Jay Lake: Writer

[child|movies] Who watches Watchmen?

Last night the_child and I viewed the director’s cut of Watchmen [ imdb ] together. For a bunch of reasons, this is one of my favorite movies of recent years, especially in the extended director’s cut which incorporates the Black Freighter sequences along with other useful material.

(What is it with director’s cuts and theatrical releases, anyway? I’ve rarely seen a director’s cut that wasn’t a significant improvement on the edited-down full release. Immediately leaping to mind are Bladerunner, Dune and Lord of the Rings.)

Every time I watch it, and last night was perhaps my tenth viewing, I see new details in that film. At a minimum, the sheer density and crunchiness of the production design is well worth studying. The way that the background details in almost every shot foreshadow and feed the story can be breathtaking, if one watches with that critical eye.

the_child has a pretty good critical eye. We’ve always watched movies with a fair amount of discussion where warranted, and she is a long-time aficionado of the bonus discs that come in DVD packages. But Watchmen was a funny case because of all the political and cultural loading circa the movie’s alternate 1985 setting.

In 1985 I was in my junior and senior years of college. My direct political and cultural memory stretches roughly back to Watergate and very end of the Vietnam War, while the entire post-WWII/Cold War era counts as recent history to me. This is the dialectic of the movie. Everything from the music of this movie to the Woodward and Bernstein reference midway through pushes my buttons bigtime. But that dialectic is absolutely opaque to a fourteen year old who was born in 1997 and is only now beginning to develop meaningful wider political and cultural awareness. Her buttons don’t exist to be pushed.

So we spent a lot of time pausing or talking over the movie to discuss who the historical figures were. Why was it so unnerving to have a world where Richard Nixon was still in office in 1985. What Woodward and Bernstein had done in real life and what the Comedian meant with his throwaway line about them. Why I love the song “99 Luftballons” so much. Not to mention all the story-specific issues such as tying Rorschach to the little man with the end times sign, discussing why the heroes had gone underground, parsing the rape scene between the Comedian and Sally Jupiter and how that in turn fed the complexity of Laurie Jupiter’s life, what the possible significance is of the Gunga Diner blimp and why a pokey little restaurant could afford such a thing, how Dan Dreiberg managed to both locate and afford to keep such a huge underground complex beneath a normal townhouse. And so on and so on and so on.

It was a weird kind of double vision, walking through the politics and culture of my childhood and the first years of my young adulthood with my daughter while simultaneously breaking down the film’s plot, setting and design elements. She asked a lot of smart questions, and had some good insights.

Times like this, I really love being a parent.

Tags: Child, Culture, Movies, Politics

Posted: 9:38 am Sun November 06 2011 | Comments(4) |

[writing|movies] Must keep moving, or critics will eat me

My list from yesterday, annotated for achievement:

• Transmit Kalimpura to my editor for formal turn-in
• Respond to an email interview
• Draft a script on metastasis for a science podcast
• Participate in a podcast interview
• Revise and submit a short story currently in draft
• Write a committed short story I haven’t yet been able to focus on
• Doing some editorial work on an anthology proposal
• Make initial notes on a proposal/outline for a mooted collaborative novel project with urban fantasy author J.A. Pitts

Plus I drafted the blog post on cancer, coping and terminal diagnoses, which I’ll run tomorrow morning when more than three of you are reading.

The revised to-do list looks something like this:

• Draft a script on metastasis for a science podcast
• Participate in a podcast interview
• Await reader comments then submit a short story currently in draft
• Write a committed short story I haven’t yet been able to focus on
• Do a bit more editorial work on an anthology proposal based on feedback received
• Make further notes on a proposal/outline for a mooted collaborative novel project with urban fantasy author J.A. Pitts based on feedback received
• Review Sunspin feedback from one of my readers
• Begin process of collating my last 3.5 years of cancer blogging into a book proposal

As I remain the boy in the bubble for a few days yet, thanks to my immune system doing a scarper, I have plentiful time today. It’s more a question of mental energy and focus, which despite yesterday’s productivity is still a bit iffy.

