It's ALL About the Obese, Wicked Bike in the Dumpster
I've said this over and over, but the most professionally rewarding thing I've done since graduate school is working with the Bishop Sullivan Catholic High School Forensics team. Two years ago, my friend Chris called me one morning, got me out of bed, told me he had been "asked" to be the new Forensics coach of his school, and informed me I was going to be helping him. I told him I was more than glad to.
And I was. Minus one particularly stressful seven-hour drive from DC to Virginia Beach last July, I loved every single minute of finding pieces, getting to know the students, judging at tournaments, giving suggestions, and collaborating with Chris. I arranged my move to L.A. so I could try and work with them for as much of their season as possible, only moving to the West Coast after the students had nearly won the state championship.
Unfortunately, like a too-short series run of Once and Again or I'll Fly Away, all good things must come to an end.
This weekend, the students participated in the National Catholic Forensics League Tournament in Milwaukee. I flew out of LAX Thursday night, met the team at the airport, and hung out with them throughout the weekend. It was a good chance for me to say good-bye. Chris keeps trying to tell me that he's going to find a way to keep me involved in the program next year, but the pessimist in me fears that won't happen.
The students have been incredibly successful. They have all improved vastly over the last two years. Some of them have become really good and others have an enormous amount of potential. Almost all of them have won at least one award this year. Seven of them qualified in six events for the National Tournament in Milwaukee. Of those six events, three of them broke to out rounds. Nuge made it to Octo-finals in Oral Interpretation (no simple task). Amanda made it to Octo-finals in Original Oratory and Nicole made it to Quarterfinals in Dramatic Performance. A couple of our Extempers were probably both very close to breaking--we think. Overall, the kids were pleased with their performance and their year.
Working with the students has been incredibly rewarding. I'd like to think that I made an enormous influence on them, in some ways shaping their lives, but that's really vanity and pride talking. I know that at the end of the day, I probably learned more from them than they did from me. I'd like to think that I'll be able to keep up with most of them as they graduate, go about their lives, but life doesn't turn out as neat as a Ron Howard movie...
So to Alex, Jeremy, Micaela, Nicole, Kaitlin, Nuge, Ashley, Christine, Amanda, George, Steph, Natasha, MJ, Kat McKenna, Kat Murphy, Joe Fitz, Adam, and Sarah J., I say thank you. For everything. And to Gross, I miss you man.
SEABISCUIT in a boxing ring
Cinderella Man is precisely what you should expect from a Ron Howard movie--slick, well-funded & glossy production values, neat & tidy story, inspiring that simplifies the world in a way that's pretty unrealistic. It's not bad, it's not good, it's just like every other movie he's ever made--competent, but uninspiring.
Trapped for a while in the world of development hell, Cinderella Man, really has the unfortunate opportunity to follow Seabiscuit and Million Dollar Baby, both of which steal the story and arena for Howard's latest film. Like the horse movie, Cinderella Man, is a true story about a sports figure in the Great Depression who overcomes mammoth adversity, fights his way from the bread line to Park Avenue's finest restaurants, inspiring people as he does. Like Million Dollar Baby, the heart of the film however, lies in the relationship between the fighter (Russell Crowe) and in this case, his wife (Renee Zellweger).
Crowe and Zellweger give expectedly solid performances, as well as a nice turn from Paddy Cosidine, playing a co-worker of Crowe's character, James J. Braddock. (And it took me half the movie to convince myself I was actually seeing Craig Bierko in the role in which I was watching Craig Bierko. Very surprising.) Akiva Goldsman's script is economical and effective. There was a little too much boxing in it for me, but then after the movie, I got into a philosophical discussion about the base nature of boxing with my companion, so maybe any boxing is too much boxing for me. (But then again, it didn't bother me that much in Baby.)
The moral content of the film is very nice. Despite a little bit of swearing, the film is free of sex and violence (minus the boxing matches). The story highlights the pro-family themes missing in a lot of contemporary films. It also takes the time to emphasize the importance of religion in daily life.
