Culture

Salon has a little puff piece of a Cronenberg interview on line, of interest probably mostly to the fanatics like me, except for one excerpt which I will provide here. When I did “The Dead Zone,” I was very happy with the film. I was very happy with the experience of mixing my blood with somebody else’s, in this case Stephen King. When you use someone else’s work as the basis, it’s something you would never do on your own, but something you really feel an incredible empathy for and connection with. The two of you mix together — why, it’s just like sex, I suddenly realized! — and you make something that didn’t exist before. ...

What does it take to sell real estate? Brass balls (original). Glengarry Glen Ross. 3.5 minutes. Rip, remix, burn.

I Love Your Work is a weblog about the filming of Adam Goldberg’s film I Love Your Work. Alternatively, it’s a promotional piece. One of the burning issues of the weblog world is whether or not webloggers are journalists. Many webloggers are very indignant about the possibility that they aren’t journalists. Many journalists roll their eyes at the entire question. Helen Yeager, who writes I Love Your Work, can’t talk about certain things she saw (original). She’s part of the promotional effort for the movie; she’s part of the crew (and says as much). It’s an interesting blog but I think that she’s damaged the cause of weblogs as real journalism; by allowing the medium to be coopted, she’s made it harder for other webloggers to be taken seriously. As Film Threat pointed out a while back (original), “the old press tends to be lazy and a little nearsighted when it comes to making distinctions between groups other than themselves…” Fair? Nah, but still true.

Saith Steve Lieber, comic book creator: Thanks for asking. I’m working with a novelist on his first comic book project, and doing the research for another one that’ll be all me. A fan replies: Sounds good… Any publishers lined-up, or is that much further down the line? (And any hints on the novelist’s identity?) And Lieber spills: No publishers lined up yet, but I guess there’s no reason to be coy. It’s Sean Stewart. He’s an s.f./fantasy writer, probably best known for GALVESTON, an amazing novel that won the World Fantasy Award in 2001. (Actually folks here might know him better as the story guy behind the webgame for the Spielberg film A.I.) He’s taken a serious interest in comics recently, and has a really good feel for how they work. ...

Now available, speaking of Warren Ellis: a sneak preview (original) of his upcoming hardcover graphic novel, Orbiter. It’s about a space shuttle disaster; it was written prior to the Columbia. There will be a paperback edition later.

If I still lived in San Francisco, I would go to Potlatch 12 this weekend. It looks distinctly like Readercon, an East Coast literary SF convention that started up after I left Boston. It seems to have good guests, there’s going to be a writer’s workship, it benefits Clarion West, and they make a good attempt to put panel notes online (original). Which is just so cool; I’ve always thought it’s a shame that SF cons don’t tend to preserve their panels. Wiser heads may realize that this is in fact a blessing.

Daniel Keys Moran is sharing his current novel in progress, The Sheriff of Shokes, on his forums (original). (If that link fails, try this.) You’ll have to register to read it. The Sheriff of Shokes is not set in the Continuing Time, but it is related. DKM explained this once (original). Who is this Moran person? He wrote four pretty good novels back in the late 80s and early 90s. You can get them today via QuietVision, and I recommend them. He’s one of the most graceful writers I’ve ever read, blessed and cursed with epic wit. Occasionally it gets in the way, but he’s just so much fun to read. ...

Well, I’m of three or four minds about this. OK, so Mike Meyers has struck a deal to do what he’s calling “film sampling.” I.e., he’s gonna insert himself or other actors into old movies. Remixes. See also Kung Pow. I want to see what Meyers does with this concept, cause I think he’s comedic gold, even after the last two Austin Powers flicks. But I hate the way the Variety story calls films “properties.” But I think that this sort of remixing will demonstrate the value of having more creative works in the public domain, since it’ll show what people can do given the right to edit. Except that Meyers isn’t gonna be working with public domain movies. And how the hell does this jibe with the whole ClearPlay issue? Are they really saying “It’s OK to screw with the director’s original vision as long as you own the rights to the movie.”? ...

Couple more Oscar tidbits: Donald Kaufman was nominated (along with his brother, Charlie) for Best Adapted Screenplay (original). That’s gotta be a first. Also, the meticulous kodi notes that none of the Best Picture nominees take place in the modern era. This shows that Miramax likes historicals. Joke! Except not really. Edit: fixed my gross misquote of kodi. I plead running out the door.

Surprisingly unobjectionable Oscar nominations this year. Yes, Two Towers more or less got stiffed. However, I’m rather glad to see Christopher Walken get a well-deserved nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and I’m glad to see John C. Reilly get the same on sentimental grounds even though I haven’t seen Chicago yet. (Note: Bill Condon wrote Chicago. Good talent involved in that there movie, and hey, Condon got nominated for Best Screenplay Adaptation!) I’m also very pleased about the Best Actor nods to Michael Caine and Nicholas Cage. And they noticed Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven. ...