And all the men and women merely crew. Some observers would think this film shoot was completely under control. The set is perfect: pageant stage with balloons and sparkly ribbons, awards table with assorted trophies and crowns, an oversized check. In the ballroom next door, a makeup artist is stationed at her battalion of paints, […]
Tag Archives: film
Honor among truth tellers
Memory and truth are weird. The truth of a memory is weighted by the event and by the teller, given our own capacity to record facts and our own sense of what’s important about those facts. But when the story is told, its truth is weighed by a listener who has no way to judge […]
The undeciders
Maybe it makes more sense to a decider. I shot my wad on the way up to Bay City. We were closing in on lunch time, and I remembered a café near New Buffalo that I’d eaten at a few years ago. I didn’t have to actually make that decision, just suggest it. But when […]
Diary of a jib
It’s like I’m not even here. Today They brought me to a house. I won’t say He. To me, He no longer counts as a He. He—that is, They—carried my parts as if I were so much equipment. Throughout my assemblage, They blabbed to the AD. Nothing about how easily I went together, just silly chatter […]
The places we’ve been
Last night Jaws and I checked out more locations for the Charlie film. We went to one actual textbook store, because that’s where the story takes place, and one regular book store, because it seems like it would be easier to get a regular store to let us shoot there. But an academic sort of […]
Healthy! Easy! Quick! Delicious!
Baby Dumpling’s dad emailed, to tell me he and Mrs. Dumpling had found part of a recipe Mom had given them. They were cleaning out the Dumpling’s stroller, and stuck in the side were half the instructions for Mom’s pasta fazul. “We would love to make it, but it cuts off on the right margin,” […]
Closet organization
The first couple of times I lost a friendship, the pain was sharp and shocking and dramatic. But now I’m used to it. I understand that it’s part of the flow of life. It’s like clothes. If you don’t clear out the stuff you never wear, you won’t have room for anything new. Last night […]
How can I go to Australia when I can’t even call them on the phone?
I’m very happy about our film being in the festival, and I remember when we applied, thinking it would be the perfect excuse to see Australia. But now that, amazingly, it’s worked out, my ignorance may just be too much for me. Ignorance is fine when you have tons of money. You can get the […]
Jane and Jane
My friends K—and A— went to see Cary Fukunaga’s adaptation of Jane Eyre. I really wanted to go, but had my Battlestar Gallactica duties to attend to. However, it reminded me of my first-ever book review. Written in my diary when I was 11. Transcribed here, verbatim: April 20, 1974. Oh gosh I read a great […]
Some alternate realities aren’t alternate
I didn’t go to the Palm Sunday service at the big south side church. Instead, I stayed home and evaluated a bunch of mostly awful films for a festival. Some were really good, yours was brilliant, but most I just stared at. Angry that they were taking up my time. Waiting for the end. Then […]