Helen Rittelmeyer has returned...

And it's been well worth the wait.

Helen has an interesting essay on "the distraction war" and the internet mindset which lowers the stakes of that conversation debate, in the best possible way. She sums up pretty well that these new things aren't the end of the world or its salvation, they're just new. And they serve the same purpose as talking about weather or mutual friends.

I do want to add that the biggest problem for me in this age of overwhelming content is the sense that, as a blogger, I don't have much to add to the conversation. I'm not saying this to get self-pity. I just don't have a sense that, in the final analysis, my Golgo 13/Conan comparison really merits finishing, for example. The problem gets greater when we move onto subjects that other people already cover. What can I add to a conversation on cult movies that Tim Brayton or And You Call Yourself a Scientist! or 1000 Misspent Hours and Counting haven't already said just as well, if not even better? What can I say about comics that hasn't been covered already, in detail, by the TCJ.com crowd or a dozen comics bloggers? What can I say about screenwriting that screenwriting blogs or Scriptshadow posts haven't already discussed?And so on and so forth...

Even if I don't agree with everything those blogs or sites post, to add my voice to the echo chamber just feels empty. The few times that I actually have enjoyed writing blog posts are when I've promoted something that lacks coverage or attention, like my posts on Dead Pigeon on Beethoven Street, or United Trash or Your Friends Close.

I don't know what this says about me. Perhaps it says my blogging is a kind of vanity, or maybe I lack the discipline to get the words out on a regular basis. Or maybe it's just difficult to blog when also trying to balance a personal life and other writing.

I'm not saying I'm shutting this blog down. I do like posting when there's something worthwhile. The problem is that I just don't have much to say at the moment. Or anything other than snark & shallow opinions.

But I do want to sincerely welcome Helen back. She is a writer that always has a distinctive and well thought-out point of view, as well as a great intellect.

And we're back! (almost)

Whooo... That was quite a crazy couple of weeks.

I just wrapped shooting on the first film I've ever had made out of something I wrote. The shoot was wonderful. I couldn't have asked for a better cast and crew. We did run into problems, but people kept their cool and we worked around them. And from the dailies I've seen, this project is going to be amazing. I'm not just saying that because I wrote it. The people involved took my words and ideas, and without rewriting them, made them their own.

It's a good sign, I think, when you're laughing at jokes on set that you wrote months ago and have written and rewritten several times.

Back to real blogging soon!

Another blog post about blogging...

Once again, sorry for the huge gaps between posts. I'm co-producing that short film I mentioned last post (new content on our official website, along with the trailer), I've been volunteering at the amazing Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre a lot (buy me a drink and I'll tell you about the angry mob at the Natural History Museum), and I've been writing and revising a scene for an alumni showcase that's being performed the week we start shooting Women and Men and Women. On top of that, I'm obviously still trying to write a new screenplay and find a permanent day job. Finally, I'm going to the Midwest for about a week next Wednesday to meet The Best Girl Ever's family.

Just typing all that has me exhausted. I'm hoping I can get back to posting more regularly once I get back in mid-May. I might even fit in a post or two before then. No promises, though.

And check out the Women and Men and Women website!

WOMEN AND MEN AND WOMEN: Rare self-promotion post...

Most of you might know me as that nerdy guy who posts snarky things about science fiction or old movies. But I also write other things that I don't post on the blog.

One such thing is a script for a short film called Women and Men and Women.

It started life as a satire on all those infuriating plays about how white male artists have such a hard time finding a girl who understands how hard they have it, man. It was performed as a staged-reading at Stage Left in Chicago and when I got out to LA, some friends suggested I try to turn it into a screenplay.

Well, now, a mix of friends from college and new friends are trying to turn it into a self-produced short film. And we're trying to raise a small amount of money to help us put it together. 

A short promo video (showcasing other people saying my words) and some information about what your donation is going to can be found here.

Even if you don't actually want to donate any money, I'd appreciate it if you'd just view the video. I think  it's pretty funny, and some pretty funny people are working on it.

But we're not looking to get paid, we're just looking for some help with some of the very real production costs you face even when you make a very simple and small film.

Thanks for your attention and I promise that I won't turn this all into all self-promotion, all the time.

Everyday I write the script...

Sorry I've been away for a while. Life keeps interfering with blogging, as it tends to. The good news is that part of the reason I've been so busy is another writing project, about which I plan to post more soon. The bad news is that, between that project, keeping my hand in at attempted screenwriting ("Do they give a Nobel for Attempted Physics?", I can hear Sideshow Bob whine) and my family coming to visit this week, it might be a little longer before I can post more.

