Survey Says...

8 out of my 18 predictions were right on. Nearly half. Not bad. I was shocked that Tom Hooper got best director and at that point it was inevitable that The King's Speech would get best picture. It's a fine film, fully deserving. It did have all the right criteria for a best picture- period drama, main character over coming a disability, amusing supporting character, British, and backed by Harvey Weinstein.

I don't mean to be so snide, it really was a wonderful film. It's just obvious now why Black Swan didn't get it...however, it did kind of get it by Natalie Portman's win. I was almost unnecessarily excited about her win. I remember falling for her back in Garden State (2004) and have always liked her since.

But who really won at the Academy Awards this year? Me. I'll tell you why:

1) I got to watch Anne Hathaway be pretty for three hours.

2) It reminded me how much I love my craft. This happens to me every year. January is always a slump month where I'm so worn down from production in the fall. I love making movies in the fall. I get so worn down, trying to squeeze in as much as I can. Then February comes and it's the only moment the whole country stops to celebrate movies. It's tremendous and inspires the hell out of me. As Joseph said tonight "I want to be in the movie club." Someday, amigo. Someday soon.

Better Late Than Never Oscar Picks

I am only picking from the categories where I have seen enough of the nominations to form a real opinion.

Best Picture-
Hope will win: Black Swan
Think will win: The Social Network

All I have to say about Black Swan is THAT'S how you make a fuckin' movie. It worked well on every single layer of production. Sadly, Social Network has some powerful producers. I'm still hoping for a third year in a row of upsets.

Director-
Hope will win: David O. Russell for The Fighter
Think will win: David Fincher for The Social Network

Some of the best directors of the past twenty years are on this list so it's a tough call. I pick Russell because even though the film could be easily referred to as Mark Walburg's The Fighter, Russell did his homework on the subject and the area to deserve honor's credit. Academic metaphors!

Actress-
Hope AND Think will win: Natalie Portman for Black Swan

Character studies are hard to do. Harder even when the production value is very high. After a slew of crummy "block buster" movies, Portman has finally proved that she's the amazing actress I always knew she was.

I do partially wish Michelle Williams takes home the prize mostly to recognize Blue Valentine. Sadly that's what happens when your producers can't afford to lobby the hell out of your movie.

Actor-
Hope AND Think will win: Colin Firth for The King's Speech

Firth delivered such a sensitive yet strong performance- far more sophisticated than anyone else on the list...no matter how much I loved Jeff Bridges's incoherent ramblings.

Supporting Actress-
Hope will win: Melissa Leo for The Fighter
Think will win: Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech

Carter has a lot of buzz around her but I dare anyone from Massachusetts to tell me they don't know someone like Melissa Leo's character Alice Ward. She was a hard ass, a dedicated mother, and her accent wasn't over the top. She better freakin' win.

Supporting Actor-
Hope will win: Christian Bale for The Fighter
Think will win: Geoffery Rush for The King's Speech

Both were good but I haven't had so much fun mimicking Bale. I think he learned his part from watching some Bostonian Muppet- flailing limbs, wide unblinking eyes, and loud as balls. He also reminds me of one of my uncles. I'm totally biased this season but I blame Russell again for making the best movie about Massachusetts ever.

Original Screenplay-
Hope will win: Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, and Eric Johnson for The Fighter
Think will win: David Seidler for The King's Speech

Both very good scripts but I predict Speech is going to pick up a lot of gold tonight.

Adapted Screenplay-
Hope AND Think will win: Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network

I can't knock good results. That was one of the best screenplays I've seen in a while. The characters were great and the banter was unpretentious. It's not really admitting I'm wrong because I wasn't informed enough in the first place. I still don't like the fact that there's a movie about Facebook but at least it's a good movie.

Animated Feature-
Hope AND Think will win: Toy Story 3

Wish it had some actual competition and wish that animated features didn't just mean kid movies. In fact, I could have seen Black Swan as an animated film, especially early on. Reminded me a lot of animation I've seen recently, but this is another debate for another day.

