I did it! ! !

As you can see by my widgets below, I got past the 50K word mark today.  In fact, I was ahead, and only had to write about 350 words today, so today was easy.  Actually, the whole thing was not that hard!  So here's my web badge of honor.

And then comes December....yeah, and January.  What are those you ask?  REVISION!

Writing a novel this Month with NaNoWriMo.  National Novel Writing Month.  Yes, and I'm keeping pace with what they call a novel.  Currently on day 23, I'm at 38,235 words, so a bit ahead at the moment.  I've been on or above par most of the time.  This means I should top the score of 50,000 words on or before Nov. 30th.   
Novel's title: The Amish Vampire of Pennsylvania
Yes, you've heard it here first.  Here is my "word count widget" to show my progress.

 

Melancholia

2011 Lars Von Trier

Von Trier has managed to place us in the unenviable position as an audience in the first-person witness to the end of the world, and, as REM stated in the 80s angst of that time, "and I feel fine".  Indeed we do seem to feel fine as the end of the world comes, and somehow, although sad as it may seem, we in some strange way identify with Justine, played masterfully melancholy by Kirsten Dundst, and are sensing the need to hush the worried Claire, played by the trepidatious antics of Charlotte Gainsborough. 
The 2-part play, which is intended as a dichotomy of psychological space between 2 differing views of the world, indeed is executed with pinpoint accuracy and distance between the two parties, libertarian and conservative.
One of the most annoying lines of the story is from Keifer Sutherland.  "How many holes does our golf course have?"
The sheer beauty of the opening prologue of the film in extreme slow motion is in itself an answer to that question, which if the artist were here with me on the page, he may say in effect the following:
"Who in their right mind gives a (*&^"
The opening of the film is a short film in and of itself that needs no afterword or narrative function to follow.  As a piece of art it could stand alone.
Worth seeing, most definitely yes.  Jumping to agree with in its conclusions: not on same page.  But a beautiful piece of art and directing, nonetheless.

Agitatus

Hermanos - Installment 8, Season 5 of Breaking Bad

Just how deep does the Meth rabbit-hole go?  We get a taste in this week's Breaking Bad.  Roots that go back to other times, and other countries, like Chile, begin to unravel for us. 

The writing is still fresh and brilliant, and I am continually amazed at the complexity, yet the solidity of the story that is unfolding in Breaking Bad, now in the 4th season.  The characters in BB are none of them flat, or uninteresting.  Every one has a crucial role.  The writing deserves the Oscar, and the execution via camera work, sets, lighting, locations, and acting, somehow have mixed here to make a cinematic alchemy, a metaphysical work of wonder.   Needless to say, I'm a fan, and I have never seen anything like it.

The one thing that always worries me about something like this, is the end.  And now, for some strange reason, it appears that I don't have to worry about that for yet another season.  BB has been approved for Season 5, so I take it we're going to have "more to come".

Although I saw this at the theatre (my family was gone and I had little else to keep me occupied), this would make a good rental, as I reserve most of my theatre viewing for films that have some artistic or cinematic merit and deserve to be seen on the large screen.  RED (Retired and Extremely Dangerous) was very funny.  I liked it and would see it again (as a rental as I said).  It was a blast not only to see Bruce Willis looking actually old for once, but all of the other old farts shooting and getting their teenage-ninja thing on against the CIA staff and other likely bad people, with the old hero twist in there as a self-sacrificing Morgan Freeman.  The beginning is astonishingly high-impact and jettisons us into the plot, and the story worth following as well.  The very comical and ever blustering John Malkovitch in this role was easy for him it would seem, and having him play the mad scientist look-alike and fall guy was great.  Mary-Louise Parker was personable and stood out against Bruce Willis with her own style, reminiscent of 12 Monkeys.

Over all I liked RED because it was always moving and didn’t disappoint with filler material.  The end twist made the story wrap up nice and was not cheesy.

Overall about 3.5 stars for entertainment value and about 2.5 stars for the scripting.  There were no memorable quotes or outstanding written moments to speak of.  Just fun.

Devil - 2010 - John Erick Dowdle directs.   Stars: Chris Messina, Caroline Dhavernas and Bokeem Woodbine.

There’s nothing quite like South American Folklore mixed with modern, inner-city dimness and angst, and blended together in a 5 x 6 x 8 room that moves quickly up and down a shaft, then gets stuck with 5 people in it, one of whom is the Devil.  Nothing quite like the latest Shayamalan installation in his continuing odyssey of shock and awe, and the surprise ending.  He didn’t direct Devil, John Erick Dowdle did.   But it “came from his mind”, as the advertisement tells us.

