The New Yorker’s Susan Orlean on the magic and mystery of writing

~ Mark

I also think if you’ve got writer’s block, you don’t have writer’s block. You have reporter’s block. You only are having trouble writing because you don’t actually yet know what you’re trying to say, and that usually means you don’t have enough information. That’s the signal to walk away from the keyboard, think about what it is that you don’t really know yet, and go do that reporting.

And also:

My father was really, really the author of my particular personality. He gave me a million different pieces of advice, but one that comes up all the time is: Anything that can be fixed with money isn’t worth crying over.

The New Yorker’s Susan Orlean on the magic and mystery of writing

That Ominous Pulse

~ Mark

I’ve noticed a few recent movies with electro-ish scores that feature some sort of pulse or buzz or building waves of raw sound. Not especially melodic, just a persistent, engulfing motif that swallows you up.

From *Upstream Color*, one of my favorite soundtrack moments in recent memory, “As If It Would Have A Universal And Memorable Ending”:

From *Gone Girl*, “Consummation”:

And recently in *Ex Machina*, there’s the last minute or so of “Hacking/Cutting”:

The last two especially remind me of the opening few seconds of Yeezus. I’m sure I’m missing some other good examples?

Ex Machina

~ Mark

Ex Machina. One of my favorites of the year so far. Oscar Isaac’s Nathan is awesome, flipping back and forth from intimidating to genial. He’s a brogrammer archetype. Excellent critique here of tech sexism and overreach. His overconfidence makes him too casual, flippant about the ethics. Domhnall Gleeson’s Caleb has his own blinders, about gender in particular. Some of the dialogue was tiresome. I wish they’d felt more courage to just let people talk, and let the audience get lost a bit (if needed) without preface and theory. On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised how they handled the ending. I’d imagined something more traditional. Loved it. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack for a couple weeks now. Good stuff.

2001: A Space Odyssey

~ Mark

I re-read Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and am glad I did. It was cooler than I remembered. Much of it is a bit cold and distant, like the movies, but still has some awestruck moments, and it’s fun to come back to something that I’ve seen four or five times and have such convenient visuals/memories for. If you like the movie, this is a natural complement.

The Town

~ Mark

The Town. This movie is so great. (Previously.) Follows that wonderful formula that Heat, uses: criminals + leader + wildcard teammate + romantic complication + the pressure to do just one more job = everything falling apart. Hall and Hamm’s characters seemed stronger on second viewing. Renner’s character? I can’t enough.

Doug MacRay: You can’t be up there killing people.

James Coughlin: Hey, you brought me.

Ida

~ Mark

Ida. It’s exceptionally lovely to look at. Black and white brings out the layers and textures and lighting. The boxy aspect ratio makes is a refreshing change too. I’m thinking it’s under-used these days. (Meek’s Cutoff is another recent example that does it well.) Story isn’t as invigorating as the visuals, but it packs a lot in and feels so much bigger than its minutes, in a good way.

The Martian

~ Mark

I read about half of Andy Weir’s The Martian, and then I bailed. DNF. Definitely enjoyed the thought process and survival engineering. Ultimately, I was hoping for some more narrative progress, more quickly. On to the next.

Peter Thiel on the Future of Innovation

~ Mark

Good stuff here. I appreciate the range and pace. It’s a little bit obnoxious, too, but better that than boring.

TYLER COWEN: It’s like Beach Boys music. Sounds optimistic on the surface but it’s deeply sad and melancholy.

And also:

PETER THIEL: I remember a professor once told me back in the ’80s that writing a book was more dangerous than having a child because you could always disown a child if it turned out badly.

And also:

PETER THIEL: I think often the smarter people are more prone to trendy, fashionable thinking because they can pick up on things, they can pick up on cues more easily, and so they’re even more trapped by it than people of average ability.

Etc.

Peter Thiel on the Future of Innovation

~ Mark

I was out on a trip recently, and had been away from home for two weeks. I missed it much more than I thought I would. But then I was finally on the plane again.

I find flights pretty relaxing in general, something about the ambient hum of brown noise from wind and engines, and just enough oxygen to keep your body functioning. I can grab some fitful sleep, here and there, but most of my time was spent watching movies, and the clock. I managed to doze off again for an hour or so near the end of the flight.

I woke up. Too groggy and loopy to think much, but I put my earphones in and put my music on shuffle. I slowly inch the window shade up and squint out as my eyes adjust. It was a fresh morning for me, late morning in California, and I was finally just one more leg away from home. I’d been over the Pacific for about 12 hours, and as our path broke the coastline of California, Fleetwood Mac’s “Sara” shuffles on. And then I’m all goosebumpy, smiling, welling up and spilling over with a few relieved, grateful tears. I have no idea what that tune is about, but sometimes a song and a moment just hit you like that. And as soon as I got back I started thinking about what other trips I’d like to take.

Furious 7

~ Mark

Furious 7. On the whole, much more of a soap opera than the previous movies. Or just opera. It’s grand, it’s sentimental. The series seemed to transition from heist flick into slightly more of a superhero ensemble piece. The mission and conflict is much more personal through and through, rather than practical.

The bus scene up there is not in any way ruined by the trailer. So much better than I thought. Other good stuff: I like how they set up and executed the staircase scene. And this one felt funnier than the previous ones. It’s a bit slighter and choppier in hindsight, but when I was watching they really played the whole range pretty well.

I also have to mention that it was difficult to watch at times, for real-life reasons. Seeing Paul Walker doing dangerous things in cars, knowing the circumstances of his death, made me a little uneasy. In the theatre it made me think of Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight. It’s all too easy to make those eerie parallels with the real world. I trust that this one, too, will be easier to watch again later, because you also get to see him just having fun with his fellow cast, enjoying this ride like we do.

Filed under: The Fast and the Furious. I guess I have to go back and re-watch all of them now.