Thursday, February 19, 2009
Screenwriting Fantasies.
The country is in a recession, people are losing their jobs and thinking about career plans B, C, and D. My plan B is becoming a B-movie scifi actor. Like, for instance, the career of C. Thomas Howell at The Asylum straight to DVD production company. Or Tim Thomerson of the Trancers DVD series. Perhaps Michael Gross from Tremors on. Failing that, Plan C is screenwriting, although something tells me Plan D should be fleshed out, too, just in case.
Thinking about the scifi movie Wyvern and its surprisingly good script prompted thoughts of other screenplays I wish I'd written. Here they are, in no particular order:
The Zero Effect: A modern imagining of Sherlock Holmes with Bill Pullman as Daryl Zero, a late 20th Century American private detective, and Ben Stiller as his assistant.
Miller's Crossing: A little known Coen Brothers movie and perhaps one of the best gangster movies ever made. Very reminiscent of the writings of Dashiell Hammett, whose writing I've worshipped for years.
Serenity: The most interesting science fiction movie to come along in a long time. Joss Whedon's depiction of good intentions gone horribly wrong is the best portrayal of the true evil of modernity, which is the notion that human nature should be modified by our leaders to fit a social purpose.
The Princess Bride: The sweetest story of romantic love and the love of a grandfather for his grandson ever told.
Barcelona: Young Americans, unapologetically American, living in Spain and falling in love with Spanish beauties during the Reagan years.
Team America: World Police: Funny, funny, funny political musical satire. With puppets.
Tremors: The perfect movie about monsters terrorizing a small secluded town.
-tdr
Thinking about the scifi movie Wyvern and its surprisingly good script prompted thoughts of other screenplays I wish I'd written. Here they are, in no particular order:
The Zero Effect: A modern imagining of Sherlock Holmes with Bill Pullman as Daryl Zero, a late 20th Century American private detective, and Ben Stiller as his assistant.
Miller's Crossing: A little known Coen Brothers movie and perhaps one of the best gangster movies ever made. Very reminiscent of the writings of Dashiell Hammett, whose writing I've worshipped for years.
Serenity: The most interesting science fiction movie to come along in a long time. Joss Whedon's depiction of good intentions gone horribly wrong is the best portrayal of the true evil of modernity, which is the notion that human nature should be modified by our leaders to fit a social purpose.
The Princess Bride: The sweetest story of romantic love and the love of a grandfather for his grandson ever told.
Barcelona: Young Americans, unapologetically American, living in Spain and falling in love with Spanish beauties during the Reagan years.
Team America: World Police: Funny, funny, funny political musical satire. With puppets.
Tremors: The perfect movie about monsters terrorizing a small secluded town.
-tdr
Monday, December 31, 2007
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas And Happy Holy Days.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
3D Glasses.
Sporting the 3D glasses from Beowulf. Okay, maybe they aren't that cool. The fitover look is appealing, don't you think? Ladies?-tdr
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Keep On Rockin' In The Free World!
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young was my first exposure to serious adult music when I was about 12 years old. I quickly gravitated away from Graham Nash and David Crosby and toward Stephen Stills and Neil Young. Something about the songs of those two singer-songwriters touched the outsider in me and spoke to the budding tragic sensibility that still colors how I view the world. (I confess, that's a bit melodramatic. A 12 year old with a sense of tragedy? I was raised Catholic, okay? And I started reading adult fiction from the library at about age 10 and history books soon after.)
Stills was my first favorite musician. The day his music died for me came in college almost 10 years later when he gave a concert at my school. The show was professional and I liked it for sentimental reasons alone, but it was clear that Stills was an artist past his prime. It didn't help that the next day I had a brush with fame with him and his entourage at a local mall where they were looking for a sporting goods store. I didn't know where he could buy a football and he wasn't interested in hearing a fan say nice things about him. His entouragees apologized but there it is.
Young was my other favorite and remains so. Unlike Stills, Young has kept his artistic edge over the years. He produced one great album after another throughout the 1970s and since then he has given us good albums like Hawks and Doves, Freedom, Harvest Moon, Greendale, and even Trans.
