Welcome

Hello and welcome to my blog.
I'll be voicing my thoughts and opinions on the creative process as well as other random topics that enter my mind. I can't promise to be entertaining or informative, but if you like genre fiction, movies, TV or comics then there should be something to interest you.
Any errors and foul language are my own.


Friday 1 July 2011

July already?

Well, yes. It is. half the year has gone, and I've been unemployed for almost 3 months now. When I was made redundant in April, I was tanned. Now summer's officially here, I'm sitting with a fleece on, doors and windows closed (although this may be due more to the dust flying around from the building work next door). Last night I was chilly. In bed.

Anyway, with this time of year comes the SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER, Hollywood's latest attempts to blow our minds (and the cinema's attempts to empty our bank accounts). I don't go to the cinema as much as I used to, mostly because I hate sitting listening to people talk amongst themselves - why they feel the need to pay a tenner so they can have a conversation in the dark in front of a huge screen is beyond me. I once said this to a group of people after watching The Blair Witch Project years ago, and they just looked at me like I was the insane person.

One of this year's summer blockbusters is Transformers 3. Admittedly, the trailer looked great in 3D (yes, I gave into that novelty to watch Thor. Decent film, and while the effects had their moments of brillaince, it did make me laugh when a cereal packet was placed in front of the actors to show the wonders of 3D), but it's not a film I'll be rushing out to see. I've seen the first one and it was more or less what I'd expected: er, transforming robots; that 'k k k k k k' sound; barely any plot; Megan Fox pouting; a big robot fight; an ending leading to an obvious sequel. Job done.

Yet so many were disappointed with it. What, you expected Shakespeare? It's a film about toys! For kids! Sit back, disengage brain, enjoy the spectacle for a couple of hours. Still, you could also argue that with the millions of dollars it cost to make, the film should have been better. Amazing effects do not a brilliant movie make, it didn't have the same theme as the cartoon, the audience shouldn't be considered dumb etc etc. Both sides have valid points.

And that's what's got me thinking, is there really such a thing as a bad movie? Of course there is, you're going to cry. I'd agree (films can be badly directed, badly acted, badly catered), but hear me out. What if, in 10 or 20 years time, the most moving, brilliant film ever is made. The director is asked "what was your inspiration?" He/she says "well, I saw Transformers when I was a kid and it was such a good idea executed so badly, it inspired me to do better." For, as we know, the best movie ever made will be sci-fi (but it'll take a lot to top Raiders Of The Lost Ark). Is it a bad movie if, in some tiny way, it inspires others to do better? I've often heard the saying, something is so bad it's good.

Yes, of course there's such a thing as a bad movie/book/TV show. What I'm trying to say is that they have their purpose. Greatness is there for us to emulate, while crap is there for us to rise above. And, even though some films/books are rubbish, they get made/published, and that's got to give us writers hope and inspiration, eh?

Well, that's me being philosophical, and hopefully articulate enough for you to get my point.
I know there may be varying degrees of 'bad', but I'm not going to to into that now. Instead, I'm off to Google a picture of a blue sky, enlarge and print, then tape it to my windows. Take that, crap weather!

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