-
We are all born mad. Some remain so.
Samuel Beckett is the type of dramatist that people love or hate. Some see his theatre as an elitist, alienating joke, while others view it as truth unveiled in minimalist simplicity. Here in Ireland there have been a huge number of events–on television, in the cinema, on the radio, in the theatres, and in exhibitions–this month to celebrate the centenary of Beckett’s birth. I’ve been dipping in and out of James Knowlson’s incredibly detailed biography of Beckett, Damned to Fame, which is very good. Last week Atom Egoyan, the Canadian film director, came to Galway to discuss his work in an afternoon lecture, and then introduce his version of Krapp’s…
-
back with a bang
The reason for my extended absence is that in March I was stricken with a nasty bout of RSI. There was only one cure: rest from the cause. Initially I thought I would go crazy when I was banned from the keyboard, but it’s been a useful evaluation period. It made me examine where my attention and time is directed. Since I will have to continue to monitor and restrict my computer use, so I want my time on the computer to be about the pursuit of my goals. This means that I’ll devote less time to blogging and frivolous browsing, and more to hard graft. I will continue to…
-
good men do nothing at Black Rock
Last night I watched Bad Day at Black Rock (1955) on TCM. Don McGuire and Millard Kaufman wrote the script, and it’s based on the Howard Breslin story “Bad Day At Hondo”. John Sturges helmed the film, a director that few people pay attention to any more even though he left a legacy of popular movies such as Gunfight at the OK Corral, The Old Man and the Sea, The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, Ice Station Zero, and The Eagle has Landed. Bad Day begins with the classic scenario beloved of Westerns: a stranger comes to town. In this case the stranger is John J. Macreedy (Spenser Tracy), a…
-
all the world’s a play
On Monday night I attended the premier of The Walworth Farce by Irish playwright Edna Walsh. It’s a Druid Theatre production, directed by Mikel Murfi, and starring Syan Blake, Denis Conway, Garrett Lombard and Aaron Monaghan. The play reminds me of a quote by Shakespeare from his excellent comedy, As you Like It: “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts,” I’ll note upfront that I don’t attend the theatre regularly, although it is an art form that I enjoy. There is much to like about The Walworth Farce,…
-
don’t answer your phone
In my recent web meanderings I stumbled across an excellent page that offers sound advice to writers: Ten Mistakes Writers Don’t See (But Can Easily Fix When They Do) by Pat Holt. Stop by and pick up some writing tips. Over the weekend I demolished Stephen King’s latest novel, Cell. I have a history with King books. As a kid I read all his early work but stopped at Misery. Actually, I planned to abandon King after It, because that very long book wore out my patience. I gave Misery a chance partly because it was so short–and I’m glad I did as the book is excellent. However, my wariness…
-
star light, star bright
I’ve been reading The Art of Dramatic Writing by Lajos Egri recently. It’s one of those books that writers tend to lavish praise upon, so it’s been on my “to read” list for some time. The first chapter on premise is particularly good, and pretty much echoes the conventional advice I’ve gleaned about how to start a project: make sure your premise (or concept) is solid. This is partly why the progress bar on the right has not advanced, because I’m worrying at my concept. I don’t want to advance further into the outline stage until I’m certain about my central concept. In the meantime I’ve written another piece of…
-
I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take this any more
Recently this blog has focused on discussing films I’ve watched, rather than examining my writing process. That’s because I’m viewing a lot of films and thinking about how they work, or don’t work, and what I can learn from them. I watch far more than I discuss; there isn’t enough time for me to detail everything I see on a daily basis. For instance I finally got to see Good Night, and Good Luck, the black and white film directed by George Clooney, and co-written by him and Grant Heslov. As most of the readers will know it focuses on the legendary US reporter, Edward R. Murrow, and his investigations…
-
it could be bunnies
Finally, I got around to watching Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. I had high expectations and I wasn’t let down; the film is utterly charming. I’ve been a big Wallace and Gromit fan since I saw The Wrong Trousers. I’ve always been entranced by Nick Park’s ability to convey emotion via plasticine models. The Penguin in The Wrong Trousers is evil, yet all it does is blink! Gromit can go from looking sad to scared with a subtle tweak of his unibrow. Park’s films are enchanting, entertaining and good natured even when there’s tension in the scenes. It’s a very British kind of humour: cups of tea,…
-
dialogue is not uncinematic
Last night our screenwriting group watched the black and white classic 12 Angry Men (1957)–which was directed by Sidney Lumet, and written by Reginald Rose. Afterwards we had a great discussion about a variety of subjects, including what makes one project work for television but not for cinema, and vice versa. What’s lovely about our group is that when we don’t have material to assess we like to mix things up. So we can watch a film, or examine a topic of interest, or, as in the case of our next meeting, go to the theatre to see a play. As I’ve said before, being able to spend time in…
-
illustrated stories
I may be doomed. For the first time I’m collecting a series of Superman comics. This 12-part non-continuity series, published bi-monthly, is titled All-star Superman, and is written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Frank Quitely. The Morrison/Quitely tag team have produced the goods in the past, most notably in the final volume of the The Invisibles, as well as for my favourite mini-series of last year: WE3 (it made me cry!). I’ve never been a massive fan of the Man of Steel, or “the boy scout” as Batman refers to him. Sure, I’ve seen the movies, and I’ve started to watch the current series of Smallville–in the past I…
