[If you've just seen The Kids Are All Right (it expanded considerably (nationwide at end of month) or Inception click on the titles for previous posts now that you're in the know. Also... I'm experiencing terrible case of creative block the past two days. All advice/tricks/suggestions to "get unstuck" from you creative types will be welcome in comments. I'll try anything out. And, no, I have no idea why I placed a photo of Godzilla in this post so it won't help to ask.]
Saturday, July 24, 2010
What are you seeing this weekend?
Or what have you seen already? Do tell in the comments.
[If you've just seen The Kids Are All Right (it expanded considerably (nationwide at end of month) or Inception click on the titles for previous posts now that you're in the know. Also... I'm experiencing terrible case of creative block the past two days. All advice/tricks/suggestions to "get unstuck" from you creative types will be welcome in comments. I'll try anything out. And, no, I have no idea why I placed a photo of Godzilla in this post so it won't help to ask.]
[If you've just seen The Kids Are All Right (it expanded considerably (nationwide at end of month) or Inception click on the titles for previous posts now that you're in the know. Also... I'm experiencing terrible case of creative block the past two days. All advice/tricks/suggestions to "get unstuck" from you creative types will be welcome in comments. I'll try anything out. And, no, I have no idea why I placed a photo of Godzilla in this post so it won't help to ask.]
Saw "Splice" and "The Ghost Writer" yesterday. Today I'm seeing "After.Life" ;) "Inception" has to wait until Tuesday. ;)
ReplyDeleteaiming for inception round 2!
ReplyDeleteI'm not seeing anything. Nothing interesting this week in Greek theaters.
ReplyDeleteRE block: Sit on the couch for three hours w/o doing anything. Ideas will come by themselves to rescue you from utter boredom.
I wasn't able to go to the cinema this weekend and I only have seven TV channels, so I ended up staying on the couch watching by far the worst film I have ever seen in all my life. It was the story of a bunch of people arguing over an orca whale :(
ReplyDeletesundryandco -- free johnson or something like that. ;)
ReplyDeleteSaw Salt yesterday with a friend. It wasn't uninteresting. Kinda predictable.
ReplyDeleteThis conversation actually took place after the film:
Me: So, what's the sequel called? "Pepper"? Y'know, like salt 'n' pepper?
My friend: Yeah, with Brad Pitt as her actual husband!
Somehow, I have a feeling this might happen.
We're seeing Inception with my brother later tonight. It's spin #2 for me, #1 for both of them. I'll see what I missed last time.
Oh, and the Green Lantern trailer from before Salt was just... lame. Seth Rogen being a serious, dour, angst-y superhero? I don't buy it.
I hope to see Toy Story 3 finally. This will be my last chance to do so.
ReplyDeleteIf you're running low on ideas, Nat, may I suggest a write-up of Doctor Zhivago? Sorry, I know I've been constantly bugging you about that.
With any luck, Winter's Bone and I Am Love.
ReplyDelete"Cyrus". I loooooooooovvvvvvveeeee Marisa Tomei. Talented. Smart. Funny & Sexy!
ReplyDeleteI'm taking the kid to see Inception tonight. Still not getting any Kids Are All Right this side of the river. I expect to see it at Jacob Burns next week.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I saw TiMer on Netflix this morning.
ReplyDeleteMe and Netflix: The Botany of Desire, Pretty In Pink, and Weekend At Bernies. I'm going through an Andrew McCarthy phase.
ReplyDeleteSaw Inception for a second time last night, this time with my mom, who totally flipped for it. I have to say, I already liked it quite a bit, but it improved dramatically for me on second viewing.
ReplyDeleteTonight I'm seeing The Messenger on dvd, finally. I am also going to try to find time this weekend for The Red Shoes and/or Black Narcissus - I picked up both this week on blu ray thanks to the insane Barnes & Noble 50% off sale that's going on.
