Thursday Thirteen

I have a million things on my mind, so what better to do than relax for a few, listen to an old episode of Coverville, and play Thursday Thirteen. I apologize for the light text color. I'm on the computer all the time, but am mostly html and web design illiterate, so I have no idea how to fix that. If anyone wants to throw some tips my way, I'd be more than happy to try to figure it out. When I have time, that is. ;)

Thirteen Things about The Movie Monkey 1. I think I may be more excited to have a child than my wife at this point (quite a big flip-flop from even a year ago). None yet, though. :( 2. I'm going to be up all night for the next two nights directing and co-producing a short film, my first directing project in almost ten years. 3. I have the perfect sized bellybutton for collecting a lot of bellybutton lint. 4. I love plants and find it very cathartic to take care of them (though I don't spend nearly as much time doing so as I would like). 5. My dad used to have bird feeders all around our house in Steamboat when I was a kid. Now, I find myself putting birdfeeders everywhere and absolutely love seeing birds out there. Rosy finches, rock doves, sparrows, the occasional cactus wren. 6. I have a fascination with Komondors (the mop dogs) and would love to have one but probably never will for 2 reasons: 1) I'd feel guilty having a dog w/that much hair in Arizona where it's so hot, and 2) they require daily maintenance and that's too much for me. And 3) my allergies probably wouldn't deal well. (A little Spanish Inquisition moment there.) (Monty Python reference for those not in the know.) 7. I love licorice. Black, red, whatever. 8. Over the past month, I have become a HUGE fan of coverville (www.coverville.com). I've listened to all current episodes and have now gone back to listen to the first 138 episodes. I'm now listening to #9. 9. Guilty pleasure movie: Three Amigos. 10. I've recently become hooked to the TV show The Shield and can't wait for season 5 to start up. 11. My first moment in the limelight -- I was a featured extra in "Diagnosis Murder" back when they filmed it in Denver, CO. I was completely bald at the time (a phase I went through...) and was cast as a street punk. I got to lick a car window and make rude facial gestures at Victoria Rowell until Scott Baio, someone from my hood, told me to leave her alone. I also had great moments as "guy walking past a window" and "guy leaning on the car across the street." 12. I left my tech walk-through tonight (for my short film) at nearly 11pm and my friend Jason, with whom I carpooled, convinced me we should stop at Taco Bell. This is now the 2nd time in as many weeks in which he's convinced me to eat fast food after 10pm, something which I gave up pretty much after I left college. I feel gross and bloated, which will help me sleep I'm sure ;) and make me feel 110% tomorrow. :P 13. My mother is Australian and is a Legal Alien here in the US of A. When my sister and I were born, she registered us as dual citizens, so we both have citizenship in the US and Australia. It's pretty groovy having 2 passports and not feeling like I'm doing something wrong. One of these days, I'll have to post some of my old passport pics. They're pretty funny. Links to other Thursday Thirteens I have visited! 1. Just takes a minute 2. Snickerdoodles 3. Give Me Something To Sing About

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Still coming...

So I know I promised I'd get my Top 100 movies list out by 1/1/2006, but I've been swamped lately with this crazy little short film I'm working on. I have put together a list of about 150 movies that I'd consider for the top, so now I just need to whittle it down, put it in order, etc. My shoot is this weekend so after that, I'll be able to finish.
The short film is a very fun piece called "Romey and Jules" and it's a Romeo & Juliet tale told between a clown and a mime. It's tragic, funny, and has a happy ending for a change. When it's all said and done, I'll put a link up here for it so you can all watch it.
We had rehearsal last night -- our last one before the shoot. It went really well. It's only a cast of four, so it made it a bit easier. I haven't directed a narrative film in almost ten years, so I've been a little nervous. Still, after each rehearsal, I really feel like I'm in the right element and am thrilled. It's been a challenge because I've been working on other people's shoots for so long that I started doubting whether I still had the skills to helm a project of my own. But here I am doing it. I'm still nervous about our shoot tomorrow and Saturday, but once I'm there, I believe I'll get right back into it, just like riding a bike.

