RIP MCA

Obligatory Music Suggestions

Hey all,

Not much to post here, but I wanted to recommend some music for you guys to listen to. I can't say you WILL like this, but hell, there's at least a chance, right? Anyway, enjoy the selections below:

Shameless Self-Promotion

Just wanted to give a heads up and say that Missing, a short film I was involved with as a producer and co-director of photography, is now online. Check it out!

Less Television, More Rewards

I recently had to sever connections with one of my favorite shows ever, the American version of The Office. Even before Steve Carell left, I felt like the show was on its way out. There just wasn't much more you could do with the plot, and even though Season 7 did give me some entertainment at times, it wasn't on the same level as those past seasons that I love so dearly.

This brings me to another show I love dearly: The IT Crowd. A fairly brilliant Britcom that taps into the kind of humor that I find the most entertaining. Late last year, the creator announced that, after four seasons, the show would not be returning (except for a special or two to be announced at a later date). This was not a result of poor ratings or a lack of interest. In fact, both seem to be at their peak, with more and more people discovering the wonders of this show. So why stop now? Why put the brakes on something that could go on for season after season like The Office?

The reason was simple: he DIDN'T want it to go on forever and ever. He wanted it to end while it was still on top and while fans still treasured it instead of turning to it like a ritual. In short: he wanted to keep it special, which was something that I really respected. Too many shows get run into the ground due to their popularity and end up losing what made them special in the first place, which is sadly what happened with The Office.  By ending it now instead of Season 8 or 9, the show is now preserved as a whole rather than "those really good seasons" and "those really shitty seasons", and fans can go on loving the show, safe in the knowledge that it never sunk to the depths of TV hell.

It is here where I make my point. Television needs to start using the "less is more" mentality. Instead of forty episodes a season for however many seasons you can squeeze out, why not six episodes for four or five seasons? Obviously this wouldn't work for every show, but I can see how it would work for a lot of shows on TV right now. By making these shows a limited engagement, and by starting with an exit strategy in mind, you give people a reason to watch them. You give them the feeling that you're going to tell them a great story, and not an attempt to wring them dry for ratings. Viewers aren't stupid, and even if they flock to your show eight seasons in, in the back of their minds the wheels are turning, and they're starting to realize that you lost the story a long time ago.

End.

The Obligatory 2011 Favorite Films List

Confession: I did not go to the theater as much as I would have liked to this past year. Times were, as they say, tough. The long and short of it...I was broke. To say that there are worse things for a movie buff to be is an understatement, but I made the best of it. I did manage to see three of these films in the theater, and another five through various other means. That gives us eight films to work with, so here we go:

#8. Scream 4

While it may have been way below the original in terms of quality, Scream 4 was definitely a big improvement over Scream 2 and 3. I just hope that Scream 5 and 6 don't tarnish what might be a good start to a new trilogy.

#7. Cowboys & Aliens

A film called Cowboys & Aliens is a disappointment to critics? What a shock. This film did what it set out to do and that's all I asked of it. In terms of pure popcorn films, this one was one of the best in years.

#6. Hanna

While this film was a slight disappointment considering the degree of talent involved, it still managed to be fantastic at times and a real treat to watch. I definitely recommend checking it out at least once, even if the film doesn't quite live up to the hype.

#5. Insidious

After the fairly awful Dead Silence and disappointing Death Sentence, I wasn't sure if James Wan had another good film in him. Thankfully he proved me wrong with this Poltergeist for the 21st Century. Smart, creepy and surprisingly funny, this was an oasis in a desert of bad horror films that came out in 2011.

#4. Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes

I didn't expect much out of this film, as the marketing campaign made it look like a fairly generic apes vs. human kind of film. Color me surprised when it turned out to be a fairly deep film that actually managed to be better than all of the films that came before it! Yes, even better than Charlton Heston and those damn dirty apes!

#3. Paul

Pegg and Frost strike again! One of the few truly funny comedies of 2011, and a must watch for fans of those two crazy Brits!

#2. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Another confession: I expected this to be my number one pick of the year, so the fact that it's at number two is a bit surprising. That said, it's still a fantastic film that sits proudly next to David Fincher's other great films. This one is still out in theaters too, so go see it!

#1. Super 8

It's been a while since a film came along and reminded me of what I loved about childhood. Even though I never made Super 8 films (I was a Hi-8 child) or had run-ins with aliens, I connected with this film in a very personal way. It reflects that sense of wonder that we have as kids and tend to lose as we grow older. Although I saw some great films in 2011, none of them reached me the way this film did, so naturally I had to make it number one. It's just a great film all around, and a reminder that films can be magical even in this day and age.

Here's a list of the films I discovered (or rediscovered) and fell in love with in 2011:

24 Hour Party People

127 Hours

Blow Out

Control

Irreversible

Last Night (1998)

The Boat That Rocked

The Ten

Wet Hot American Summer

Wristcutters: A Love Story

Fucking hell!

It is now 2012. Twelve years after man was supposed to fall to the machines and apes were supposed to take over. Or something. This is not my first blog. In fact, this might be number three or four. Whenever I start one, I always assume that I'll keep it up, and I always let myself down. Two or three posts in, I realize that I'm just bitching about stuff in my life and I get incredibly depressed. This time, I'm changing things. I'm going to talk about stuff that interests me and try to keep the extremely personal stuff out of it. Interests change, but they rarely get as annoying as real life bullshit.

So let's have fun with this ol' blog of ours, won't we?