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The secret life of Walter Mitty and Her – Sundance FF

24 Friday Jan 2014

Posted by Floreva in Entertainemt, Movies

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Cinema, film festival, Script

Well, well, well….

With the academy awards ceremony just around the corner, it’s the right time to hit the theaters and enjoy the inventive movies on offer. Rather that rushing to see “The Wolf of Wall Street” (Scorcese with DiCaprio, based on a true story, what could possibly go wrong? I’ll watch that later), I’ve chosen “Walter Mitty and his secret life”, because the storyline sounded appealing, and there was no dissatisfaction .

The film is based on a 1939 short story by James Thurber.  While some changes have been made in regard of the original story, namely since the action in the book is wrapped tightly around Walter Mitty and a single event as trivial and unremarkable as accompanying his wife to the drugstore. He stays for a smoke outside the shop while she proceeds with the groceries’ list. The essence of Walter Mitty’s rich inner life and  feats is pretty much interestingly translated onto the screen. Ben Stiller does a remarkable composition, a pleasant mixture for a contemplative character made of grace and reserve, the plot is maybe not fantastically inventive, but it flows nicely and the ties are well tied together, interwoven with clues we grabbed along the road to his own journey into the real world. Haven’t we all day-dreamt of delivering punching line to people who are as annoying as a dickhead, or to rude people or haven’t we fought that with a bit of increased audacity we would have done or said something bound to lead to a better situation, and kept for ourselves for various reasons? Sometimes, though, the only alternative is to harness that audacity and just…. well, dive into the unknown, because it feels right.

It is also a refreshing film for three reasons ; firstly in the sense that the filming locations are not somewhere in the States, pretending to be that particular area in the world where the action is supposed to be taking place. The crew did film in several part of Iceland (but they did not film the Himalayan part in real Himalaya though but in Iceland too, namely in Longufjorur on the Snaefellsnes peninsula, still, the magic works).

It’s refreshing too because the crush he has for his colleague finds a quiet and gentle materialization when he firmly holds her hand, and we are spare the too-often -seen lip-crashing kiss plastered all over the screen since Top Gun (1986), in big scale, which since then made every kissing moment look like its always raw desire on steroids that both the protagonists seem to be able to either perform or want. So a little change is very welcome, and here the apparent shyness makes it for a gentle breeze without losing its powerful implication. Out of Africa (1985) was the embodiment of that elliptically shown strong desire, and it never felt less powerful that a close-up on naked bodies rummaging together on a bed, against a wall, on the floor, warlike, and seldom necessary in such length or numerous occurrence.

Thirdly, ( no offence, please) it felt refreshing to have locals playing the characters of locals, and not some American again playing the foreigners, much to the weariness of the (European, shall I write?) audience. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as a Greenlandic pilot is just perfect and he feels right too, just as the Chilean ship crew and the Icelandic/Greenlandic ship crew or the ticket agent (Rosamund Gundmundsdottir).

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is a very pleasant film, which provides an enduring feeling of lightness and happiness and a sense of joy, The photography is fantastic and that alone should have the movie being qualified for the Academy Awards, along with a  perfect script. Ben Stiller proves again that he is a real creative bloke, he acts in and directs here a great film, whose qualities will better with age. (Unlike the absurd “Arthur Newman” , 2012, in which Colin Firth and Emily Blunt unconvincingly play 2 American con artists, lost in their own identity and tediously trying to escape their miserably boring lives, 2 appealing British actors along with the somewhat inconsistent Anne Heche. Result : greatly annoying film full of wearisome cliches ).

“Her”

“Her” is a surprise, emphasing on the loneliness experienced by humans  dwelling in this modern techie urban habitat. We follow the life of Theodore Twombly whose job is to write love letters for people who lack either the ability, or the  time to do so. Theodore is a loner, still grieving over his lost relationship to his childhood sweetheart. He enrolls on a program providing humans with a personal OS, a virtual companion, able to learn and grow human like feelings. What ensues id crystal clear : he falls in love with the witty software, which improves so rapidly in the field of emotions and psychological understanding that their relationship becomes (strangely) intimate and emotionally accurate. Of course, what underlines the script is that no such relationship can exist, since we are humans, and no machine, as much sophistication it can get/operate/create/develop/have , can rival another human being because there is a moment when feelings and closeness need to find their physical expression and materialization through those trivial things but unbeaten yet : the skin, fingers, lips and eye locking into another step of intimacy, different and yet complementary to the closeness of soul, mind and spirit.