Also, watched two movies with the_child and mlerules yesterday.

One was Ferris Bueller’s Day Off [ imdb ], a movie that needs no introduction for anyone between the ages of 40 and 50something. This is one of the truly great movies of its decade, alongside The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai and a few others, and deeply funny in a way that holds up well today. I’d forgotten Charlie Sheen was in it. Also, it was interesting to see how much the entire plot as-written would collapse once cell phones and caller ID were introduced. Many of the shenanigans in the early part of the film involved playing games with phones that would make no sense today, and most of the film’s plausibility (such as it was) revolved around people simply being out of touch and unable to contact one another. These were things I had to explain to the_child. In a weird way, this makes Ferris Bueller a historical. As always, very highly recommended for a re-watch or for showing for the first time to your younger friends.

The other movie we watched was the recent release Hanna [ imdb ]. That is a damned good movie that I don’t think anyone ever heard of. Spy thriller involving a teen-aged girl, so vaguely connected to La Femme Nikita and films of that ilk. It was taut, very true to the title character’s deeply warped perspectives, much more emotional than such movies usually are, and exciting as hell. As the_child pointed out, Hanna and Green are basically the same character. The movie also did a lot of really good stuff at the layer of production values, camera work and sound design. Frankly, I’d like to see it up for an Oscar for sound design and scoring, it was that good. And if you’re fan of Cate Blanchett, this was a strange and fascinating role for her as well. Very highly recommended.

And now I’m curious. What’s your favorite ’80′s movies?

Tags: Cancer, Child, Movies, Personal, reviews, Writing

Posted: 7:51 am Sun September 25 2011 | Comments(3) |

[writing|movies] The Hugos and Captain America

Yesterday, kenscholes, mlerules and I went to see Captain America. Ken and I then came home and did a read through and review of the Hugo script.

Read through went fine. I know what else I need to do to the script, and he has some work as well. It’ll be fun and funny. And it was nice to be cooking through it. I plan to spend today’s writing time, after work, making the revisions we discussed, then I’ll maybe hit the WorldCon critique some more. That puts my start date on finishing Sunspin to tomorrow, but I’m okay with that.

As for Captain America, I was entertained, but it never engaged my suspension of disbelief. We saw it in 3D, because that was what was running at the time we wanted to see it. Unlike Avatar, which I saw in 3D IMAX, Captain America didn’t really benefit from the 3D. It was like a children’s pop-up book. So not worth the money.

Slightly spoileriffic things follow here Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Awards, Books, Conventions, Movies, Sunspin, Writing

Posted: 5:49 am Fri August 05 2011 | Comments(0) |

[movies] Etiquette

Dear dad who brought a three-year-old child to the new Harry Potter movie —

When your child is so bored by the movie that they are singing, talking loudly, and protesting in a squeal when you try to hush them, that would be an excellent time to take them out of the theatre for a while. Instead, you were unfair both to your child and the rest of us in the theatre. Also you made my cranky, achey-assed, post-surgical self have to go find a manager to escort you out of the movie, which I don’t appreciate having to get up and go do.

No love,

Me

Tags: health, Movies, Personal

Posted: 5:35 pm Fri July 29 2011 | Comments(3) |

[movies] Films I like a lot

Apropos of not so very much, here’s a few lists of films I like a lot. Desert island DVDs, as it were.

Non-Anglophone Films
Alphaville
City of Lost Children
Hero
House of Flying Daggers
Underground

Independent Films
Bliss
Blue Iguana
Little Miss Sunshine
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
Six String Samurai

Major Studio Releases
2001
Fargo
Lord of the Rings (yes, the entire trilogy — sue me)
The Usual Suspects
Watchmen

What would be on your list?

