NOTTING HILL - Surreal But Nice

"The world is no longer a romantic place. Some of its people still are however, and therein lies the promise."

-John Cage, in 'Ally McBeal'

NOTTING HILL is a great movie. It's exactly what a romantic comedy should be. Of course, we don't call movies like this great because it's not very cool; and we're all too busy watching French New Wave masterpieces; but when it comes down to it -- there isn't much that's better better than watching a rom-com that resonates, which they can occasionally do.

Of course, we love movies that challenge us -- but we normally want those challenges to be a complex plot or a surprise ending; and we look down upon a challenge which might be, 'to believe in love' or 'to be swept away in a nice story,' which is strange because these things are actually quite rare. But when we let our guard down at 11pm on a Monday night and throw on a DVD like this, we normally enjoy it. Or maybe I'm just talking for myself.

'Notting Hill' is not a movie that tries to rock the world of cinema or redefine the rom-com genre, yet it is a great example of why, when it really comes down to it, there isn't much better than a comedy that makes us care. After-all; the problems and concerns of our lives don't tend to be based on gun chases and explosions, sometimes we really just need to see two beautiful people falling in love; because it can give us hope.

We can all relate to William Thacker and Anna Scott. We're all either hoping for something more exciting to come along, or something to protect us from all the crazy madness going on. We can project all of that onto these characters as we indulge in their journey for two hours.

And that's essentially what a rom-com is; watching people live out our romantic fantasies a little more interestingly that we do in reality. In the movies, they climb into out-of-bounds-gardens with 'When You Say Nothing At All' on the soundtrack, whereas in reality a romance is sending a text message and waiting six hours for a response. In the movies, they meet at Rick's in Casablanca and get Sam to play it again, in real life we wait outside a bar in the rain while the one you were meeting is thirty minutes late because they just don't care about you as much as they would in the movies.

I always forget how much fun 'Notting Hill' is until I watch it again. The supporting cast are ALL absolutely HILARIOUS!

 So, yeah, I really like 'Notting Hill' and I'm sure some of you do, too, and many of you don't. What I like, is how old-fashioned it is. It's just a well told story, with some great comedic touches, and most importantly - a good heart. It doesn't try to overawe us with cleverness or impress us with coolness; it just feels real, and welcoming, like a good cup of English tea.

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The Project Of Yours That Lacks Clarity

What is the project that you've been avoiding for ten years? I think we all have that one elusive project that pops its head into your consciousness every now and then, but whenever you look at it closely you lose clarity and confidence.

Many of the films we see are created by people who made them as a way of avoiding a more personal and meaningful idea that they couldn't quite get to grips with, or feel confident about.

I thought maybe some of you might like to share a bit about your projects; where for today we will celebrate the almost forgotten, almost scary, always elusive ideas that sit somewhere just outside of our focus and full awareness.

By all means, don't give away your plot secrets; but maybe you can tell us something either about your project, or your experience of clarity, or lack thereof.

For me, I have always wanted to write a coming of age tale -- somewhere between 'Dawson's Creek' and 'Garden State,' but with a bit more at stake. The lack of clarity comes because: I find it difficult to really see why it's important (even though I know it is) and a critical voice says 'it'll be too touchy feely,' -- and, well I don't know what else, the clarity monkey makes my brain go foggy even thinking about it.

Your turn...

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The Best Of Neither Worlds

I am realizing that I don't rest, and I also don't work hard. When I'm working hard I'm dreaming of resting, and when I'm resting, I'm not resting at all; because I feel guilty for not doing anything. So my life goes like this..

Do some writing.... But keep flicking around on Facebook trying to get out of my brain.... Tell myself I need a break... put on a DVD.... realize I need to edit that video project..... Start editing.... Remember that I haven't read all the script contest entries yet..... read a script.... feel tired... decide to go to bed..... start getting pissed off that I haven't had a new script idea recently.... get up in middle of the night and bash out ten pages of a script... realise I need sleep... go to sleep.... wake up determined to do something amazing..... sit around feeling uninspired... write a blog post about how inspired I am... feel that I need to see my friends... arrange to see my friends..... keep emailing my film's producer whilst out with friends........

And so on! I am finding that I am not FULLY engaged in my creative work, because I always want to be doing NOTHING. But whenever the chance comes up to do nothing, I am determined to do EVERYTHING. 

So nothing gets done, and nothing gets-- errr, not done. And I've known this for a while but am realising now that, it's getting to the point where it could be a problem. 

I am realizing, of course, that both are important. But what is important, is to do them consciously. I need to allow myself to rest. That's what I am going to do tomorrow. I need to drink tea and see my friends and realize the value in those things. And I can even watch three movies back to back if I want to.