The problem in the film is there aren't any surprises. Nothing made me gasp (unlike the thought of Anakin slaughtering Jedi children in Revenge of the Sith), cry, or sit up unexpectedly. It was all routine, expected, but ultimately watchable. The only thing inspired in the film was Paul Giamatti's performance as Crowe's manager. He relishes with great aplomb the chance to play a guy who's harder, tougher, crasser, and ultimately, more aware of the world than the man he's helping.
Howard does deviate from his standard film-making skills and tries to create a couple of new tricks to his standard repitoire. At times, he uses filtered film and flashbacks to try and create a greater sense of urgency and though it doesn't distract, it adds nothing special to the film. Ultimately, it's impossible to wish that Howard weren't learning ideas from his producing and narrating duties while on Arrested Development. Maybe he could steal some notions from them and create something really inspiring--though I don't expect that to come up in The Da Vinci Code which he's working on now.
And It's Over
The TV Season came to a close last night and Alias couldn't have sent the entire network season off the air with a better cliffhanger. I'll start sharing my thoughts and wrapping up the TV season as a whole up next week, but just to say, this has been one of the better seasons in years. (At least for one hour programs and Arrested Development). There's not much that excites me from the potential fall shows (since inexpeclicably, Herskovitz and Zwick's 1/4 Life didn't end up on ABC's schedule), but it's probably too early to tell. Here's hoping to something worth watching this summer!
To Look Forward for the Summer--Part 2
- The Heights--Ismail Merchant's passing yesterday made this one even more of a must-see for me. This is the kind of film that I adore. It's an indie ensemble piece following five different stories over the course of one day in Manhattan. It's produced by Merchant-Ivory, starring Glenn Close and James Marsden.
- Howl's Moving Castle--If only the guys were here for this. This is calling out for "crazy movie night", i.e., Bathhouse of the Gods II. Directed by Miyazaki, the guy who brought us Spirited Away. This looks to be just as crazy and brilliant.
- Hustle & Flow--It's Memphis baby--for better or worse. Hey, the trailer looks good and it did win the Audience Award at Sundance. Is it gonna be big?
- Junebug--Sundance Award Winner that could have promise.
- Mr. and Mrs. Smith - I think this looks like a clever concept. Doug Liman's a talented director and it's got a great marketing campaign. Hopefully, there's a great movie to back it up.
- Murderball--Documentary about quadriplegics who play full-contact rugby. I wanna see how.
- Must Love Dogs--Diane Lane. 'Nuff said.
- Pretty Persuasion--Word on this isn't encouraging, but Evan Rachel Wood and Jane Krakowski in the same movie. Too much talent to ignore. I'm not sure it's gonna be good, but I wanna check it out anyway.
- Valiant--This little animated movie looks like it could be really fun. And because increasingly, Madagascar doesn't. It's full of great British talent (including Ricky Gervais). If nothing else, it'll be a warm up for the Wallace and Gromit movie this fall.
- Wedding Crashers--Owen Wilson is just the funniest person in the world.
Questions for the Day
Since when did "Beautiful Day" by U2 become classic rock?
Since when did I stop caring about American Idol? (oh wait--I know that--the very first episode).
Since when did I lose my ability to pack light?
AND DIFFERENT THOUGHTS...
I was going to say I'm not very excited about many movies coming out this summer. Then I started making a list and realized that I couldn't say that. I came up with 20 that I'm really intrigued by. Here's the first half of the list. Second half comes tomorrow.
- 2046--Kar Wai Wong's been redoing this for a while. It'll look good for sure.
- Batman Begins--I'm curious to see what Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale bring to this. The trailer has promise.
- The Bad News Bears--I don't care what Richard Linklater does anymore. I'm there. If it's 1/2 as good as School of Rock, I'll love it.
- The Beautiful Country--this is a little indie that I'm hearing great buzz about; supposedly a tender portrait of a bui-doi
- Bewitched & The Pink Panther--not really excited about anything other than finally getting to see Kristin Chenoweth on the big screen
- Brothers Grimm--Gilliam and Damon? Totally--even if Heath Ledger is the other brother.
