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Bale’s tantrum, and the sanctity of the creative process
So basically, Christian Bale is on the set of Terminator Salvation and goes absolutely ape-shit at DP Shane Hurlbut for distracting him during a scene. Such outbursts may not be uncommon for movie stars, but what marked this incident is that someone on the crew leaked the audio recording of the 4-minute long tantrum. Bale […]
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Insomnia
Insomnia, that old friend from school. The one who used to bully me, until I’d have to stay in and hide. Yes, hide in my bedroom like a coward. She’s a lot stronger than me; nastier too. She whispers cruel things to me, just when I am at my lowest. Defeated, shamed, humiliated, I cower. […]
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John Fowles on his ‘first’ novel
Interesting comments about writing from word-master John Fowles: In every way except that of mere publishing date, The Magus is a first novel. I began writing it in the early 1950s, and both narrative and mood went through countless transformations. […] But I had no coherent idea of where I was going, in life as […]
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Cinema and Language and Shit
It’s ‘Film Thursday!’, and today’s entry pompously considers what makes a film ‘good’; and particularly how we might appraise it from a linguistic perspective. Is the quality of a film merely a matter of subjective taste, or are there characteristics of cinema which can reliably suggest its merits? I might not actually answer these questions, […]
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Victorian Punk
Picture a bunch of well-to-do art-school kids. They’re not truly excellent painters, but they basically say fuck-you to their teachers; we can paint better than any of you crusty old bastards. With supreme arrogance, they decided that the art world needed a revolution. Remarkably, they put their heads together and succeeded. This wasn’t the 1990s […]
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I Want to Sing – Regina Spektor
YouTube – I want to sing – Regina Spektor. “Regina Spektor is a Soviet-born Jewish-American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centred on New York City’s East Village.” Regina’s highly original lyrics and composition, which confounds cliché at every turn, present a singular artistic genius. Her songs equate to deliciously […]
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Ideas as ‘Art’
Ideas do not make good films, or good art period. As in, ‘wouldn’t be be clever if we did this?’ Things are never clever when they’re trying to be clever. (Which is a good measure of modern art, which baffles so many. When it’s relying on the higher brain to applaud it, it is likely […]
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On writing
A person’s writing is very much them. It’s like looking into a very critical mirror of the soul. Others might not see you; but one certainly sees oneself. The process alone is traumatic; then to be concerned with the result! It’s a terrible thing to see oneself vividly. It’s the most wondrous thing! It is […]
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Statement
As a respectable member of the community with an impeccable reputation of good standing and moral fortitude, I would like to firmly address and fully refute the allegations that I was in any way involved in some kind of “bisexual orgy” involving dancing whores, leading ladies, and/or gentlemen, smoking, Jewish cats, the wholly un-Christian defacement […]