Best Entertainment Blog - 2010 Weblog Awards.

Kid In The Front Row won the 'Best Entertainment Blog' award last night at the 2010 Weblog Awards, or the bloggies, as they're also known.

I always try to be a bit Woody Allen about awards; mumbling about how I'm 'interested in the work, not the awards' but in truth, I am really excited by this. It's great to know people are interested in the site and its content.

I started the blog because I struggled to relate to the cynicism and negativity which often permeates the industry. I was tired of talented people I know who feel polarized and oppressed in this line of work. My hope was to focus on all the things we can, will, and do achieve. The struggles of a young actress, the pain of being a writer who can't write, the kid alone in the cinema, the geek with glasses who gets ridiculed for liking old movies, the dude who gets talked down to by film snobs because he loves big action films -- these are the people I wanted to write about, and for, because they are something special. They know the joy of being alone in a cinema and the pain of a DVD getting stuck 34 minutes in. They are Kids In The Front Row.

Thanks for being here, thanks for voting, thanks for the award.

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The Oscars & My Woeful Predictions.

So, I gotta be honest, I've never actually watched the Oscar's. Sure, I love catching the odd acceptance speech on YouTube, but generally - I've never cared too much about them. Of course, that will change when I'm nominated for one - but until then, It's not a big deal for me.

However, a guy called Nick from http://www.vouchercodes.co.uk emailed me; and asked me to partake in a thing whereby a bunch of us film writers post predictions to our blogs, and tell everyone how wonderful the vouchercodes people are (they are wonderful, they have many discounts for amazon, play, etc -- and they may even cure terminal illnesses, I'm not sure), and in return - I stand the chance to win a heap of vouchers and whatnot if I get the most right. So how could I resist?

Here are my nominations. Bare in mind a) I haven't seen many of the films I've nominated b) I've also nominated films I didn't like, so no need to blast me for taste or for getting things obviously wrong -- you're right, I'm sure, I'm just playing the game.

Best Actor - Jeff Bridges

Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz

Lead Actress - Gabourey Sidibe

Supporting Actress - Maggie Gyllenhall

Animated Film - Up

Art Direction - Dr Parnussus

Cinematography - Avatar

Director - “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow

Documentary - “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith"

Editing - “Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke

Foreign - “A Prophet (Un Prophète)” France

Best Picture - Up In The Air

Visual Effects - Avatar

Writing Adapted - Up In The Air

Writing Original - A Serious Man

You can see other bloggers, journalists and filmy people's predictions here: http://www.vouchercodes.co.uk/competitions/oscar-predictions

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Patch Adams.

"So what now, huh? What do you want from me? Yeah I could do it [JUMP], we both know you wouldn't stop me.

So answer me, please. Tell me what you're doing. Okay; let's look at the logic, you create man. Man suffers enormous amounts of pain. Man dies. Heh, maybe you should have had just a few more brainstorming sessions prior to creation. You rested on the seventh day, maybe you should have spent that day on compassion. "

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Will Smith On Positive Thinking

This dude knows something.

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Let Your Inner Critic Do The Work

Your inner-critic, or your block, or whatever you want to call it -- he may call at the beginning of a screenplay, or in the middle, or months before you even get to the page. You never get to the page because there's a voice telling you that you suck. That you're talentless. That your script is bland/pointless/retarded/not-ready, etc.

And we take this voice to be the voice of God, most of the time. It talks, we stop. This inner-voice, it's a voice inside of you that believes it knows better. Whether this inner-critic turned up because of your parents, or a teacher, or because of the environment you're in or because you're just damn sure that hating yourself is the way to go; whatever the reasons, there is something you can do when the big ole' critic monster stops you. You can hand over the pen.

If there's a voice in my head that tells me "You're awful! Your ideas are cliche! Your characters are bland!" Well, then it sounds like this dude knows his stuff. So I've found a useful thing to do is to literally give him the pen.

As you're writing--- your critic may say..

Your characters aren't doing anything interesting.
You are not really a writer.
Wouldn't you be better off just browsing pictures of Sally Stinley on Facebook?
You're an idiot!
You need a real job. Everyone knows it. Everyone knows you're not a writer.
No-one will watch this.

If my critic was saying that, I would see that my inner-critic-monster-madman is a) PERSISTENT (with capitals), b) Clearly clued up on what a great script should be, c) Better than me.

Now of course, if you read any self-help-guru-new-age thingy on inner critics, or if you're in therapy, of course, you're not meant to believe your inner-critic is better than you, that would be pretty suicidal, literally. But for this exercise, go with me. Your critic is a persistent know-it-all who thinks he's better than you.

SO GIVE HIM YOUR KEYBOARD! Let the critic write.

a) Close your eyes - really feel that critical voice in your head.
b) Start saying things in his voice, become the voice, access that part of you.
c) Really let rip - scream about how talentless and pathetic you are.
d) Notice your body language - maybe act out this critic whilst looking in the mirror.
e) You will notice a confident person, with a body posture different to you, possibly quite intimidating.
f) Keep throwing those insults at yourself; but from the point of view of your inner-critic-madman.
g) Realise that this critic dude sure has persistence.
h) Decide whether this persistence is something that could aide you in your writing, maybe it's something you've been missing.
i) Now that you've accessed the critical maniac inside of you, now you really feel him, let him WRITE.
j) See what comes out! See what ends up on the page.

One of two things will happen.

a) The work will be genius -- The inner-critic is just a part of you that protects you. He's just a persistent worrier. If the work is genius, it's because you've turned his negativity into creativity.

b) The writing will STINK - In which case, from now on, you can tell your inner critic to SHUT UP because he has NO AUTHORITY OVER YOU AS HIS WRITING IS AWFUL!

After all this, take a breather. Maybe have a cup of tea. And when you're done, write up some ground rules for your inner critic.

a) If you have problems with my writing, you will tell me in a calm and friendly manner.
b) You are not allowed to insult me, only express concern and then ideas of how to improve.
c) If I am busy writing, please don't insult me mid-flow. Grab some crayons and do yourself some drawings. I'll let you know when I'm free.

Don't get taken over by your inner critic. Just realize it's a part of you, a part that isn't as authority and important as it likes to think.

One last thing you can do with your inner critic is have a laugh with it. Next time you feel that pressure in your head; as your stomach feels funny and the self-doubt creeps in as the voice says "you are not very good, people think you're awful" -- reply to the voice with "Excuse me, how would you feel if I spoke to you like that?" or "Who said you can speak?" Or even "take the day off!"

My inner-critic is telling me that this post is awful, that I'll be ridiculed. Maybe he's right, or maybe he just feels threatened.

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