Art Direction-
Hope AND Think will win: The King's Speech

Mainly for Geffory Rush's office. The room really changed depending on Colin Firth's mood. Brilliant.

Cinematography-
Hope will win: Danny Cohen for Black Swan
Think will win: Jeff Cronenweth for The Social Network

Black Swan had a perfect integration of film and digital (Canon 7D, whatup). Social Network was a RED demo. Enough said.

Costume Design-
Hope AND Think will win: True Grit

Editing-
Hope will win: Black Swan
Think will win: The Social Network

Visual Effects-
Hope will win: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Think will win: Inception

The effects in Harry Potter were seamless and beautiful. That's all I ask for in a movie that's mostly shot in front of a green screen.

Original Score-
Hope AND Think will win: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network

These days, in order to make a good score, you have to either draw upon the emotions of the characters or be innovative as hell. Reznor and Ross went for the latter and kicked ass. This is what Daft Punk should have done for Tron Legacy.

Best Song-
Hope AND Think will Win: "We Belong Together" by Randy Newman for Toy Story 3

Come on, it's Randy!

Sound Mixing-
Hope will win: True Grit
Think will win: The Social Network

Sound Editing-
Hope will win: Tron Legacy
Think will win: Inception

I feel my picks from these two categories should be switched. Tron should win mixing and Social Network should win editing.

Stay tuned to see if I'm wrong!

Another Oscar Update

I just finished watching The Social Network and was quite surprised. It was one of the three Best Picture nods I had been avoiding like the plague and originally said I would give it twenty minutes and then whip it off. Twenty minutes came and went and I was still glued to it. The characters are all horrible people...but they're interesting. They all talked about all situations as if they were high risk deals despite they were mainly working on one man's initial investment in this...imaginary company. It's still imaginary. And for all this fascination (and wonderful dialog), it gets my vote for Best Adapted Screenplay. I mean, let's remember, it was written by the same man who gave us "The truth? You can't handle the truth."

I do still think it is a bit of a novelty film, mostly because it was shot on the RED and all the cinematography was only showing off its pretty-ness with little emphasis on its relation to the story. I suppose in a way it does since both deal with new innovations and the future of media, but that's far too esoteric to appreciate on a purely visual level. It also made me hyper-aware of my activity online- a thing I never like to think about. The internet really is the new television at this point. It is the opium of the masses. As Howard Beale said, it's part of the boredom killing business. Also, I could blatantly tell which parts were filmed at Wheelock and NOT Harvard. It was kind of hilarious if you know the two school at all.

Also watched The Fighter today which brings my total of Best Picture nods to five out of ten. That's not bad and I have two more on my computer- Black Swan and Winter's Bone. The former (from my observation) is the darling of the art school and the latter was hailed as the best picture of the year by NPR- two very reliable sources.

2010 was a good year for cinema. I really have no idea from the five I've seen which will get the grand prize. I even think Toy Story 3 has a reasonable shot. I was about to say the first should have been nominated, and even win, in the 1996 Academy Awards but then saw The Usual Suspects came out that same year and wouldn't have stood a chance...if that was nominated as well. For those of you playing at home, Braveheart won that year. Fuck you Mel Gibson. You know your little epic really can't stand a chance against Kevin Spacey.

It's snowing. Again. Dear God.

Two New Scraps

I typed a full page of stories that sort of connect. However, I feel a few of them are just tangled pop songs so I'll print the first two stories that are more literary. Oh what the hell, I'll excerpt one as well. Things are best in threes.

