Halloweekend

I still haven't decided what to be on Halloween. Maybe Col. Kurtz.

Somebody was asking for opinions about Peter Jackson doing The Hobbit himself afterall. Jackson could use a pre-sold hit.

The Lovely Bones was well-done even though the ending was a little soft for me.

Mainly it would be nice if this disease of more-is-better were cured.

King Kong could have lost a lot of the boat material and the dinosaurs he was so proud of from his abortive Kong plans back in the nineties.

The Hobbit as a two parter might mean a lot of unnecessary sweeping helicopter shots. But even then it should be said that Jackson is more judicious about pacing and his storytelling is more disciplined. del Torro is a little too smart for his own good. I have no idea what he would have made. He's a gormet of the type that if I lose my appetite over what he offers my taste pallat will be questioned. A gormet can offer baked bugs and still be a gormet. Jackson will give us the same KFC bucket we got from Lord of the Rings and I won't complain.

But I also don't care. Kevin Smith's Red State is finally being shot, and that's one of the few projects I'm looking forward to. A nice reverse from Cop Out, the movie with the title that says it all. Even though that film, like Mall Rats, is never less than entertaining. It just isn't quite the kick in the balls we sometimes need. Red State for all I know might even be shooting with money raised by Smith himself. It's not a fun Viewaskewniverse film. Whatever it is though I'm sure it will be worth watching.

I graduated Humber's Film and Television Production program in 1994. Kevin Smith had been to Vancouver Film School, dropped out and released Clerks by then so his career has been an interesting vicarious thing to watch unfold as a counterpoint to my own lack of one. I've had my projects, but I think I've been too comfortable. And whatever arguments people come up with about getting "in" and being on a conveyor belt of success versus remaining stagnant because the hand of God hasn't discovered you, ultimately there's no reason that any of us couldn't generate the count of SCREENPLAYS Kevin Smith has written over these 16 years. That comes down to either having a typewriter or computer or access to one and some time. If that lightning bolt were to strike me right now, even after writing FADE IN and FADE OUT with 100 pages or so in between at least once each year since 1988 I only have a couple of scripts that I would feel comfortable jumping right into without further re-writes. What I should have for each is also a character list, a location list, and a prop list, synopsis and anything else needed to be ready to go. I have storyboarded many drafts that have then been abandoned. But at least that process is a good exercise. It is directing without the hassle of a crew, cast and a deadline. I'll get there, but basically anything that isn;'t fuel for the fire needs to be tossed out. I can't keep living weekend to weekend with such short time at home to write. Some people do it. I also need to build a little more faith, but not the blind faith that has caused me to coast so many years.

I won't truly be sane until the first few of my features are done and shown and liked. Even getting one done won't be enough. But you do need to find a Scott Mosier, even though as Kevin Smith says on the Clerks II DVD "Nobody goes to film school to be a producer." There is a certain amount of glory in producing, but for me it is time and labor doing leg work I have no knack for that is taking away time and focus from the work I do feel I have a knack for - writing and preparation of directing. THEN you have to be careful about WHO comes along to "help" and be a producer. Are they putting all cards on the table? Maybe not. You have to know, really know, what they are getting out of it other than the credit and experience the alchemy of which can turn from thanks to shit pretty fast. More on that later.