Been eating like I’m going to the chair
I totally stole that phrase from our blog friend Annette, but if the binge fits–
I cannot believe what a child I am on trips like this. Thank goodness I’m only here for a week, because otherwise they’d have to roll me onto the plane tomorrow morning. I cannot BELIEVE how much junk food I’ve been able to pack away in such a short time, and since all I’ve done is sit for six to eight hours of movies every day, the whole situation is not pretty right now. I kid you not when I say I’ve eaten more in the past week than I have in the month leading up to it.
What is wrong with me??? I’m like a four-year-old, shoveling in a whole birthday cake, not realizing I’ll be sick for the next two days.
It’s not like when I go on a backpacking vacation, and come back feeling all lean and hard and healthy. This is one of those trips where I treat myself like veal–closed up in a small space, taking breaks only to eat more salty snacks and extra large cookies, because we must keep up our strength or how will we possibly make it through the next documentary and then that creepy thriller right after it?
Speaking of which, did see a VERY creepy thriller today called Joshua, about a boy who isn’t dealing so well with the fact that there’s a new baby sister. (Hint: You know a child is evil when he voluntarily constantly wears a tie.) My husband is not a big movie fan, so I’m very careful about what I take him to, on the theory that one bad experience will mean he won’t go for another six months. I was sort of cautious getting tickets to this one, because I know how desperately he hates being scared (one of our early dates was to see Cape Fear, and that turned out to not such a good idea). But I read some reviews of Joshua and thought it might be okay.
WRONG. I kept glancing at him all the way through, and I could see he was not having a good time. Then as soon as we got out of the theater I caught him taking his own pulse. Whoops. My mother, who will see practically any movie ever made, was a much better sport about it, although we all agreed it was not the happy, larky movie we meant to finish up our festival experience with today. So then we saw one more movie tonight, and that was depressing as hell, so the best I can say is that next year I’ll try again for the funny ones.
As I stood in line (at 6:30 AM) this morning, I was talking to the woman ahead of me about how I really did try this year to choose the happiest, potentially funniest movies I could find–you know, like Little Miss Sunshine, which played here last year. But out of all 18 that we saw, only 6 gave us some laughs. Somehow most of the movies we saw this year focused on one of two themes: psychotic, depressed women and depressingly aberrant sexual behavior. (For instance, I did not need to see the extended scene tonight with the guy coaxing a calf to . . . pleasure him. Yuck, yuck, yuck.)
Anyway, the woman ahead of me in line pointed out that the reason there are so few good comedies out there is that it’s much easier to make a drama than to make a comedy. And I happen to think that’s true. Don’t you?
Fleece Girl packing up, keeping the top button on her jeans undone, saying goodbye to Sundance for another year, and going home at the crack of dawn tomorrow to scoop up the dog and return to normal life, without Chex Mix and giant cookies and sitting in dark theaters from morning until night. But I’m definitely looking forward to all of it again next year. Even with the low percentage of happy stories, I’ve still come away inspired and refreshed and ready to go write my own movies, in addition to novels. I think that would be the happiest of careers for me. I love to write books and won’t ever give that up, but the movie addict in me would dearly love to see a bunch of actors and tech people employed one day simply because I wrote them a story. So now that I’ve finished my latest novel, I’m going home to work on my next screenplay.
And to stop eating like I’m going to the chair.
Technorati Tags: Sundance Film Festival, Movies, Films, Screenwriting, Writing, Publishing
January 28th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Like Donald Wolfit said - Dying is easy, comedy is hard.
Also, I dunno if you heard, but Little Miss Sunshine just won the best ensemble cast SAG award. I actually screamed out loud and threw my hands up when they announced it!!!
Ooh, how much would I love them to win the Best Picture Oscar… oooohhhhhh yea.
January 29th, 2007 at 6:23 am
I hadn’t heard that, Lizzie. Yay, Little Miss Sunshine!!!
January 29th, 2007 at 9:11 am
“it’s much easier to make a drama than to make a comedy. And I happen to think that’s true. Don’t you?”
No. Not for me, anyway. I struggle to tone down the humor in everything I write. Especially when I’m trying to write a dark book.
January 29th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
I find comedy overwhelming difficult.
I never attempt it.
We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it.
January 29th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
America is advanced citizenship.
January 29th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Exactly.
January 29th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Heather, here’s an idea: stop trying to write dark. Embrace the funny.
“it’s much easier to make a drama than to make a comedy. And I happen to think that’s true. Don’t you?”
Yes. Because sad stuff is sad for everyone. Sad is hardwired. It crosses cultural boundaries. There’s very little funny that is funny for everyone. Also, people tend to think that sad=deep much more readily than funny=deep.
January 29th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
heather thanks for speaking up. can we just agree that “good” is hard, be it drama or comedy. it’s a bit like pornography, “we know it when we see it”–ditto for “good literature”, “good movies”, what have you.
keep up with the dark side.
robin, drop and give me 20 (BOY’S push-ups)!
ps. i am so struggling with “ttw”–anyone out there similarly challenged? patrick, playoffs over, fess it up bro.
January 29th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
My name is Andrew Shepard, and I *am* the President.
January 29th, 2007 at 10:06 pm
I love that movie SO much. I’ve seen it about eighty-five times, and yet that scene we’re all quoting from can still make me cry every time.
Is it possible that’s my number two movie, right after Princess Bride? No, wait–it goes Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings, then American President. For now.
January 30th, 2007 at 7:02 am
So, American President is 5th?
(annette, I’m just going to fake it. Cliff notes say that the main characters are Henry and Claire. It’s timetravel which means there’s a killer robot, someone trapped in the past, someone who wants to stay in the past, someone in the past who has a history book from the future, and the comet empire is trying to dominate the earth by going back to the time when the first FTL drive was launched and then primordeal earth. And whales. There has to be whales.)
TTW - “Is this a kissing book?”
BTW - I’m pretty sure that there is a Football game remaining… I don’t know what they call it, but I think it’s pretty big.
January 30th, 2007 at 11:29 am
Lol, Diana.
My approach to writing dark is that I believe serious books need humor, too. I just have to control myself a lot more when writing them. One dimensional depression fests are not my cuppa.
I use humor to deal with tragedy and pain. That’s how I’m wired. I need moments of levity to keep sane.
And, I agree with Annette. Good is hard no matter what IT is.
January 30th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
more football?–damn!!! i feel like the endless loop episode on “lost”. football, it’s always the same game to me, playing, over and over and over again on my 50″ sony plasma, 24/7, day in day out, can’t escape…