Monthly Archives: January 2014

Comics (Books, Not People Or Strips). Mostly.

I think I may have warned this ages ago, but I occasionally write about comic-related things. I’ll file them in their own category, so that anyone who is prone to eye-rolling (or who is just not a fan but is still cool about it) those posts will be easy to tune out.

(I’m working on a comic right now, so it’s a topic that I predict will keep popping up from time to time…)

Firstly, a random round up of things I’ve been meaning to post… Like this link from The Awl- How Much More Do Comic Books Cost Today?

And a couple of projects from actor-folk you may already be fans of:

Alyssa Milano has a new comic book project- Hacktivist

(This one is from BOOM! Studios… Anyone had any dealings with them as a creator?)

Taran Killam’s James Bond-style spoof The Illegitimates

And, of course, now public citizen Shia LaBeouf has had some creator issues of his own…

So, yeah, comic books. We’ll be back to screenplays tomorrow. After all, ladies need multiple revenue streams too, y’all.

 

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The Weekend Reader – January 24ish

A short and late list this week/end… But some really good reads:

1- A really interesting article from The Guardian on live theatre versus recorded broadcast of theatre productions. The article is really thoroughly thought out and well-written, but I’d like to dumb down its conclusions:

Not everyone lives in a place where live theatre is common. And not everyone can afford to travel to see theatre. Conversely, there are people who live in Brooklyn and never visit the Statue of Liberty. The stars aren’t always aligned for a live performance to meet an audience and, since we now live in an age where we can have live performances preserved, why does anyone feel the need to be an elitist prick about it?

2- An article from THR about Ride Along that seems pretty ho-hum, until you read the comments. There is a strange trend to break down movie demographics for films that appeal to women or minorities. Anyone know why that happens? Or if THR is more guilty than other outlets to do so?

3- The DGA, Lexi Alexander Getting Real and an Infographic. Women in Filmmaking at Sundance (via Indiewire) … I hate to say it, but the Sundance study seems to really lend some credibility to the hypothesis from many corners- including Lexi Alexander’s blog post- that women just aren’t given as much of a chance to work in Hollywood.

4- Yet another awesome ep of Scriptnotes. I know you’re probably already all over it but, in case you’re not, it was focused on female directors with guest Carolyn Strauss. Listen to it.

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Men We Love: Jon Hamm (for Hamm Club)

Duh. Of course we love Jon Hamm. We have eyes and ears… and even if we didn’t, we have a pulse. And I’m pretty sure everyone who has a pulse is a member of the Jon Hamm Fan Club (Hamm Club? Is that a thing? I’m trademarking it if no one else has…)

But, you ask yourself, what special reason do we have to love Jon Hamm  even more today? Well, mostly, for having lunch.

You see, Hamm Club President (not only the president, also a member) Mister Jon Hamm himself is auctioning off the chance to have lunch with him (via Charitybuzz) to benefit the Adrienne Shelly Foundation. In case you’re not familiar with the foundation, here’s the brief blurb from the auction page:

“Jon will lunch with the lucky winning bidder and a guest in New York City or Los Angeles, depending on his schedule, while helping to support women filmmakers through the Adrienne Shelly Foundation. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by!

Donated By: Jon Hamm”

It really doesn’t get any better than that.

(PS: To the winner of the auction: Please be sure to ask him if he’s cool with calling the fan club Hamm Club…)

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Unfortunately, this pitch does not have a starring role for Clive Warren. But it does have, well… I don’t really know what it does have going for it. But this makes me laugh. And, when you have to gather your nerve up to pitch, you need to keep in mind – no matter what you’re trying to pitch – that there is little to no chance that it will be as… um, convoluted (?) as “Bryan’s Brain”.

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The Weekend Reader – January 17ish

Sooooooo late… But I guess better late than never? Anyhow…

More soon!

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Pretty Funny Hamlets and Writing In Fruitvale Station

I have been terrible at updating this blog the past couple of weeks… You, of course, know the reason- too much writing work to do otherwise (the old blessing/curse Catch-22… The Weekly Reader will arrive tomorrow). But I was thinking about the Oscar noms and, as I sat down to write something, I instead procrastinated my way into reading this from John August. Needless to say, this is as eloquent as it gets. I have nothing to add, so just read it. I’ll wait.

