RandomCha

My brother bought me the COMPLETE Proust (‘In Search Of Lost Time’) for my birthday. How about that?! So I’m gonna dive in and start it this week. I figure that if I read one book a month, then I’ll finish the whole thing by March. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. Supposedly it makes for great autumn/winter reading.

Happy Birthday LILY TOMLIN!

Allergies are kicking me in the head this morning. However, I do have a fresh mug of Intelligentsia by my side … la Perla, organic Mexico. Makes it all bearable. And it should be slow today: everyone’s taking a long Labor Day weekend.

This evening sumsinnow is taking me to Orange for a belated birthday dinner. It’s BYO and I’ve picked out a nice bottle of wine: Capcanes Mas Donis.

TOP REASONS FOR BAD EDITING:

1 The director did not have a precise conception in either pre-production or on the set of WHAT THE FINAL SCENE WOULD LOOK LIKE ONSCREEN. If a director does not storyboard the scene, at least in their own head, it’s that much more likely that the final cut will be helter-skelter. Notable exception: the best moments in the best films of Cassavetes, where a rock-solid CONCEPTION of every moment aided the editor into assembling wildly different takes into a powerful final cut.

2 The director just DOES NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT AN EDITOR DOES. If he’s never cut a scene in his life, how can he possibly understand how it all comes together? There’s a reason why the phrase “We’ll fix it in post” is such a cliche. It’s the last refuge of a director who refuses to accept responsibility. Which leads to:

3 The director REFUSES TO OVERRIDE HIS EDITOR. If, for whatever reason, you’re stuck on a project with a flashcut-happy editor and you lack the confidence and/or wisdom to fight against that aesthetic, you’re going to be stuck with it.

4 THERE IS A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF HOW FILM COMEDY REALLY WORKS. A scene played out mostly without closeups and with minimal cuts, if it’s staged effectively, will always be FUNNIER than one with lots of cuts. I’m thinking in particular of the movie “Monster-In-Law” … okay, a terrible movie on a lot of fronts, but if some of the scenes had just been staged differently, with fewer cuts, it would have been much funnier.

5 MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO. If contemporary filmmakers are just imitating the crappy filmmakers of the past, ones who fell victim to the above examples, then it stands to reason that their own films will have the same problems.

Which restaurant has the best Crab Rangoon?

Look at this headline:

JON BENET CHARGES CRUMBLE UNDER DNA EVIDENCE

Umm, no. The charges crumble because Karr WASN’T EVEN IN COLORADO WHEN IT HAPPENED. Dude was on the east coast with his FAMILY for CHRISTMAS VACATION. Why the hell did anyone allow themselves to buy into this? Why didn’t the stupid cops even, umm, maybe DO A LITTLE INVESTIGATION before forking over taxpayer dollars to fly this creep back to the US from Thailand?

The mainstream media is so fucked up.

Just emailed my resume to the Reader …

Thanks chi_thirdrail for a great ‘L’ tour today!

Anyone interested in going to the Tuesday night lecture series this fall at the Siskel Film Center? Science Fiction Movies.