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--curious to see Tim Burton go kid friendly--with Johnny Depp and Freddie Highmore to boot!
- Dark Water--this is Walter Salles' follow-up to The Motorcycle Diaries? That confusing note is enough to make me see it.
- Dukes of Hazard-sheer nostalgia. It'll blow, but I'll have fun.
- Happy Endings--Don Roos wrote it. Word is it's weak, but I'll decide for myself. After The Opposite of Sex, he gets a lot of leeway .
Why Does This Give Me No Hope?
Why am I not encouraged to hear about the centrist compromise concerning the filibuster? Why do I not believe that it will last for more than two weeks? Call me cynical, but as inexplicably inept as this Senate has been at doing anything substantial, a sudden move to bi-partisanship doesn't ring true.
What's really frustrating about the Senate's entire process of yelling during this showdown is that both sides claim to be doing what is best for their constituents.
Untrue--they're engaging in more partisan sniping. What is best for the American people is to actually get something done. Pass an appropriations bill on time. Provide some ways to lower the cost of gas--whether through tax release or funding for more research into alternative energies. Figure out what to do about this little conflict in Iraq.
It's not that the judicial nominations aren't important, but does the average American care? Probably not. In fact, data I've seen indicates no, but instead of focusing on the things that are deemed important by the constituents that elected them, the Senate leaders carp over parliamentary procedure. I'm not saying that filibusters, the history of the Senate, or the nomination process is unimportant. It just strikes me that arguing over and over about this issue, seems to indicate an inability to see the forest for the trees.
Why do I care? I moved to the West Coast to avoid DC politics, right? True--at least in part. But as I look at the papers reading these stories of such potential gone to waste, it frustrates me. As I've been seeing reviews for McCullough's new book,
1776, it just makes me wonder--is this what so many people have died for? Is this the system our Founding Fathers walking down "the hallowed halls of Congress" really wanted?
In Honor of 24
...this week's suggested DVD releases are all in honor of the season finale of the show. Check out movies with some of this season's cast.
In Bits
Thoughts on product I saw this weekend:
Desperate Housewives season finale--I'm sorry. Did something happen? Really? Sure Lynette's going back to work and John told Carlos about the baby. (Cause that made real sense.) The moment with Bree was however really excellent. (Marcia Cross should be the one to get the Emmy from this cast), but did anything else happen during the hour that we didn't already know? It felt like
Desperate Housewives for Dummies. R.I.P. Rex.
(
24 and
Everwood better not similarly disappoint.)
Monster-in-Law--Wanda Sykes and Elaine Stritch need to do more movies. Sure, Fonda was the big story in this, but if I were a development exec., I'd be finding other movies to pair Sykes up with. Even if it's she and Fonda again. They made a good team. And Elaine Stritch is Stritchy as always.
Star Wars--George Lucas creates great stories, but the telling of them just isn't there. His characters needed more beats and his dialogue needed more polishing. As I was talking to somebody today, part of the reason
Empire and
Jedi worked so well is that he just did the story. Somebody else wrote the screenplay. Only if that had been the case here. There was some really good stuff that just didn't click. Anakin in the youngling's room--frightful stuff, but should've had more drama.
At the end of the day, Lucas is a great mise-en-scene guy, but just not an actor's director. (I'd love to see a comparison of his style with Kubrick's, another director notorious for disdaining "talent.") I sat throughout the movie thinking--how does Portman go from
Closer to this? She's got talent. She just needs somebody to get it out of her. Even Samuel L. Jackson looked like he needed rescuing. And Hayden Christensen...
Nevertheless, I still think the movie is better than most of what I've seen this year. That really says more about the dearth of quality product this year than anything really. It just could've been better. (If you haven't read
Jan Batchler's comments on the movie, do so. She discusses with the wisdom of someone who's written this kind of movie before.) But overall, I'd still have rather watched the season finale of
24 on the big screen.