I have a great set of actors. They all fit their roles so well. My one fear has always been working with actors. I went to film school back in Colorado and the one thing they never really spent time on at CU-Boulder was working with actors. Needless to say, I always felt unprepared to work with them. So I've been reading a wonderful book, Directing Actors by Judith Weston, and it's really helping. It's giving me a lot of ideas. The biggest thing I've been learning is that any fear I have, I just have to jump in and confront it. It's the only way to improve. So I have been challenging myself with the actors, trying to come up with good direction, not result direction, and I'm getting there. I still have a ways to go but I feel we're all on the right track.

As I continue production on my short film, I'll try to keep posting blogs to keep track of what I'm doing, how I'm feeling, what I'm screwing up, etc.

Oh, one thing that did happen at rehearsal yesterday, I somehow managed to pinch a nerve in my lower back. It's not feeling too hot right now. Doh! Even after an epsom salt bath late last night. Ah well. Ice packs and heating pads here I come.

Hasta.

A taste of a Strange Brew, or trying to like bad 80s movies

So my buddy loaned me his DVD of Strange Brew. I had never seen it and he said I had to because it is so hilarious. This morning, I watched it. And thought it was awful. True, listening to Bob and Doug call each other a hoser is kinda funny, and seeing Max Von Sydow act with such gargantuan fake teeth wasn't something I was expecting and had me grinning every time I saw him, but it's just a bad movie overall.

Here is my theory about bad 80s movies, which I've slowly come to realize. These movies, if seen at the time, at the right age, and in the right frame of mind, are awesome. I can't tell you the movies I watched back in the 80s that I loved -- or really, I probably shouldn't because you won't want to read my blog anymore (My Stepmother Is an Alien should say it all...)

So this is why I like Three Amigos, Clue, The Man With One Red Shoe (though there's the Tom Hanks factor to that one -- I'll get into that another day), Volunteers (again the THF), Better Off Dead and even The Goonies (haven't seen that one since you were 13? Try renting it again.) And this is why I hate Strange Brew and Funny Farm, another awful movie a friend made me watch because it was so FUNNY.

But there are some like Up the Creek that, even though I liked it when I was a kid, now I realize is a complete load of doodoo. This, however, falls into the T&A category -- as a young and impressionable child, watching awful movies like this was just the form of entertainment a young pre-teen needed.

Anyway, those are my thoughts.

Until the next matinee.

TMM

Coming Soon... THE LIST

So welcome, all you bloggers out there. I'm FINALLY getting into the blogosphere and the air quality is what I've been looking for. Me likey. So first things first, time to fill you in a bit about moi. Seeing that my blog is going to focus on me, my love for movies, and my pursuit of a career in the industry, I'm going to start off with what I think is a great way to get to know someone -- my top 100 movies of all time.

I have a producer/development exec friend in LA. He started doing this when he was teaching a class. He would have every student, as their first assignment, list their 100 favorite movies. The first 50 had to be in numerical order, the remaining 50 just had to be in there. This, of course, is one of those assignments that is virtually impossible to do, or at least to do and have it remain the same in a few weeks. (Or a few days, or hours for that matter. How many times can you put any type of list together only to remember something shortly after you finish that HAS to be on it, so you have to revise the whole bloody thing?)

Regardless, I vow to put together my list of my 100 favorite movies as of the moment I publish them here. Through this, you will begin to glimpse just who exactly this Movie Monkey is.

And please, when the list is up, feel free to send me yours. Like I said, it's a great way to get to know people and to start up conversations. ("What was 'Mom and Dad Save the World' doing on your list? Any why don't you have 'The Warriors' anywhere?")

As tomorrow is Christmas Day for those who celebrate, I won't be working on it then, but you'd better believe I'll be working on it all week between Christmas and New Year's Day.

My only dilemma is I was brought onto a local indie feature as line producer and have to complete a breakdown of the script and schedule by Jan. 10th, plus I have a kooky little short film I'm directing/co-producing that we're shooting 1/6 and 1/7. So I'm obviously going to be busy the next 2 weeks.

Still, I made a promise. You'll have that list by 1/1/2006.

And now, off to bed or Santa won't be coming down my chimney.

Uh...

Guess I'd need a fireplace first.

Until later

MM

Let's Get It Started

Greetings from the jungle, all you crazy monkeys. It's time to get this blog started. Which I will do...



soon...