Author: latepaul

Let’s see if we can do this more quickly.

Just Friends

I’ve just watched Just Friends which is a rom-com (naturally) about a fat guy who falls for a girl in high school who sees him as just a friend. 10 years later he’s slim (it was that special kind of movie fat that’s easy to lose), successful and cynical. He’s become someone who’s careful never to get stuck in the ‘friend zone’ which means that he basically uses women. He then meets up with his high school flame again…

Since, as we know, good rom-coms are hard to find was there anything more than just optimism in my choice to watch it? Well no. For a start it stars Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart, two actors who are very likeable (individually at least, whether they have chemistry is another matter). I’d liked Reynolds from “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place” and Amy Smart from films like Road Trip. Neither of which by the way was high-brow comedy so I had no expectations. Also Just Friends was directed by Roger Kumble who made Cruel Intentions (though to be fair he also made Cruel Intentions 2). So whilst my expectations weren’t up to the skies I did have reason to believe I’d enjoy it.

So what went wrong? (as you can probably tell something did). Well, let’s recap on something that I’ve called ‘The Star Wars Effect’. There’s a theory that Star Wars is responsible for big dumb special-effects-led action movies. It came along, looked like nothing before it and was a huge success. Then, so the theory goes, began a tradition of the blockbuster – focussing as we said on big action, with big flashy visuals and impressive special effects. Now what’s interesting about this is that Star Wars itself is neither as big nor as dumb as those that followed. It also had other qualities – some decent performances (Harrison Ford in particular) and a very strong, if cliched (or mythic?), story – which weren’t necessarily copied by the successors.

Well if there’s any truth in this I want to suggest a similar effect following American Pie. It wasn’t the first gross-out comedy but it was the first film I remember that brought that style of comedy to the teen rom-com. But what it also did was balance that delicately with characters you care about and real heart. So even though you have a guy sticking his dick in a pie you still end up liking the guy and not just laughing at him.

But now it seems like all rom-coms with a vaguely young cast have to have that broad comedy. Just Friends is one such movie. It’s not actually as gross as American Pie, nor is it as warm-hearted. Perhaps because they’re playing to Reynolds’ strengths, which includes a gift for wry cynicism, his character is funny but unlikeable for much of the film. I won’t say there were no laughs at all but there’s was a lot of unfunny slapstick. It left me wishing for a version of this film that would’ve been made before American Pie. With, you know, some of the subtlety left in.

Oh well, at least it was better than Cool Money – 5/10

Recently I signed up to one of those online DVD rental sites. I got the first month free and even after that I pay a fixed amount to get as many DVDs as I can watch and return in a reasonable time (practically speaking that’s probably about 10-15.month max). Nevertheless with a deal like this one tends to feel that the price of any individual DVD is negligible.

Which I mention in an attempt, if it were needed, to excuse my renting of the movie Cool Money. Not that I really need to excuse it because I am a Buffy fan after all and Cool Money stars James Marsters aka Spike and the curiosity value should be enough justification. Maybe it’s that this movie is so embarrassingly bad that I feel I need an excuse.

But anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. I did watch it – twice so far – and what follows is my review of same.

Cool Money is a story about a jewel thief named Bobby Comfort who gets out of jail and meets Sammy Nalo, ex-hitman with a murky past, who has an idea for robbing various New York hotels. After some persuasion they team up and the film follows their mixed success in a number of these robberies. It kinda wants to be a low-budget Ocean’s Eleven – Cool Money is a crap title but then I guess Comfort’s Three (there’s a 3rd member of the regular gang) isn’t much better I guess 😉

My first impression of Cool Money is that it’s a low budget movie and it shows. I suspected that it was straight-to-DVD but have since learned it was made-for-TV and presumably only got a DVD release because the die-hard JM fans will probably buy/rent it. After watching it for the first time my feeling was that there was a lack of talent in virtually all areas – in the writing the dialogue is cliched and the story confused and meandering, in the acting the two central performances aside we go from mediocre to downright comical, the direction is lack-lustre, the shots are boring and predictable, the music is either bland or annoying. Yet, having said all that, when watching it a second time I did notice some glimmers – a nice bit of dialogue here, an interesting camera angle there, the occasional piece of music that actually supported the mood of the scene rather than destroy it – but they were glimmers and not enough ultimately to rescue the movie.

As I say the movie’s strongest asset was the two central performances. James, and the other lead John Cassini made a valiant effort with what they have but the script doesn’t give them much to work with. James in particular – who I’ve always thought was a good actor not a great one (he makes up for a lot with his considerable charisma) – creates a character that you care about and root for. Whilst I thought Cassini wasn’t quite as good there was some chemistry between the two and you did believe there was an uneasy friendship underlying the more pragmatic partners in crime relationship. Something I’d have liked to have seen explored more.