June 7--Get Here!
I'm so anxious for June 7 to get a copy of the
X&Y, the new Coldplay album, you'd think I was waiting for a new Joan Allen movie or something. It's been a long time since I've been looking forward to a non-TV or film product this much. In some ways, I find it encouraging and a sign of personal growth. In other ways, I think my materialist shallowness is just spreading and being more multi-dimensional. (But that doesn't inherently make me less shallow?) I know that when I get through the season finales of
24,
Everwood,
Alias, and
Lost, I'll even be more excited because there just won't be anything else to look forward to!
Where's Amnesty?
I'm not inclined to donate to Amnesty International, but this is almost enough to make me:
Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-FightAn African Lion much like this is responsible for the death of 28 Cambodian MidgetsSpectators cheered as entire Cambodian Midget Fighting League squared off against African Lion
Tickets had been sold-out three weeks before the much anticipated fight, which took place in the city of Kâmpóng Chhnãng.
The fight was slated when an angry fan contested Yang Sihamoni, President of the CMFL, claiming that one lion could defeat his entire league of 42 fighters.
Sihamoni takes great pride in the league he helped create, as was conveyed in his recent advertising campaign for the CMFL that stated his midgets will "... take on anything; man, beast, or machine."
This campaign is believed to be what sparked the undisclosed fan to challenge the entire league to fight a lion; a challenge that Sihamoni readily accepted.
An African Lion (Panthera Leo) was shipped to centrally located Kâmpóng Chhnãng especially for the event, which took place last Saturday, April 30, 2005 in the city’s coliseum.
The Cambodian Government allowed the fight to take place, under the condition that they receive a 50% commission on each ticket sold, and that no cameras would be allowed in the arena.
The fight was called in only 12 minutes, after which 28 fighters were declared dead, while the other 14 suffered severe injuries including broken bones and lost limbs, rendering them unable to fight back.
Sihamoni was quoted before the fight stating that he felt since his fighters out-numbered the lion 42 to 1, that they “… could out-wit and out-muscle [it].”
Unfortunately, he was wrong.
Phenomenal Woman Awards
I got nominated!
Okay, maybe not. Yesterday I attended the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles' annual Phenomenal Woman Awards. It was a chance for the YWCA to acknowledge the women who make substantial, though they may be small, contributions to the organization's annual goals.
That got me thinking about all the people that do little things that I probably haven't thanked them for . There's a lot. More than I could count. I think I'm pretty good at thanking people for the big things (like giving me a place to crash when I had no home), and sometimes even the small ones, but I'm not sure about the tiny ones. Therefore, I present Anthony's version of the Phenomenal Woman Awards. I'm sure somebody will be left out. That's not my intent, but this is just an attempt to give a shout out to twelve people who have done little things over the last year that have meant a lot to me and I might not have adequately thanked them.
(And somebody feel free to come up with a better name than that.)
Sheryl Anderson--For seeming to be so excited to get to know me.
Dean Batali--For giving me the exact encouragement about my writing I needed so that the only thing to say when he finished was, "So when do I move to LA?"
Carrie Breig--For always improving my day whenever we have our e-mail conversations.
Valerie Buchanan--For crying when I said good-bye to come to the West Coast. There's nothing that says love more than somebody crying over your departure.
Sarah Carr--For your absolute calm.
Jackie and Mary Ann Lawrence--For your quiet and gentle strength, faith, and Godliness.
Robert Levine--For being so cool about giving me advice, even though he'd never met me before.
Michael Nugent--For making me remember that awkwardness, charisma, and the "kwan" can all go together in one kick-butt package.
Nathan Roberson--For always calling to check in every couple of weeks to see how life is doing.
Jan Sten--For always being interested in my picks and pans.
Trotter--For always sounding so excited to hear from me whenever I call.
Micaela Weiss--For one of the best competitive attitudes I've ever seen. It always challenges me to be better.
There are many more people to thank--Sads, LAQ, Royale, Troy, my Wonder Twin, but I wanted to make sure that these little contributions didn't go unrecognized.
