The Film I Always Go Back To: You've Got Mail

Today I'm running a blogathon called "The Film I Always Go Back To", - where bloggers write about the film they always find themselves re-visiting after stressful weeks, or messy break-ups, or maybe just because they love it so much. I will be sharing other blogs on this theme over the weekend through the Facebook Fan Page.

I love "You've Got Mail", I've seen it countless times. I've never really blogged about it, apart from the time I compared it to 'Sleepless In Seattle', but as I started to think about this blogathon I set up on the theme of 'The Film I Always Come Back To', it seemed to be the only choice that fit.

I think Nora Ephon is a wonderful director. There's no-one better at creating a warm and welcoming environment for two hours. I don't think any other director could make me enjoy a film about women cooking for two hours, but that's exactly what she did with 'Julie & Julia'.

'You've Got Mail' is about love in the modern age. It was made before Facebook and Twitter, but it's still in the same world. A world where we tweet and update statuses incessantly, and we like to believe it means something, or someone's listening. 'You've Got Mail' is the fantasy; that words over a computer can mean something. They can make people fall in love.

'You've Got Mail' paints a beautiful New York City; autumn leaves and beautiful cafes on the Upper West Side. It's a New York I believe in. It'd be 'cooler' for me to see NYC the way Scorcese does, or even Woody Allen; but the New York I love is the Nora Ephron version.

And I never thought about it until writing this article; but YGM is essentially about a corporate company fighting with an independent local store, which is basically what I blog about every day, maintaining a bit of 'The Shop Around The Corner' in a world dominated by the 'FOX Books' equivalent.

I like that films can be fun and have a sense of joy and romance. This film nails it. Too often films get self-conscious about being romantic, or they make the joy too big, like some daft Will Ferrell flick. 'You've Got Mail' just tells a good story, with engaging characters and memorable dialogue. The conflict between Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox is played perfectly by Hanks and Meg Ryan; two actors who have done their best since this film to steer clear of their natural talent for romantic comedies. Tom Hanks is masterful in this. He gets the recognition (deservedly) for films like 'Forrest Gump' and 'Saving Private Ryan', but here he has an ease and playfulness that is a pure delight to watch. Nobody can do this the way Hanks does. I just hope he does more of it-- because the smug-I'm-a-good-actor version of Hanks we've got since Da Vinci has been extremely disappointing.

I like rom-coms. And it's great when they're done right. Truth is, the indie films generally do it better (Before Sunrise, In Search Of A Midnight Kiss) but I think when it comes to big budget fare, Nora Ephron is the best there is. There's a lightness and sweetness to her work which we rarely see in film, or the world. And lightness ain't always so bad.

'You've Got Mail' is a delightful, humorous breeze; one of my favourite movies-- every time I watch it I sink into its version of New York. I love it.

If you write a blog and like the idea of this blogathon, please get involved! Write your version of "The Film I Always Go Back To" this weekend! Meanwhile, I also recommend watching "The Shop Around The Corner", the fantastic Ernst Lubitsch film that "You've Got Mail" was based on.

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ADAM DURITZ On The Struggle Between Art & Real Life

Adam Duritz, lead singer of Counting Crows, on that decision every artist has to make.

"We were all in bands then and we had shitty jobs, and we'd, y'know, wash dishes or work in record stores or wash windows by day, so we could be in a rock 'n roll band by night, y'know -- and it was after college and our friends were getting on with their lives. And they had good jobs--- well, boring jobs; but they made more money than we did and they had futures and we didn't. And there comes a point in the life of everyone in a rock 'n roll band when you have to decide, am I gonna do this with my life or am I gonna go and be in one of those other jobs, cause I can't deal with washing dishes anymore and I can't dig any more holes and I can't wash another window.

And there are those that go.

And those that stay.

And you walk out on the edge of the world and you balance yourself there for a little while, and you try and figure out which one you're gonna be.

And a lot of our friends are doing other things right now, and we're up here singing on this stage."