Here, Spike Jonze signs a question-raising film regarding our human condition, the loneliness we can experiment even when surrounded by fantastic tools of communications and technology enhancing or facilitating our everyday life. In the end, the moral of the story looks like : to experiment human contact and togetherness, joy in being reunited and this sense of “belonging”, the simplest thing to do is to ring a friend, drag them out of their flat, and together, closely seated in the warmth of human bond (love, friendship), contemplate the sunrise, rekindling with our human capacity to marvel at the simple joys Nature has to offer, and that can never be replaced, even by sophisticated machine. Steel can never have goose pimple, whereas the human body can  express inner emotions through various changes, in temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, change in color of the skin, breath and fluids exuding its pores or tear canals.

A modern tale, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, with a mustached Joaquin Phoenix.

Everybody’s gathering to Sundance FF!

I heard the other day over the radio Matt Damon and Glenn Close… I think this once alternative and indie-prone Film Fest seems to be gradually getting transplants and defectors  from Hollywood and getting to be contaminated by Hollywood stars and spirit…..Or is it? Anyway, I recommend RAINDANCE film Fest, and other Indie Film Fest, less known and yest more innovative and out of the big machine circuits…

So fellow film lovers, oddjobbers, check those FF and let us keep cinema ALSO indie.

So long,

Floreva

VISIONFEST
FILM FESTIVAL
New York, New York – USA
May 14 to 18, 2014

Hurry, Last Looks:
– L.A. COMEDY SHORTS
– Chicago International Movies and Music Festival
– Fort Myers Film Festival
Exciting Earlybirds:
– Vancouver International Film Festival
– Guanajuato International Film Festival
– Napa Valley Film Festival
Circuit Gems:
– OFF PLUS CAMERA International Festival of Independent Cinema
– deadCENTER Film Festival
– Sunscreen Film Festival
The 5th Annual New Media Film Festival
Based in Los Angeles, the New Media Film Festival celebrates the ever-changing world of new media. Declared “worth the entry fee” by MovieMaker Magazine and hailed for making “the cutting edge accessible” by Huffington Post, the festival accepts Web Series, 3D, Apps, Digital Comics, Machinima, Made on Mobile/Tablet, Music Videos, New Media, Scripts, Shorts, Shot on RED, 30-second pitches, Socially Responsible Content, and Trailers among other formats. The jury includes reps from Pixar, Fox, and The Caucus, among others. A total of $45K USD in awards will be presented at the festival this June. Join filmmakers from around the world, hear industry leaders, and network…submit today!

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Sante Fe Film Festival and upcoming film fest deadlines

04 Saturday Jan 2014

Posted by Floreva in Movies, Writing

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Tags

film, screenwriting, Script

Hello oddjobbers

new year means new set of resolutions and goals, excellence to strive for and schedules to be followed.

Image

Last year, I had the great opportunity (I worked  wisely to make it happen, though) to go to the Santa Fe film fest and I met several people, and discussed various topics related to filming, low/zero budget short films planning, production and so forth. I was invited to the wrap-up party and to date, this event is one of the most memorable events I’ve been too since I’m a US resident. Like many fellow harmony seekers, I have decided to set out a bunch of new resolutions (because health, work, achievements, personal bliss and family and friend  happiness are obvious resolutions to stick to, I don’t even mention that), and keep them in mind everyday during 2014 to follow through.

Since I’ve submitted script material to film fests, as a member, I happen to receive an update on every forthcoming film related events, fest, contests, etc. I’d like to post more about the subject, and I want to submit more material that I did last year.

I’ve gathered also information on a nearby Community Center to possibly enter a film-making program, whose founder and lead teacher  had his students qualify for Cannes film fest in 202 (and win!). I need my transcript and then I can proceed with the enrollment.

Ok ,so now that I’ve shared that with you there’s no turning back…

Here some film fest some of you might interested in, either to submit a doc, a short, a feature, a script.

Enjoy and best wishes!