Thanks!
Question of the Day
What does it say about the status of my relationships when the guy who sold me my Saturn was the first person to call and wish me a Happy Birthday this week?
Question #2--Why does Orlando Bloom continue to be considered a superstar? Not saying I dislike him, but I don't get why he's on the cover of
Rolling Stone and carrying movies.
What Does It All Mean?
What does it mean that I'm more excited about three hours of
Lost and
Alias Wednesday night than I am the opening of
Revenge of the Sith the same day? And honestly, given the opportunity, I'd like to see the finale of
24 immediately if I could--not
Star Wars. Don't get me wrong. I'm looking forward to it, but unlike previous years, I don't feel the need to see it opening day.
Maybe that means I'm actually growing up. Though some test I took online today tried to tell me that I was really a 17 year old at heart. Hey--at least I'm old enough to drive...
What's a TV Watcher to do?
Monday--9 p.m.
24-- a nuclear weapon's over the States!
Everwood-Ephram's leaving!
Everybody Loves Raymond--Series Finale
Hercules--this movie could be so bad it's a hoot!
My head's spinning!
(V.O)--bad idea
Voice-over. It rarely ever works. This is what I was thinking as I was watching a preview copy of HBO's latest mini-series,
Empire Falls. It's based on a great book by Richard Russo, but a great book doesn't make a great mini-series, even when the novel's author is the mini-series' adaptator.
Russo stays faithful to his book. (Imagine somebody being faithful to their ideas.) Until the last hour, that's not a problem. What is a problem is that Russo is wed to the shape of the book. The mini-series is broken up into chapters, each beginning with voice-over narration. It worked for Wes Anderson in
The Royal Tenenbaums, but it doesn't work here. It's annoying, and off-putting, only exacerbated by the indecision of a tone for the piece. Is it a comedy? Is it a tragedy? Is it a little slice of life? Who knows? Doesn't seem like the director does.
There are some really good things about the piece. Stuart Wurtzel's production design is first class. As is some of the acting. Paul Newman has a blast as the grumpy grandfather with crumbs in his beard. Danielle Panabaker makes a real impression as his tender granddaughter. Ed Harris does a great job playing the lead role of Miles. Robin Wright Penn and Philip Seymour Hoffman both do great jobs with small roles. Hoffman in particular has a scene near the end that stands out as possibly the best of the entire four hours.
Still, the four hour viewing experience made me just wish that I'd read the book again. It also made me nervous that "they" might really screw up
The Amazing Adventures of Kavailer & Clay, but we'll deal with that possibility when it occurs.
Requiem
I'm a couple of days late, but I wanted to comment briefly on what might have been the end of a series Wednesday night,
Jack and Bobby. For those of you who've never seen the program, it's about a single college professor in Missouri raising her two sons, Jack and Bobby, one of whom will grow up to be president sometime in the middle of the 21st century. Jack is a high school Junior, while Bobby just started the eighth grade. Despite the title, the show was first and foremost an exploration of their relationship and their relationship with their mother.
The show wasn't always successful. It sometimes went egregiously off-track, but when it worked, it hit home runs. Three different episodes brought me to tears this year. The only other program that's done that at all this year was
Lost when Boone died. The Pilot was phenomenal. Then, somewhere through the halfway mark of the season when Bobby's first Goth girlfriend broke up with him, he crumbled into a ball in the floor in tears. I was right there with him. (It sounds corny, but the show played it for high tragedy and it worked.)
Then in this week's finale, Jack met his father who he thought had been deported back to Mexico, but was actually in prison. Their reunion was heartfelt, touching, and incredibly well-written.