Tags: Movies, Personal

Posted: 6:45 am Tue March 01 2011 | Comments(6) |

[movies] True Grit

Why did I wait so long to go see True Grit?

Go. Now.

That is all.

Tags: Movies

Posted: 7:53 am Sat February 26 2011 | Comments(4) |

[movies] No Country for Old Men

Along with everything else I did yesterday, I rented and watched the Coen brothers’ adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel, No Country for Old Men [ imdb ]. I pretty much love the Coens’ work, almost without exception, but this one was tough. In all the right ways tough, but still tough.

However, to me the most interesting thing about the movie was the string of broken resolutions. Over and over the film violated my ingrained narrative expectations as characters were established, fleshed out, then lost their way. In the case of this film, for the most part by dying violently.

In the Western literary and cinematic story telling tradition, we’re highly conditioned to narratives where the sympathetic character triumphs. Or if they fail, they fail near the end of the narrative in some emotionally interesting fashion. That’s our basic story arc — character in a setting with a problem tries and fails several times to resolve it in the face of rising stakes before attaining resolution (either positive or negative), followed by a brief coda of validation. I’ve just outlined 95% of Western literature.

No Country for Old Men absolutely does not do this. The everyman character with whom we the viewer have been identifying is killed 2/3 of the way through the film, and continues to be humiliated posthumously for failing at his valiant efforts. The fascinating bounty hunter barely makes it through three scenes. The good cop just quits in despair without ever bringing justice to bear. The bad guy wins by walking away with his goals met, unpunished for his misdeeds.

And this is real life. People don’t always get what they want. Justice, in any literal or metaphorical sense of the term, is rarely resolved in three acts with loose ends tidied up. More often than not, things happen, we crawl from the wreckage and move on, and accountability is at best in the mind of the beholder.

All of this makes for a remarkably interesting and emotionally challenging film. Makes me want to read the McCarthy novel, to see what I can learn. Not that I particularly want to write books or stories that work this way, but there’s hella technique in play here.

Did you see No Country for Old Men? What did you think?

Tags: Movies, Process, reviews

Posted: 7:31 am Tue December 28 2010 | Comments(6) |

[movies] Black Swan

Yesterday I went out to see a matinee showing of Black Swan [ imdb ]. This was in large part on the recommendation of scarlettina.

My viewing was somewhat influenced by realizing on arrival at the theater that I’d lost my cell phone on my pre-movie errands. I rushed home first before I went searching parking lots in the rain, found the phone there, and arrived back at the theater rather after the posted showtime. As Black Swan was still in previews, I made it into my intending showing with about a minute to spare before the movie ran. A little agitated, rushed, discombobulated.

Which turned out to be the perfect frame of mind for the movie.

scarlettina described the movie better than I could. I shan’t try to compete with her effective reviewership. Rather, I want to observe that this is a movie about meeting and crossing the ultimate boundaries of perfection in the creative process. The overwhelming drive to succeed, which I often characterize on this blog as “psychotic persistence”, is rendered in Black Swan as, well, a literalization of psychotic persistence. A frightening, glorious, overwhelming, jarring, mind-numbing rendering of psychotic persistence.

This wasn’t a meditation on the creative process such as I would have essayed. And Black Swan is very much about the performing arts, which writing print fiction is generally not considered one of. But there’s still so much to be taken from this film for anyone who thinks seriously about their creative pursuits. Whether that taking would be encouraging or cautionary is best left as an exercise for the viewer. Very much worth your time.

Tags: Movies, Process, reviews

Posted: 7:02 am Mon December 27 2010 | Comments(1) |

[books|movies] Pocket reviews

Of recent interest…

Act of Will by A.J. Hartley [ Powell's ] — I enjoyed this book a lot, but still can’t decide if I liked it. A young William Shakespeare-analog as superhero in a secondary world with some strong resemblances to Elizabethan England. Reminded me a lot of Shakespeare In Love in that the character and setting were just platforms for modern dialog, situations and internal narratives.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 [ imdb ] — A film adaptation of a cult favorite novel you may have heard about. Could just as easily been titled Harry Potter and the Wild Places of Great Britain, with occasional alarums and excursions. (Which, honestly, is about how I remember the book.) The action and plot-driving scenes of this movie would have made an excellent short film to watch over a long coffee break. On the other hand, about 100 million people will see this movie, so what do I know?