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The World In The Front Row

Talking with your friends about movies is always fun. But now, I have the privilege of talking to you, my online friends, who are literally from all over the world! And you all love cinema in such amazing ways. So exciting!

Judit is from Hungary but lives in London, and loves the great Hungarian work like the animations from the Pannon Filmstudió, and director's like Miklós Jancsó, Istvan Szabó and Nimród Antal. Dr. Sadiye Kuş is from Istanbul and thinks we should all watch "Bal" and "Vavien."

Lady Isis is from Bosnia and loves movies, especially the great Bosnian ones. Did you know Bruce Lee is an icon in Bosnia? Yellowgirl6 is from Israel and loves going to the cinema but prefers watching American movies, as most Israeli films are either about the army, or they're comedies, and she prefers horror and drama!

Désirée loves great Swedish movies but unfortunately there's not a lot of money in the industry there. She prefers watching movies in her home rather than going to the cinema, and she thinks Änglagård, Jägarna, Göta Kanal and Jalla are great examples of Swedish directors. Anna is also from Sweden, she loves Änglagård films but in general doesn't think that Swedish films are a good representation of the people. 

Allyn lives in Malaysia and has found films to be great teachers of moral values; things like respecting your elders and taking responsibility. Allyn says that Malaysian films are good but don't always live up to expectations! Jeanie Black Page lives in Seattle, USA, and would love for us all to visit the Seattle Film Festival, as apparently it's pretty good!

Dlaydii explained that some pretty amazing films have been made in Australia recently. Australians have a different kind of humour; and usually, the films made there represent the people quite well. Lucy is also from Australia but lives in China now, where she finds that the best films tend to be the ones that are low budget.

Cucipata is always travelling around; and has recently seen films in South America, North America, Spain, Germany and Luxumburg, "There is nothing like watching movies in their original language, much of the culture is lost in every translation."

Neon is from New Zealand and tells us that cinema is very important to the Kiwi's, and that when they make a good film, "we basically brand it on our forehead when we go overseas." Filmmusic100 is from the Phillipines but is currently living in Nevada. In the Phillipines she prefers watching Soap Operas, but in the USA prefers watching movies.

Mirette says Egyptian films are a big chunk of their culture and represent the country well, but would prefer if they used more effects. Tizzy is in the UK is a little frustrated by how cinemas are dominated by Hollywood blockbusters and by the fact that even the English films now tend to have a more glamorous American style.  When she can, she goes to a very small cinema built in the middle of some woodlands, and apparently it's very quaint. Maybe she'll get us some pictures!

Elle is from Switzerland, and doesn't have much to say about their movies -- as film is not a big part of their culture, but the good news is that their cinemas are very clean! 

Caterpillar is from India, where most people are movie buffs; and would also like us to know that films are made in every language that is spoken in India. Semi is also from India are refers to India beautifully as "the largest cinema watching and producing fraternity" and says "Cinema is our breathe, passion and life!!"

Robin is from Wisconsin, USA, and thinks that the cinemas there are a great place for a date, but would be a lot more happy if there were more anime films in the theaters. Cool.kid lives in Poland and loves Polanksi films and the films of Andrzej Wajda. 

Shruthi wrote me a wonderful email which gave me a great education in Indian cinema and in particular the Tamil film industry. "Did you know that Tamil film actors Namitha and Khushboo have temples built in their honour? Did you know that every Rajini film is preceeded by fans bursting firecrackers, pouring milk over a giant cutout of Rajini, throwing money at the screen when he makes his entrance in the film." Film is an important part of the culture where Shruthi lives, as she explains: "From the bangles we wear to the jewellery to the saree blouses to the make up, etc, a lot of it is taken from film."

Cinema is such a powerful thing, and it means different things to different people. Film is a unique experience for nations, cultures and individuals. How you watch a film in New York is different to how you watch a film in India. Yet, somehow, it's also exactly the same. I would love to hear more of your experiences, and feel free to email me images. 

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How We Fit In: The Future Of Our Art

A film is picture and sound, on a screen. That's it. That's all it takes. A Chaplin film was a man with a cane falling over in front of pretty girls. The most watched videos today are cats running into walls on Youtube, and big-breasted girls miming to music on the TV. 

Watching a cat running into a wall is only funny the first four times. And the Miley Cyrus video is no more interesting than the Rihanna one last year or the Britney Spears one before that, they're all the same but with a new pretty girl. And we can't do what Chaplin did because it's hard enough getting your best friend to watch a three minute Chaplin clip on Youtube, let alone your own variation.

But even so: It's just things we see and things we hear. That's all it takes. The power is with us; the storytellers. The writers, the directors, the producers, the actors. We share this enormous power to do what we want, to bring it out into the world. 

