p.s.

did anyone see this trailer before DARK KNIGHT this weekend and leave a little confused?

rest assured, it's one of the greatest stories you've never heard of. and after watching the trailer (half a dozen times), i'm already convinced that they've nailed it.

if you have some spare reading time, it's a great little treat. check it out.

oh batman, my batman

i'll just say this:

i saw it thursday night and i've been reeling ever since. the more i think about it the more i continue to be absolutely floored.

and i can't wait to see it again. hopefully on IMAX this time...

WALL-E = GREAT-E

go see WALL-E. right now. it's amazing, with so much depth in every single frame.

if, for some reason, you're a dope and refuse to see it, or if you've already seen it and fell in love with the fantastic short before the flick, here it is for your viewing enjoyment:

PRESTO!

the new weezer album is fantastic

just thought you'd like to know...

freedom to fail

(from the last few pages of THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH)

"We would have been here much sooner if I hadn't made so many mistakes," said Milo. "I'm afraid it's all my fault."

"You must never feel badly about making mistakes," explained Reason quietly. "As long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons."

i really love that.

i spent a summer in college in the middle of nowhere kentucky with 10 guys in their 20s at a discipleship school taught by an ex-NBA player. i can't even begin to put here what i took from that summer, but one of the most important lessons he taught us was also probably his simplest:

we're free to fail.

too many times i've stopped myself from taking a risk because i'm afraid to fail, screw up and look stupid. and it has taken me absolutely nowhere.

it's in the times that i've taken a risk, fully aware that i'm bound to fail (and i do, over and over), that i really feel like i move forward and discover something about myself. and it only makes me want to take more risks and really figure out what i'm capable of. but it's only in facing the fear of failure that i can really step out a take a genuine risk.

so that's been on my mind this week. all from princess reason in the castle in the air. see? this is the kind of truth you can find in a great kids book.

this weekend, i'm...

reading this:

discovering photography

it's not that i didn't appreciate photography as much as i didn't really notice it...until i started shooting with my wife a little over a year ago.

and now i love it.

i really love shooting with mary and figuring out how to get different kinds of shots (even though i'm only allowed to use the least expensive, doesn't-always-work camera). but the best part is the challenge of it and always being ready for the exact second when you can capture that perfect moment.

i still can't say that i know what makes a "great" photo, but i know what i like.

and this is one photo i'm obsessed with:


we saw it at the met in NYC. it couldn't have been bigger than 8x10 and was in a room with dozens of other photos, but for some reason this one locked me in and i couldn't look away.

i think it's the mystery of it. the lighting immediately conveys something creepy and otherworldly, but who's that guy? and why is he standing there in the middle of the night?

within seconds, i immediately concocted a story about this guy: who he was and why he was standing there. and then i came up with another story, and then another. and now i'm even more intrigued, knowing that there's an endless supply of stories about this 1930s parisian dude.

ultimately, i think that's why i love photography. each and every picture is a story without constraints. it's an opportunity to explore my imagination and see where it takes me.

of course, it could be as simple as the fact that it shares an eerily similar look to the poster of the only movie that's ever scared me:


i didn't put this together until just now as i was blogging about it and just happened to remember this particular poster. that has to be intentional, right? oh, crap. now i'm kinda freaked out...

pedro sighting

mary and i hung out in the 'dena with andrew and lauren tonight.

there was a sighting of pedro (who was sporting some sweet highlights).



lauren may or may not have also spotted ann curry, but this has yet to be confirmed.

oh, and i watched THE MIST and it sucked. but my book keeps getting better and better.

this weekend, i'm...

watching this:

and reading this:


though not necessarily in that order.

that guy from that show

i just saw this guy at a random coffee shop in hollywood while hanging out with a couple of really impressive dudes.

that's all. i just feel like you should know these things.

school = done

so my post-college schooling is done. at least for now.

i'm taking away:

-a GINORMOUSLY better grasp on script structure
-more understanding of conflict
-better knowledge of protagonists (their flaws, what drives them, making sure something drives them in every scene)
-lots more technical stuff no one reading this will care about
-2 full-length feature scripts
-loads of contacts

was it worth the tuition/gas/car issues/commute/schedule overload/homework?

without a doubt.

and from this point on i will only recommend this program to people like me who are seeking out a screenwriting education but don't have time for grad school. it was an invaluable experience and i'm so glad i took the chance on it. and more than likely, i'll continue on another year in the advanced program.

oh, and the contest came and went. no love for my southern script. but honestly, i'm actually glad. really. it was a decent first "real" script (real, meaning i was actually educated along the way and not just winging it). and i like my spy kids script way better across the board. it still needs work, too, but i love that my writing is getting better and i wrote a full draft of a really fun script in just 8 weeks.

speaking of, anybody wanna read it?

yesterday, i...

lunched at one of bobby flay's joints, watched karl from LOST freaking dominate the stage in SPRING AWAKENING (which was unbelievable), looked on with hundreds of other new yorkers while some guy from brooklyn scaled the new york times builiding, browsed through some rare books at strand, got swindled out of $2 by the owner of some deli outside B&H and battled a legitimate new york mouse in ryan & britt's apartment all night.

top that, yo.

today, i...

went to my first yankees game, ate lunch at an unbelievably nice restaurant in trump tower, saw a comic book exibit at the met, walked through central park and sat next to a legitimate new york transvestite.

and i couldn't be happier...

LOST

last night was great, i thought.

except for that awkward conversation future jack and kate had near the beginning. it drives me crazy when characters tell each other what they already know. "hey, you remember that jeremy guy who said all that stuff?" "yeah" "he was crazy, remember?" "yeah" "and then he died" "oh yeah"

but the rest was sweet.

but not even close to how good this unused teleplay from the pilot would've been.

my brain is 11 years old

throughout the process of writing this latest script (an action/adventure kids spy flick), i'm continually blown away at how much fun i'm having and how easy it is to write the thing. why? i haven't really been able to figure it out.

then i saw this trailer last week. it's by the guy who did MONSTER HOUSE, a really, really great motion-capture flick from a couple of years ago. CITY OF EMBER is based on a kids book about an underground city and the kids that work together to find "the truth". and my first thought was: man, i wish i had written that.

then i started thinking about recent novels that i've really loved (HARRY POTTER, THE BOOK THIEF). and recent movies (MILLIONS, MONSTER HOUSE, THE INCREDIBLES, etc). then there's the fact that i'm unapologetically geeky over comic books.

and then it hit me: my creative brain is still 11 years old.

i was 11 when i first discovered, or at least, consciously recognized, the power of storytelling. it was JURASSIC PARK that did it for me. and i think that everything i've written or any stories i've thought about since have been a kind of recreation of the expectation, joy and excitement i felt when i first saw that movie.

is this my calling? i hate putting labels on my future like that because somehow God always ends up shifting everything around. but you know what? i don't think it'd be the worst thing if the only stories i write from this point on are skewed towards a younger audience.

so there you go. just thought you might want to know.

oh, while i'm thinking about it: go read THE BOOK THIEF right now. it's fantastic.