More random thoughts

[cleolinda]

Hmm. I'm at the point in a new story where I've gotten in just deep enough to feel stupid about it. As in, "Why am I writing this? Why am I bothering? It's so dumb. Seriously, I can't believe I even tried this." It's something you've just got to push through--sort of an artistic queasiness. I highly recommend not talking about your project to anyone at this point, because it's at a very fragile point of development, by which I mean that it will sound like the dumbest thing ever if you try to describe it to someone. I like to think of it as still being in its gestation period--not ready to come out of the womb yet. Doesn't make me feel any less lame, though. But the mad writing binge I've been on for the last three or four days has made me feel better at a time when I was feeling really, really bad (which I think has been related to adjusting my medication), so I keep telling myself that it can't be all that worthless. If nothing else, I can keep writing it just for me and never show it to anyone else. So, you know, if you ever feel that way, you're not alone.

Heh, Sleepy Hollow's on TNT tonight. I watched the DVD a couple of days ago, and it is a strange feeling to look up in the middle of a scene and realize you've got Dumbledore (#2), Uncle Vernon, Rita Skeeter, Emperor Palpatine, Principal Rooney, and Alfred the butler (#1) all in one room, with an assist from Darth Saruman and... well, Christopher Walken. "Christopher Walken" pretty much is his greatest character. (Emperor Palpatine! I didn't even know they let the man do any other movies!) The extras are shit, though. They're not "Interactive menus! Chapter stops!" shit, but there's only one commentary--and that's Tim Burton saying over and over, " I just had such an incredible cast. Also, how much fake fog did we pipe in? So very much"--and a bombastic behind-the-scenes thing that I guarantee you originally aired on HBO. You know--it's got That Announcer Guy who narrates in capslock. The problem is that the DVD must have come out in--what, 2000?--and I actually remember 2001 as the year DVDs started to get really, really good. And this was before LOTR. I guess my problem is that I'm spoiled by even the non-LOTR stuff like the X-Men 1.5 and Matrix Revisisted DVDs, where they have these great, in-depth, unintrusive features. Nowadays, even a mild hit like this would come fully loaded. I've come to expect DVD extras to go through all the major elements--casting, rehearsals, action and stunts, costumes, effects (the one thing Sleepy Hollow actually bothers with), and outtakes if you got 'em--in a far more in-depth fashion. That, and one-person commentaries almost always suck, I'm finding. You really need at least two people to play off each other, unless the speaker is just really, really engaging. Martin Scorsese, for example, can get away with it. Still, the Sleepy Hollow DVD's worth at least a Netflix for the part where Burton gets to the scene where Miranda Richardson and Johnny Depp are essentially wrestling for the Horseman's skull, and deadpans, "Ah, the climactic girlfight." 

(Someone has an "Ichabod Crane: Girl Detective" icon that makes me laugh about as hard.)

Talladega Nights and Barnyard perform better than expected. Despite the fact that Barnyard involves cows voiced by men. I'm just saying, that's a logical dealbreaker for me.

The Descent: A far better movie than the poster would indicate. Seriously, I saw the trailer at Apple and just about wet myself.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden tries to interpret the video for "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

Viggo Mortensen, Pornstache Conquistador. (Between this and The Fountain, it looks like conquistadors are the new big thing.)

Satchel writes a blog. Poor Satchel.

Off to write some more. I feel a little better now.

Comments

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah--and before that, of course, there were laserdiscs. I should probably clarify that 2001 felt like the year that really good DVDs became *standard,* or at least far more common.

[casirafics.livejournal.com]

I always wanted a laserdisc player, but they were so expensive... and you're probably right about the timing, yeah.

My first full-time job was with an Internet company that had been mostly a CD-ROM shop in its early days. Somewhere in that office I ran across a laserdisc burner. I had no idea such things existed until then....

[cleolinda.livejournal.com]

I didn't break down and get a DVD player--my computer had a drive, after all--until I was absolutely sure the format wasn't going anywhere, because I remember the sad little rack of laserdiscs that used to live at my video store. Laserdiscs seemed great, and I used to read the extra lists on the back covers with deep envy, but it was just way too expensive for such a little cottage format.

[casirafics.livejournal.com]

exactly. I used to go to Silver Platters and drool over the laserdiscs all the time, but when the movies I wanted all ran about $90, there was just no way.

(The irony of the whole thing: Silver Platters now sells CDs, DVDs, and -- wait for it -- vinyl. Platters, yes. Silver, not so much. :)

Speaking of $90 movies, though -- remember the good old days (cough, cough, HACK) of rental-priced videotapes? Oh, boy, am I glad THAT'S over with.