As a followup to my post a few days ago, about the lack of creativity plaguing the film industry, I present this article from the AV Club

http://www.avclub.com/articles/guillermo-del-toro-loses-at-the-mountains-of-madne,52919/

So despite having what is by all reports a great script, Del Toro attached to direct, Tom Cruise to star, and James f-ing Cameron to make sure the 3D is good quality, they still can't risk making the film. Meanwhile, we get to look forward to "Battleship" polluting our theaters in 2012......

moderation

I love college. For all the obvious reasons, and some weird ones. Yesterday, I spent most of the afternoon watching basketball courtside, went to the gym, took my girlfriend to a nice dinner, and spent the rest of the night with her at a mardi gras party. Its not a bad life.
     But at that party, similar to many others, I couldn't help noticing the number of people staggering around, slumped over in corners, and generally acting like idiots. I'm certainly not a saint. My girlfriend was making fun of me this morning for emptying a punchbowl by myself (she's exaggerating. probably). The thing is, I remember everything I did last night, and none of it is particularly embarrassing. Well, my dancing might be, but thats a different problem.
       Part of this is from experience. I'm 22, and I've been to my share of booze parties. Going out just to drink is fun the first few times, but only the first few. The morning after tends to dampen whatever memories you have of the night anyways. Maybe I'm getting old, but staying out dancing with a stunning girl until dawn seems way more fun then passing out in a corner before midnight.
     I don't know if this is just my perception, but it seems like the kids who drink to excess are often the ones who lived at home during highschool. Its not so much the alcohol they're after as the thrill of doing something new and adult. Let's face it, getting seriously smashed isn't actually that much fun. The problem is that sheltered kids sometimes don't know that. They see their parents drinking at dinner and parties, and think that more is always better. I'm not trying to say that parents should let their underage children go wild, but forbidding something completely is the best way to make sure kids will overindulge as soon as they get it.
      I actually met my girlfriend at a party three years ago, right as I was transitioning away from the drink-everything-in-sight phase that ruined so many of my sundays. She was dancing with a couple of friends, when a guy who'd clearly been there for a while came up and tried to join in (can't fault his taste). He was a pretty belligerent drunk, and didn't take it well when they asked him to leave. Guys grinding on girls without an invitation is a serious pet peeve of mine, so I went up and persuaded him to go. Have to admit, I'd also been trying to think of a way to talk to her for the last hour. We did get to talking after that, then exchanging numbers, then leaving to walk along the charles and talk more.... You get the idea. Life lessons, gotta love them.
       Old saying I hear a lot when discussing college life: "Moderation in all things, including moderation." This is wisdom. Its' just a pity people ignore the first clause.

greed

First, go read this article by Bill Simmons of espn

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/110304

Done? Good. I'm a football fan, have been since my brother bounced a nerfball off my head 20 years ago. I know very little about the economic of sports, and I don't really care. All that matter is the patriots on tv every week. What I do know is this: the NFL has never been richer. Revenues are in the tens of billions every year. Half the owners are independent billionaires. Now let's go through some other facts.
      Roger Goodell claims to be concerned about player safety. He's made a giant show out of concussion awareness programs, new helmet technology etc. Yet one of the issues in the mess of a cba negotiation is the owner's desire for an 18 game season. Two more games, with greater ticket sales and increased revenues. Which they want the players to accept, even as their slice of the revenue pie goes down by one billion dollars. Two extra games of 300 pound men running into each other flat out, every hit carving a few more days off their lives.
      I'm not trying to write a sob story for professional athletes. They know what they're getting into, and are paid well for the physical risks. Rational adults can do what they want. I simply don't understand how the owners sleep at night. People had to watch the Superbowl in crowded basements because Jerry Jones tried to install more seats than his shiny new stadium could hold. This man and thirty of his ultra-rich pals are about to lock players out for more money. What the hell is wrong with the world?

a case for creativity

Every year, hollywood spends more money than I'll ever earn trying to figure out what audiences want. They conduct surveys, analyze market data, hold focus groups, and generally try to figure out how to fit square pegs in round holes. Over the last.... well, I was going to say few years, but let's be realistic here.... over the last few decades, the movie big-wigs have decided that the American public wants more of the same. This year, 2011, will see the highest number ever of remakes and sequels invading our theaters. Basically, studios have concluded that the public is too stupid to tolerate any kind of innovation or newness, and so are repeating themselves over and over. In a related story, the studios are full of idiots.

       Hollywood, let me do you a favor. If a movie looks like it sucks, people won't see it. If a movie looks awesome, people will see it. Analysis complete. 

       Best example- Inception, last summer. For people who don't spend as much time reading film blogs and such as I do, here's a little background. Inception was a giant passion project for Christopher Nolan, who you've probably heard of. The studio let him make it, on their dime, as a reward for the absurdly lucrative Batman movies, and as an enticement to make more. The industry thought it would be a flop, by being too complex, hard to follow, and not based on something that spawned ten crappy sequels since the 80's. (see: Halloween remakes) Instead, Inception was a huge critical hit, made tons of money, and has given Nolan a do-whatever-he-wants license for the next 20 years.

         The point here is this: audiences like being treated as if they have an iq over 50. Inception is incredibly complex. Its' also visually stunning, beautifully acted, and completely original. Knight and Day, which was thought to be much more commercially appealing, was a complete flop because audiences figured out quickly that it was a paint-by-numbers piece of crap.

        Obviously, not everything I'm saying here is always true. Some bad movies do make tons of money. But even in those cases, there's usually something artistically redeeming about the hits. Take the transformers movies, which feature the worst writing since.... since whatever Michael Bay did before that, I suppose. I'm not saying those are good films. But Bay is one hell of a visual director, and watching fifty foot robots toss each other around a forest still put goosebumps on my spine. Please, Hollywood, wake up. There are so many talented, creative people who can put your money to good use. And I think you'll find that true creativity is more profitable than endless regurgitation. 

ultra endurance

Most people haven't heard of Dean Karnazes. Ultra-running, the crazy uncle of marathoning and running clubs, is such a niche sport nobody can find it without looking. If you have time, google his name and take a look at what he's done. I won't recap it here, but suffice it to say the man's resume involves a lot of 100 mile runs. Personally, I'm not a runner. My sport, wrestling, involves maximum effort for six minutes. I've never run longer than an hour, and even that hurt like hell. The whole idea of staying on my feet. moving, for 24 hours is utterly incomprehensible. That's why I find ultra-running so fascinating. The human body is so much more capable than anyone realizes. Karnazes, one of the kings of his tiny sport, is preparing to run across the country in 75 days. That's 40-50 miles each day. Maybe seven hours, with nothing but music pulsing from earbuds and the road creeping up in front. The physical challenge is insane. The mental fatigue must be worse. It makes me wonder what else we're capable of. Everything's impossible until someone does it.