Very groggy this morning. Had many weird and esoteric dreams, punctuated at odd moments by a snuffling skunk.
Went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 yesterday. Interesting to watch the movie-going crowd. It was definitely an older bunch. I don’t think any of them were under voting age. Didn’t have to worry about a baby crying or a child kicking the back of my seat, which was nice. While we stood in line to buy our tickets, I eavesdropped, curious to hear what was selling. Obviously Spider-Man 2 was doing a brisk business, but the second place draw was F9/11.
We arrived early enough to see the viewers from the previous showing leave. The movie got applause when it ended, both at our time slot and the one before. How long has it been since people applauded at the end of a movie? Although there’s a definite feel of preaching to the choir, very much like the title’s homage Fahrenheit 451. I mean, who’s reading Bradbury’s anti-censorship masterwork who doesn’t already believe censorship is evil? Anyway, the departing set of viewers had an interesting set of expressions. A lot of them had that blank, I’ve-just-gone-to-see-a-movie-and-I’m-still-in-a-trance-from-it look, but there were some people who looked downright grim, some horrified, some thoughtful, and a few gleeful.
It was good. There was nothing shocking or unexpected in it for me or Matthew, although there were some new snippets of information we hadn’t known about before. There were some pretty graphic scenes, which I guess is the rationale behind the “R” rating. Those will stick with me for a while. Might even transform into a squicky horror story or two.
I heard there were people from the Republican party at previous viewings passing out pamphlets refuting points in the movie, although there wasn’t for ours. Tickled that this movie has them so worried. Go Michael Moore, I sez. Rah!
Writing Stuff:
Received from John O’Neill at Black Gate in response to a query:
“Almost! I was very impressed with “Mistress Fortune.” It’s original, exciting, funny & well written, and has exceptionally strong characters. It’s a surprisingly strong piece, in more ways than one.
“However . . . As strong as it is it, it’s not what I most need at the moment. I’m afraid I’ll have to return it, with genuine regrets.
“You have a flair for urban fantasy, and I hope to see something new from you soon.”
Also an apology for the long response time (250 days!). As rejections go, this one was pretty encouraging. I keep getting “almost!”s from this market, but I’m loathe to crank out more High Fantasy since I’m having such a rough time placing the stuff I’ve already completed. There’s such a limited number of places that consider it, especially at the longer lengths. Also, I only tend to send stuff to them that’ve already made the rounds at quicker-responding markets. Once I submit something to them, I know I’ll have to forget about it for a loooong time.
Didn’t get anything done on the “Island Love Story” yesterday. Instead, I received a call for submissions from an editor I’ve worked with before for a “pays a cut of the royalties” antho he’s co-editing. Despite my distrust of royalty-only paying anthos, I might submit to it because I feel kindly toward the editor, but I certainly won’t be holding my breath on actually seeing a single red cent of pay. As such, I’m disinclined to send him any of the suitable works which I’ve got currently circulating, as I’ve got lofty hopes for most of them. So I brought up an old, previously trunked story and spent my writing time yesterday overhauling it. I like the concept and the storyline from that piece, but my prose was terribly clunky. It’s a story from 2000 that I realized was too ambitious for my skills at the time. Going to see what four additional years of writing experience can do. Gives me a chance to experiment with some stylistic elements. If I like what I end up with, I may toss the editor this to consider in his antho.
How long has it been since people applauded at the end of a movie?
1999, people clapped at the end of Phantom Menace, and they had before at Independance Day.
Although there’s a definite feel of preaching to the choir, very much like the title’s homage Fahrenheit 451
Which Bradbury wants him to change..
At least you didn’t call it a documentary.
Even the newspapers have acknowledged that they’re not really documentaries anymore. It’s just that the genre has been so neglected and unfed by creativity in the longest time that no one really thought about what else to call, for lack of a better term, creative documentaries.
“mockumentaries” was stolen by Blair Witch, and I like it there, because they are mocking the documentary style for a specific purpose that has the drive of a feature film, sort of (whether or not you agree BW was scary is up to you; I do not). But Michael Moore uses the documentary style in order to accomplish his own ends in the film; it’s almost a bit like political propeganda (not propeganda I don’t agree with, understand; I prefer Moore to Fox News any day). Supersize Me did the same thing, and it seems the media is just itching for a clever new title to give them that no-one has coined yet.
Because it’s a new thing. It’s a *documentary* that has people saying “Rah Filmmaker!”, for heaven’s sake. The man could have run for president, if he felt like it: it’s probably just as good he didn’t want to.
i really enjoyed the film. i’m ecstatic because it seems as though the general response to the film is something along the lines of: “wow, i wish i had paid attention. i’m going to research all of this now!” …so at the very least, it’s encouraging further study and a serious reflection.
watching the crowd was interesting, too. there were two older men sitting in front of me- veterans, from what i gathered. they seemed really angry with bush for all of his needless warmongering. there were younger people, too, and it was obvious that their eyes were being opened.
there wasn’t a dry eye in the theater during the 9/11 scene. i don’t think i’ll ever forget that day, myself. weird to think that someday kids will be asking us about this historical event.
all in all, a great film… props to michael moore… and feh to the republican party… they made him their candidate, now they have to live with the world uncovering his lies, one by one.