2005-02-22
It's time to make a difference. Start here.On an unrelated note, I'd like to take this opportunity to make public my loathing for Academy Award-nominated foreign language film, The Sea Inside. Fuck you, The Sea Inside.
Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty good film and Javier Bardem is his usual amazing Spanish self, but it's a movie about a quadreplegic and how much being paralyzed sucks not just for the victim, but for the victim's loved ones. This, unfortunately, is also the subject of my senior overview film, currently in post-production.
I'll have you know that even the SCRIPT of Somber Carolina, my film, PREDATES The Sea Inside. Thing is, I'm not internationally acclaimed director Alejandro Amenabar, so naturally I have more problems concerning getting movies made such as, oh, getting movies made. Ergo, compared to The Sea Inside's productive straight shot from concept to screen, my film's journey to fruition could be more aptly described as "the scenic route."
So in the grand tradition of Deep Impact being released prior to Armaggedon, Saving Private Ryan being released ahead of The Thin Red Line, and Psycho being released before Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of Psycho, The Sea Inside crossed the release finish line ahead of Somber Carolina, and now Somber Carolina is destined to become a pile of celluloid excrement. Why? Because The Shit Inside uses a LOT of the same plot and stylistic devices that I CAME UP WITH FIRST, DAMMIT! That's my shot of the feet hitting the floor! That's my surreal dream sequence! That's my tearful confession, Amenabar, you filthy Spanish HACK! I don't care if you made Abre Los Ojos and The Others, I came up with that stuff first and now it looks like I'm copying you! Do you have any idea how hard it is to have even a remotely original thought?! There aren't that many left! The well of innovation is running dry, I'm one thirsty motherfucker, and you stole my bucket!!! BUCKET!!!
So that's why I'm throwing my support to The Chorus to win Best Foreign Language Film this Sunday night. Because an Academy Award for The First Trimester Abortion of My Career Inside equals wider release to capitalize on the Oscar win. That means more people see that cripple film before my cripple film. That's how low I've sunk. I'm throwing my support to a French film. Guh.
Truth be told, I really don't care about the whole thing that much. Mulling over the effects that The Sea Inside will have on my half-hour 16MM film is totally unrealistic, and it really serves no other purpose than to make me feel big. Even though we're still only in the early stages of editing, Rob and I still know that we've got something special on our hands. Case in point comes when we get through the shots that make up the light middle act of the film and move into the tearjerker third act, and even though we haven't yet cut together any semblance of a story, the mood in the editing suite still turns just a but darker.
If the visceral reaction to the finished product mirrors that of the reaction to the raw footage, well hey. Alejandro can have his fucking Oscar.
Come to O'Leary's for karaoke on Saturday night. Benefit for the DJ who's suffering from prostate cancer. Promises to be a spectacular evening.
-Andy