats us over the head with the rules of his world.

It's also apparent throughout the movie that Nolan did do his research -- a little too apparent. The entire time it was as if he was trying to tell his audience, "look, I'm more than action and CG." But he's not. The clever moments are so in-your-face that it's border-line patronizing. The Architect's name is Ariadne? Oh, you know, as in the woman from the Odyssey who helps Odyseus through the labyrinth? And what is her first task? To build a labyrinth. And Mal? Her name is a direct translation to bad in both French and Spanish. And what is she? Bad. That's not clever; that's cheap.

Luckily enough for Nolan, Inception does have some redeeming qualities: the effects, the art, the cinematography. There is no denying that Inception is aesthetically pleasing and exciting to experience. In my opinion, the art and CGI behind this movie easily blow Avatar out of the water. But effects don't make a movie, and Nolan should know better.

This leads me to Rule Number Three: Never fully make a movie alone. As soon as you write, direct, and produce a movie, you officially become blinded by the project. There is no outside person, no other perspective to point out flaws or different takes. It becomes just you, the writer, stuck with the same story, with no room for evolution and growth.

As far as the acting goes, DiCaprio (Cobb), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Arthur), Cillian Murphy (Fischer), and Marion Cotillard (Mal) all  gave perfectly fine performances, but  unfortunately for Ellen Page (Ariadne), this is only the second performance of her's that I've seen, and I am still not impressed. She has a lot to learn about acting before I will ever be able to take her seriously. Michael Cain was wonderful -- as always -- despite the fact that he had less than 10 minutes of screen time in total.

Inception is an entertaining movie, hands down. But it is also an overly stimulating, visual representation of a first draft script with an A-B list cast. If you pay attention and watch what you're given, Inception won't surprise you or make you think, because it doesn't give you a lot to think about.

Is that so much to ask for? A movie to make me think? I guess so, because I'm still waiting.

-E

Would I watch Inception again? Absolutely. It was entertaining and pretty too look at.

Would I nominated it for Best Picture? Not on your best day.

It's like porn for typographers!

Isn't it wonderful?

-E

I could watch this forever.

At all different speeds ... Drawing: A Woman From the Inside Out

-E

The Secret of Kells

Oh, and go watch this movie... NOW.

The Secret of Kells. It's amazing. I'm sort of in love. It hasn't left my DVD player in over a week. Legit, it's Irish Animation at it's best. It should have kicked Up's arse at the Oscars, hands down. There seriously isn't any competition, in my opinion. And my Irish Cinema professor was an animator for the freaking Ninja Turtles, so that's saying a lot ...

-E



Aisling’s Song
You must go where I can not,
Pangur Ban Pangur Ban,
Nil sa saol seo ach ceo,
Is ni bheimid beo,
ach seal beag gearr.
Pangur Ban Pangur Ban,
Nil sa saol seo ach ceo,
Is ni bheimid beo,
ach seal beag gearr


You must go where I cannot
Pangur Ban, Pangur Ban
It’s a misty old world
and we are only in it for
a short, sharp while