If I Were Attending Sundance 2012…
Posted on | January 19, 2012 | No Comments
2011 was an intense self-education in the contemporary state of independent film. I followed industry blogs, twitter feeds, wikipedia-ed the shit out of filmmaking terms and titles, and began acquainting myself with people I Hope to One Day, Someday Collaborate With Or At Least Not Knowingly Embarrass Myself In Front Of.
It’s been awesome; it’s been real; it’s been a crash course; and it’s absolutely been information overload. Yesterday, I was discussing with a friend my disappointment in a handful of last year’s critically lauded independent films. And I wondered aloud how much of my disappointment was manufactured: if the Hollywood hype machine hadn’t set my expectations absurdly high would I still have felt hoodwinked? What would it have been like to have seen Film X without the baggage of knowing all its illustrious awards and critically lauded pedigree?
With those thoughts in mind, this year I am aiming to be a more conspicuous consumer of my industry news. I want to continue developing my taste in contemporary cinema but with as little baggage as possible.
Now I know directors whose projects I support, actors whose performances I enjoy, and producers whose taste I share. And I’ve learned how to get closer at the primary source of information for news instead of encountering effusive opinion after spoiler after effusive opinion after spoiler. (I will never forgive the critic who casually gave away a huge plot point in the first paragraph of their review of The Descendants, which I still have not yet seen.)
Most importantly, I’ve become more confident in my own taste. I know I tend to seek out small films with female protagonists, dark comedies, psychological thrillers, and yes, dammit I like a good rom-com (though I can’t think of one to link right now!). I’ve also began taking more risks in my film watching. I learned this last year attending festivals where I know this may be my only shot to see one particular film (as not all of them have or will get distribution).
While I am not going to Sundance this year, here are my selects. I don’t know what the critics are saying and what PR machines have already kickstarted but thought I’d add my drop of water to the bucket while I encourage you to find your own way.
A Good One
Posted on | January 9, 2012 | No Comments
I wondered how we would hug, how we would fit together.
I wanted to know if he would smell like clean laundry or if he’d just smell like him, and if I would like that smell, could learn to like that smell, or perhaps if that smell would cure me of him full-stop.
I wanted to know if it would a strong hug, or a long one, or one of those hugs that don’t feel like a hug at all but more of a natural extension of our full expression, like two puzzle pieces that always has been side by side, without which there’d be no picture.
I knew the hug would demarcate the end of our time together, that we would likely amount to nothing more than what we already were; but at least, dear reader, in the end I got hugged twice.
Happy belated New Year.
A Year in Bullet Form
Posted on | December 16, 2011 | No Comments
In the Year 2011, I…
- Briefly dated on OkCupid (ed. note: amounted to one Actual Date).
- …hell, dated eight nine prospects overall while we’re at it.
- Watched over 35 films in theaters (this excludes repeat viewings, shorts programs, and rentals)
- Watched at least 11 live Broadway, Off Broadway, and student theatrical productions
- Attended SXSW, Tribeca, and Austin Film Festivals
- Attended IFP Filmmaker and Script-to-Screen Conferences
- Worked at IFP as their 2011 IFW Industry Registration Coordinator
- Earned a seat on Tribeca Film Fest’s 2012 PreScreening Committee
- Became a Voter for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards
- Took 4 Sketch Comedy and Improvisation Classes at the Magnet Theater
- …Cumulating in two graduation shows and three months of public, bi-weekly improv performances on a Harold Team at the Magnet this summer
- Completed 1 1/2 years of full-time Acting Conservatory in one intensive year, including classes in Meisner Technique, Voice (Linklater), Movement (Williamson), Script Analysis, and Cold Reading
- …Cumulating in the in-class performance of one speech, Shakespeare, and four contemporary play scenes
- Took one additional Cold Reading Class at my former acting school
- Participated as a reader in four staged and private readings
- Played leads in two film shorts
- Participated in one photoshoot with a much respected artist-turned-friend
- Held three staged readings for two of my own scripts-in-progress
- Began assisting a feature film in preproduction
- Observed 10 days of silence in Vipassana Meditation
- …and served others for 10 days during theirs
- Produced two ‘Talking to Strangers’ articles for Nerve
- Traveled domestically to Princeton, NJ, Philadelphia, PA, Northern CA (twice), Durham, NC, and Austin, TX (twice)
- Began a (relatively more consistent) morning meditation practice
- Discovered I like Kettle Bell Kickboxing
- …and spinning
- (And online mass coupon fitness deals, apparently)
- Biked an average of 50+ miles a week during the spring and summer months
- Quit smoking full-stop, even socially
- Added whiskey to my go-to drinking oeuvre
- Started therapy
- Started eating meat again (and then, possibly stopping again; I need to figure out the eating situation)
- Let go of my childhood home. The sale of our Texas house is closing this month.
I’m sure there’s more, but above are some highlights.
I have to make lists like this to counter all the berating I did to myself this year for “doing nothing.”
Next year, I want to do something. (I wonder what that’ll look like.)
Allegory
Posted on | November 6, 2011 | No Comments
If you hit a dog, he will flinch.
If you hit a dog more, he will flinch before you strike.
And if you hit a dog enough, he will come to you flinched.
***
Then one day – before you’ve had this day’s chance hit the dog – he stops coming.
You wait.
Years pass.
You forget about him.
***
Today you saw him in the distance.
You recognized his gait immediately. Awkward, with his tail between his legs. His shoulders hunched, head lowered and eyes avoiding contact.
It reminded you so fondly of those days past, those playful games of hitting and flinching.
“Hey Dog!” You call to him. “I miss you! Come back and live with me again.”
The dog stops.
“How can you say that?” he replies. His voice a tentative whimper.
“Why, in my mind, I’ve still been living with you all these years.”
Search
Follow
