This post was originally subtitled ‘January Update’, but, lo, here we are at the tail end of February. Shows how fast the year has gone already.
In case you’ve forgotten, to explain:
The Year of Creative Engagement (#yoce) will be my attempt to document my creative journey, put greater stock in accountability and output, while also showing what new work I’m reading or listening to.
I was busy preparing and teaching the blogging workshop at the start of the month and now I’m back to writing the novel. I’m focused on it, and this makes the days pass by even faster (luckily I’ve remembered all the school pickups). I clicked over 25K words on the novel and that’s a good number. Almost halfway there.
I’ve also written a poem or two – one you saw on Valentine’s Day, and the others are to enter here and there around the place, although I’ve had some rejections lately, so that’s been a test on my resilience!
So – to the movies. There’s been a few.
I’m not going to write a detailed, in-depth review of each of these movies – partly because the Internet is full of other critiques or examinations, and partly because I’m sure they do a better job than I currently have the time to devote to the task. But I do have opinions, starting with Deliverance. How it still has an R+ rating is beyond me, although I can see why it would’ve originally been given, back in the day. What I really want to do is track down the book it was based on.
Marty and Network were both written by legendary screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky, and he won Oscars for both. I didn’t like Marty – known mostly to me thanks to its reference in Quiz Show – but I loved Network, even though it was sad to see a clearly ailing William Holden, and Peter Finch died before he could accept his Oscar for his performance.
I turned off The Trip when it was at the three-quarter point or so. Steve and Rob’s impressions of famous actors are outstandingly funny and spot on, but I felt the movie relied too heavily on them as personalities without any substantial story to keep me interested. The same can almost be said – ironically enough – for I’m Still Here, although how close an impression Joaquin does of himself to the audience is not made clear (which is the whole point). I had to watch it from behind my hands at some points, especially when he was up on stage ‘rapping’. Cringe worthy!
Then there’s All That Jazz, which I liked for the dance numbers – even though I fast forwarded a few towards the end – and Roy Scheider, who I have a small crush on and just found out via Wikipedia passed away in 2008. He dies in this movie too, his big ole’ philandering heart couldn’t take showbiz any longer.
I put Scarface in here, but I’ve not watched it yet. I’ve got to put aside almost three hours! I didn’t realise it was so long.
What are you creating / consuming lately? How is it helping with your process, or are you using it as a procrastination tool? (Be honest!)
