Film Experience emperor Nathaniel R. has shined the “Reader’s Spotlight” on me and I am now famous throughout the land. Behold, my splendor:
“Imagine yourself as supreme empress of the cinema. What would you do?
I would…
- + Declare a moratorium on anything to do with superheros, vampires, or superhero vampires. (Exceptions may be given for pre-adolescent Swedish vampires and Lisbeth Salander.) Sequels would have to be justified in a five-page paper about what their purpose is beside the making of more money to be spent on more sequels.
- + Have Pixar lead workshops on Film 101 that are mandatory for any director, writer, or producer whose movies score in the red on Rotten Tomatoes or MetaCritic.
- + Take away all of Tim Burton’s CGI toys.
- + Double the budget of Focus Features (and appoint myself to their development department).
+ Bench Michael Bay and divert his money to Amy Pascal to produce several strong, smart, female-driven comedies.”
There’s more, including my thoughts on what Tarantino does better than anyone else, “When Harry Met Sally,” and red-headed women. He also asked who’d write the movie of my life (Tamara Jenkins) and who would play me in it (what’s that little girl from Curly Sue doing these days?) though that part of the Q&A didn’t make the cut. Check out what did here. And thanks again, Nathaniel!
Thanks to Nathaniel, I now have a second blog to come and visit!
Glad to see that you… you know, read. I just finished the first two novels by Saul Bellow – the two that he later disowned – and was trying to figure out what I might tackle next. To be honest, I was leaning a bit toward Franzen’s The Twenty-Seventh City, but I haven’t played classic-catchup in a while and my copy of Lord of the Flies is eyeballin’ me.
Thanks, Devin! I liked “The Twenty-Seventh City” but it’s near the bottom of my Franzen list — I’d say “Freedom,” “The Corrections,” and his book of essays “How to be Alone” are all superior works. Have you read any Michael Chabon? He’s another one of my favorites who writes in a similar vein (realism with a sense of humor).
I’ve read The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (because, for some reason, I feel inclined to read an author’s first novel before their “classic” or – in Chabon’s case – their Pulitzer Prize winner) and enjoyed it enough, though I know I should read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay or The Yiddish Policemen’s Union.
… and that sort of ties into my thinking behind reading The Twenty-Seventh City before The Corrections or any of what I’m told is Franzen’s superior work. It’s about the evolution of an author, I suppose. I like to at least get a feel for where they started. However, I’m starting to feel a bit too old for such a philosophy. There are just so many books I want to read, and not enough time.
So, what are you reading now?