Creative block: I explore a different medium. If I'm stuck on writing, maybe I'll try drawing something. I'm not a great drawer but it gives that writer's instinct a chance to breathe for a bit and come up with new ideas. It usually does the trick.
ReplyDeleteI'm also fond of a nice walk listening to a bizarre soundtrack, like Sondheim's The Frogs or the score to Paprika. If it's a severe case of block, I might need to pull out the big guns: Laurie Anderson or Kate Bush. Hearing the limits of one medium usually helps me refocus in another.
I saw again The Kids Are All Right and loved it even more if that's possible. Plan on seeing I AM Love again before it disappears forever . My two favorite films of the year so far.
ReplyDeleteAs for the writer's block, I wouldn't know, but I still have to find something that's not cured by a gin and tonic.
I saw The Kids Are All Right yesterday and I was expecting so much more from the movie (although for me, Julianne and Mark all the way for Oscar). As to writers block I have two tricks: write about something different than you usually write; or use music as inspiration (for me some clasical music and I put words or lyrics to the music).
ReplyDeletei'll see Toy Story 3 westerday and Night&day(i live in France)
ReplyDeleteInception today, finally! It was sooooo great, I really loved it. The execution of the original idea is perfect, the film's own universe had been created so meticulously that I could totally believe what was happening, even if on the whole it really requires you to suspend your desbelief. But as the last scene suggests, shouldn't you always?
ReplyDeleteAnd now I'm going to click on your review, Nathaniel:).
If your block is not knowing what to write about, you're not blocked: what about Best pictures from the outside in or Meryl at 60? You only need to finish things.
ReplyDeletePlanning to see "Birdemic: Shock and Terror" tonight at the Ken Cinema's Midnight Madness screening, lol.
ReplyDeleteJust saw Toy Story 3 in the 100 degree heat here in DC. Can't remember the last time I cried so much at a movie. Might be my favorite of the year.
ReplyDeleteI rented All That Jazz and saw it for the first time. It was quite an experience. Not at all what I expected. Loved air-otica and the 3 or 4 songs put together near the end, with Gideon watching from his hospital bed.
ReplyDeleteAlso rented Bergman's Persona.
Should be an interesting weekend! ha!
It's been such a long time I watched a film I really wanted to see. The thing is, the netflix service that works around here closed. Imagine if that'd happen to anyone of you!! I got so used to it.
I have already seen:
ReplyDelete"Titãs - A Vida Até Parece uma Festa" and "Two Lovers".
Tomorrow, I will be seeing:
"O Bem Amado" and "Predators".
I'm going to try and see 'Mr.Nobody' starring the wonderful Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger, and Jared Leto. The same theater that has 'Mr.Nobody' is also playing 'I Am Love' and 'The Kids are Alright.' So, much movie goodness all around. :)
ReplyDeleteI won't try for a triple (not enough time and too many other commitments on my time), but I'll definitely take in one of the above three films. Aiming for Mr.Nobody though, cause I have a feeling that if I don't see it soon, it'll disappear from the theater.
I'm in Melbourne where the film festival has just kicked off. Last night I saw Im Sang-soo's THE HOUSEMAID and Quentin Dupieux's RUBBER.
ReplyDeleteBoth very entertaining films in very very different ways...
I saw Winter's Bone friday but I'm shooting my second short film this week so nothing else. As for writer's block, just write badly. You're gonna have to re-write it anyway so just write the most terrible idea first and then you'll have something to work off of.
ReplyDeleteInception...this time in real IMAX.
ReplyDeleteI have already seen The Kids re Alright. For that, who's going support and who's going for lead come Oscar's ?
So I'm left with Salt, my least favorite genre, but I want to see how Angelina is in it.
I saw "Inception" last week and "Salt" this week. Both decent summer entertainments. "Inception" had lots of plot but an unsympathetic emotionally stunted actor/character as the lead; "Salt" had no plot (they PAID somebody for that writing?) but a lead you could look at forever. Let's hope that in "Salt 2" they get a decent writer in to do a really interesting story.