So while I'm away, check out some of the blogs on the sidebar, especially The All-New, All-Different Cigarette Smoking Blog (for all your Catholic & historical nerd needs), Shadowplay and Antagony & Ecstasy. Those latter two will certainly fulfill all your cinematic nerdery needs.

I'm listed MIA...

Whoah, thanks to everyone who checked out my post on Hangmen Also Die! as part of the For the Love of Film Noir Blog-a-thon.

I've got some follow-up posts in the works, but I spent last week in Chicago, and this week was spent with me drained by the twin demons of poor health and day jobs.

But on the positive side, I've now got a blu-ray player that is Wi-Fi enabled, so I'll be watching Netflix even more easily now. And I also ordered Warner Archive's version of The Outfit, so hopefully a review of that will be up soon.

In the meantime, I recommend my cinephile friends check out Walter Hill's little-remembered Extreme Prejudice (1987). Scripted by John Milius, starring Powers Boothe, Nick Nolte, Rip Torn, Clancy Brown, William Forsythe and Michael Ironsides, it really deserves to be better remembered. It's a very strange and uneven film, but it hangs together much better than you'd expect. It really strikes a fascinating balancing act between neo-western and action-thriller, with the tension between the two genres serving as a thematic emphasis on the way the American spirit/character has changed.

Welcome to the working week...

Thanks, Eve Tushnet, for the link!

Right now, I'm busy with a new temp assignment and other projects. Updates soon, including one on Peter Sasdy's Countess Dracula, possibly the late Ingrid Pitt's best work.

Under construction

Fooling around with new looks for the blog.
In the interim, some recommendations:
Nico's THE END concert album is a pretty damn amazing slice of wintry Nordic depression. You'll probably want to follow it up with something optimistic as a chaser, but it's a great album for a post-hangover mood or a "the holiday is over" feeling.


And maybe that chaser should be Big Boi's recently released Sir Lucious Left Foot... The Son of Chico Dusty, which is a salacious, gleeful and complex glob of funk that I can't stop listening to.


And if you need a movie that out-actions the summer blockbusters that are finally coming out on DVD, watch The Good, The Bad and The Weird. This Korean kimchee Western is a delicious mix of history, geopolitics, martial arts, gunfights and slapstick, that calls to mind Takashi Miike and Jacques Tati collaborating on an action film.

If anyone still reads this blog...

I am alive! In the last month, I've shoved all my stuff into a storage unit in Chicago, seen my little sister get married, spent a whirlwind two weeks traveling to London, Amsterdam & Vienna, and am now about to move to Los Angeles, with an apartment almost lined up.

Hopefully at some point in the near future, I can get up my reviews of Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2 at the Globe and a revival of Noel Coward's Design for Living at the Old Vic. And maybe a brief thing about some of the movies I've seen lately. Or about reading Schiller's Mary Stuart after seeing her tomb in Westminster. Or my travels in general.

Anyway, a lot of stuff has been happening these last few months. I hope once I get to LA, I'll have more time to blog. And since I don't have a job lined up there yet, there's a chance I'll blog enough to get you guys sick of me.

Standing on the blog where nobody posts...

Dear blog,
I'm sorry I abandoned you, but I've been busy fulfilling stuff that is more essential according to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, i.e. figuring out where I'm going to live.

I've seen some pretty interesting films recently, such as Don't Bother to Knock (d. Roy Baker), Marilyn Monroe's almost psycho-killer role, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Piranha 3D (which I have more and more mixed feelings about, re: misogyny & sexism, but which has some pretty clever visual gags). And I want to watch both Casablanca & Cheyenne Autumn this week. But I've also got to move all my stuff into storage and say goodbye to most of my friends.

Sorry, blog. Maybe I'll see you in September?

Love,
Robby

I swear, this is not the All-Lost, all the time blog

even though the next post you'll see will probably be a write-up about tomorrow night's episode.

But after that, I promise to write something non-LOST related, even if it's just a long-overdue screening log. I also read Otto Friedrich's City of Nets, about Hollywood in the 1940s, and I think it has some interesting things to say about economics and entertainment. Or maybe a piece on the man-child in American comedy? And maybe some thoughts on popular genre authors and their weaknesses? I don't know.

So non-LOST fans, please stick with me. And LOST fans, you'll still have stuff to read. I might have a post comparing LOST to X-Men, a few more archival episode write-ups and a fun exercise I call Kenneth Branaugh's... LOST (look through the older blog archives and you'll see how it works).