May Movie Madness (April Too)

Everything is closeups and tracking shots and dissolves, voiceovers and fast cuts and fade-outs. Film, in other words. Since 2009 started, I put fiction on hold (for the first time in my life, really) and started reading nothing but screenplays and filmmaker interviews. This means Spielberg, Spike, Woody, Lucas, Scorsese and Tarantino; Pulp Fiction, Magnolia, The Aviator, Eyes Wide Shut, Velvet Goldmine and Storytelling. I’ve got 25 pages of a screenplay done, the trick being to chase THE END down to 100 pages before revising the whole thing from the beginning for a second draft.

Tomorrow is payday, and I’m eyeing some DVD collections from the UK, just so I can get the English subtitles. (I could not finish Akira Kurosawa’s The Idiot weeks ago, almost three hours in black and white, Japanese with French subtitles.) So, this week will either be Viva Pedro – The Almodóvar Collection or The Luis Buñuel Collection. My accountant (a/k/a my darlin wife) informs me that the Canon DCR-HC38 MiniDV camcorder of my dreams will have to wait till May. Until then, I’ll be down at the Cinéma- thèque Française. If you’re around, here’s the best (IMHO) they have to offer:

The Velvet Underground and Nico – April 3
Alphaville – April 17
Rear Window – April 19
The Conversation – April 22
The Terminal – May 4
Carnal Knowledge – May 17
Sleeper – May 24