Monday, May 4, 2009

Writing exercises / The Room

My goal is 750 words per day. Think I can do it? I do. 750 words isn't all that much, especially when (like me) you're reading Tom Wolfe, and it takes DAYS to finish one article. My god, that man can go on.
Anyways, 750 words a day. I'm not saying I'm going to post the products here, but then again, maybe I will. If you have any topics to write about, any writing exercises, any ideas, let me know in the comments.
...and no, I'm not counting this as part of the 750 words. I filled my quota this morning.

And also. The Room. If you haven't seen it, you MUST. They have two copies of it at Pic A Flic, and from what I read, we're very lucky to have that. Because the film is independently distributed (by Mr. Wiseau, I believe), video stores have to be "approved" before they can buy copies of the film for rental purposes.
I'm not going to explain what The Room is to you, as many people have done it better than I can:
http://www.theroommovie.com/
http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-room,25723/
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20246031,00.html
http://www.youtube.com/results?orig_query=the+room&search_query=the+room+tommy+wiseau&orig_query_src=4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Room_(film)

...I just wish this film had been around when I was in film school, because everything we did wrong in those student films, they did wrong here too: plot holes, continuity errors, focus problems, scenes out of context, bad dubbing, overly dramatic lighting... this movie is BEAUTIFUL. And priceless. And best of all, it's SINCERE. Tommy Wiseau likes to say, now, that the film was intended to be a comedy. But once you see it, you'll know that's SO not true. What makes the film so priceless is the earnestness of it, the seriousness. After seeing the movie, watch the "Behind The Scenes" montage. No-one on set was laughing. Or smiling.

Maybe the best way to describe how great the film is is this conversation I had yesterday at the video store, when I rented The Room for the 2nd time:
Me: Hi *gives cashier name and phone number*
Cashier: Oh, you have a 2 dollar late charge.
Me: Right, for The Room.
Cashier: Right.
Me: And now I'm going to rent The Room again.
Cashier: Awesome.
Me: Have you seen it?
Cashier: No, but we (she points to the guy behind her) were just talking about it. It's definitely on my list.
Me: It's AMAZING. There's this one scene where 4 guys are playing football. In tuxedos. For no reason at all.
Cashier: Ohmygod. That sounds awesome.
Guy: Are you talking about The Room?
Cashier: Yeah, weren't you just saying...
Guy: How it's the best movie ever? I had a dream about it last night. William Shatner and I were acting out scenes from it.
Me: Wow.
Guy: What do you think about the tuxedo scene?
Cashier: She was just talking about that!
Guy: My theory is that it's supposed to be the wedding rehearsal...
Me: Maybe, but why would the wedding rehearsal be before the birthday party, when the birthday party is a WEEK away and the wedding is a MONTH away?
Guy: Good point. I don't know. But that's the beauty of The Room.
Me: Very true.

See this movie... not because it will make you cooler in my eyes (which it will), but because if you're a fan of movies that are so bad they're good, this movie will become your next great obsession.

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