Post 2

ON WRITING:

Finally finished a draft of ELIJAH'S ASHES today. It's going to sit for 2 weeks and marinate all by it's lonesome. It's got some good bones, but needs a couple of passes for each character, a couple passes to add some more funny, and a couple passes to punch up the serious stuff. I'm big believer in multiple passes. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. If you're not on draft 10, don't give it to people to read. You're short changing yourself, your original idea and it's development. You have to give yourself the chance to work through the evolution of your idea.

I'm now torn between 2 new projects, a cop thriller JANE DOE and a comedy CEREAL KILLER. I guess I'll work on both until one takes precedence. I recommend indulging as many projects as you can wrap your brain around without going crazy and working on them simultaneously. They can feed each other, open up new thoughts, ideas etc..

ON FILM:

Our website is up thetruthisalwayscomplicated.com  and I think it's pretty slick. I can't wait for the trailer to be up, ohh just a few more months.

Finally saw THE WRESTLER. Mickey was really really solid. It took me back to the days of Rumble Fish, Diner, Angel Heart. Phenomenal. I did feel the movie was missing an act or set piece, or something even though it was full length. Maybe not enough of the love story. A few more scenes with Marisa Tomei would have been great. It would have built up the ending a bit which would have made it really powerful. Additionally, I wondered where his ex-wife was? 

It's funny... if Mickey wasn't in it and it wasn't shot on Super16 in it's psuedo-70's style, it would have been totally panned for not having enough meat. Just my opinion of course.

I saw MILK. Another fine performance from a real craftsman. Again without Penn's credibility and strength, and again without the psuedo-70's look, I think it would have been panned as being a puff piece.  More character development and struggle would have been good. It was all a little too easy and groovy for me.

Writing people!!! Re-writing people!!! A couple more drafts are cheap!

ON ART:

 After being a painter for many years, a graduate of the UCLA Art History Department (one of best in the world), and an "art snob" in general, it occurred to me that the art world is in a dismal shape. I was recently invited to an opening by another actress/painter which seems to be a new trend, much like the actress/singer-songwriter trend. The work blatantly ripped off Mark Chagal and Der Blaue Reiter artists Wassily Kandinski and Franz Marc. 

But it only ripped off their look, their underlying philosophy or any underlying philosophy was absent. Just a pretty shell and empty imitation for the purpose of decoration. I believe this is the anti-educational movement rearing its ugly head in the arts again. How can one consider oneself a painter if you have no idea about those who did it before you. How can your work be considered in the context of TODAY if you are imitating a style from the past, unknowingly and randomly. 

And by the way, it's not post-modern. Post-Modernism or deconstructionism is unattainable as a style if you have nothing to deconstruct to begin with. You have to know what you're doing to deconstruct it, right? 

Don't even get me started on all you "DIY" cartoon schilling hacks out there. That's a whole other conversation. To be continued....