http://interplanetarymovie.blogspot.com

http://interplanetarymovie.blogspot.com

And you can catch it again in March. I’ll try to post another “news” item a little closer to that March date.

Hope you’re all having a good Valentine’s Day…

More importantly, Hide and Creep is for sale on DVD in Germany! Now I just have to figure out where to order a German edition…

That’s all I’ll say for now. I’m planning to make a more “official” announcement in early January, after I have more details about the cast and crew.

I love that there’s some subtext to Star Trek II, that the movie, on one level, is about Captain Kirk getting older and how the various indiscretions of his youth are coming back to haunt him in various ways. But what I really love about Star Trek II is that it kicks ass with those movie things I talked about last time–acting, editing, cinematography, etc.

As I watch more movies and learn more about movies, I find myself less interested in story and more interested in the emotional effect a movie has on me. It’s like pop music. Unless lyrics are really great or really terrible, I usually don’t notice them. I listen for the singer’s melody and delivery. I mean, I love Radiohead, but I rarely know or care what Thom Yorke is going on about. But it makes me feel something every time, so I keep listening.

One problem with a lot of so-called “independent” films is their over-dependence on dialogue. The characters talk and talk, but the talk is not particularly clever, and it’s damn sure not particularly cinematic. Tarantino gets grief sometimes for too much talk, but there’s a lot of cool cinematography and music and acting and editing in his movies, and watching them makes me feel something.

Same thing with Lost in Translation. A lot of critics liked that one, and it got a screenplay Oscar. But I can’t imagine the screenplay, on the page, was all that great. That movie is all about the mood, and the mood has very little to do with the script in that case. Like John Carpenter says, let’s thread that screenplay up on the projector, and we’ll take a look at it.

I think if you look and theorize hard enough, you can probably create some subtext for any movie. And it’s fun to be an armchair film scholar and do that sometimes. But does it really matter? I can’t think of any subtext for The Empire Strikes Back or Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I love both those movies. My favorite movie ever, Dr. Strangelove, is about guys who start a nuclear war because they’re having trouble functioning sexually. With text like that, is there even room for subtext?

Since The Departed is the best movie of the year, probably the best movie of the last few years, all the critics love it. Except the ones who don’t. Browsing the ‘net, I’ve noticed complaints. I’ll now list and debunk a few.

“It’s not really about anything.” It’s about cops and criminals in Boston.

“The characters are one-dimensional.” These lucky critics have somehow never seen a movie with truly one-dimensional characters. The characters in The Departed have plenty of dimensions.

“It doesn’t make any sense.” I can’t believe someone who couldn’t understand The Departed could muster enough brain cells to type that sentence. The movie’s plot is twisty, but clear.

“It’s violence for the sake of violence.” I don’t even know what this means. It’s not like there are random insert shots of a slaughterhouse or something. The movie is violent, and the violence always has some effect on the story.

“Actor Jack Nicholson is over-the-top.” What else is new? Fortunately, it’s an over-the-top character, so Nicholson’s acting is just right.

Most of these complaints were compiled by Jim Emerson for his blog. Emerson wasn’t too impressed with The Departed, either, but I’m starting to think Emerson is one of those art-house idiots who can’t appreciate a great movie unless it’s got some subtext or addresses an important “issue” or some shit like that. I like a little subtext myself, but what I really like is a film that kicks me in the ass, and that’s what The Departed does.

I’m mentioning this for two reasons. One, you should go see The Departed in a movie theater. Like right now. Unless you’re one of those art-house idiots or are afraid of movie blood. Two, when I see a really great piece of filmmaking getting pissed on by critics, I don’t feel so bad about those negative Hide and Creep reviews. I mean, if a genius like Scorsese can’t catch a break, what should a non-genius like me expect?

Or just do like me and get your Tivo on.

“David Lynch Returns: Expect Moody Conditions, With Surreal Gusts”

The short version: Lynch says, “Film is like a dinosaur in a tar pit.” He says if he ever had to shoot on film again, he “would die.”

But, Chance, David Lynch is a genius, and you’re just some asshole with a blog. What do you know?

Well, I know that David Lynch is a genius. And as far as his opinions on film go, I know he’s full of shit. Maybe he’s shilling for Panasonic or something…

The short version: it’s difficult to make a living as a director of independent films.

No shit, Mr. Clark. Thanks for the newsflash.