Despite that, there were aspects of the show that didn't work--it's sometimes heavy-handedness, Grace's refusal to change and adapt to the world around her, the writers not quite nailing the religion aspect of the program, the times it tried to adopt an agenda, as well as the flash forwards. Still, at times, the show was as good as any great television on TV now. I'm sure the WB has found a star in Matt Long. Christine Lahti was characteristically brilliant (and definitely earned her SAG and Golden Globe nods), but Logan Lerman was the find for me. As impossible as it sounds, I'd love to see Lerman to get an Emmy nod for Best Actor. There's too much competition this year for it to happen (Keiffer Sutherland, Matthew Fox, Ian McShane, Denis Leary, Hugh Laurie, Dennis Franz, Dylan Walsh, etc.), but he is deserving.
Unfortunately, the show is on the bubble, and will probably be cancelled by WB, which is a real shame when they continue to air poorly written morally vacant programming like
One Tree Hill . Well, at least there's still
Everwood.
Bye Dr. Carter
ER jumped the shark years ago. I'd argue that when Julianna Marguilles left the show, it was gone. There are definitely some good episodes here and there, but for the most part, when I watch the show, it's out of a sense of obligation, rather than desire. The show has gone through multiple cast changes and numerous recycled storylines over the years, so there's no question that the show is in some ways like
Law & Order--the cast just really is less important than the framework (blood and guts.)
Yet as I watched Noah Wyle and Thandie Newton on Wyle's next to last episode and tearful farewell (as NBC would like us to believe), for a moment, I wondered if the show would be able to survive without Dr. Carter. I know that's a rhetorical comment.
ER will continue on next year. It will lose more viewers to
Without a Trace, but it will still be one of the bright spots in NBC's prime-time line-up.
However, I don't think the show will be the same. For eleven years, John Carter served as the cast member that was the audience. In the first season, he was as confused and amazed at what happened in an emergency room as the audience was. As he started to mature and become more confident in his surroundings and his profession, so did we as an audience. As he became cynical and detached during the last couple of seasons, placing other priorities before Cook County Hospital, so did we as an audience.
ER was no longer the must-see program it once was, and for some reason Carter's attitude seemed to reflect that.
Throughout the years, Wyle tried to bring as much to Carter as he possibly could. Sometimes the writing failed him, sometimes he failed to push the writing further. However, he was always solid, could always perform, and sometimes could amaze. (If you doubt it, check out the episode called "Carter's Choice" and you'll see what I mean.) It's one of those curses and blessings for an actor--television has made Noah Wyle such a familiar face in all our lives that he seems like part of the family. He will be missed.
Quotation of the Day
Dave Poland has this priceless line in his assessment of
Monster-in-Law: "If Adam had a mother, no doubt she would be complaining about that woman who took his rib."
Question for the Day
After reading about Usher, Jamie Foxx, and Beyone being signed onto the adaptation of
Dreamgirls Bill Condon's about to direct, I just have one question--why hasn't Heather Headley been cast in this thing yet? If Condon really wanted to be remembered for doing something great with the film (and it may turn out to be brilliant, I don't know)--he could introduce the filmic world to an incredible talent. She was in an Actor's Fund production of it a couple of years ago. The
CD is available. Pick it up and tell me you don't agree.
I Don't Think We're in Kansas Anymore--Part I
"L.A.'s a different place." I heard that multiple times before I came out here. I knew it'd be different--just not sure how so.
The first thing I can't get over--valet parking .
First of all, I'm a real fan of personal responsibility. I mean, if you're going to drive yourself to place X, then you should park yourself in place X--right? If you're capable of getting that far, shouldn't you be required to complete and go the rest of the way? The few places on the East Coast where I've encountered valet parking, it always just screams "pretentious!" However, valet parking is everywhere here--mall, restaurants, parking garages--and frequently, you don't have a choice but to have somebody else park you. I was valet parked when I showed up for a temp job this week. Explain that to me.
It just strikes me that really the only place that should have valet parking is a retirement home. Residents are people that probably could use the help getting their vehicle into a space in one piece.
And Happy Birthday Hope!
Cry for Help
I was watching episodes of
Everwood last night on DVD (thinking about writing it after I finish my current spec). In one of the episodes, one of the characters had a secret that everyone thought they figured out. When they did, it was as if suddenly the character had made a plea for help and everybody was treating her with more genteel hands than normal. Turns out they were completely wrong about their assumptions, so everyone went back to their normal treatment--and actually it was slightly worse because their opinion of the woman had changed.
