Mixed.

Over the years, I’ve considered the idea of exploring a story I’ve heard, in film.  I’ve held mixed feelings about it, but I believe that since there’s interest from other parties now, perhaps we can do it justice.

The concern I’ve felt, is the story being manipulated into something it’s not.  Missing the mark or someone with creative control adjusting it in a way that the essence is removed.

Thankfully, the source of this story lies with my best friend.  The truths, the details, the memories, all rich and with complete compassion.

Now that an initial agreement is in place, I believe that a real opportunity exists here, to create a film that’s wonderful, true to the individual it is about and what she stood for.  To immortalize a story of this nature, on film, breathes new energy into my body.

I’m excited.

High.

There was something missing in my life.  It eluded me for quite some time.  I suppose it’s just how life goes.  There was a time there where I thought it may not be possible.  And how I learned in the last year that I was completely wrong.

It seemed plausible that every avenue of my life would be fulfilled, but one.  I worked hard at accepting the possibility.  That all changed.  A year ago, I was motioned in the direction of a very real, very comprehensive argument in favor of this final triumph.

A month ago, I was on the eve of full realization of this.

No great triumph comes without effort.  Without struggle.  Without patience.  I am fully aware of this.  And although I find myself a realm of complicated that is seemingly greater than the usual, I grasp onto the payoff that will come in the future.

I am quite thankful that life has afforded me this, and all my blessings.  I feel that life is finally on the verge of being complete and that true happiness is on the horizon.

So, you see, 2012 really is to be a great year.

Back.

I’ve decided that it’s in my best interest to keep my craft sharp and good or bad, this is part of that conditioning.  That being said, I’ll be back soon and (hopefully) on a consistent basis.

Ciao.

yay.

Honestly, for the first time that I can recall, life itself actually feels pretty good.

Heh.  I say this, even as I am somewhat under the weather today.

Critic.

I believe I have mentioned in the past that I am not big on criticism.  Sure, like the rest of the consumer population, I read the criticisms others may share, but I prefer not to engage in them myself.  I should point out, that I may do so verbally, among friends, but I tend to stray away from too much negative feedback and focus more on that which I can report with enthusiasm.

However… once in a while, I have to speak up.  Typically when I find myself in such a level of disappointment that I wonder what all these other people saw.  Particularly, speaking on film.  If the average critic and then certain peers of mine seem to claim that a particular picture is so fantastic, my expectations become very high.  It seems I must maintain some reservations in the future.

Case in question, Drive.  I am not convinced I saw the same film.  I liked some of the cinematography.  I enjoyed the stunts.  Brooks was pretty fucking cool.  But…

It didn’t help that the teasers and trailer made the film so enticing.  I expected a lot, lot more.  A lot more.  It wasn’t a horrible film by any means.  I read one draft of the script and it seemed fairly promising.  Certain things… just struck me wrong.  I’m not saying I could have made a better film… but maybe I am.  The theme and overall story were there.  The execution was just poor.

First, the beloved Gosling was missing something.  Quiet fits.  I get it.  The soft, yet convincing threats that he did make, were nice.  But… something was missing.  I didn’t care for the character at all.  The connection with the kid was alright, but with the love interest?  Fail.  I read one critic who thought that the two engaged in silent understanding and it was great.  What?!?  No.  I don’t buy it.  I’m sure it could be done, somehow, but that wasn’t it.  Very confusing how that carried forward and somehow flourished.  I don’t any women like that.  I’m surprised she didn’t feel a bit creeped out by “driver.”  At least, surprised it took so long for her to be creeped.  Every girl I know would have a heart attack and be overwhelmed by panic towards someone like “driver” after the elevator incident.  Note that, I have no qualms about the degree of violence, but seriously?  Why wasn’t she horrified and scared after?

I will point out that I enjoy a quiet, yet tough character, I just think the mark was missed.  Something seemed off and the character became far more complicated than necessary.

That being said, Mulligan was fine.  She did a good job.  Better than Gosling.  Far better.  It’s not her fault the story directed her in certain directions.

Cranston.  I’ve heard he’s a lot better.  I’ve heard.  I didn’t see it here.  In fact, I can see he has a lot of potential, but this wasn’t demonstrated here.

Brooks.  I saw him on some late show, in which he described a scene that got scrapped.  That scene sounded exciting and did a lot to expose his character.  In fact, it sounds fantastic.  I shake my head at not having been able to see it included in the final cut.  Otherwise, he was superb.  I truly enjoy when an actor is slated into a role that is against his or her  norm.  He convinced me that he really is a badass.  For instance, I look at some talent that strictly do comedy, and I wonder what I could do with them if I displaced them into a serious role for once.  Something challenging, not  simply drama, but a character with a deep conflict.  I believe there’s a lot of hidden talent there, especially when engaging in emotional or psychological characters.  To each, their own, I guess.

I was thoroughly disappointed.  I have yet to engage my peers who recommended it, in order to see what can be discussed, but I am underwhelmed.  A handful of other points I could make, however, in closing, I’ll simply question the overbearing tones of films from the seventies and eighties.  The color, the attire, even the text for the titles… and the music.  Holy shit, was the music horrible.  I tell you what, if this film was made and released in 1983, it would have been one badass film that might still be referred to, today.  Sadly, it was not. Sigh.

