Award-winning animation director Genndy Tartakovsky, the man who made Samurai Jack and those impressive Clone Wars cartoons, has just made my day. He’s directing the sequel to the greatest puppet-animation film ever made… …and here’s the scoop! The script for The Dark Crystal needed a lot of help, and the narration ranks among the most annoying of all time: “And so Jen set off on his journey… the journey… of… Jen.” But the visuals in this film were so enthralling,... Read more
Get ready for Super Bowl Sunday with… Dreams of Our Childhood I’ve been invited to join a panel discussion of Born into Brothels after it is featured in this film festival on Saturday afternoon. Will you be there too? Born into Brothels is in my Top 5 of 2005. If you haven’t seen it, you should. Here are the festival details: UPC and First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue have teamed up again for the second FilmFest on February 3-4 at... Read more
The rain continues. And the wind. The deadline for the novel has arrived. I’m not finished. Haven’t slept. Car getting towed to the shop today. Haunted by Oscar nominations. Feeling feverish. Some think it’s romantic, but I know the truth about being… Sleepless in Seattle. (To taste the fear, watch that trailer.) (Thanks for the link, Rachel Eby.) Oh, and if it drives you crazy to get a chorus hook stuck in your head, just try coping with your life... Read more
“You can’t pasteurize the Academy Award, you can’t negotiate it. It is the top.” – Felicity Huffman, Transamerica Hate to break it to you, Ms. Huffman, but, well, you’re completely wrong. “I was completely surprised.” – Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line Ummm… if any nomination this year was a lock, it was yours, Reese. Give yourself some credit. “My levels of gratitude will be overflowing all day, so I’ll be making a mess as they spill all over wherever I... Read more
If Hollywood thinks Brokeback Mountain is more interesting and artful than A History of Violence and The New World, and when nobody even notices a piece of rare big screen treasure like Millions… well, they’ve just lost any interest or respect I had for this year’s Oscar event. I’m not even sure host John Stewart will be enough to make me tune in. (more…) Read more
If you could cast ten actors in a film, who would you bring together? Post your thoughts in the comments. I remember “casting” Ian Holm as Bilbo and Ian McKellan as Gandalf in my dream Lord of the Rings film many years before Jackson took on the project, and he did oh so well with the rest of that casting. But rarely have I been as excited about an assembling of actors as I am about the new film by... Read more
And the answer is… BADLANDS. Congratulations, Nick Alexander, who was the first to identify the source of these two Half-Shots! As reward, Nick Alexander has become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. Just see for yourself! Watch for Half-shot Contest #5, coming soon! Read more
Well, no one has come up with the right answer to Half-shot Contest #4. So I’ll post half of ANOTHER picture, this time in color, from the same film. I think this one will turn the contest from a challenge into a race. Post your guess in the comments. Read more
You already know that The Book of Daniel has been euthanized (one instance in which I approve of a mercy killing). But you gotta read this Slate article about the challenge of making meaningful television, and the mysterious science of learning what Christians will watch. Some of the stuff there will probably be old news to you, but it’s worth it for the last part, where things get really interesting. (Thanks, Russ, for the link.) Read more
Thursday specials: PRAY FOR AURALIA AND ME I’d appreciate your prayers. It’s not a crisis, but in the story of my life, it’s a big deal. For the next four days, I will be putting the finishing touches on my novel Auralia’s Colors and sending it in to the publisher. By “finishing touches,” I mean I’ll be making the last changes before the editors mark it up and send me things that they think need changing. So there’s still a... Read more
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