Monthly Archives: December 2008

On the positive side, this meta post doesn’t use a certain word that begins with m

Some blogger named Arianna Huffington went on the Daily Show this week to explain what “blogging” is, (it’s not just for cat pictures any more!)

“Blogging is not about perfectionism. Blogging is about intimacy, immediacy and transparency.”

Yes, that’s what blogging is about, and that’s why blogs are so bad. Here’s my philosophy:

- Blogging, like all writing, should be motivated by perfectionism. What you write doesn’t have to be important, and it doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should be as good as you can make it. If not, what’s the point? Where’s your pride? If your hobby is to paint or sing or play sports, you try your best. Trying hard and getting better is what makes it fun. Why should writing be different?

- Intimacy should be used sparingly. If you’re always intimate, you become just a reality star, but with fewer onlookers. Intimacy works, but it might be bad for you. Use it for the few parts of your life that are genuinely interesting or exceptional.

- What happens right now is overrated. Write about things before everybody notice them, or after everybody has forgotten them. If it’s happening now, you’re either too late or too early.

- In short, blogging should be a performance. Make it a good one.

Arianna’s advice is good for frightened newcomers. When you want someone to sing for the first time, you encourage them. Tell them nobody’s going to laugh. But when they’re no longer afraid, you tell them how to get better.

30′s movies marathon – part 4

The Most Dangerous Game (1932, USA) – A hunter of big game runs his yacht across a reef of Dramatic Irony, and becomes himself the hunted on a mad Cossack’s island. Contrived and badly acted, but gets points for making the quintessential Star Trek episode 30 years ahead of time.

The Island of Lost Souls (1932, USA). Good Island of Dr. Moreau, starring .. The Panther Woman?? Yes that’s what the credits say. Anyway the manimals rebel and chant “Law no more!”, thus making some point or other.

La Chienne (1931, France) – Introduced by a puppet, who mocks the conventions of filmmaking. Watched: 18 minutes. IMDB reviewers say that with this movie, French cinema enters the pathway to genius..

The Public Enemy (1931, USA) – Gangster childhood! Starring James Cagney, as an unconvincing teenager. Remember, kids, selling beer isn’t cool.

Le Bonheur (1934, France) – Surreal allegory about happiness. Impressive, whatever. Watched: 10 minutes.

White Zombie (1932, USA) – Ooh .. I had forgotten that zombies came from voodoo! But I prefer the kind that eats brrrraaaiiiinnnsss. This movie is terrrriiiiibbbllleeeee. Okay, I’ll stop now. Watched: 10 minutesssss.

The Big Trail (1930, USA) – Westerns got better over the years. Watched: 6 minutes.

Taxi (1932, USA) – Cab drivers can be gangstahs too! Yes, but I’m tired of gangster movies. Even if this one’s got a yiddish-speaking James Cagney. Watched: 9 minutes.

Flight Commander (1930, USA) – Won the Oscar for best writing, which is a mystery I don’t care to explore. Watched: 11 minutes.

Fuck you and the horse you rode in on

Joe Straczynski is one of the best scriptwriters in television. There’s been a golden age of television this decade, but Straczynski was years ahead of it, with the ca 100 episodes he wrote for Babylon 5 in the 1990′s. Nobody since has come close. Babylon 5 was a freak accident, where Straczynski was given the kind of creative control that is normally reserved for authors. The music, the actors, – the writing. Near perfect. An accident.

Now Straczynski has written his first movie, Changeling, which by Mysterious Means I’ve managed to see. (Angeline Jolie and Clint Eastwood are also involved somehow, but who cares?) I’m not fully pleased. Changeling is too subdued, especially at first. The story is realistic – a boy is kidnapped, the police screws up and sends the mother the wrong kid back, and when she complains they commit her to a psychiatric institution for being a nuisance. Realistic, oh yes. But it isn’t played in a believable way. Jeffrey Donovan plays the cop like his con roles in Burn Notice, light-weight. They should have filmed and cast this more like Carnivale.

Later it gets better, even quite good, and there are several Straczynski moments, (fans will know what I mean). And people in Hollywood seem to have liked it, and have given Straczynski more major movies to write. Good for him. I can’t evaluate this just as a movie. This is my hero’s big chance. He will never surpass Babylon 5, but maybe he’ll get the recognition he deserves.