I’ve been thinking about two news events which happened within 24hrs of each other on Christmas day 2009:
Two men with deeply held religious beliefs illegally traveled into other countries to spread their messages. Neither succeeded, but both made news. And though the news coverage has been very different, I can’t shake the feeling that their stories are almost exactly the same.
Many of you told me you enjoyed the previous post on this topic. Now when I say “many”, I’m aware that there’s about 3 of you, so any two would actually represent a sweeping majority more clear than our last four Presidential elections…
But I digress.
I’m still finding myself taught by my dog ownership. Seeing God’s view of me through new eyes. Sometimes I realize just how boneheaded I am by watching my great dog make a decision based on her limited knowledge and freedoms. I make all kinds of decisions based on my own understanding, and how God must shake his head like I do at Sierra. But that’s the thing about freedom, you can choose something terrible. Click to continue »
I’m a child of 80s pop culture. Those were my defining years. And I’m a story teller and filmmaker, so the films from that era shaped me.
And the iconic films of the 80s were mostly made by one man, John Hughes. He died suddenly today, and in the outpouring of news articles and facebook updates I find myself once again reflecting on how much I hate our response to those who have died.
Here’s a man who shaped a decade of comedy filmmaking. And he shaped a generation of filmgoers. Yet in recent years his work has been discounted as out of date, while gross-out work like Judd Apatow and Will Ferrell has been heralded as the way comedy should be done. Click to continue »
Unless you live in a bunker with no internet or television, you know that Swine Flu is the hot topic and disease of the moment. And in this constant barrage of updates and headlines touting “pandemic” I’m struck again by America’s #1 creation. We used to lead the world cars, computers, electronics, and freedom, but now we lead in one area: Panic and Fear.
All you need is a driver’s license and credit card in order to put yourself in a vehicle the size of your local highschool gym. No special training. Not even a pamphlet.
So after my recent excursion in the biggest rental trucks available I offer the following observations – in case you ever need them:
Click to continue »
When I moved to Los Angeles I had my share of nay-sayers. Some folks in influential or mentor-type roles really questioned my thinking. I was 23 years old and “following a dream”. One in particular asked me “How long do you intend to do this?”
Wanting terms and conditions. A quantifiable plan. Milestones.
I responded “How long is a dream worth chasing?” That shut them up. They had no answer for that, and I don’t think they’d ever even thought of the question.
Now, thirteen years later I don’t have an answer for it either. How long is a dream worth chasing? I find that to be the lingering query of my existence. If forced to answer I would quickly say “as long as I have breath…”
But reality does dawn… even on us dreamers. Click to continue »
Like most people I know, I watched the Inauguration this week. Historic and uplifting. Two things I can’t often say about our government’s activity.
I’m excited to see what the future brings, and curious to see President Obama in action instead of as an icon on a poster.
He’s hit the ground running. And like I said before, Presidents always seem to start well.
Yet I find myself sickened by the same thing over and over. I keep trying to get past it… to hope I’ve seen the last news story, or mention, or visual. It’s like an infesting fog I can’t get away from… Click to continue »
When I went Freelance I had all these grand visions of huge writing output. All the scripts I’d crank out and the novel I’d finish and the short story compilation I’d finally get around to wrapping up and…
Yeah.
With editing, and Everyday Driver, I quickly found myself writing less than I did when I had a full time studio job! Over time I realized that editing actually uses many of the same skills and part of my brain as my writing, so I was getting that need fed.
But I also realized I’d become as soured to that part of the business as everything else. I just didn’t want to write and do the little “writer with a new script dance”. It felt like going through the motions.
I’ve had an odd experience in the last week or so… I’ve fallen in love with movies again. Seems strange to say it, as a filmmaker – and as a guy about to direct a feature. But there it is.
You see all the years of working at a Studio: …watching everything New Line released 20-50 times…. getting buried in the minute technical details… breaking things down to their lowest pieces…
Like looking at a masterpiece and only noticing the brushstrokes, or absorbing a moment of musical genius and only hearing the hiss from the analog recording.
Yes… there were a lot of bad movies in there too…
But in the last week, for various reasons… I’ve revisited ones I like, or ones I’ve always wanted to see. And I’ve found the wonder in it again.
So here we are… marching toward a Presidential election with both sides ramping up to a crazed din so loud my ears are bleeding.
Now it’s all just noise.
And I find myself disappointed. Pissed off even.
All the discussion, the ads, the YouTube viral videos invading my inbox, the discussions around me…. they all have one thing in common. No matter what side. No matter what issue…
We’re supposed to be afraid.  We’re supposed to be cowering under the stairs in terror.
