who doesn't want to be joss whedon?

I do. Here are his screenwriting commandments.

Ricky Gervais on Holocaust Movies

If you haven't seen Extras, here's what Ricky Gervais was referencing at the Golden Globes when he joked with Kate Winslet about the Holocaust movie. It's at 3:15-4:15 and then there's a little tag at 7:00 - 7:30.

In other news, if you haven't seen Extras, RUN RIGHT OUT AND GET IT BECAUSE IT'S BRILLIANT. Seriously. Sorry to digress from our very serious movie talk.

looking forward to a semester with karl!

Kate and I are taking Karl Iglesias' emotional impact course.

He is a busy guy, and i am really excited.

Memories

NYT published this article a little while ago and I've been marveling ever since at how easy it would be for me to be the Neale Donald Walsch in a similar scenario. I wonder about this Candy Chand - how can she never have had the experience of telling a story as if she were there, only to discover she was not? I thought that was part of being a kid, reminiscing about the circumstances surrounding a snapshot only to be shouted down by siblings reminding you it was taken before you were born.

Waltz with Bashir (trailer here) reminded me of the psychological research supporting the normalcy of that phenomenon. When Ari talks to his psychologist friend, he is told about a study in which people are shown snapshots with their images photoshopped in; an overwhelming percentage of them are able to recount detailed "memories" of experiences that never happened.

It came full circle for me when I saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona yesterday and recognized a very familiar scene - nighttime, people sitting outside in a circle around a guitarist, enjoying the warm Spanish evening. It was beautiful, and I had seen it before - in Hable con Ella - here.

I wonder if Woody considers it an homage, or if he even realized the similarity. I wonder if the image just filtered into his head and he never questioned its origin.

Re: Responsibility in the industry

Mark's post below on responsibility of the entertainment industry reminded me of an article from EW a couple of months ago about how an Obama presidency will affect movies/TV/music. They made the correlation that other administrations left large footprints (Top Gun/Dynasty in the Reagan years) and wonder if Obama will usher in a time of hope and change in the industry. I wouldn't necessarily go as far as they do in ascribing influence (do we really think rappers are sitting around at home wondering how having a black man in the White House affects their rhymes?), but it will be interesting to see where we end up with Obama: Read the EW piece here.

What Would Jack Do?

So first of all let me say that I am a raging “24” fan and a political liberal; and I really don’t see the problem with that.

That said…

I was listening to Kiefer Sutherland on the radio this morning promoting the new season. He was asked about the concerns expressed by higher ups at West Point about cadets being influenced by Jack Bauer’s wantonly violent tendencies. Sutherland’s answer was one you really want to agree with: if it is true that cadets have some sort of “Jack Bauer syndrome” then we have a much bigger problem than a TV show.

My first reaction was to laugh knowingly with Kiefer. But then I bumped into this article in today’s Washington Post about psychological research that finds that heavy consumers of romantic comedies are more likely to have unrealistic and unfulfillable expectations about romance than those who do not.

This raises a question that is generally met with hysterical laughter -- or simple derision --by the Hollywood types: does the entertainment industry have any responsibility for the impact on society that they (we?) caused by the particular flavors of myth-making we perpetrate?

Writing in the Age of Distraction

Locus Magazine just posted a fantastic article by Cory Doctorow on writing in the age of distraction. He points out that the internet does not have to be a guilty pleasure or something that keeps you away from what you should really be doing - it's also a source of inspiration, edification, company, encouragement, and solace, all of which are valuable at different stages in the writing process.

I'm going to adopt Cory's (can I call you Cory? I think I can.) six simple techniques for next week. I'll report back.