For some reason that, coupled with something said at church yesterday, got me thinking--Why do we wait for someone to cry for help before we try and assist them? Usually, a cry for help is a last resort reaction. If somebody is far enough along that he/she asks for assistance, they've probably already exhausted every possible route, reached a point of frustration, started stressing (or spiraling into depression--whichever the case may be), and internalized enough difficulty to start a new ulcer. Maybe that's a bit of an extreme overexaggeration, but maybe not--it just depends on the severity of the problem.
I guess if we can make it easier for somebody when they're going through problems, it's the least we can do, right? But at the same time, I guess that means that we have to get out of our ego-centric orbits long enough to realize they need our help.
Easier said than done.
hitchin' post
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy--all I can say is:
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
You Know You're In Trouble When...
Thoughts going through my head as I sat through
Sahara this afternoon. (When this is what you focus on in the movie, you know the movie is lacking.)
- How fast will somebody respond to my text message? (Two points to Lisa for replying very promptly. Somewhere around the midpoint of the movie for those of you keeping score.)
- What are the chances of Matthew McConaughey ever getting an Oscar nomination? Cause that would be something to see. (Seriously, who ever thought Bill Murray would get one?)
- How does Penelope Cruz go from working with Almodovar to Cameron Crowe to this?
- Why can't my dad be the CEO of a company like Disney and get me a job?
- Is it blasphemous to say Steve Zahn might be cooler than Nicholson? Maybe, but then again, he's no Owen Wilson.
- I really am excited to see Crash.
- When is Proof ever going to get released.?
- The trailer for Hustle & Flow looks better than I expected, but I still couldn't help but giggle when the name Craig Brewer came up.
- I hope my copy of the Pacific Overtures CD is at home when I get there.
- Why haven't I gotten up and left yet?
They Did WHAT!
"I got so caught up in the story that I couldn't put it down" is a huge compliment to a novelist. It's a signal that you were so caught up in the diegetic world the writer was creating that you were able to extricate yourself from reality for long enough to go along with what was happening to the characters on the page.
Sounds like a simple enough concept, but suspension of disbelief is a very fickle thing. What works for one person won't necessarily work for another person. Even still, what works for someone today might not work for them tomorrow because he/she will have an entirely different set of stimuli that affected them, therefore tainting their reception of a story line.
Personally, I'm always pre-disposed to not believing horror films. I just can't get caught up in the concept of other-world specters. It doesn't make sense to me and I don't buy it. So spending two hours on
The Amityville Horror a couple of weeks ago was about as much fun as sitting through a math class. I could do it, but it's not at the top of my Netflix queue. So that's why when a film like
The Others comes along that makes me suspend my disbelief, I'm all the more excited about it. (It's been a while since a horror film's worked for me. Maybe Schrader's prequel to
The Exorcist might.)
On the other hand, serialized disbelief is something I can believe hook, line, and sinker. There's very little that happens on
24 that I don't go--"WOW! That's so cool!" Americans declaring war on the Chinese consulate! OF COURSE that makes sense.
They were harboring someone who could stop the end of the world! Jack bursts into surgery, holds a doctor at gunpoint and demands that he stop saving the life of his girlfriend's estranged husband in order to stop the internal bleeding of said Chinese nuclear scientist--wouldn't you?
I once read that the fun thing about
24 (and I would argue this goes for
Alias too when it's hitting), is that it sounds like it's a story being made up by a seven year old. In the grand scheme of things, very little of it would make complete sense, but when you get it going, watch it and there's no stopping the fun. I just wish I could sit down and watch it all once in one big 24 hour marathon.
I think that's high praise indeed. I just wish I had the ability to take that attitude to every television program and movie I saw. I'd probably enjoy myself a lot more instead of banging my head against the seat saying, "I'm supposed to believe that's who Charlie was?"
