Tea For Sarah

Sarah lives on the other side of the world, so went don't get to spend much time together.

She asked me to make up a story about us going for tea. I wrote this today on the tube between Stratford and Waterloo.

He smashed the device against the wall. "Fuck the iPad!" he declared. "Fuck the iPad" he screamed again, into air, because he was not currently able to tweet it.

He bolted from the room and turned up at Sarah's door a moment later.

She opened the door. "We're going to walk the fields," he told her. "I have work to do," she lied. "I only have an hour."

He was all pumped up on something, whatever it was, maybe dislodged neurons firing all crazy by mistake. "We're going for four days," he said. "I'm bringing my laptop", she replied. "Fuck the laptop!", he screamed, as he pelted it deep into her living room wall.

They left for an adventure, wondering how they would explain it or market it or rationalize it to friends later. It would be two days before they realised all that stuff didn't matter. This was between them and Mother Earth as they darted across endless fields, debating the world and its rules until they realised eventually that it has no rules.

They stumbled across farmers, walkers and dreamers. They had lunch with George and Anne who were exactly like them but thirty years their senior. Lunch was finished and off they screamed into the falling night.

They tiptoed across a silent mountain somewhere out there in the grand outdoors of the world when he turned sweetly to Sarah and said, "I want a tea". Her imagination sparkled at the thought and their minds became one, with all their neurons pointed directly towards the vague sense of a town ahead where maybe there was a tea waiting.

They stumbled down the darkened edges of the world, desperately in search of the magical tea. It was 3am and nobody would usually be drinking tea but life in these random days was proving anything was possible.

They landed in a sleeping town of pre-war housing and unexplainable floating auras and felt the tea was in reach.

They looked for clues of lights and laughter but nothing was to be found. The waves of tiredness crashed into them just as daylight rose and the cafe at the end of the world opened.

Marian welcomed them with open arms like they were the first visitors ever and maybe they were. When they asked for tea in quiet desperation, Marian, the Queen of Nowhere, nodded knowingly and quietly slipped away into the basement where the magical tea surely waited.

He looked at Sarah, wondering what all this meant. She looked at him, wondering where the tea was. His eyes danced across the window view, relaxed and dreaming of moving in to the tiny brown house that sat stubbornly outside like the soul survivor of a day all gone.

"Two teas", said Marian, as if it was the simplest sentence in the world.

They looked at her and smiled. And still there was one more day of endless adventure before they'd climb back into life, which eventually they did, but it was always different after that.

Care to share?

Tweet

Is GERALDINE CHAPLIN Talking About CHARLIE In 'The Impossible'?

I found Geraldine Chaplin's cameo in 'The Impossible' incredibly profound., and probably not for the reasons the filmmakers intended. 

Firstly, wow. She looked just like him. 

He left our world nearly 40 years ago, and he left our screens even further back than that. 

But here was Geraldine Chaplin in a disaster movie. And she's always, of course, had a similarity to her father. But in this scene, in her close up, it sent a chill down my spine. And then there was the dialogue. It's like he was with us, and she was talking about him. 

GERALDINE: Some of those stars, have been burnt out for a long long time. Did you know that? 

BOY: They're dead aren't they?

They're dead, but once they were so bright that their light is still travelling through space, we can still see them. 

How can you tell which ones are dead and which ones are not? 

Oh you can't, it's impossible. It's a beautiful mystery isn't it. 

And when she delivers that line, 'it's a beautiful mystery isn't it', she shakes her head and gets a little glimmer of light and wonder in her eyes which is so CHARLIE CHAPLIN. Wow. I sat there, in the midst of a movie which I didn't love - yet this moment, wow, it knocked my socks off. Charlie Chaplin, my biggest hero in the world; came alive once again, just for a moment, somehow, like some magical piece of alchemy --- Geraldine's face, the stars, the setting, the moment. 

Charlie came back for the tiniest moment, and it was wonderful.

Care to share?

Tweet

Recent Movie Playbook: Thoughts on Stuff I've Seen

Just saw 'Pitch Perfect' and loved it. For two hours I was able to believe acappella singing is the centre of the universe.

A good film does that, draws you into its world. You shut down the majority of your brain and body and let the cinema magicians take you on a magic ride.

I didn't get that ride with 'The Impossible'. I somehow didn't read the opening credit which mentioned that it was a 'true story'. So I spent the whole film in a liberal-idiot-rage, wondering why we were telling somebody else's story with white English people? 

And then at the end, I realised it was a true story.

That being said, it was still way too white and western. English people, Americans and a couple of Germans. The only moment when the locals got involved was to drag Naomi Watts across the broken town in a helpful yet scary way, with the camera lingering on Naomi to show her fear as this strange person from a land unknown dragged her around.

Helen Hunt has always been one of my favourite actresses, so it's delightful to see her in 'The Sessions' where she plays a sexual surrogate who comes across an unusual case; a man with polio who spends his time in an iron lung to keep him alive.

The film does things at its own pace, slowly gliding you into the story, keeping you glued with strong performances and the slow burning entanglements of the characters. And it's quietly funny, too.