Tags: Books, Movies, reviews

Posted: 8:06 am Sun November 28 2010 | Comments(1) |

[movies] Tweetsnarking Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element

This evening while resting in my usual end-of-day state of chemo exhaustion, I rewatched Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element, which I have not seen since the original theatrical release. Tweetsnark ensued… I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Going to Twittersnark The Fifth Element shortly … stay tuned #5thelement
Opening credits appear to be outtakes from Lost Highway
Story by Luc Besson, from when he was 15. Wish I could make my high school crap into a big budget movie.
The inside of this tomb is much larger than the outside. Much like my colon.
“Yes, I’ve got your snakes.” Who wrote this dialog?
@stagemypage RT @jay_lake: The inside of this tomb is much larger than the outside. Much like my colon. #5thelement #fb….*PMSL* HahahHAhah!!!!!! xx
Coptic Priests are apparently male Bene Gesserits.
The camel does not like the Grappa. Trust Eris, I say.
Hey, this movie also features espressomachinepunk!
Aliens with glowing blue penises. Hmmm.
“Father, this is the most unbelievable thing I have ever seen!” “Ah, ah…are you German?”
Why do the aliens in a French movie (currently) set in pre-WWI Egypt speak English to one another?
Firing Lugers at aliens, always a poor idea.
I like the spaceship, which was apparently designed and built by mud daubbers.
Hmm, something bad just happened. Their response? “Send out a probe.” Kind of like dating, really.
Apparently 300 years in the future ear bud technology has been lost. Boom headsets are all the rage.
“Evil begets evil, Mr. President. Shooting will only make it stronger.”
“Get out of there. I don’t want an incident.” You figured this out after you shot the hell out of it with nukes?
Hey, it’s Bruce Willis as Harry Canyon! Or possibly Harry Canyon as Bruce Willis…
Wow this cat is psychotic.
The mugging scene, however, is hilarious.
“Very nice hat”
@MurphyJacobs RT @jay_lake: “Very nice hat” #5thelement #fb — always wondered if he adlibbed that line
“So what you’re telling me Father is there’s nothing that can stop this.” “There is only one thing.” Highlander!!!
@davidinindy Love it when I catch @jay_lake live tweeting a movie. Tonight it’s #5thelement.
“If evil stands there…” “Then what?” In that light he’s going to look like a real mudpuppy. Maybe we can offer a makeover?
“Normal human beings have 40 DNA memo groups.” WTF? That’s not rubber science, that’s play-doh science.
“We put it through the cellular hygeine detector.” Woo! Safe sex!
They’re making a man now. Just like Dr. Frank N. Furter.
Did he really just say “bombarded by slightly greasy solar atoms?”
:I’d uh, I’d like to take a few pictures. For the archives.” For the archives of spank!
She looks like Raggedy Ann after a tour in the flesh pits.
“Activate the phonic detector.” Come on, you guys aren’t even trying.
Important safety tip, don’t taunt the resurrected superalien just because she’s cute and you’re a dick.
A girl’s first view of New York City. From forty stories up…
I want to fly like Superman…
So much for Bruce’s cab. He always wanted that sunroof…
“…jella boom.” “Boom, yeah, I understand boom.” The international language of love.
Now she teaches herself to read by sheer force of will?
Do you guys really want her inside that police cruiser with you?
It’s the world’s biggest McDonald’s sign!
“I only speak two languages: English and Bad English.” Hahahaha.
Wow, McDonald’s shipping containers. I’d forgotten that.
I love the police cars. Like blue, armored sperm with guns.
“I brought the girl, remember. The redhead?” Yeah, as opposed to all those other girls in this scene.