ATHENS INTERNATIONAL (oscar qualifying)
FILM + VIDEO FESTIVAL
Athens, Ohio – USA
April 11 to 17, 2014

THE IRON MULE SHORT
COMEDY SCREENING SERIES
New York, New York – USA
Monthly Screening Series
Circuit Biggies and Oscar Opps:
– Los Angeles Film Festival
– Seattle International Film Festival
– Nashville Film Festival
– Aspen Shortsfest
– Bermuda International Film Festival
Regional Favorites:
– Sonoma International Film Festival
– Maui Film Festival
– Chicago Underground Film Festival
– Sarasota Film Festival
And More to Explore:
– The European Independent Film Festival
– Chicago International Movies and Music Festival
– Script Pipeline Great Idea Contests
– Rainier Independent Film Festival
Please click on each link to land on the film fest website.
Enjoy and good work!
F; inspired.

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How the Santa Fe Film Festival can boost the writing of a road movie.

05 Wednesday Dec 2012

Posted by Floreva in Movies, Places, Writing

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Cinema, contest, road movie, Santa Fe, Script, WITHOUTABOX, writing.

Dear readers, fellow oddjobbers , sharers of a glimpse of your thoughts about this world, providers of happiness,

This week end  a major event takes place, the Santa Fe Film Festival.

Many events take place  in the cinema field each week. But this one has a particular taste for me. because it’s Santa Fe (3 times in my life I have felt that good in a city, like you belong, ya know? : in London, in Darjeeling and in Santa Fe, I have no explanation).

And parallel to that, I was writing a script for a submission to the London Film Festival. A road movie. the two ideas merged eventually: why not setting the road movie in TX and NM? I mean, the story was already set, constructed, the characters have their back stories,  I already had written a good deal, the city of departure and the city of arrival had just not been chosen. So, why not a trip from Houston to Santa Fe?

A crazy idea cropped up : why not going up there with my car? You know, driving all the way, enjoy the scenery and the fabulous  landscapes, music blasting, in good company, chatting and laughing, sharing anecdotes, enjoying a rapid meal, before entering this wonderfully energetic city for a big event? And getting free, instant, real-life, consistent impressions for the script? Material readily available!

I very much enjoy a good road movie. The unity of time and space, the journeys, both internal and physical, the grandiose scenery, the confinement leading to confrontation before the resolution and the pacification can occur, has always been profoundly appealing to me.

At a party with friends, the subject of Santa Fe and the Film Festival hosted there came up, as they said they’d drive around New Year’ Eve to White Sands. Conversation drifted then to New Mexico. I didn’t remember the date of the festival, since I only took my subscription to WITHOUTABOX last September,  I only knew there is major Festival taking place there, and for instance, that “Brokeback Mountain” was presented there, among others. We all reckoned that Santa Fe has special vibes. It’s a magical city, and some of us agreed that it  had a relevant impact on our mind, or souls.

Parties like that boost one’s (that’s me, yes) energy & will to work harder, and to write more!!!

Anyway.

In November I received an alert via WITHOUTABOX (the interface I use for script submission for various contests) about the SFFF. I twitted about it. Got a RT from a director (thanks). And I thought i’d love to  see that. And I’ll drive. Houston-Santa Fe. I only needed a friend to share the road, the wheel, the fantastic Week End lying ahead, and a pure cinephilic moment. Plus this director presents his movie there. In Santa Fe. And he wished me safe travels to SFFF. (twitter, you do a great job).

Was I looking for another sign  to go there, to stop telling myself it was crazy to even think of going there, 15s hours, etc? There was the sign, bold, unmistakable.

And another thing : the hero in my script (begun 5 weeks previously) bears the same name as this director, only the spelling is slightly different. 

The film festival takes place just before my birthday. Festival is Dec 6-9; my b-day is the 10th.

So, I told myself : “that would be the most perfect and accurate B’day present, to go there, see amazing movies and shorts, feel the powerful energy of creativity bursting everywhere, meet interesting people, in the field I want to work more and more with and for…Big Spirit of the World, clear the path and make it happen!”

Yeah, really. Sometimes you got to manifest what your want, loudly and you must be convinced that it will happen. I was confident. I trusted myself to make the right choices and to be strong-willed.

It boosted my writing, I can tell you! I locate their stops and their venues on the map and with Google satellite photos, I feel I travel along with them.

I checked the feasibility, and bingo! Greenlight at every level.

In the meantime, the friend’s availability had been invalidated. Car trip seriously unmanageable.  So I checked flights, found one, booked a room and a car in Albuquerque. Bought my tix.

And so be it!

