Digital Review: Betas
Amazon.com is changing the way we watch television. This shouldn’t sound surprising, it’s Amazon after all. They take over everything. But here’s the thing, the way they are changing our TV habits isn’t all that bad. Take the fourteen pilots they are presenting this week through “Amazon Studios.” Browsing these shows, I have seen more creativity here than anything that has come over network TV in the past decade. They are giving voice to a new wave of television creators less concerned with the medium…
Books and Lyrics
For the longest time, I thought that Aerosmith’s “Dream On” was about single women: Single women, live for today, maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away. The lyrics actually go “Sing with me, sing it for the year, sing for the laughter and sing for the tear,” which really does not make much more sense when you think about it. According to the Internet, I’m not the only one who thinks like this. But does it really matter what we hear versus what…
Plenty of Interesting Work Available
I sat in on my first improv class in a year last week. It was a cool experience. I had forgotten how much I loved performing in front of people. Although I felt very awkward, it was nice to be funny for a bit. All of the little lessons of improv came back to me, too: Don’t think, Don’t try to be funny, React honestly, and importantly, Always say yes. Let me explain that one. An improvised scene only works if each actor has…
The Twist
Only after I wrote my last blog post on favorite endings, I realized I was missing an important category, The Reveal. You know, that moment at the end of every great (and not-so-great) mystery or thriller when the culprit is brought to light or the truth is revealed. When The Sixth Sense came out, I think I stayed indoors for a week, all due to that creepy ending (I See Dead People). This may not have made it my favorite movie ending, but indelible enough…
And Cut!
There are some movie endings that are timeless. Bogart saying goodbye to Bergman in Casablanca is one of the few I can quote back to you line by line. Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and The Wizard of Oz all have great, unforgettable endings, which, if you’re reading this blog, you’ve hopefully already seen. Here are a few of my personal favorites (along with the aforementioned, of course). Please tell me about some of yours in the comments! Raging…
Letting Your Characters Speak
There’s a wonderful line from Roger Ebert’s review of Ordinary People, written all the way back in 1980. If you haven’t seen it, the film centers around a boy, Conrad (Timothy Hutton), who must deal not only with the death of his older brother but his cold, loveless mom (Mary Tyler Moore). Oh, and he recently attempted suicide. Here’s the quote: “The sessions of psychiatric therapy are supposed to contain the moments of the film’s most visible insights, I suppose. But even more effective, for…
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