tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post4662100276703110288..comments2024-03-28T03:13:15.831-04:00Comments on Remarkable: The Regurgitation Of Kitty PrydeGeoff Klockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09080580776997273785noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-68898864461397458392009-09-22T12:40:13.195-04:002009-09-22T12:40:13.195-04:00A little late coming back here, but on the subject...A little late coming back here, but on the subject of J.J. Abrams, did you see Mission Impossible III? I've just happened to rewatch it after reading this and was struck by how much *technique,* as you say, there actually is. It's very "Hollywood Tarantino" and seems cleverer at first glance than it actually is.<br /><br />Still, I find it incredibly entertaining. The acting is a lot of fun (and I do actually like Tom Cruise for his undeniable charm, and because he can give you an "stock action movie intensity" look like few others can), and although Abrams is doing nothing but hitting beats, he at least seems to be having a damn good time doing it.Justinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16490957677766912068noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-10131762878391961262009-09-19T04:01:10.173-04:002009-09-19T04:01:10.173-04:00Plok, you've been PLONED!
Nice series of post...Plok, you've been PLONED!<br /><br />Nice series of posts. I know what you mean about cliched endings even infecting blog posts. It seems I always end up with some variation of "in a world gone mad..."<br /><br />As far as Dollhouse goes, I do think Whedon is reaching for something ... although I'm not quite sure that even he knows what that is. The "unseen episode" on the DVD does play to some of your suspicions regarding Dollhouse technology though ,,,Marc Burkhardthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06949686463975572297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-49804832085452525452009-09-19T01:49:49.155-04:002009-09-19T01:49:49.155-04:00Maybe my favourite comment-exchange ever.Maybe my favourite comment-exchange <i>ever</i>.plokhttp://circumstantial.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-3980197568442014972009-09-19T00:45:45.973-04:002009-09-19T00:45:45.973-04:00You could not script this stuff.You could not script this stuff.plokhttp://circumstantial.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-69000773292976014182009-09-18T20:59:10.324-04:002009-09-18T20:59:10.324-04:00Oh! Nah...it's just old computer-game high-sc...Oh! Nah...it's just old computer-game high-score shorthand.<br /><br />I'll still look for it, though.plokhttp://circumstantial.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-55661009036874304572009-09-18T20:52:32.385-04:002009-09-18T20:52:32.385-04:00"plock" is a song by PLONE."plock" is a song by PLONE.bahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14892528094367274617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-69373155411372212542009-09-18T18:50:46.776-04:002009-09-18T18:50:46.776-04:00PLONE?
This I don't know...if you mean the ti...PLONE?<br /><br />This I don't know...if you mean the title of the post, I guess it's a reference to "The Reincarnation Of Peter Proud", but not really a reference because I don't really remember that movie...<br /><br />...I just thought it sounded clever, he said sheepishly. Will go look up PLONE, though, and maybe in future claim some multivalence for the title...YES!!!!plokhttp://circumstantial.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-12353337401996726992009-09-18T18:47:48.480-04:002009-09-18T18:47:48.480-04:00Oops, that fell out of order...Oops, that fell out of order...plokhttp://circumstantial.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-81979513710612088152009-09-18T18:46:56.209-04:002009-09-18T18:46:56.209-04:00Indeed they do! Very well-put. A few years ago I...Indeed they do! Very well-put. A few years ago I got heavy into writing TV and movie scripts, and discovered the learning curve is painful in terms of looking at what you've done and suddenly realizing it just isn't any good...I found it <i>mercifully</i> steep in a way though: if you care about being better at it, it doesn't take too long to improve.<br /><br />By the end, I really enjoyed it, but then the problem was Biz, which I couldn't stand at all, even on a very small indie scale. I always say young writers should stay as far away from older ones as they can, because the older guys are too jealous, they'll always try to kill your dreams...something the same here, a friend of mine who used to be a studio ingenue years ago tells me that the business has gone rotten precisely because it is <i>not</i> about making movies anymore, it's about gatekeeping. As she put it: "people like Selznick, they <i>wanted</i> you to be able to give them something they could make into a movie...but these days it's all guys saying, well, I got an MBA and a Ph.D and an Fu.C.K, and I want you to <i>show</i> me why I should make your movie." If she's right or not, I can't comment, but it doesn't exactly seem far-fetched...Welles said his misfortune was that he chose to make his art out of this very expensive paintbox...Steve Gerber said if he'd been doing comics today he would've done them exclusively online, and screw anything that didn't have any Wild West component to it...<br /><br />Sorry, off-topic: anyway I've beaten all my TV/movie scripts into either comics or books, and feel a lot better about it, that's the point of that. Though admittedly it's not much of one...<br /><br />But yeah, crazy seductive indeed. Songwriting's like that too: to be able to flirt with cliche is a very important knack to get, if you want to write a proper ordinary melodic song...but when it just starts pouring out of you, it often turns to crap, and you need to be extra critical with yourself.<br /><br />I tried to make the link (sorry about all the excess italicizing, by the way -- it was late) between Whedon's more programmatic tendencies and the possibilities of Dollhouse...I almost convince myself that he really was trying to work out some sort of self-criticism there, but maybe that too is just "automatic writing" on my part...still I think with his X-Men he did get the chance to try to settle with his influences, and stop trying to catch that lightning in the bottle.<br /><br />But I hope everyone has noticed, I really do skirt the edge of "false closure" myself in this thing, it is <i>always</i> a temptation for me and I'm never 100% sure I've successfully avoided it...or even avoided it 100%. So to the degree I may've succumbed to it, the points I wanted to make may not have gotten properly made! So thank God it's just blogging, and not anything more serious. Eh?<br /><br />And thanks for having me! End Chunk The Last!plokhttp://circumstantial.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-90082244426501911142009-09-18T18:34:28.308-04:002009-09-18T18:34:28.308-04:00Uh...named for the PLONE song? Because that's ...Uh...named for the PLONE song? Because that's a fucking awesome song.bahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14892528094367274617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-48740745345237150322009-09-18T18:23:35.870-04:002009-09-18T18:23:35.870-04:00I'm reminded here of a story Frank Zappa used ...I'm reminded here of a story Frank Zappa used to tell, of getting a book on harmony from the library, and trying some of the exercises, and thinking they sounded horrible. So he dilligently worked through the entire rest of the book, committing all the rules in it to memory, so he could be sure he would never use any of them...Andrew Hickeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07412263807838661843noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-86446958638997514382009-09-18T11:52:45.494-04:002009-09-18T11:52:45.494-04:00Some Sympathy for the Poor Writer: you describe be...Some Sympathy for the Poor Writer: you describe beats as seductive. Well I will tell you that I tried, with a friend, to write a TV show screenplay over the summer and those beats are crazy seductive -- you feel like the thing is writing itself and it is all very exciting, and you think of this kind of "automatic" writing, where it just comes pouring out of you, as a sign of maybe the opposite thing: that you are really GOOD at this. Very dangerous stuff, these structures and formulas, not the least because, like Satan, they present themselves as the most helpful friendly and positive signs.Geoff Klockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09080580776997273785noreply@blogger.com