One of the few joys of trudging through the jungle of these internets is coming across some damn funny writing. In this case it's Steve Boone over at Spout who watches movies in a very unusual place with some unusual people

Without our movies, what have we got? A bunch of homeless guys with no more than a bag of clothes, some food stamps and dollar store toiletries each between us. There’s only so much shit-talking and communal daydreaming (typically about which beautiful celebrity we would treat to multiple orgasms) one can do in the downtime, the hours between 5pm and lights out. And we can’t bring women in here. And we keep forgetting to buy a cheap chess board. And the streets of East New York are no place to find non-lethal distraction. Gunfights every night.

Read it.

Here are some really great screen grabs from the classic film noir "Blast of Silence." Enjoy

Ricky Gervais has written and directed a new movie and he is blogging about it. Funny stuff.

Director Brian DePalma makes a good point speaking with Sean Axmaker at Greencine about his new film Redacted:

And I also think, certainly with digital storytelling, it's a new way to tell narrative, to create narrative. I've made a lot of movies and most narrative forms have been pretty much exhausted now. They do them on television, they've recycled every plot and character you can imagine, so now there are whole new ways to deal with story forms that are emerging in these bits on the web."

This is so true in many ways. Although traditional storytelling has been (and will be) around for ages, I can't help thinking that we need new ways to tell stories. The old ways just don't always hold the power  they should.  It could very well be that commerce has driven the medium to death and people are just plain tired of movies, television, and even books (the latter  do have a history, albeit small, of trying experimental naratives) The question then becomes is the market ready for new forms of narratives, even with the explosion of internet platforms like youtube, etc.?

I honestly don't know. I read a lot of experimental fiction and watch some experimental films, some of which works and some of which do not. What do you think? Will Aristotle and his rules of story be dethroned?

Wish I was talking about the WGA Strike but no. Jeff Wells' favorite still from PT Anderson's There Will be Blood.

When you are stuck in an LA traffic jam from hell and cursing yourself for coming to this god-forsaken town, remember this. Sweet. 

 Los Angeles, CA 3 AM

Need we say more? Watch it. (via ticklebooth)

Jed the Grip has an excellent blog about working in the industry here in the Grid: "The area around my and my suitemate's room has become the unofficial hangout spot in the crew housing after work. To solidify the mood, I swiped a swath of party gels and covered the hall and room lighting in club like colors. Blacked out the windows most offensively reminding us that we just worked from 4p-8am. Even the fridge light got pimped."

Here's a stanza from Charles Bukowski's "The Genius of the Crowd"

but there is genius in their hatred
there is enough genius in their hatred to kill you
to kill anybody
not wanting solitude
not understanding solitude
they will attempt to destroy anything
that differs from their own
not being able to create art
they will not understand art
they will consider their failure as creators
only as a failure of the world
not being able to love fully
they will believe your love incomplete
and then they will hate you
and their hatred will be perfect
Go here to read the whole thing.

Our Fearless Niteowl with a camera goes rambling through Hollywood 3AM the night before and after the Oscars. See behind the glitz, under the red carpet, and through the homeless children on the outskirts begging for your loose change. Yes, it's Hollywood 3AM.

For your daily dose of Industry Castor Oil pop over to I Find Your Lack of Faith Disturbing and remember to breathe through your nose as you spoon it down:

"Because if you think your job is to make a bad script good, or a good script great, or God forbid, a great script perfect, well...now you are a fucking idiot. These are quixotic quests, rarely achieved. And never achieved without the consent of the writer. (You can lead a monkey to water, but you can't make him amp up the stakes for the protagonist.)"

But there are two types of writers in Hollywood and I'm not here to guess who's one and who's the other. To put it simply there are those who fall in love with the johns and those who don't. The ones who don't are the ones who embrace the idea of the Infinite Monkey. They are catankerous, perennially defensive and passively antagonistic to their employers. They're fat and ugly and unshaven and if they've succeeded in the industry it's usually in spite of themselves.

They're usually miserable.

Then there are the screenwriters we rarely talk about: They're at every premiere and at every birthday party at the Chateau Marmont. Their Treos are packed with the home phone numbers of producers and their kids have weekend playdates with the kids of the newest VP. They shun the spirit of the sweatpants and at Hollywood's Ellis Island they are the first to shorten their name and remove the consecutive consonants. They're slim and pretty and shop at Fred Segal and are almost always more successful than the other Monkeys.

They're usually miserable."

Laugh like a Barrel full of Space Monkeys rolling down the H'Wood Hills.

No wonder she's a superstar. Did you and Mom make home movies like this? A variety of religions could not help but follow for M.Ciccone. Very, very weird clip. A cross between 60's soft porn, Bukake, and Home movies. Not a stretch I know but..Watch it. (Via boy culture)

Filmmakers of every hue, before you get lit up tomorrow night like a Christmas tree, take a moment to consider what projects you want to commit to getting done in '06. When old folks talk about time flying, they are not joking. Don't let your screenplay stay at page 13, your auditions slip by, your meetings go on without you, because before you know it 10 years will have went by just like that. LaughCalvin and HIT do not plan on drinking under a tree either in 06. (at least not for more than a fortnight) We are gonna bring you Actor Audition Clips, "Hollywood at 3am" and lots more. There will be time for self-doubt, criticisms, Hollywood parties, etc. but for now, find something you are crazy about and get it DONE. Here's to a creative, productive 2006!

This young lady does not seem to sure of globilization. Or is she wistfully jealous? Hard to say but it makes me feel funny about entertainment. BTW, that's Pam Anderson but you knew that already.

Wanna know what it is really like to work in film production in Hollywood? Peggy Archer can tell you.