I’ve said this movie fails in most areas but if I had to say what the biggest problem is I’d say it was the story-arc or rather noticeable lack of one. If the story was strong I think we’d forgive a lot of the other shortcomings. Basically the story you have is that Comfort teams up with Nalo, pull off a series of robberies and then because they’re almost caught, stop. There’s no real journey that the characters go on. So what you have is one-thing-happening-after-another-and-then-stop rather than beginning, middle and end. Perhaps because of this the film’s 90 minutes really drag.

There are in fact a lot of story threads in there
– Bobby’s relationship with his wife who wants him to go straight but likes what the money brings
– his relationship with Sammy who comes from a tougher, mob, criminal background
– his rivalry with a cousin in the police both for his wife’s affections and in terms of being caught.
– and various other bits that look like they’re going to be significant but are only details of the various robberies.

Perhaps if the central story was more well-defined than these could be interesting sub-plots but as it is they feel like pointless meanderings. Worse than pointless they’re frustrating when you actually become interested in following some new character’s story only to have it cut short because it was only ever, in effect, background colour to the main plot.

It’s kind of a mess. I suspect the reason for this was those fateful words ‘based on a true story’ However I think some one really needed to sit down and figure out what the spine of the story was, picking one of the threads above perhaps, and re-write basing everything around that, being ruthlessly indifferent to factual accuracy. I think I’d reduce the number of both robberies and characters. Less robberies to focus the story more and less characters because in such a low-budget film finding good actors was clearly a challenge even for the major roles. A few less embarrassingly bad performances would have been no bad thing.

As for the story I’d have chosen the element that I think works best, and also plays to the strengths you have (i.e. JM and JC’s acting), which is the relationship between the two main thieves. At the beginning of the movie Comfort doesn’t know Nalo at all. He’s persuaded to work with him but even though it brings success it’s clear that he doesn’t know how much to trust him but he starts to despite himself, and even begins to like him. At the end Nalo’s past threatens to re-surface and there was potential for Comfort discovering just how different he and Nalo are – Nalo’s come from an altogether nastier and harsher world and I think Comfort discovering that that’s who Nalo is once he’s already come to like and respect the guy could have provided some interesting conflict.

As things stand that theme’s in there but it’s a little buried and mixed in with the other stuff.

I couldn’t recommend this to anyone other than a hardcore JM fan or someone who wants to see it for curiosity value. Or perhaps as a study of what not to do in a low-budget movie.

2/10 – mostly for JM’s performance and the glimmers.

I’ve decided to do some writing today.

I’ll be blogging, writing a movie review, contributing to SoF and newsgroups and maybe even working on my short story.

Remember that defining moment thingy? The one about thinking “I could do that!”? Well I had that again today. Today I came across this which is a new book of movie parodies written as very abbreviated summaries like this.

My reactions were mixed. Firstly I simply enjoyed the humour. Secondly I thought “good on her”. Thirdly, I admit, there was a twinge of jealousy – based on the feeling of “I could do that!”

And I’m not just saying that. I did do that. On a much smaller scale perhaps, but a very similar thing. When I first became a fan (as opposed to merely a regular watcher) of Buffy but before I (re-)discovered usenet I used to go to the BBC Cult website message-boards (they don’t exist in the same form now but the site is here). By the time the BBC were half-way through season 4 someone, a new viewer, asked about what they’d missed. So I gave a summary of 3 1/2 seasons of the show. Oh, but did I mention that the old message-boards had a limit of 100 words?

Still don’t believe me? Here’s a mini-mini version of the same kind of thing.

Of course that’s very short and Ms Cleolinda does a full movie script each time. But it seems to me that it’s not that hard (actually I think there’s something inherently funny about over-compressing that gives you a headstart) and so, as usual, I think the big difference between us, between someone who’s made a success of something I’ve done as a passing fancy and myself, is that she’s worked harder at it.

Funny that eh?

Conversation with M. this weekend:

Me: you’ll go to hell because of me.
M.: I don’t believe in hell
Me: ok, well you’ll spend longer in purgatory then
M.: I don’t believe in purgatory either
Me: Ok, erm, so what do you believe in that’s bad?
M.: (thoughtful pause) you!