My only beef is Fruitvale Station not being included in the Best Picture category. Admittedly, I haven’t yet seen all the nominated films and, while I’m sure they’re all equally worthy, I can’t believe there weren’t enough Academy members who were hit over the noggin with Fruitvale Station to get that one in.

I don’t vote, but if anyone who does wants to write it in, I think it would be a worthy campaign… Just sayin.

Honestly, I think Humphrey Bogart had the right idea about awards:

The only honest way to find the best actor would be to let everybody play Hamlet and let the best man win. Of course, you’d get some pretty funny Hamlets that way.

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The Weekend Reader – January 10ish

Apologies for the lateness of this weekend’s reader, but I had to take time out to lose my mind a bit about a certain magazine that has a very short memory… Ahem. Anyway:

Happy reading (and writing) this weekend!

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Seriously, ELLE? Do You Never Learn?

I actually don’t want to spend a lot of time (read: any time at all) talking about how women look. Between fat shaming and slut shaming and body image issues… oh man, I have completely lost track of why I’m supposed to hate myself.

My personal solution? I like myself. I deprive all the shaming industries of what they desire most- my self-loathing. But, I know not all women are so fortunate. So, we find ourselves here. Again.

ELLE MAGAZINE! WHAT ARE Y’ALL UP TO? I’M ASKING! FOR SERIOUS!

For the second time in six months, ELLE Magazine got real scurred about having a non-sample size woman on the cover. Note the distinction there- A woman, not a model. We should all know that high fashion is not reality. We should all know that professional models aren’t ever styled to look like actual human people. And you know who should know that better than anyone?

EVERYONE AT ELLE MAGAZINE.

The folks at ELLE seem allergic to women who don’t fit in their sample size designer closet. Come out of the closet, ELLE. (Yes, unironically.)

Note to ELLE: There are a bunch of real women out here- beautiful, strong, smart, talented and funny women- who know that sample size is not real size. To take it a step further, we are unafraid to see that reality reflected on the cover of magazines from time to time. If you’re taking time out to honour talented women or funny women, we know they’re not going to be the homogenized coat hangers with heads that usually appear on magazine covers. We’re big, strong people. (Yes, unironically.) We can take it.

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Meryl Streep Says What We Are All Thinking

Oh yeah she did.

Even better? She was giving an award to Emma Thompson at the time. Words could literally not be better than at that moment.

Vulture has the text of her speech in full. Read it.

And let us be thankful that we have Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep is not only an incredible actor, but an outspoken humanist. But Meryl Streep can say whatever she wants. She’s Meryl Streep, bitches.

(The origins of this post were brought to my attention by the lovely and talented Laurie Townsend, faithful blog reader and trusted peer. And just all-around good egg.)

 

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Do You Read The Articles You Publish, E!?

That punctuation is tricky to figure out- if something ends with an exclamation point and you have a questions regarding a BONEHEADED THING THEY PRINTED, what’s the proper etiquette?

I’m just gonna go with calling them on it. Hopefully, you have’t seen this.

In brief: Zooey Deschanel is on the cover of Elle Magazine Women in TV issue. In the article, she says lovely things like “If there’s one thing I’d like to graduate from, it’s girl-on-girl hate. I don’t believe in it.” and describes social media as being akin to “…the grown-up version of middle school nastiness…”

Now, I thought, that’s a bit harsh… But then I saw the writeup on the article via E!, including this:

“The New Girl actress joins Mindy Kaling, Amy Poehler and Allison Williams in being honored for her comedic skills (and, come on, good looks!).”

So her comedic skills aren’t really why she’s being honoured, then? And those other women, had they been homely as hedge fences, wouldn’t have been deserving of being celebrated either? Or is the inference that Elle wouldn’t bother to honour any woman, funny as she might be, if she were considered ugly?

Don’t get me wrong- I totally get the slavering froth pile that is E! and their desire for an LCD audience- but I’m not accepting that as an excuse. In an public forum, can a woman not do her job well and be recognized for it without how she looks entering into the conversation? Maybe a good question to ask yourselves, rather than being kind of idiotically sexist…

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