The season finally begins

Have I written lately that I love my new chair?

I do, I really love it. I’m actually caressing parts of it. I know – that’s weird. I’m in a honeymoon period with - a chair. Let me continue for a sentence or two longer. When I stand up after a long day (like today), it doesn’t feel like I’m standing up after sitting at all. My body doesn’t require readjusting… I’m simply, standing now. This chair is awesome.

Okay, enough.

New season of ROME and EXTRAS began last night. It’s not television, it’s HBO. Pretty amazing stuff. Rome is one of those shows that will be appreciated more with time. Pretty much every choice they’ve made, I’ve approved. The last season ended with a gored and bloody Caesar gasping like a fish out of water staring at Brutus - as Brutus struggled with his conscience to stab him. When he finally does, Caesar gives him a look that says those words. But he doesn’t say them. He twitches and dies slowly on the senate floor in a pool of gore. It’s devastating. It’s Brilliant. This season opener had the funeral of Caesar. Rather than see the speeches that Brutus and Marc Antony make, we hear the plebs talk about them after the fact. Brilliant! Frame after frame of this show is artwork. Visually, almost any single shot could be frozen, blown up, and framed as a work of art. It’s some of the most beautiful cinematography I’ve seen.

EXTRAS is amazing on a different level. Ricky Gervais has made the comedy of humiliation an artform. The Office (the British version in particular) was amazing, but I can really relate to Extras much more closely. Of course it’s because I’m in the business upon which he’s commenting, and because, like The Office, it’s spot-on accurate. I will say that there are a few jokes that are strictly British. I smiled at one, a none-too-subtle jab at a comedian, though I didn’t specifically know who the comedian was. Had I known, I’m sure that smile would have been a laugh.

Moving on - Though a cough and frequent blowing of the nose remain, I’m finally well enough that I’m back to writing in a big way. This feels like the first day of the New Year. Everything till now has been a haze of feeling-crappy. Happy New Year everyone!

Today was a good day, and as day turns into evening, will hopefully continue to be. I hit a slight slow point – not lack of direction – just a slight dragging of interest, hence this quick entry.

The third act is undergoing another metamorphosis, the ruling having been made at a writer’s meeting about a month ago to ‘make it bigger’. Presently, it’s wordy, easily weighing ten pages too much, but it’s headed in the right direction. It’s certainly going to be ‘bigger’. The movie at this point is getting studio-picture size. I keep getting told not to worry about it, but the no-budget indie filmmaker in me is writing with a slightly dubious expression on his face. I’ve always written things in the past with the idea of having to find the money for them at some point. I have a pretty good idea of what’s easy to pull off, and what’s not. Blowing things up, for instance, is surprisingly inexpensive. A barroom brawl - not so inexpensive. Even now, as I’m re-writing this last act, I think, “well, if I framed it like this…”

This image will give you a slight inkling into the climactic battle. Just an inkling, cause trust me, there’s a lot more...