November 2004 Archives
Miyazaki's latest film set a new Japanese box office record: 1.5bn yen ($14.3m) in two days.
It's based on the children's book by Diana Wynne Jones.
(via Stan Boulder Dude)
Universal revised the release date for the film.
Joss sez:
"So what happened? Well, nothing terribly original. April got crowded with a lot of titles aimed at a similar demographic, and the studio decided September was a clearer corridor for the film to make the kind of impact it should. This isn't about a lack of confidence in the film. In fact, they told me this before they even saw it. And now they have seen it, and unless they're way better liars than I'm used to, they dug it. Actually, they dug it pretty large, which is a good sign, since there's not a single finished effect in the film. There's no reworking the end, no reshoots, no 'does it have to be in space?' It's just a marketing issue. Now you'll get to watch lots of trailers in the summer. And hopefully, by the time it comes out, other people, people who ain't us, will get a whiff of what we're up to and come along, too."
On the one hand -- okay, cool -- less competition.
On the other hand -- DAAAAAAAMMMMMNNN IT! We were just mentioning last night that it was exACTly five months to the release date.
Plus, now I have a 'collector' bumper sticker. :P
I've long been someone who uses a keyboard almost exclusively for writing work. I can write longhand passably enough (for my own purposes at any rate), but I've never really seen the point, since I know I'm just going to copy anything useful over to a digital format anyway. Why do the work twice -- unless you have to, as I did in London?
I've amended that stance somewhat.
1) I've discovered that I really enjoy writing longhand when I've got the time and no particular place to "be" with regard to writing. In other words, when I'm doing a little verbal meandering -- don't know exactly where I'm going and I just want to look around for awhile -- then longhand is just the thing. It lets my brain run out ahead a bit and see what's coming up next.
2) When I don't know where I'm going because the path ahead is dark and unknown, then longhand is just the thing -- it let's me explore slowly and take my time as I go.
3) When there's a big wall in the way, pen-on-paper is the tool I use to get it taken down, one brick at a time.
Eventually, I start to see where I'm going, though, and I have to set the pen down and hit the keyboard, because my longhand simply can't keep up when whatever I'm writing is really coming through at a good (even normal) clip. If I can't type at that point, it gets pretty frustrating and I'll even (horrible mistake!) starting editing things out of what I'm thinking of writing just so I can get it written down without going numb from the elbow down.
So: not 100% useful, but much more than I'd once have thought .
A Tattered Cover Book Store opened November 15, in Highlands Ranch... about four minutes from our house! Yay!
Translations for those who don't know: Tattered Cover is (I think) the largest independant U.S. book store west of the Mississippi. There are ... what? three stores? All in Colorado. They're cool, and there's one right next to our house. Again, Yay.
Jackie and I stopped in on Thursday evening or something like that to check it out and do our part to establish the business -- very nice atmosphere, very cool... it even smelled good. They're obviously still getting moved all the way in, but the place was well-populated with a mix of browsers, readers and buyers, and one would think that a smaller operation like TC would have done exhaustive research on store placement, so I think it's going to do well.
And, again... Yay.
A collection of essays: Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly, has Jane Espenson as one of the editors and features an essay by Jewel Staite.
Very weird and very cool with the Mira Furlan guest shot on Lost last night, and every indication she'll back to provide more CRAZY in later episodes. Took me forever to figure out who she was, partly because I didn't recognize her without the weird Delenn banana-clip-looking shell-thing attached to her head, and partly because I was having an inner-brain argument about whether or not it was a really skinnified Lena Olin, because the accents are kind of similar.
Finally read Red Harvest last night, which some think of as the far-more-complex inspiration to stories like Fistful of Dollars/Yojimbo.
Great story. Hell of a way with words. I love how Hammett can introduce an amazing character, use them for a couple chapters, then throw them away.
Just wish it hadn't kept me up until 2:30.
The second time you go see The Incredibles, watch for this:
Heard about Lost? Interested, but feel like you're too far behind to make sense of any of it?
Want a good laugh?
Cleolinda, she of Movies in 15 Minutes fame (and book deal!) has written recaps of all the shows.
They are complete, they are great, and they have all kinds of good extra stuff in them. They're so good that I even go and read them when I caught the episode (like calling up a friend after you've both seen the show so you can talk about it).
They are also, in a word, hilarious.
- 2004-09-22: Lost 1:1, "Pilot"
- 2004-09-29: Lost 1:2, "Pilot"
- 2004-10-06: Lost 1:3, "Tabula Rasa"
- 2004-10-13: Lost 1:4, "Walkabout"
- 2004-10-20: Lost 1:5, "White Rabbit"
- 2004-10-27: Lost 1:6, "House of the Rising Sun"
- 2004-11-03: Lost 1:7, "The Moth"
And she also does Veronica Mars recaps.
(Thanks to Julia for reminding me that I should link to these things.)
If you laughed OUT LOUD when the asthma medicine ad ran during Lost tonight.
***Dave and Margie, unfortunately, decided to watch Veronica Mars for the first time last night.
Damn shame that that was the first impression they got of the show. I said in his comments that it was a pretty bleh episode and likened it to Teacher's Pet from first-season Buffy, but after thinking about it, I realized that it wasn't as much a lame throwaway episode as it is a "drop mega-hints for the uber-plot" episode... which is almost worse.
The novelization of the movie will be out April 1 2005, three weeks before the movie is released.
I might end up picking it up just so I don't have to guess at the spelling of names and whatnot while adding things to the wiki.
Take Expectations
Double them. Raise them. Hope. Pray.
This is still better.
"Want to know how I lost my virginity? So do I."
-- Veronica Mars
(Link is spoileriffic if you haven't seen any episodes, but if you need validation from the LA Weekly to check a new show out, well...)
Veronica Mars, Tuesday, Nov. 2
Veronica investigates possible fraud in the election of student council president.
Oh, the timing of this episode. Too funny.
Dark Horizons: Finding That Feeling Of Serenity -- short article, but a few fun bits.
Regarding sequels:
Morena also told us, if the movie is successful, all nine actors are locked in.
I cannot emphasize this enough: If you can only go twice to this movie, go once on the first weekend and once on the second weekend -- that indicates staying power, above and beyond earning power. If a genre movie like this can break even on its budget (50 mil in this case) while it's still in theatres, then the studio can anticipate big profits in DVD sales. Basically, breaking even in the box office = sequels.