I can live with that! 😀

(ever notice how putting … after stuff makes it more profound? Nope, me neither. Sadly)

I was going to call this ‘Long time no…’ since it’s been a while. But then I thought that was grasping at straws trying to think of an interesting title. So making a virtue out of necessity*…

Well, it has been a while. Noteworthy is the fact that I haven’t blogged since I’ve been back at work. Neither have I written any fiction or crits. I have done a little reading but mostly my life has settled back into my former routine of work, eat, tv, sleep, talk to M and more sleep. (Yes that’s right I’m normally asleep when I talk to M – as she would tell you if she was writing this. She also tell you lots of embarrassing stuff so it’s a good job she’s not really. ***waves to M***) In that time there have of course been several things that I could have blogged about had I had the motivation and time. These include:

– further thoughts on the Crazy Idea
– a review of the movie Serenity – compared and contrasted perhaps with the TV series pilot Serenity
– ponderings on the meaning of being a fan, whether I still am one or not and perhaps some history of my Buffy-fandom
– why I decided to dump Windows and how I almost went back after a week
– thoughts on where I am faith-wise, where I want to be and tentative steps to get there
– thoughts on where I am job-wise, where I want to be and so on
– cheese

(OK the last one I just made up – but ya gotta have cheese :D)

As I said I could regale you with these many interesting topics, and more, but first another thought that fills me with fear, dread and that other thing that always goes with fear and dread but which I can never remember: am I worth reading?

It started when I installed something called Stumble Upon which is a way to get to random websites which may or may not be interesting. New-to-me potentially interesting websites are always in demand as my boredom threshold is high. (Mostly at work. Working at work can sometimes alleviate the boredom but hey, that’s drastic measures. ) Through StumbleUpon I came across this site. I then spent quite a lot of not-bored time reading and laughing at this site. However as with many things we laugh at at first I gradually became concerned and then eventually worried (I say “we” but maybe it’s just me).

It occurred to me that even if he doesn’t use a blog format this is the sort of thing a blog should be – personal anecdotes of his relationship with his girlfriend told in an amusing way. Told in an amusing way!

TOLD. IN. AN. AMUSING. WAY!!!

In other words – it’s worth reading. It amuses. It entertains. It whiles away those tedious hours that’d otherwise be spent earning a living. Whereas my blog, even to me, at times is, well, tedious. See the urge to express yourself is one thing, whether anyone wants to read it later is another. Humour is one way to reward the reader, being profound, informative or insightful are others. The question is: can I do that? Can I make my blog worth reading? Which implies the scary question as to whether I’m at all funny, profound, insightful or that other thing I just mentioned doesn’t it? (Those of you who had been thinking that my usual bland style had given way to a sort of desperate, forced attempt at humour and interesting word-usements can now congraulate yourselves on being right. Smug gits. 😛 )

I suspect part of the answer lies in editing. Stream of consciousness is ok but I think it needs to be pared down, refined and shaped into something that’s worth the effort. Not like this then 😉 Oh well…

(*big bonus points to anyone who spotted where I stole that phrase from)

It’s the early hours of Wednesday and blogging aside I haven’t written anything since Friday.

I let myself off Sat and Sun on the basis that it was a weekend. Even though I hadn’t originally intended to. I’ve read a little both Monday and Tuesday – which is better than nothing – but I haven’t written. Having re-read the extra that I added to my story I now feel a little more inspired. I have a feel for where to take it. I’ve already written the ending – not sure if I’ll connect with that or end up re-writing it. We’ll see.

Anyway – I’d like to get something finished. Even if it’s only a first draft. On Monday I’ll have had 2 weeks off work and if I go back with only 500 words added to a 2-year old story I’ll feel I didn’t acheive much – even if I felt some rare optimism for once.

So tomorrow, by hook or crook or other implement I will write 1,000 words.

Oh and then there’s the little matter of AFO reviews. I’m 10 stories behind. It’s actually tempting to spend “work” time on that, cos believe it or not, it’s easier to crit – even constructively, than to create.

M. read my blog tonight. Whilst I was on the phone with her. After my, probably unfair and certainly grumpy, comments of the other night she decided not to ask me what I’d written but just asked for the link instead.

It saddened her and it saddens me that I made her sad. The stuff about her working a lot and us talking less made her feel like she was letting me down. She’s not. It’s just the way things are at the moment.

Other stuff happened in that phonecall that I could talk about but I’ve decided not to. Not because I’m hiding anything but because I want to protect M. a little bit. “Anyone who reads your blog will think I’m a bitch.” she told me. I really doubt that, and I really hope not, but I don’t want to take chances.

So I’m going to be more careful about what I write about. Everything so far in this blog is public. However LJ has the ability to make stuff private or only accessible to friends. I’ve sort of been operating on the basis that I don’t need to worry about that because no one yet reads my blog. Well I’m going to fix that.