I understand that this got laughs at a preview of a sophisticated audience.  Just goes to show you what sophistication does for you, jade and censure.  However, I did find that this installment in what appears to be the first of a “Night Chronicles” was somewhat lackluster in its general effects, yet it still has suspense and appeal.  It definitely had a linear storyline and a speed and direction.  It had all the elements that he usually has, this time with multiple protagonists and the surprise.  It was a surprise at the end not so much for who the Devil was, but because the person of the Devil was so cliche, or abrupt, or “normal”.  I guess it’s what we’ve come to expect, with the multi-phased voice, the black eyes, and such.  Well, it’s still worth seeing if you’re a M. Night fan.  This film definitely had the element of the “teaser”, as did “Lady in the Water”.  Threads of the story are given to us piecemeal as we go along, keeping the interest high and the suspense of what will happen next.  One thing I consistently like about Night’s work is his insistence on not going too heavy-handed with the SFX (Last Airbender notwithstanding).

John Erick Dowdle is part of “the Dowdle Brothers” production company out of LA.  At the time of this writing I do not know about how John was selected to direct this Night film.  I’ll figure that out someday when I have some research time.  The most fascinating thing about this work is the character involvement that was drawn from the actors, and how distinct and powerful they can be.  The casting was directed by Debra Zane and achieved a great match for the roles.    Dowdle makes the characters his story, and they do their acting job very well.  It was also likely that this film was a bit of a bear to make when you have 5 actors in the same space for hours on end.  They probably started to show some genuine anxiety near the end of the shoot, considering the close quarters, or at least close on 3 sides that the camera can see most of the time.

The script was well-written and the timeliness of the editing short and too the point.  No fluff.  I like the directness.  I give this one 3.5 stars for lacking the pizzaz and scope of some of his other works.  Dowdle did a great job with the material he was given.

Tron: Legacy

Disney - 2010  

Lights, action, effects, computers!  Yes!  Writing?  No.  All flash, no substance?  Well, not exactly, but close.  Predictable, to some degree, yes. 

I’m sure that underneath the surface this story of Tron 2, Disney’s 28 year answer to its original holds most closely to the story that started it, and cleverly answers the backstory and forward story behind the main Character of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), filling in all manner of good detail to keep the fan satisfied that something was achieved.  However, the dynamic tension resident in most action and drama is not very dynamic here, and motivations are sublet to action and effects.  The set and the effects are the main characters of the film as much as Flynn or CLU 2.0.   The action is great, fast, and fascinating to watch.  That’s good, because it cloaks an otherwise fairly spacious gap in meaning and substance.

There is the traditional “man against the machine” archetype, and “boy wonder of his own corporation finds a new self and comes of age” thing, and as a side note, most likely this is “commerce vs. open access” in the computing world.  There are all of those stories subtly going on in there, but they are dwarfed by the magnitude of the 3D fizz.  The girl is cute (Olivia Wilde), the outfits sexy, the 3D pristine and accurate, and the bad guys are fairly bad.  But like one of my favorite scenes in the film, the action and shooting and movement is going on all around while the producer plays air guitar.

The scene I’m referring to is in the center of the city with Castor, the headmaster of digital ceremonies, that manages to capture Kevin Flynn’s disk from him and offer it to CLU in exchange for control of the city.  All around there is kung fu fighting, and lasers, and disks flying, and program-people de-rezzing, and what does Castor do?  He plays air guitar on his lighted walking stick in time to Daft Punk’s rabid background tunes.  This pretty much summed up the movie for me.

As for the implications: that’s a bit different, as it usually is.  So now there’s a fully rezzed human on earth that came from the computer, and her genetic code is perfect, so that when infused into the human genome, we conquer death and disease?  That’s my inference, and there is a possibility there of Tron 3 you know.  That’s possible, with some creativity.  But it also prompts me to draw the obvious parallel with the real world: allow the human genome to be explored in any way possible, for there lie the keys to our future, our furthering mankind, our win over ailments and possibly even death.  The faith shown DNA is akin to worship, and the numbers that we crunch to get there is only a matter of time.

