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…
On First Drafts
Fleetwood Mac released a “super deluxe” version of their blockbuster 1977 album Rumours this month. When I first heard this on WXPN, I thought, yeah, another cash grab. But then the deejay played some of the outtakes included on the disc. I had heard “Songbird” before, but never like this. The goofy production was stripped. Christine McVie’s voice didn’t feel put on and massaged. Most importantly, it didn’t feel like the treacle on Rumours; this “Songbird” was a beautiful folk song. It made me think…
The Right Words
There is a brilliant article in the New York Times about last words that I think everyone should read. Writer Bruce Feiler discusses some of the strategies people use to say goodbye before “checking out.” Interestingly, Gene Siskel never spoke to partner Roger Ebert about his death; they never even really exchanged farewells. Feiler writes that this is acceptable; everyone treats death differently. There is no right way to say those last things. There are no right words. This article got me thinking about…
Approachability
The other day in the midst of studying I wrote “approachable” in my notebook and drifted back into my new life of physics equations. Despite the all-consuming science courses, I have been thinking about that word a lot lately and what it means to writers. I think my favorite books and movies are the kind that inspire me to write my own. I return from Faulkner’s Mississippi and I think, Wouldn’t it be great to rewrite Yoknapatawpha County but this time make it Montgomery? Of…
Creation/Destruction
Hurricane Sandy pounds on the four walls of my apartment building. There’s a lot that I could write about how annoying being stuck indoors is. I am scared of going outside. I am scared of the power going out. I can hardly see outside the windows, they are so covered with mist and rain. It’s hardly six and it is already dark outside. But there has to be a light somewhere, right? Since becoming a subscriber to Scientific American (or more honestly, taking the old…
Final Cut Pro
It’s the day of the premiere. I spent last night fixing the final edits with Danny and Tony, my co-directors on our film workshop’s final project. I was certain that the film was finished. All we had to do was copy the cut to a DVD for the professor. I knew Danny and Tony could take of it, so instead of sitting with them in the edit bay, I go to class. Big mistake. As I watched the film that night with everyone else I…
Famous Last Words
The other day I came across on Facebook this collection of final paragraphs from some of the great books. Each of these has its own value but I especially enjoyed rereading Nabokov’s Lolita. Here is a section: “I am thinking of aurochs and angels, the secret of durable pigments, prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art. And this is the only immortality you and I may share, my Lolita.” For some of these I can remember the exact date and time I finished the book, which…
Out of This World
John Carter has been in the news a lot lately, and not for good reasons. Everyone, from Pixar enthusiasts, Hollywood insiders and business analysts are quick to point out that this film’s failure is historic. I have not come to praise Carter, but I am not going to make fun of it either. I haven’t even seen it. But I have seen the trailers. And from what I can tell from them, director Andrew Stanton uses a lot of CGI (computer-generated imagery) in this film….
Unpopular Art
This Is Not a Film: Jafar Panahi Manuscripts don’t burn. –Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita All art is unpopular, and if yours isn’t, then you are doing it wrong. My case in point this week is the latest “effort” from silenced Iranian director Jafar Panahi, This Is Not a Film. After being placed under house arrest and awaiting a six year jail sentence (and a twenty year ban on writing, filmmaking, and interviews) for making a movie, Panahi strikes back with this stellar record…
A New Game: Screenwriterland!
As screenwriters, we all play this game: the constant back and forth between making a career and making rent. Any writer knows that the obstacles, power-ups, and twisty turns of fate are all part of the landscape–land an agent one day, lose her the next day. That’s how this industry works, and well, if it’s a game already, let’s lay out the ground rules. 1) Everyone gets a turn to spin. 2) Money is limited to whatever you can find in your savings and what…
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