Sunday, July 26, 2009

The WISH YOU WERE DEAD Promo Video

Here's what happens when a talented videographer/editor applies his craft. Great job, Jeff. Thanks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3CsV0Qw-HE

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Why GIVE A BOY A GUN Should Probably Not Become a Movie


Ever since GIVE A BOY A GUN was published in 2001 there have been (very) informal discussions and questions about the possibility of it becoming a movie. In general you’ve been leery about the possibility (not that it’s really been seriously broached by anyone in Hollywood) because you’re afraid it may be taken as an example rather than a warning.

For some reason that you can’t quite explain, you believe a book about school shootings is less likely to inspire someone to shoot than a movie. There just seems to be something about these stories becoming a movie that leads to a greater sense of reality.

Even though GIVE A BOY A GUN was published in 2000, queries from students and aspiring screen writers have remained pretty steady, and the work has been adapted for the stage several times.

But recently, since the success of THE WAVE movie throughout Europe last year, suggestions about a movie version of GIVE A BOY A GUN have increased. The idea still makes you nervous. This recent article in the New York Times does little to alleviate your concerns:


A 17-year-old Manhattan man has been arrested in the May 25 bombing of a
Starbucks coffee shop on the Upper East Side, and the explosion appears to have
been modeled on a scene from the 1999 film “Fight Club,” the authorities said on
Wednesday.

The predawn blast from an explosive device damaged a sidewalk bench and
shattered windows at the shop, at 1642 Third Avenue, at 92nd Street, but no one
was injured.

The teenager, Kyle Shore, of 250 West 27th Street in the Chelsea section of
Manhattan, was charged with arson, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal
mischief, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said at a news conference. He had
bragged to friends that he was responsible for the bombing, Mr. Kelly said, and
had started an underground fight club modeled on the one in the 1999 film, which
starred Brad Pitt and Edward Norton.

“His statements indicated he was launching his own Project Mayhem,” Mr. Kelly
said, referring to a plan in the movie, hatched by the protagonist of the film,
to sabotage corporations by destroying property. Mr. Shore had told a friend to
“watch the news on Memorial Day,” May 25, Mr. Kelly said.

Mr. Shore was arrested near his home, and the authorities found on him a DVD of
“Fight Club” and a box of sparklers — a type of handheld firework — as well as a
newspaper clipping reporting on the Starbucks bombing.

The point being that before THE FIGHT CLUB was a movie, it was a book.

Saturday, July 11, 2009

4th of July. Richie's photos

My friends Richie and Paula came up for the 4th and Richie took these photos of the display in Larchmont Harbor. Please click on them to get the full size.