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Roald Dahl Quote On Writing From "Boy"

I've just re-read Roald Dahl's 'Boy' - the author's autobiographical tale of his often exciting, often painful childhood. The book is about his life from birth to eighteen. Most of the stories he shares are quite heartbreaking; the death of his Father, the constant canings from headteachers throughout his childhood, etc. But Dahl being Dahl, he is able to take you on an enchanting and beautiful journey, full of magic, mischief and mystery; just like in his children's books.

He only addresses his writing for one brief paragraph, near the end of the book; but he does what he is always magically able to do -- explain everything you feel and believe, whilst making you feel the pain and the joy of the subject all at the same time. 

"I began to realize how simple life could be if one had a regular routine to follow with fixed hours and a fixed salary and very little original thinking to do. The life of a writer is absolute hell compared with the life of a businessman. The writer has to force himself to work. He has to make his own hours and if he doesn't go to his desk at all there is nobody to scold him. If he is a writer of fiction he lives in a world of fear. Each new day demands new ideas and he can never be sure whether he is going to come up with them or not. Two hours of writing fiction leaves this particular writer absolutely drained. For those two hours he has been miles away, he has been somewhere else, in a different place with totally different people, and the effort of swimming back into normal surroundings is very great. It is almost a shock. The writer walks out of his workroom in a daze. He wants a drink. He needs it. It happens to be a fact that nearly every writer of fiction in the world drinks more whisky than is good for him. He does it to give himself faith, hope and courage. A person is a fool to become a writer. His only compensation is absolute freedom. He has no master except his own soul, and that, I am sure, is why he does it."

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Kid In The Wrong Row

It's funny how everyone fits in at school apart from all the ones who don't. How do you know you're a misfit, is it gradual, or do you know from day one?

When you're 12 and not cool, it's kind of painful. Cause everyone is laughing at jokes you don't find funny and everyone is talking to the girl but she just won't talk to you.

And for a while you're just nowhere, until you find out you're you. It's like a bolt at 15 when you realise you don't just like the movies you like but you think they're important. You'd die for them. Because when you're a kid in the wrong row you find what you love at 13 and you know it holds the secrets of the universe, and everyone else is just passing the time, but you're falling into your passions. I don't know why you're this way but you are.

And pretty soon you're 22 or 36 and you're still certain of who you are even though the world around you doesn't get it. But you live for it because it's what you believe in, it's why you get up in the morning.

You're a movie star or a painter or a writer and the world doesn't know it yet. You turn 46 or 28 and you're just being who you became at 13; because you are who you are and you love what you love. It's something you know that you can't quite explain and any day now you're going to capture it in a character or turn it into a lyric and finally you'll nail it. And everyone who never got you will find something out about themselves all because back when you were a kid you found out who you were and went a different way.

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CINEWORLD UNLIMITED PASS - Is It Worth It?

Here in the UK, one of our major cinema chains is Cineworld. They offer a pass, for £13.50 a month (or the one I have, £16.50 a month, which includes Central London cinemas) and in return for paying a monthly fee you get to see as many films as you want. Unlimited. You could go four times a day. Any Cineworld cinema.

Is it worth it? Well, the simple answer is: of course! It's fantastic! Unlimited movies for £16.50 a month! I'm in heaven!

But, it's not heaven. I mean, it's still the best deal in town. Especially in London town, when a trip to see a shit movie costs £15 (Odeon WEST END, peak time price: £15.65).

So, it is the best deal in town, and we should be thankful we have it. But it does have its limitations. Cineworld are a chain who put on the same films everywhere. Of course, they have to cater to everyone's needs -- and, unfortunately, most people want to see films like "Battle: Los Angeles", so it's everywhere. But so are all the others. Right now, "Lincoln Lawyer," "Hall Pass", "A Turtle's Tale" etc are showing in pretty much all of them. And as I look at all the Cineworld cinemas in the London area, and there are a lot of them, there are no surprises. Even with cinemas that are geographically pretty close -- they all mirror each other.

Once you've seen a couple of movies that you want to see and dodged a few that you don't, you have no choice. I admit, by this time, you've already "got your money's worth" as Cineworld Unlimited members like to say. But have you?