@LynnFlewelling With blond hair and a tan? @jay_lake They’re making a man now. Just like Dr. Frank N. Furter.
“Here, take it. Go ahead. You can call me when you learn how to speak English.”
“That whole thing’s your name, huh? You have an, uh, shorter name?”
I’ve got a brand new firearm, you’ve got a brand-new key! Everybody sing!
“Are you sure she’s the Supreme Being?” “Could you ask her if I could have the gun back, please?”
@adelheid_p @jay_lake You are making my evening work drudgery much more enjoyable. That’s one of my favorite movies!
She just microwaved an entire turkey…
Gary Oldman in this movie really needs help accessorizing.
“They really make her…” “…perfect, I know.” Remember, no pictures for the archives!
@stagemypage RT @jay_lake: Gary Oldman in this movie really needs help accessorizing. #5thelement #fb……Hahhha U r sooo makin me die tonite!
This arms trade show is quite something, especially given Oldman’s delivery.
Apparently the aliens delivered the case from Pulp Fiction. “Empty. The opposite of full.”
“We are warriors, not merchants.” “You can still count!” “A little compensation is in order.”
:: boom :: “Bring me the priest.” Yeah, that was my first thought too, after my first multiple murder.
“I’m glad you’ve got your memory back. You’re going to need it.” What were we taking about?
Man, look at Zorn’s collection of classic Roombas. “What a lovely ballet ensues, so full of form and color.”
@haroldgross Rewatching #5thelement via @jay_lake tweet. A storm of snark, but I still rate the film as one of my favs… some of best sf satire around!
Zorn just deployed a life preserver on his desk. This isn’t even surreal. Just fricking weird.
“Your entire empire of destruction comes crashing down. All because of one little cherry.” Yeah, had dates like that, too.
“It’s gobbling up all the communications satellites in the galaxy.” WTF? Need to discuss interstellar vs intragalactic again
Corbin Dallas is now eating dinner on the Bladerunner set, at the noodle stand.
@bikermike I’m thinking a Larse Von Trier remake. RT @jay_lake “We put it through the cellular hygeine detector.” Woo! Safe sex!
“No, I don’t want to make you beg, I just want an explanation.” Been there, done that.
I thought General Monroe took a Leeloo fist in the spleen earlier on.
My god, it’s Princess Leia behind him, except Leia by way of Krispy Kreme quality control.
Major Iceborg will accompany you as your wife. “I’m not going.”
Corbin Dallas now stuffs four special forces types into his fridge. This is Leave It To Beaver, death match edition.
“Is this the way priests usually take vacations?” “We’re not on vacation, we’re on a mission.”
“This is not an exercise. Can you please spread your legs?” Oh, man, these guys are killing me.
“Sir. Are you classified as human?” “Negative, I am a meat popsicle.” Been there, done that, too.
Actual Bladerunner music now. And a tiny apartment chock full of weirdoes.
Her hair matches his shirt. Must be true love.
“Multipass.” Multipass! Multipass!
Leeloo Dallas Multipass “Multipass” “She knows it’s a multipass!”
“This is the key to the temple. Prepare for our arrival. I must face my destiny.” If I had a dime for every time I heard that
“Aliens ahead. Spread out.” Mmm, I love good tactics.
“I prefer to remain anonymous.” “Corbin Dallas!” My god, it’s the gender-ambiguous Soul Train!
“From what I’m looking at, intimate is the stud muffin’s middle name.” This movie is much better than I remember.
:Tomorrow from five to seven, will you please act like you have more than a two-word vocabulary?” Uh, no.
“Hi.” “You speak English now?” “I learned.” “Good.” Romance, mystery, language acquisition…
“You’re going to have to assume your individual position.” “I don’t want one position, I want all positions!” Hahahahaha.