 

(Sidenote:  I welcome criticism from others, I simply prefer to avoid actively criticizing the work of others unless requested.  This also, should, in no way be considered that I believe Gosling or Refn to be subpar.  There are other examples of their work out there that speak better of them than this… this homage to an era of cinematic storytelling that has long been extinct.)

Indeed.

Things have indeed been busier than before, but to the degree that I expect them to reach over the next few months.  I am certain that I am living in an interesting time.  In several facets of my life, this applies.

Still too early to comment about how busy “work” has become or how fruitful these endeavors will manage to be.  I remain confident, however, understanding completely that these things take time.  I am more than prepared.  Let it rain.  I worry not about the level of success, it will be what it will.  I am more interested in how I will need to compartmentalize each of them and keep them distinctly separate from each other.  Perhaps, at some point, an umbrella will be necessary to fully encompass each and incorporate them together.  This, I ponder.

I just need to be patient in the following months and make it to January without haste.

I admit, I am a bit surprised by the fidelity in the air.  I remain undaunted by the unions taking place, or the announcements of offspring expectations that seem to have soon followed, however.  Yes, a small sense that life is passing too quickly has been apparent.  An occasional thought to question my own placement has come and gone.  We all can agree this isn’t something to be rushed.  With little evidence that I am even making a step in that direction, let’s not get carried away.  Yes, I am open and willing, more than ready, but it’s a fairly important ordeal, this matrimony and child raising concept is.  I have an idea in my head, in fact, several, but timing is the key.  And, admittedly, now, is not the time.

I remain extremely joyful for my two good friends and my cousin for finding very special partnerships.  I am pleased to believe that each of them has a very high likelihood to remain happy in their partnerships.  That, my friends, is great and wonderful thing.

I can say that affording the time to travel up to my cousins wedding was a well needed getaway.  It has been much longer than acceptable, since I have seen those in my extended family.  Something must be done to prevent so much lost time that keept us strangers from occurring again.  I have high confidence that we are on the verge of resolving this problem.

I found Redding, California, strikingly similar to my exile in Northern Kentucky.  To clarify, such similarities fall under the positive.  It was rather nice.  I do not hesitate to admit that NKy had a few pluses.  It’s unfortunate for me to comment that I will likely never set foot there again.  Life goes on, I suppose.

Thankfully, after several frustratingly failed attempts to maintain the brakes on my car, it is now completely functional.  Said attempts spanned only a mere 20 months.  Far too frequent.  I state this with a degree of satisfaction that I am unable to express.  I inevitably conceded defeat and decided against tackling the task myself one more time.  At some point, it simply becomes to excessive and quite expensive.  Thus, the exorbitant chunk of change necessary for one visit to a Dealer is very much justified.  Now I can rest easy on the matter and forget about it.  At least, for now.  After all, brakes are meant to wear.

I should note that I am fortunate to have a strong running automobile, despite it’s six figure mileage.  As it goes, a brake problem is far less expensive and no where near as disappointing as having certain other issues.  Thus, I take pride in the care I’ve taken of the motor and transmission.  Still running strong.  The fact that the passenger seat controls have intermittent bouts of non-functionality that renders one spitting colorful language to immeasurable degree, is in fact, very small potatoes.  Hell, it’s not my seat.  Technically.

Momentary

It seems that things are getting quite busy.  It’s not at the point of overwhelming just yet, still within the realm of the positive.  It’s a good start, I must admit.

I’m not in a good place tonight.

Pace.

Just when I thought there might be some downtime between projects outside the daily grind…

My collaborator for the videography side business noticed a challenge and wants to participate.  Took me a few hours, but I jumped on board with excitement. A first draft is written now and on to the storyboards and shot list. I think we can pull this off relatively easily.  Just have to work out scheduling with some friends who might be helping out.

I took a look at the other entries… I’m not really one to speak negatively about other people’s work, constructive criticism, sure, so, what I will say is, as far as the entries in the same category, I think we have a very solid chance.  We have a story. We’ve got a theme. In fact, despite the rules being very loose, we tied that theme with the company/product in which this challenge is associated with. Yeah, pretty solid. Now, we’ll just have to see how this looks.

2011

It may be a bit early to title a post “2011,” but I don’t believe September is too early to reflect on the year.  Further, as this year comes to it’s closing months, I realize that I may very well be setting up next year to be THE year.  Yeah. Imagine that.

In most regards, this has been a fairly good year for me.  There’s not a whole lot I could complain about.  Certain things, yes, but I’ll spare the space.  I’m officially home.  I came back last October, but my feet really hit the ground after the turn of the year.  January was good.  February… the best.  And soon after, I managed to get a short written, then shot and as of this week, in the process of entering festivals.  Six down, don’t quite know how many to go.  It’s an interesting thing.

It’s a start, really.  We’ll see how next year pans out with that end of things.  At this point, it’s all on my shoulders.  I couldn’t say that I’m waiting on anyone but myself in that department.

We’ve got a few things at the company about to get off the ground, should be kind to the wallet.  Just around the corner now.

Recently, a friend of mine came to me with an idea for a project with eyes on a potential business.  We’ve completed the first project quite successfully and I believe that we are no more than a few steps away from truly building this.  The reception and feedback from the first project has been great, just waiting for the phone to ring, now.

 

So, with all that’s going on, several things in their infancy and ready to be full grown in less than six months (that’s exaggerated by my predictions, actually), next year, will be one helluva year.