Month: August 2006

I see DWI

Writer guy

Haley Joel Osment, the wunderkind from the movie Sixth Sense faces some very unpleasant charges. Without ringing the apologist bell for a child star, his case suggests something more disturbing than legal problems.

Police arrested the It Boy of just a few session past, a competent actor who works regularly in decent pictures, after a car accident. Sounds like another child star gone bad so far, but there’s a twist. Haley was driving a 1995 Saturn.

This shocker might explain M. Night and Steven Spielberg’s enormous wealth. Their pictures make crazy bank, yet they pay the talent in crackerjacks and lollipops. An eleven year old Saturn? He might as well have been riding a Huffy. Note to his parents: Please get the I-see-dead-people kid a real paycheck and a car from this century. And fire his agent.

Speech

Writer guy

A friend is marrying this September 16th, and it’s time to write the Best Man speech, and start practicing. Ironically, I never considered myself Best Man material. More second string backup, than “The Guy”. You know, in the event groomsman number four tweaks out, break glass and call me. Groomsman on the spot. Now I’m entrusted with transporting someone twice my size to the ceremony in time. Fortunately he’s not a drinker, and no strip club runs are in the works. I believe a functional GPS will also help.

This reception will be one big bad mofo party, attendance wise. Last count was 175, and I believe that might prove a conservative number. Big families, lots of friends and tons of happy people want to wish the lucky couple a good start. And rightly so.

But what to say. What to say.

Talladega Nights

Writer guy

The Legend of Ricky Bobby met and exceeded my expectations. This is no mean feat, since there were lots of snippets in the trailers or circulating the Internet.

It might just be the hick in me — I was born in Kansas — but this is a great movie to laugh with. Films like this make the case for race car driving as the nation’s sport. After all, I’m not aware of any football stadiums that hold 200,000 people.

What works:
1) Cast – all skilled, all in the right place. Will Ferrell is da’Man!
2) Comedy – well executed and delivered. Not a clunker in the bunch.
3) Pacing – everything flows, no weak points.
4) Story – believable enough, and ridiculous in a good way.

Verdict: Funny film without being infantile. For NASCAR, comedy, or Will Ferrell fans — a must see. Theater or DVD purchase.

The End of Days

Writer guy

Tons of novel edits this weekend, no doubt a byproduct of the long, lazy summer reaching its end. Mornings are cooler, the air drier, and my patience, longer. Amen, my brothers and sisters. Fall knocks for thee.

On average, clearing about 15-20 pages a week. Some weeks net 15 brand new pages — like last weekend — while others involve heavy revisions of existing tracts. The watershed mark is page 250-260. Clear of that point, it’s about fine tuning existing material. But I am not there yet.

The last 2-5 pages will be completely rewritten, and it may take weeks to get that very last mile right. Which is reasonable, since beating the first 30 pages into submission made for one month of sheer madness. And the anniversary of that fest is two years ago this October. Enough writing already. Finish the book!