I love the stoner rasta ground crew with the flameflowers. I don’t remember this either.
“I never felt this way before…with a human.” “Really?” Expand your horizons, baby.
Meanwhile back on Planet Evil, we still haven’t heard of orbital dynamics.
“Why is it sending out radio waves?” “Maybe it wants to make a call.” :: ring :: ring :: Hahahahah.
Phloston Paradise is a mighty, mighty ship. Better hope there’s no icebergs.
It’s Don Ho’s floating casino from hell.
“I was in labor for days. This is how you repay me? I should have just gotten a robot.”
Who did these costumes? Zombie Coco Chanel?
Hahah. The waiter walks into a room of heavily armed aliens and says, “Showtime.” Now if he’d only said “HBO”.
The Diva is very…blue. Perhaps Corbin could cheer her up.
She does appear to have a blue penis on top of her head. I’d be depressed, too, if that was me.
Aliens are now fingering the diva’s underwear. I hate it when people get short.
Leeloo is now going all Raggedy Ann ninja on the aliens. Like Priss without Roy Batty.
Oh, wait, we do have guns!
Wow, she even does Priss’ thrill-to-kick attack. Where’s the egg boiler?
@jay_lake I’d like to see Audrey Tautou portray Zombie Coco Chanel.
@Pixelfish I think (for serious) this is Moebius concept art, though.
Gary Oldman ventilates the ventilation shaft.
Somehow watching the Opera House massacre scene makes me want to sing “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
“If you want something done right, do it yourself.” Advice for the ages. Smarter if you’d checked the luggage first, though.
“What do I do?” “If he moves, squeeze the trigger.” “I don’t feel right, Corbin.” You don’t feel right to me, either.
Man, that Diva has some stones. [I kill myself.]
“The gun!” :: Ray rolls him the billiard balls :: “Thanks, Ray.”
That’s one hell of a bomb, Corbin.
Meanwhile, disappointed Gary Oldman is disappointed. Very disappointed.
RT @GVDub: @jay_lake Probably Chris Tucker’s greatest performance ever. I realize that’s not saying much, but there it is.
“I.. I.. I’ve never negotiated.” “Mind if I try?” :: bang! :: “Anybody else want to negotiate?”
This movie is a blend of sublimely inspired and deeply stupid.
“What is this thing with all these numbers?” “It’s a, it’s a…” “If it was a bomb, the alarms would go off” :: woop woop ::
@jay_lake I’ve seen #5thelement ten times. Easily. It’s like the Plain Lays of fun movies.
“You know how to fly this thing?” “Just like driving a cab.”
“It’s not only advancing, it’s moving at incredible speed. We’re having trouble following it.” Used to have a car like that.
This universe apparently has interstellar communications with no lightspeed lag.
Ok, where did the kid come from? Was he just hanging out in Egypt?
“You’ve never seen this work before, have you?” “No.” “Every weapon has a manual, I’m sure this has one, too.”
@jay_lake “If you want something done right….do it yourself”
How do we open the stones? “Maybe it’s a charade. A game or something?” Yeah, that’s a good idea…
“Corbin my man, I got no fire. Father, you smoke?” One match left… You need a Zippo, man.
Leeloo freaking out at Corbin reminds me of Sgt. Pinback and the Bomb.
Wow. That was the worst case of acid reflux I’ve ever seen.
Knocked a flaming ball of rock out of orbit.
“They were so tired from their ordeal we put them in the reactor this morning.” Hahahahahahah.
Meanwhile, inside the reactor, Harry Cannon and god’s female laser are getting it on.
That’s all folks, thanks for listening. Don’t forget to (re)watch The Fifth Element soon for yourself. #5thelement

At some point, I need to retrieve my prior Tweetsnark about Lord of the Rings.

Tags: Cancer, Funny, health, Movies

Posted: 7:56 pm Fri February 26 2010 | Comments(1) |