'Silver Linings Playbook': I loved the performances. When was the last time you saw De Niro this good? Sure, a large part of it is the material -- but let's credit the man himself. His performance was full of vulnerability, it was almost scary to see our beloved De Niro like this. That's why it's easier to sell out and keep making 'Meet The Parents', because when you do roles with real depth, you put your legacy on the line, because there's every chance you'll be terrible and people will see the fraud that you are.

But De Niro is no fraud, he's the best there is. And Jennifer Lawrence is utterly compelling. Bradley Cooper is the perfect modern leading man. He's at his peak, and his next few films are crucial. 

I had big hopes for 'Hitchcock', but it's average at best. The icons of cinema are so intriguing to us all; that's why they make films like 'Chaplin' and 'My Week With Marilyn'. When these films are good, they get us a little bit closer to our cinematic heroes, whereas 'Hitchcock' plods along without having much of a point of view. Dare I say it's all a wee bit bland. 

I loved 'Argo'. Riveting! Who'd have ever predicted that Ben Affleck would turn out to be such a great director. 'Gone Baby Gone', 'The Town' and now 'Argo'; all fantastic!

Still haven't seen 'Beasts of the Southern Wild', and I was meant to see 'Life Of Pi' a few days back but the girl I was going with cancelled. Chances are she'll probably recover from the flu and then drag me to see it, so I'll let you know what I think. 

Final Thoughts:

•  Glad to see Helen Hunt with lots of upcoming projects. Seems she went quiet for a few years, I'm excited to see where her career takes her. 
•  Although I wasn't overly taken with 'Hitchcock', there is one masterful scene when the cinema audience are watching the first screening of 'Psycho', and he's waiting just outside the auditorium. I won't say no more, because I want you to see it, because it's a magical moment. I have no idea if it really happened, I sure hope it did!
•  Naomi Watts is a fantastic actress. 

• Is 'Silver Linings Playbook' really Best Picture worthy? For me, the performances are an A*, but the film overall is not quite up to that level. 
•  I'm taken with 'Pitch Perfect'. It was a blast! Just pure fun and silliness. My experience with it in the cinema was great! I was three rows from the front -- there were maybe twenty people in the cinema. Anyway, the things that I found hilarious were the exact things that three or four guys towards the back on the right hand side also found hilarious. Don't you love that, when only part of the audience loves the same stuff you do? It would be boring if we all laughed at the exact same moments. 

Care to share?

Tweet

How Many Special People Change?

We were all Oasis fans back then. It's not because they were great -- at least not on a technical level. It's because 'Wonderwall' was on the radio, and Liam had attitude, and we needed a soundtrack to our endless summers.

Right now, it feels like 'Gangnam Style' is viral just because it's viral, like it happened in a vacuum. But one day we'll look back and we'll see how beautifully it fit in with the moment, the culture, the experiences we were collectively going through at the time -- we just can't see it yet.

And to be young and English in the 90's, Oasis were your band. And sure, maybe you were one of those who preferred Blur, or was adamant that Liam couldn't sing. But if you were like that, you missed the point, we didn't care that Liam couldn't sing. It was about more than that.

Go visit an English pub and throw 'Don't Look Back In Anger' on the jukebox, we'll sing along to every word. And we'll have a little tear in our eye; we'll feel alive again, because that song is who we were.

'Champagne Supernova' was gibberish. What were they singing about? Nobody knows, but we all related to it.

When you're a kid, you don't realise you're a kid. You don't realise the feelings will pass. You don't realise that the daily dramas are not the be all. You think that Jenny not returning your phone call is the end of the world, you think falling out with Bradley because he wouldn't lend you a fiver is the biggest disaster in history.

And then you grow up.

But years later, you hear the records again. And the fall-out with Bradley still cuts deep. And Jenny was the most beautiful girl who ever existed and would it have been so hard for her to give you the time of day?

When you're young and stupid, you think every moment matters, until someone straightens you out and tells you to focus on doing something with your life. 

So you do something with your life. 

But you feel a little dead inside, because so much is gone. One day you're at a restaurant or a pub or you're walking past and old record store, and you hear it---- you hear who you were, where you've come from. You hear the voices of the people you haven't heard from in fifteen years. It hits you that those days were everything. We were kids and we loved Oasis, not for any reason other than because we just did.

Care to share?

Tweet

10 Tips for 2013

1. When considering whether to collaborate with someone, ask yourself this question: Do they have talent?. If the answer is no, you have no business being on that project.

2. Work with problem solvers. People who are eager to cross the finishing line. If someone is always stressed and drowning in trouble, you have no business working with them.

3. Set a start date. Set a finish date. Stick to it. This applies to everything from the big things, like production dates and festival entries, to the little things, like updating your Résumé, and emailing potential employers.

4. Engage in social media. Don't be afraid of it. Be sure to actually communicate with people. If you like their statuses, reply to their tweets and comment on their YouTube videos, they'll do the same for you when you're releasing your project.
 
5. But also, find time to get away from the computers and phones. It's hard to have genuine insight and originality when you are constantly taking in tidbits of information. Step away.

6. The problem isn't that you can't find a job, it's that you haven't honed your talent enough. Get better at what you do.

7. Practice every day (apart from allocated days off).

8. Read.

9. Remember that it's creativity! Not everything will be perfect. Some of it will absolutely suck. It's a learning curve, and one you can't avoid, not if you want to succeed.

10. Enjoy yourself.

Care to share?

Tweet