Look at this blog: I write about Jimmy Stewart and I write about my friend Henrietta and I write about making films with no money. This stuff isn't marketable, it's not part of a brand and it's not going to get me invited to the Oscars. But I have an audience, and it's growing every day, because people care about what I say, and because I care about what I say, and because I'm being honest, and truthful. And there are people like Mr London Street who write beautiful stories and people like Color Me Katie who inspire people with beautiful, exciting art. People respond because they bring meaning to the world. And they may only have a hundred readers, or two thousand, or ten thousand; but a few years ago they had fifty, or they had none. But people care about them now. They have longevity. They matter in people's lives. They'll be around for longer than the latest manufactured pop act and they'll mean more to people than the predictable action film I've already forgotten the name of.

We spend too much time being pissed at film studios who won't read our scripts, and director's who won't let us act properly, and investors who won't give us the money we need -- these are the wrong things to be focusing on. We need to be focusing on the bigger picture. We need to focus on the things that inspire us and the things that make us happy. If you love romance, why are you writing a 150 page script about car chases? Write a three minute film for YouTube about that girl you loved when you were fifteen. Why are you writing loads of three minute YouTube films when what you really want is to be making films like Woody Allen? We all gotta start, and we all gotta learn how to write and direct and act and design sets and do make-up and whatever it is that you want and have to do. But I think we keep getting sidetracked. We keep focusing on the problems; the fact our partner's want us to earn money, the fact the studios want some sex scenes, the fact the guy at the seminar said we need some action before page 4. How long have you been following this pattern? Is there something more you can do, to really do, what you want to do?

"You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition.  What you'll discover will be wonderful.  What you'll discover is yourself."

-Alan Alda

The Dogme films, a project started in Denmark - were about getting people to forget about money and forget about lighting and forget about special effects. Instead; they focused on telling stories. Some of them look like shit; they look like my Brother directed them. But they've got HEART, they've got TRUTH. They resonate. Just like the 'Mumblecore' movement in the USA. Some people hate them; they say they're just annoying white people moaning about their dating lives. But for some people, they're the best cinema in years; they RESONATE. They mean something. They mean everything.

The Dogme filmmakers and the Mumblecore filmmakers took control of things themselves. They made everything about story. About creating things that reflect who they are. If you try to write something marketable, or if you try to brand yourself as an actor; you're going to fail. Because it means nothing. People see through it. Your favorite writers, directors and actors; they aren't where they are because of their branding. They're there because they found themselves and brought out the essence of who they are into the world. A lot of us start from a place of bullshit and waste too much time there; constantly shifting and changing and trying to be 'edgy' enough or 'quirky' enough or 'sexy' enough. Did you get into this work to be quirky or did you get into it to be yourself? 

It's hard to be yourself at first. Why the fuck is this Elvis guy dancing around like an idiot? Why is this Spike Lee guy making films about black people? Why is this Chaplin fella falling over all the time? Why is Steve Martin's stand up really strange?  Why is that Twilight girl so moody?

“I would much rather have regrets about not doing what people said, than regretting not doing what my heart led me to and wondering what life had been like if I'd just been myself.”

 Brittany Renée 

Don't give all your power to the gatekeepers in Hollywood. They don't even know you exist. If you keep ringing them up and emailing their agents and begging them, they're gonna be fed up because they have no idea who you are. They haven't seen your ART, they haven't seen YOU, they've only seen the insane part of you that keeps begging and wanting and expecting. Go away and be yourself, find your audience, find your friends; and do the work. Make a movie. Make a screenplay. Make a cake. Make a cake, sell the cake, make a movie with the twenty dollars you made. 

It's not about getting agents and producers and studios and Spielberg to give you an opportunity. It's about giving them an opportunity. Because you've been working on your art for twenty years; and to show for it you've got a ton of people who go insane for what you do. 

Bruce Springsteen's Dad wanted him to join the army, Counting Crows toured coffee houses and washed dishes while all the record companies rejected them, the Farelly Brothers had their screenplay 'Dumb & Dumber' rejected by every studio and production company, Michael J Fox was told he was too small and too Canadian to make it in Hollywood. These people stuck at their art, they stayed true to who they are. And now they're major successes.

The world may seem like it's run by the people who greenlight superhero movies, and maybe it is. But meanwhile, there's a lot we can be doing and we don't need to feel oppressed, or depressed; or like outsiders. Instead, we can just make art and whether our audience is ten million people, or ten; that's exactly how it's meant to be right now and that's enough. Those ten people love you, and they're gonna tell all their friends, and their friends are gonna do the same.

"You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it."

-Robin Williams

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