While doing so, I wished I could decide someone to join in at the last minute. Like : you go to a party, and  you say  : “I’ll go to Santa Fe tomorrow. – How nice? how lucky you are, I wish I could …- Interested? Join me! -OK!!!!”

Driving up there will be for another time, because, come on, it’s 15 hours’ drive. I’ll do it next time, with a car packed with friends as crazy as me for cinema. As it was also a bit short to organise it “impromptu”, (although I just love last-minute crazy ideas for a weekend).

The room I booked, for the SAME price could be either : one-queen-size bed (with kitchenette, easier for meals, you know) OR TWO king-size beds (with kitchenette).

Guess what I chose?

I was very much in the mood of sharing that moment with a good friend.

And I made that wish again : to go there with someone.

And it was granted. Impromtu. Last minute. Last Sunday, at lunch with wonderful friends.

You know that wonderful and terrifying moment when you say : “I go there, it’s crazy stuff to do, but… I’m doing it…Would you like to join me?”. And there goes the answer : “I’d love too! Let’s grab a ticket and …just.do.it”

You think your dream can come true, so  you set your mind on a particular frequency, your energy vibrates and bam! it happens. I have a sense that I am on the threshold of a new episode in my life, and I dedicate all my forces, my energy, my focus, my resources, my thoughts, to this achievement, this goal, this new path of fulfillment and of a deeper sense of happiness…

Guess what is the theme of this year’s SANTA FE FILM FESTIVAL?

DREAM AWAKE.

It could never have  been more suited.

Discipline your will, harness your dream and live the life you’re meant to live.

Keep your dream alive, but don’t let it slip through your hands, dear reader/writer.

Floreva, sending you positive energy AMAP (as much as possible)

I’ll post on SFFF later .

http://www.santafefilmfestival.com/

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DNA for dummies or Genetics and the screenwriter.

14 Friday Sep 2012

Posted by Floreva in Entertainemt, Movies, TV Series, Writing

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

DNA, Genetics, Inaccuracy, screenwriting, Script

Is it just me? Or are you, dear reader,  bothered too,  when a nice piece -TV series or movie- does not play DNA by the rules?

Namely, the color eyes chart. Especially, when it’s clearly said/showed/brought to our knowledge that NO foul actions or adultery/messing around have EVER occurred in the life of Madam since she’s married*? So?

So how come that THIS happens :

“(Recessive*) Blue eyes father + (Recessive) Blue eyes mother = Dominant** Brown eyes child “? The off-springs should have (Recessive) blue eyes.

Unless… The father has transmitted one (Dominant) Brown to the bundle of joy to, UNBEKNOWNST to the screenwriter. Or props were not properly stocked and the person in charge lacked those colored eye lenses. Too bad…

Maybe it’s just me. I probably shouldn’t have been so much attentive as a student in 8th grade, I suppose. Or is it only because I was just better in genetics than in geology, and the knowledge has sunk in deeper and is still there? [I confess : I took my (sweet) revenge in excelling at genetics whereas I sucked at geology, AND I was being taunted by my biology teacher because my father IS a geologist. No kidding,”why my cousin has blue eyes and mine are only hazel ?” bore much more appeal than “feldspars KAlSi3O8 – NaAlSi3O8 – CaAl2Si2O8″. And honestly, the sole interest I have in stones is when they are square-shaped, small, sparkling, red or blue, mounted on a golden ring]

*(in “Downton Abbey”, Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, his wife  Cora, Countess both blue-eyed produce two brown-eyed daughters -Lady Mary and Lady Laura, or in the episode “The Hide”  of the series “Foyle’s War” the boy is also affected of the same heritage; and some others I do not recall right now). 

**Recessive means it takes two of them lads to be strong, dominant means it is stronger, even on its own. It’s not me, it’s the law of Genetics. It’s possible to have blue inherited eyes if one of your parents is brown-eyed and the other blue-eyed, provided at the upper level (grand-parents) one of them had blue eyes too and had transmitted the Recessive gene to the younger generation. It means that the recessive (i.e. non-dominant) is stored in the genetic patrimony and express itself oddly and randomly with another recessive gene. 

Just as the script (and therefore, the show) must not bear historical inaccuracies, nor errors (such as  continuity, plot holes, factual, visible crew, revealing, characters, police cars plates changing every other episodes…),  it must get the DNA heritage done properly, don’t you think?

Super Screenwriter explains it better than me :

Super Screenwriter is a genius ©Floreva 2012

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