Before the passes; we used to go see movies we wanted to see. Maybe we'd go to the Apollo to see an indie flick, then we'd go see a documentary on the Screen On The Green, then we'd see a big blockbuster at an Odeon or a Cineworld. But now, after the slim-Cineworld-pickings are done; you're left wanting more. You're left wanting a good movie. A life altering movie.

But they're never shown at Cineworld.

£16.50 a month. It seems cheap. A great deal. And it is. But that's £198 a year ($318). That's a lot of money to give to a cinema chain, especially when you're essentially only getting access to the studio products and the well-marketed-indiewood flicks.

So you're down £200, and you still want to see good movies.

Of course it's still good value if you love movies and want to go see all the new releases every week. But how many people REALLY have viewing habits like that? Not many. Most people with these passes see two or three films a month just to feel they "got their money back".

You could see eighteen films a month at Cineworld and It'd only cost you £16.50 (or £13.50 outside Central London..). Now that's great. But if you saw eighteen films, it means you had to sit through "Faster" and "Furry Vengeance". But you're missing out on the incredible variety of films in London because you're beholden to your Unlimited card.

In summary; it's a great deal, and in so many ways, totally worth it. But most people buy it on the assumption that you're buying access to everything, but you're not. You're buying access to a part of it. And if you love films, like me, you'll find that you still go to a variety of cinemas, yet Cineworld own a piece of your bank account every single month. 

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I Need That Record!

I just watched the documentary I Need That Record! The Death (Or Possible Survival) Of The Independent Record Store. The film was full of great insight into the music industry, and art in general. Definitely worth checking out if you're into the things I'm into. Here are a few quotes that stuck out to me.

"In the space of the time we talked today, there'll be so much music made in the world, it'd be enough for us to listen to for the rest of our lives. So, if you have such a vast pool-- if you think about the history of music, how much music has been made-- you have such a vast pool of music to select from, to listen to, why leave it to people who have only their own profits at heart, to decide what you hear. So I just turn that shit right off."
-Ian Mackaye
Dischord Records

"Art has never been about mass culture - ever!"
-Glen Branca
Composer/Guitarist

"To me, when you're dealing with art, you have to remember that some of the things that run the deepest in the human psyche are the ones that take the longest to nurture."
-Lenny Kaye
Patti Smith Group
Guitarist

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Stages Of My Creativity

The 'Thinking' Stage

It's the one I'm in at the moment. I tend to be at my most prolific when I'm like this--- there's a constant stream of ideas bustling forth impatiently. I don't sleep very much and I can't really relax. I'm not really entering my imagination much-- the ideas just seem to be there, popping into my brain. It's as if my subconscious has been working on some ideas and proposals and now it's just printing them out, one after the other, and I have plenty of things to choose from.

The things I write/create in this state tend to be pretty good quality, but not my best; and often just a rehash of something I've done previously.

'The Dreaming Stage'

This is wonderful, when I can access it. When it's turned on I can just drift off into thought and imagine a new world. It can be a dream where I let go and am taken on a surprising journey by my mind, or it can be a purposeful journey I take; but I see it so vividly. When I imagine something in this state, I can see and feel everything and everyone in it. I write at my best in this state-- whether it's a screenplay or story or blog. But I have to be quick to capture it, because it soon fades.

'The Instant Flash Stage'

I'll just be walking down the road, and it's like a voice suddenly goes BOOM and says "Film idea! A murderer is proven innocent due to clocks going back an hour, meaning he was arrested thirty minutes before he committed the crime," or whatever, and I'll just KNOW I have to write it.

It might seem similar to the thinking stage-- but the thinking stage is more of a stream of so-so ideas. This stage, it's just a flash of something distinct and certain, and it is always something I find to be appealing to write. I think it's normally random and comedic when this happens, too. I'm not totally sure where the flashes come from but, I don't need to know. But they NEVER come when I'm thinking of writing or of ideas.

---There are other stages, I'll try and capture them and explain them when I experience them, if you find this interesting? Let me know!

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