ReplyDeleteSo Godzilla is like the elephant in the room? Sitting on creativity and squashing it? Instead of "Godzilla vs Mothra" it's Godzilla vs New Ideas? Thinking of the creative people I know, I can kind of understand the process of going on and off. Your imagination just isn't interested in the old thing anymore and won't let you do it. It seems like the step before something new, that keeps people from getting glib and retreading their old ideas endlessly.
I read something that fascinated me in a biography about George Balanchine, the choreographer and co-founder of the New York City Ballet. It said when he choreographed that it just streamed out of him, in a ceaseless flow of invention. But that is extraordinarily rare - most creative talents apparently have stop/start/ go back/ revise/think again/etc processes.
I saw "The Kids Are All Right" two times yesterday hahaha. I just tried watching "Let the Right One In" but I was totally bored by it. Up next is Ingmar Bergman's "Persona."
ReplyDeleteOMG also- So I don't know if you remember my asking you if "The Kids Are All Right" was appropriate for mother/son viewing but your answer was sort of a "well... maybe...? depends on the relationship.." and I'm so GLAD you said that. Based on that, I decided NOT to take my mom, who would have died if she saw that movie!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI showed my friend Syriana on Saturday, and was impressed that he did not find it incomprehensible on his first viewing.
ReplyDeleteSunday I watched two documentaries: Art & Copy, which is about the creative teams behind some of most famous advertising campaigns and is probably of interest for Mad Men fans, and Spellbound which follows eight pre-teens as they compete in the ultra-competitive USA National Spelling Bee. I found each documentary to be inspirational for different reasons.
Will we get a CHLOE dvd review?
ReplyDeletecinephile -- Chloe did not win its DVD poll. obviously i will watch it but i don't know if i'll have time to post.
ReplyDeleteotherrobet -- i think i'll try that -- different medium..
Cal -- it's not that type of block. It's just nothing coming out and self-panic. This happens to me sometimes. I assume everyone has their own issues (that work on creative things) but every once in awhile i freak and suddenly nothing is coming out right.
Daniel -- good point. especially with some off blog deadlines. i should just write badly and then revise. ha ha. like the old "novel writing month" idea of just letting it pour out and worry about editing later. when stuck just type nonsense words.
SPLICE.
ReplyDeleteI saw Toy Story 3 finally,
ReplyDeleteI have never cried in a movie like I cried in Toy Story there were happy tears,sad tears...I was all over the place and all it took was "you got a friend in me" in the beginning to get me started ,well at least in theaters I haven't...I saw terms of endearment on dvd ;)
great to see so many people going for round 2 of both inception and kids are all right - two hits that will do a lot of good for future movies.
ReplyDeleteI watched michael haneke's `time of the wolf' last night. post apocalyptic bleakness, would make a great double bill with the road - except haneke witholds music the entire movie, except one scene where a child listens to classical on a small radio. Wish the road had taken that road.
Tonight, catching up with i am love, last week in london theatres.
My friend and I started watching Angels in America this morning, so we're probably watching Part Two tomorrow. This was before I saw the sidebar, mind, so quelle coincidence!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteKagemusha on the big screen.
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen Kids Are Alright yet but I plan too soon! Thank you for that reminder!
ReplyDeleteYou could always take a stab at writing the next part of the "Moulin Rouge" tribute - then you'll get really frustrated because it's hard to get back into that grove, so your mind will wander to other things out of desperation and - there you are! Writers block gone!
ReplyDelete@Blinking Cursor: I am VERY jealous of you right now!
ReplyDeleteIt was all about "Salt" on Friday night. So, so over-the-top, but Angelina was as awesome here as she's ever been, so I got my money's worth in the end. Kind of wish they gave Chiwetel Ejiofor more to do than that.
ReplyDelete