Secondly, this blog is my blog. It’s not the story of me and M. She didn’t sign up for that, and even if I don’t identify her I think I owe her a little more privacy and consideration. I’ll still mention her – but I’ll think twice first and make sure what I’m revealing isn’t too revealing so to speak.

I haven’t blogged for a couple of days and that’s unusual at the moment. I had an idea and instantly thought I should blog about it but haven’t because I’ve started to consider it and what worries me is how reasonable it’s starting to seem. It would certainly mean big changes.

Anyway, more of that in a mo. I spoke with M. tonight and she asked about my blog so I told her about the last entry. She got a bit upset because she asked about it and I snapped a bit. I just find it odd describing a blog entry I’ve already written. If I’ve already taken the trouble to express myself then re-inventing that thought seems tiresome. However, that’s not M’s fault.

Part of the problem is it’s September which is a busy time for her workwise. It also means she works more evenings. So the time we’re talking maybe later and she maybe more tired. So the quality of talk is a little down. Having said that, this time last year we fought a lot. We’re fighting less and the ones we’ve had have been less severe and have led to more understanding. At least I think so.

So anyway, the crazy idea…

I’m off work at the moment and my typical day consists of getting up, reading the web a bit, going out to buy food etc, more web, maybe a bit of TV, some writing, chat with M. and bed. I got to thinking how I enjoyed it like this. I’m relaxed enough to actually get to make myself spend at least some time writing – as oposed to feeling like winding down from work. Then it hit me that there’s no reason why I couldn’t live like this permanently.

I’ve got enough savings to survive at least a year without worrying about money. I could move back north where living’s cheaper. Maybe sell the car. Sell some of the other stuff I’ve accumulated on eBay or whatever. Live a simpler, less cluttered life and just write. Write every day and write seriously and try to sell what I write and see where it leads.

The scary thing is that it makes sense.

So what’s stopping me? Well for one, I’ve got a good job and am financially secure. Why give that up when I could write in my spare time? Bear in mind too that I gave up a job once before and didn’t work for five months. In that time I was either going to write a novel or some software. I did neither. I did write a short story and I read a lot. (My Legendary Girlfriend was a book from that time.) So I can easily see me taking it easy and not doing very much. Under the guise of ‘being a writer’ I might just become a slob.

I think I have just enough fear to stop me doing that. I think if I had nothing else to do I would write. When I quite my old job, I had an idea that I wanted to do something else, something not-IT, but in reality I quickly decided to only wait until after Christmas to apply for another job (I finished end of Sept ’99). If I do this I think it would be important to give it a specific period of time, of no less than a year.

After all, I’m not getting any younger and life is not a rehearsal (as a potential writer I’m ashamed of that cliche, as someone who’s up late I don’t care).

One other thing that stops me – or actually delays me – is my job. The company I work for is a global software company. They announced a little while ago that they’d be shedding 5% of the employees or 800 jobs worldwide. I’ve seen something recently that said it might actually go as high as 10%. I’ve also heard semi-reliable rumours that October is when many of these job cuts will be announced. So it’s probably worth waiting a week or two after I get back. If they make me redundant – and I have no idea how likely it is that I’ll be in the firing line – I’d definitely go for this plan. And of course if they make me redundant then I’ll better off financially than if I just resign.

Scary stuff – so why do it seems so reasonable?

OK, so I just spent nearly 3 hours on the phone to M. – nothing too abnormal in that. However most of it was an argument and the aftermath of same. And it was ‘good’ in that it cleared the air and I feel like we discussed some communication things that were an issue and we both understand each other a little better. And maybe, just maybe, I now have the knowledge to know when I might be in danger of randomly saying stuff up to the point when I get the silence that says I’ve upset her but I’ve no idea why. Maybe now I won’t do it or will at least know why.

As I say this was all good. But I kinda miss all the stuff we didn’t talk about. Stuff like the 447 words I wrote on my story today and how hard it was and yet I got through them. Stuff like my review of one of the old hands of AFO, what I said and how he reacted. He’s a much better writer but it didn’t stop me being quite critical. He was polite but I felt he brushed off my criticisms too easily. That’s fine. He doesn’t know me. If he’s still doing that when I’ve been posting a while – well it’ll still be fine but it’ll mean he’s reached a certain opinion about my opinions.

I wanted to share and discuss that stuff with M. but didn’t because we had to work through the other stuff. I don’t regret that but I wish I could’ve done both.

She’s got a busy weekend coming up and I can already see that when she’s not working she’ll be tired and possibly sleeping. I can see we won’t get to chat seriously again til Monday or later.

Ho Hum.