This won't hurt a bit

How do you approach story?

Let us all get on the same page first. There is only like - what? 20 different stories? Maybe less? They can be told in different ways and venues - but they've all been done before.

So what is it that sets yours apart from everyone else's?

The way its told.

And - I guess - whether or not you're a good writer.

So you pick a story and see what you bring to it.

I've talked about this a bit before - in my rant on fractured narrative. I love to sit in a theater not knowing what the hell is going on and letting my brain piece by piece put the puzzle together until I've figured out what's going on.

And in my writing - I try to do the same. It usually results in an overplotted mess - but engaging nonetheless.

So two things.

First - a talk with Bill my Art Director. Bill is another kid - like me - who is white, but grew up in Asia. Don't know what that makes us other than screwed up. Nothing to do with Asia - mostly likely just due to us being weird.

Bill loves obscure art and foreign films. He searches out the craziest title and film you can find and watches them. He does this - because he completely redesigned the video store next to the Art Theater in our old town - and because he did it for free - they give him free movies for life.

Very nice! High Five!

And like all artists - Bill is a tortured soul. A 100 years ago - Bill would be in a cave somewhere - railing against the industrial age. Today, he's an art director in commercials railing against materialism.

Bill had just seen the Prestige. I had not. Bill wanted to talk about it. I did not. So we have not.

But I did bring up an interesting thing I read about Chris Nolan - the director. Chris Nolan is one of my favorites. Sure he did Batman Begins. And its great. But he also did Memento. One of THE great films. It is a slow burn of a movie that works its way under your skin - and when you finally get to the end expecting a triumph - it instead makes you reconsider everything and leaves you instead with a guilty commentary on the nature of sin and man.

I love this guy.

I loved Insomnia. Loved Batman Begins.

I had just read a snippet of an interview with Chris where he said that it used to be that you had to tell a story in the most straightforward manner possible. So that if a guy was watching it on TV and had to get up to answer the door and get a pizza - when he sat back down 10 minutes later - he could fit right back in.

Chris said you didn't need to do that anymore. And as storymakers - we had a lot of arrows in our quiver. Meaning - tell the story in the most interesting way possible.

Which brings us to the second thing.

Saw Prestige last night.

Good film. Not yet sure if I wanna saw great. Loved the look - crazy - since they shot the entire period film that is supposed to be in England - in Los Angeles. Great performances. Across the board. David Bowie as Telsa? Are you kidding me?

And a really cool story.

I know that Chris spends a lot of time - working a story from the back to the front - so that once you see the end - everything that came before it makes a lot of sense. I try to do the same thing. It's tough - like building a watch backwards. But he is brilliant at it.

And if you can do this and still have a heart left in the movie - you're a genius.

I believe he is.

I love magic. I love tricks. I really like the movie. It unfolds in a brilliant way - tells a fun story - and finishes nicely.

Didn't love it as much as his other films. Not sure why yet. But it is still a hell of a lot better than the Illusionist - and I'd have it up there in my top ten for the year.

But I'm still working through what didn't work for me.

Have you seen it? What ya think?

Oh yeah. Found out yesterday - I'm heading back to China next week. They wanted me to go to Germany after this trip - but I got out of it. Not that I didn't want to see Germany - more that I wanted to have a life. Geeze. It all happens so fast...

And here's something funny. Might meet a couple teen idols at the end of the month when I get back.

Time to make the donuts.