3 stars - End of Line

Lit - a memoir by Mary Karr

2009 - Harper Perennial

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An insatiable text that will not let you go, Mary Karr has taken memoir to a new level in “Lit”.   I first heard Mary reading a section of her book on NPR’s “The Writer’s Block”.   Her revelation on that podcast that she had had a spiritual experience that drove her to write it led me to the work, and it paid off.  I bought the book on that interview alone, well, to be honest along with it being a national best seller.  I have not regretted taking it on in my precious reading time, the little of it that I do have.  I finished tonight, and was completely satisfied with this story of a life. 
She is unabashedly self-abasing and honest.  Let’s see, other synonyms come to mind; transparent, brazen, surgically reliable and the real thing.  Her assessment of her life is painfully awake and alive with moments of clarity that one cannot escape from applying to your own self.  I could see my own self in many of these moments, making decisions based on my own perspectives, bungling through relationships without a guide, prayer-less, hopeless, lost.  Mary carefully and convincingly dissects her journey for us from one of atheistic self-envelopment to transcendent belief and reliance.  For the 12-stepper, this is a hopeful work.  For the would-be addict, it is a warning and guide.  For the so-called “normal” of us, we find that there is no such thing, and in one way or another we are all caught up in chasing some kind of ghost that must be gotten rid of in order to have peace, and meaning.
As for her prose, I had heard it said that Mary never wastes a sentence.  This is true.  I found her work to be funny at times, and inspiring to me as a writer, to be better, and more succinct, and more circumspect.  She certainly is accomplished and deserves praise for the work, as well as an admonition to continue to work at reflecting back to us who we truly are.  This is the perfect work of an author, to shine light in our dark places and make plain those things we so wish we could say ourselves and at times have trouble articulating.  I am now looking forward to going back in time and reading her other works that led her here in “The Liars’ Club” and “Cherry”.
5 stars

Breaking Bad - The visual "Elements" that make it what it is.

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Shot after shot, Breaking Bad Season 2 amazes me as I wander back through it a 2nd or 3rd time.  On these viewings, because I am past the initial suspense and drama, and have memorized the story line, I see the nuances that made the brilliance stand out in the first place.  They are the carefully placed side elements, the blocking, the subtle movements of the camera gently nervous in the foreground, the framing, the pauses in the pace and the dialogue, the acting, yes of course, but also the post production that made that all cadence together in a rhythm sublime, a dance of cinema, on paid television.  This is as close to the realm of cinema that TV has gotten, and has set a new bar for drama production in the future.  For those not paying attention, another day at the office.

It’s hard to pick a favorite episode out of Season 2, but I’d have to say cinematically, it would be “Mas”, the 5th installment.   One particular shot that stands out to me is the dinner scene.  Walt is at home for once, on the left end of the shot.  Walter Jr. Is seated on the long side of the table, facing the camera, and Skyler is opposite, to the right.  There is a construction element in the foreground that creates a fairly large separation, a barrier, between Walter and the other 2, and one other important member of the family, the new baby in the foreground, just inside the window at the bottom of the screen.  It feels like we’re outside looking in here because of the obstruction.  This places Walter in the cold and isolated position, the warmth of even the lamp on the right side, over and against him.  Walter Jr. attempts smiles and rapport back and forth across that barrier, but it does not waver, and the shot does not edit or change.  It was meant to be done in one take to allow the space to produce the impact, and the timing and direction of the dialogue and glances to create the implied meanings.  This was very complex, and pulled off with what looks to be ease in the end result.  Of course, it’s not.  And then the camera moves, and the barrier moves into the center when Walter Jr. Leaves the room.  This is also after an edit, so there is a natural break in the scene, and we have Jr. Get up to go and work on his homework and video games, “multitasking” he says. 

Now that the barrier is in the middle, and the child in the bassinet is split in half, there sit Skyler and Walt at opposite ends, picking away at what is left of dinner.  The baby fusses.  Skyler looks with what must be pity at Walt who is looking away into his lap.  She asks if he wants to take her, and he of course replies with a nod.  The tenderness of his holding the baby is enough for an oscar performance.  Skyler exits and Walt is left alone with his child.

This could have been shot any other of 6 or a dozen ways, but it was not.  The blocking and mise-en-scene was so well done, invisible, yet so purposeful and powerful.  But this one scene is not an anomaly on the show.  Almost every moment of the show is shot the same way, with careful precision and planning, and thoughtfulness; another reason why I so love this series. It helps that the writing is exquisite, but the camera work delivers, and should be looked at again by the folks at the Emmys.