strangers on a train

i watched this one on valentine's day because i didn't want to be another schmuck watching some romantic riff-raff.

so this was my choice, and its fine fine hitchcock. several things jump out to me: the first being the beginning. the shots comparing the two mens shoes and suits are awesome and set up the tone of the piece. and the way they so casually bump against each other shows a lot about who the characters are and how bruno set up the whole thing -- and set it up to look like an accident. and, in a similar point, the clarity of the writing (like the writing from a lot of classical hollywood movies) is something that i continually aspire to and fail at. what i mean by that is this: everything is set up in the first two scenes and the first 5 or so minutes: bruno's creepiness and subtextual homosexuality, guy's fame and occupation, the main plot and conflict of "criss-cross murders". its that economy that i admire so much, and i want to be able to do that some day.

beyond that, great images. these are all ones that you've heard about before: the head swivels at the tennis match, the stunt shot under the carousel, the murder through a pair of thick glasses.

are they really going to try to remake this one? why?

the stick-up kid

sent in my application to the sundance filmmakers lab yesterday. i applied last year as well, with "the 400-pound ceo", but they rejected me. i'm used to it by now.

but this year i applied with "the stick-up kid", and come august we'll see what occurs. the following is my cover letter/synopsis:

“The Stick-Up Kid”
by James Flynn

This is a story about a character named Montgomery Greene. This is a story about Chicago, Illinois. This is a story about jazz music. This is a story about skateboarding. This is a story about a son wanting to be better than his father. This is a story about kissing a girl on a swing set when you first start dating. This is a story about someone who is starved of love and wants fame. This is a story about getting a dog and the process of naming it. This is a story that has an intermission in the middle. This is a story about nice suits. This is a story about the one-sided nature of journalism. This is a story about crime. This is a story about how someone comes to mug someone else. This is a story about a romance that gets betrayed. This is a story about having a baby that you’ve never met. This is a story about going to prison. This is a story about how life moves in cycles. This is a story about playing the saxophone, alone in a room.

This story was influenced by music. This story was influenced by Art Pepper. This story was influenced by Miles Davis. This story was influenced by Charlie Parker. This story was influenced by Big L. This story was influenced by Biggie Smalls. This story was influenced by Jay-Z. This story was influenced by Nas. This story was influenced by the Wrens. This story was influenced by Lemmy Klimister.

This story was influenced by films. This story was influenced by Citizen Kane. This story was influenced by Goodfellas. This story was influenced by American Pimp. This story was influenced by Boogie Nights. This story was influenced by Hana-bi. This story was influenced by Pickpocket. This story was influenced by Serpico. This story was influenced a short film I made in college called 10 Months.

This story was influenced by books. This story was influenced by “Paul’s Case” by Willa Cather. This story was influenced by “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin. This story was influenced by Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver. This story was influenced by Jones, Portrait of a Mugger by James Willwerth.

This story was written to better understand my father, Charles Paul Cornelius Flynn. This story was written to better understand by brother, Joe Flynn.

This is a story I would like to direct myself. This is a story that I want to inspire actors to do their best job. This is a story I want to find a producer for. This is a story I want to workshop. This is a story I want to rehearse. This is a story I want to shoot for five million dollars or so. This is a story that would look good in anamorphic. This is a story that I want someone else to edit. This is a story where the main color scheme is green. This is a story that must be shot on location. This is a story that must be shot in Chicago.

This is a story that I have been burning to tell for a long time.

This is a long story.

i was going for: sincere, mysterious, leaving them wanting more.

what do you think?

the devil's rejects

this is not a good movie. mostly, i think, because rob zombie wrote it. he clearly has a deep and serious love for movies, and in particular, his affection for the conventions of old horror and cheesy b-movies shines through. but you gotta wish that he worked more like tim burton -- give the ideas to a real writer, and focus instead on the directing.

but there are some things i like about the movie. i like the way it was shot, with the desaturization and hand-held cameras. plus, they shot on 16 -- good choice! it gave them graininess and long depth of field and allowed lots of coverage and angles. makeup and effects were well-done, too, with only a little bit of CGI. but one really good part about the movie, unsurprisingly, was the music. tons of rad 70's hits, and the final shootout, set to "freebird", was inspired as all hell and a totally great ending to a not-very-good-movie. maybe next time he'll get it right.

much more interesting than the movie itself was the making of disc, which takes the entire 2nd set of the double dvd. much like "that moment" from the magnolia dvd, this is a full view into the filmmaking process, particularly intangibles and things people don't often think about: technical aspects (every little fucking detail that goes into making a film), the importance of the atmosphere of the set, locations. really interesting stuff, really great.

all right, next thing i write will be about something old. there are so many good movies out and lots to talk about, but i'm going to watch something old and classic and really rejuvenate myself. ok.