The last show I saw of Young's was the road show for his album, Greendale. The album was a concept that told the story of a small town being changed by larger forces. The live show was a musical play with actors playing the parts of characters in the songs being performed by Young and his band. The play ended with a rousing, patriotic, flag-waving number with the entire cast dancing and singing. The play was clearly an attempt by Young to redefine patriotism and recapture the flag for the dispossessed in America and those fighting to save the planet. Even with all the American flags waving on stage, the performance was not preachy, which is a testament to Young's artistic talent.
Perhaps another testament to Young's talent and continuing relevance is the performance today at a San Diego neighborhood bar of various local musicians playing covers of Young's music. It was his birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday, Neil. Long may you run.
-tdr
Stills was my first favorite musician. The day his music died for me came in college almost 10 years later when he gave a concert at my school. The show was professional and I liked it for sentimental reasons alone, but it was clear that Stills was an artist past his prime. It didn't help that the next day I had a brush with fame with him and his entourage at a local mall where they were looking for a sporting goods store. I didn't know where he could buy a football and he wasn't interested in hearing a fan say nice things about him. His entouragees apologized but there it is.
Young was my other favorite and remains so. Unlike Stills, Young has kept his artistic edge over the years. He produced one great album after another throughout the 1970s and since then he has given us good albums like Hawks and Doves, Freedom, Harvest Moon, Greendale, and even Trans.
The last show I saw of Young's was the road show for his album, Greendale. The album was a concept that told the story of a small town being changed by larger forces. The live show was a musical play with actors playing the parts of characters in the songs being performed by Young and his band. The play ended with a rousing, patriotic, flag-waving number with the entire cast dancing and singing. The play was clearly an attempt by Young to redefine patriotism and recapture the flag for the dispossessed in America and those fighting to save the planet. Even with all the American flags waving on stage, the performance was not preachy, which is a testament to Young's artistic talent.
Perhaps another testament to Young's talent and continuing relevance is the performance today at a San Diego neighborhood bar of various local musicians playing covers of Young's music. It was his birthday yesterday. Happy Birthday, Neil. Long may you run.
-tdr
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Prince Of The SUVs.
The SUV is a much-maligned vehicle in these days of environmental scare-mongering and angst about our so-called addiction to foreign oil. I prefer to blame large semis more than cars, pickups, or SUVs. You can check the data. (Here.) Gas efficiency for all consumer vehicles, including the much-scapegoated SUV, has improved over time. But big-rig trucks remain mired at about 5 miles per gallon. America's freight should not travel on highways, it should travel on the rails.
Anyway, to me the car-based SUV is the ideal vehicle. It's not a gigantic vehicle like many SUVs. Its station wagon-like design allows for flexibility in carrying passengers and cargo. But its design is much cooler than a station wagon's.
For SUV lovers like me, who want to use less gas and even pollute less, the Ford Escape Hybrid could be the perfect vehicle; SUV design and flexibility with economy car mileage. I traded in my old Subaru Forester the other day for the new Escape Hybrid. This is it outside my garage.
Automatic transmission, moon roof, heated leather seats, satellite radio, all the amenities. The Escape hybrid drives like a regular SUV except when gliding along silently at city-street speeds in all electric mode. Instead of the 20-25 mpg I was getting with the Forester, I'm getting 32-35 mpg in the Escape. And its hybrid technology appeals to the techie in me.
As much as I like my new Escape hybrid, I'm looking forward to when the Venture One hits the road -- 100 mpg at 100 mph. (Here.) This is the European version in action.*
O yeah.
-tdr
Technorati:
environment, 
oil, 
hybrids, 
hybrid cars.
*Photo from flytheroad.com.
Anyway, to me the car-based SUV is the ideal vehicle. It's not a gigantic vehicle like many SUVs. Its station wagon-like design allows for flexibility in carrying passengers and cargo. But its design is much cooler than a station wagon's.
For SUV lovers like me, who want to use less gas and even pollute less, the Ford Escape Hybrid could be the perfect vehicle; SUV design and flexibility with economy car mileage. I traded in my old Subaru Forester the other day for the new Escape Hybrid. This is it outside my garage.
Automatic transmission, moon roof, heated leather seats, satellite radio, all the amenities. The Escape hybrid drives like a regular SUV except when gliding along silently at city-street speeds in all electric mode. Instead of the 20-25 mpg I was getting with the Forester, I'm getting 32-35 mpg in the Escape. And its hybrid technology appeals to the techie in me.As much as I like my new Escape hybrid, I'm looking forward to when the Venture One hits the road -- 100 mpg at 100 mph. (Here.) This is the European version in action.*
O yeah.
