The Dotted Logline

I finally saw Shaun Of The Dead, which has been near the top of my watchlist for a while. It was quite funny. At times. It also had a bit more gore than I was expecting (never been a big fan of entrails) and some really heartbreaking scenes. I’m used to seeing all three in one vehicle (it was one of the main attractions of Buffy) but such extremes in such a short span of time are a bit awkward. I’m still not sure how I feel about the movie. Other than the fact that I LOVED the zombie in the wheelchair.

Thanks to a tip from my dad, who actually reads the newspaper, I finally got off my ass and went to something arts-related in South Florida. Amber Benson, best known for playing Willow’s girlfriend Tara on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, was promoting the release of a movie called Chance that she had written/directed/starred in along with several other Buffyverse alums. I’d heard good things about the movie and Amber herself was doing a Q&A after the she showing, so I trekked over to downtown Ft. Lauderdale despite my fear of driving at night and walking alone through cities that aren’t Boston at night.

The movie itself was very interesting. It was apparently shot on DV over the course of five weekends, so it had a very homemade feel to it, yet the cast was comprised of mainly very talented professionals. The structure was interesting (though time progression was occasionally hard to follow, and the writing was quirky and funny (though it was best when it wasn’t trying to be.) There were some really interesting directorial choices and several spots where everything just snapped right into place perfectly for a moment. It was overall a very crafted piece and I enjoyed it, though at the same time my first thought afterwards was to wonder what Amber would create in the future with more time and money and experience. Amber herself indicated that this was a project she hadn’t necessarily expected to ever be seen by the public, and while it is good, it does feel like that.

Amber herself was very nice, answering questions and talking with people well past midnight, despite it being the second showing of the night and her apparently having spent the day at a local convention. I got to speak with her a bit and she was very friendly, even willing to have me send her my screenplay AND stage play for her to read, which I thought was beyond generous. She’s also very tiny in person. I like talking to people around my size because don’t feel like I’m five years old, for once.

In a related note, a local film writer wrote a brief but scathing review of Chance on the basis that the actors are portraying characters that are very different, sometimes even the opposite of the characters they played on Buffy. Either I just arrived from a strange parallel universe where actors are generally praised for being versatile, or Phoebe Flowers is an idiot. Though I’m sure there are people out there who are horrified to learn that James Marsters doesn’t always talk with a British accent.

Continuing my quest to catch up on movies I should have seen years ago, I watched the director’s cut of Alien tonight. The first hour was pretty slow, I still didn’t know half the characters’ names when they died, and the alien character design has almost become a cliche, but I will say the set designs blew me away. For the most part, they didn’t really look dated and they managed to convey both expansiveness and claustrophobia. Very creepy, very wonderful. I IMDbed the film afterwards and checked to see if it was nominated for an art direction Oscar.  It was.

I do have to ask though: what the hell was up with the milk robot?

Just finished watching the Oscars, and overall, I was really pleased this year. The Incredibles won Best Animated Feature (and I have the same pin Brad Bird wore), Edna Mode livened up the presentation of the award for Costume Design, the screenwriters got to accept their awards like normal human beings, and Chris Rock was pretty funny. Though I sadly haven’t seen ANY of the of the nominees for Best Film as of yet, Million Dollar Baby is the one I most want to see so I was glad it garnered the awards that it did.

Maybe next year, Mr. Depp.

Having just seen my third Mel Brooks movie, Blazing Saddles, I once again find myself wondering what I’m missing. For me, Mel Brooks is just too heavy handed for work funny. Maybe it’s just that I prefer comedy that plays it straight. I will say that I though Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little gave wonderful performances.

I’ve seen a lot of not-great movies as of late, but I was hoping I would actually enjoy Van Helsing. I did to some extent; the character designs were interesting, especially Dracula’s Brides and the way they switched between forms. But I did have trouble with the fact that the movie didn’t take itself seriously for the most part. If it hadn’t taken itself seriously for ANY part, it would have been so much better.

If there’s one thing studying screenwriting has done for me, it’s given me the ability to peg down what it is that makes a movie suck. For example, Little Black Book has awful awful pacing. Isn’t it helpful to know specifically why you shouldn’t watch a movie?

Yeah, I know it isn’t, but I still like being able to say “The pacing in that movie is terrible, don’t bother.”

It’s really sad when a movie’s marketing completely ruins its appeal. For example, the previews implied that Wimbledon was yet another disposable RomCom, not worth a second glance. However, when forced to sit and watch it, I discovered it was actually a well done British sports comedy with some fascinating and inventive camera work. It’s always good to be pleasantly surprised by a movie, but it’s useless if it comes across as so mundane or downright bad in the ads that you will never voluntarily watch it.

I am a writer at heart. I’m not one of those people who has an all-consuming need to be a director. But I do feel that directing is a good skill to have, if only to avoid situations like this.

Regarding Electra’s weak opening numbers…

“Bruce Snyder, Fox’s domestic distribution exec… speculated that superwomen just don’t seem to draw as well as supermen.”

My guess would be that bad movies don’t draw as well as decent movies. I’m now determined to write a movie about a female superhero that is better than Catwoman or Supergirl. Surprisingly, the prospect isn’t that intimidating.