-tdr
Technorati:
environment, oil, hybrids, hybrid cars.*Photo from flytheroad.com.
Labels: Environment, Personal, Technology
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Road Trip.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Flag Day In The Home Office.
Today was flag day. It's a bit late in the day but here's the American flag.
That's right, the flag pole is sticking out of the antenna hole in the top of the television. And it's there all the time, whether it's flag day or not. Those two round squishy things on top of the bookshelves are pillow globes of Earth and Mars.
If you click on the photo you should be able to make out the books. Parts of the Bs, Hs, Ls, and Ms are visible. Too bad the Vs aren't visible. You could see my guilty pleasure -- nearly everything written by Jack Vance.
Of the books visible in the photo, I highly recommend anything by Dashiell Hammett and much of John Barnes. If you want to go literary, the slim novel Hunger by Elise Blackwell* is unique, and Cormac McCarthy's mythic Blood Meridian has the most vivid prose.
I like writing that reminds me of the scene in the movie, A River Runs Through It, when the father is teaching his sons to write. He has them write essays and when they give their essays to him, he returns them and says, "now cut it in half." He does this several times until the writing is stripped to its essentials. Not that I can write that way.
What does any of this have to do with the American flag and the republic for which it stands? Well, as an American I received a public education at no charge and learned to read and write and appreciate knowledge. I've heard there is more literacy in Cuba than in America. So what. In Cuba, you can't read anything you want. How cruel is that? Teach your citizens to read and then deny them the right to read books of their own choosing. But as an American I can read and write just about anything I want. That is the greatest gift our country bestows on those who live within its borders.
So, show your patriotism. Read a book. Any damn book you want.
-tdr
Technorati:
America, 
Education, 
literacy.
*Full disclosure: Blackwell is a friend.
That's right, the flag pole is sticking out of the antenna hole in the top of the television. And it's there all the time, whether it's flag day or not. Those two round squishy things on top of the bookshelves are pillow globes of Earth and Mars.If you click on the photo you should be able to make out the books. Parts of the Bs, Hs, Ls, and Ms are visible. Too bad the Vs aren't visible. You could see my guilty pleasure -- nearly everything written by Jack Vance.
Of the books visible in the photo, I highly recommend anything by Dashiell Hammett and much of John Barnes. If you want to go literary, the slim novel Hunger by Elise Blackwell* is unique, and Cormac McCarthy's mythic Blood Meridian has the most vivid prose.
I like writing that reminds me of the scene in the movie, A River Runs Through It, when the father is teaching his sons to write. He has them write essays and when they give their essays to him, he returns them and says, "now cut it in half." He does this several times until the writing is stripped to its essentials. Not that I can write that way.
What does any of this have to do with the American flag and the republic for which it stands? Well, as an American I received a public education at no charge and learned to read and write and appreciate knowledge. I've heard there is more literacy in Cuba than in America. So what. In Cuba, you can't read anything you want. How cruel is that? Teach your citizens to read and then deny them the right to read books of their own choosing. But as an American I can read and write just about anything I want. That is the greatest gift our country bestows on those who live within its borders.
So, show your patriotism. Read a book. Any damn book you want.
-tdr
Technorati:
America, Education, literacy. *Full disclosure: Blackwell is a friend.
Labels: America, Books, Education, Personal
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Ginsberg
Monday, December 25, 2006
Happy Holy Days And Merry Christmas.
It's Christmas morning in San Diego and the temperature in my backyard is 82. Even better, it's a dry heat. The only semblance of a white Christmas is the occasional cloud in the light blue sky. This part of the country is paradise.
It was interesting to see another blogger using the greeting Happy Holy Days to mark this season. (Here.) I began using it last year as it recognizes the religious nature of December's holidays and is inclusive of the various faiths that populate this country. (Here.)
So Happy Holy Days everybody, Merry Christmas, and Peace on Earth to people of good will.
-tdr
Technorati: Christmas, Religion.
It was interesting to see another blogger using the greeting Happy Holy Days to mark this season. (Here.) I began using it last year as it recognizes the religious nature of December's holidays and is inclusive of the various faiths that populate this country. (Here.)
So Happy Holy Days everybody, Merry Christmas, and Peace on Earth to people of good will.
-tdr
Technorati: Christmas, Religion.
Labels: Personal