I
I decided to go back home to find my ex-wife. When I arrived, a young girl ran up to me wearing one of my wife's dresses. It was lavender and swooshed around her pale legs. I looked at her with a sense of confusion. She glared back with a sense of entitlement. She tapped her foot as her long black hair got in her eyes. I couldn't help but smile. I knew, given the chance, I would spoil this young thing to no end. Who am I to say she can't be a mortician? She turned her back on me and ran away, cross armed, cold hearted. I stood there, still smiling. It didn't bother me being snubbed by a snot nose kid.

II
I met a men who claimed to be a famous paint-by-numbers painter. He didn't think it was out of the ordinary but I thought it was out of the ordinary. I told him that my mother bought a paint-by-numbers kit the day I left home. I told him she never completed it. He asked me what it was a painting of. I said some mill I had never seen before. He made a face like he was about to swallow and said he probably did that one. I said it only made leaving more painful.

III
Oh we danced when the man told us to kiss. There is no other moment in life where we are required to kiss and dance. We might as well make the best of it. Didn't need to tell you twice. Now we tell all the folks back home that we got married. They all smile and think it was tender. We know it was a riot.

022211

I just had a dream that Miley Cyrus and I went to a seaside concert of Paul McCartney. He held my hand and danced with me. I really don't care if this didn't happen, I'm happy as hell anyway.

Fire in Our Bellies

Artistically, the weekend was a bit of a failure. These things happen. Especially when one is overly ambitious and puts too much pressure on the unexpected. I did get to veg out with my dad watching television and see a lot of my friends. Tomorrow I'll hit the old productivity trail again. I have to. I gotta leave Marblehead at seven-ish and I haven't finished anything for my class. I think everyone at MassArt could kill the snow days if it were possible. I'll be caught up by the end of the week. I know I will.

My mother's apartment feels so awkward. I have only lived here for about four non-consecutive months since we moved here in May. I've been living at 774 for one month and it feels more lived in than here. Maybe because stuff is still packed up. There are still boxes of my stuff in my mom's trunk. I can't wait to get back to 774 tomorrow. I feel anxious if I'm away too long.

I hope I go back to Sandwich next weekend.

(cowgirl)

The video isn't going very well. I know I will have some cool sound piece but the visuals is tough. I love the fact I bought the two hour audio tapes by accident. I am going to make someone a two hour mix tape now. That will be a task for sure. At any rate, as for my visual dilemma, I think I'm putting too much faith into the unexpected. It seemed to flow so easily in high school. It also hinders things when the battery for the camera lasts for maybe three minutes. I can't wait for the day where I actually learn from my mistakes and test ALL my equipment before I leave the cage- then again when you're waiting in line at the cage, all you can think of is getting the hell out.

Also my lack of productivity on Cape may be due to falling back into a Cape mind set. Whenever I come back, there's not one thought in my head about Boston. Number one is the Academy. Number two is cruising. Something will come together. I just have to will things to be art. It'll come together.

Returning to the Academy was weird for some reason tonight. Pretty much everyone was there- Brian, Ricky, Becky, Peter, Paulie, Chris, Jeff, so on, so on. I'm also very used to hanging out there with nothing to do. And then when this young girl in the cast ran into the office asking Shelia to do her hair, she was wearing the same dress my wife wore in Play it Again, Sam. That took me aback from some reason. I dunno. I'll probably make sense of this in some variety of private writing.

sammichgypsydoctor

im watching Marty (1955). This one the best picture Oscar of its year. It was distributed by United Artist. Some people wish they lived in MGM pictures. Some wish they lived in Warner Brothers movies. I with I lived in an United Artist movie. The only modern equivalent is Mirimax. Speaking of, I suggest you read the article on Harvey Weinstein found in this month's issue of Vanity Fair. At any rate, I wish my life was like The Aparment or Annie Hall or La Cage aux folles. Such wonderful wonderful films. Such a shame they're done. Them and MGM. What is this world coming to when our children will grow up in a time where Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer will just be a name at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz? Ted Turner, I could kill you. You never gave a shit about movies. You just cared about money.

I'm drunk and I'm bitter at gray studio heads. Life of Riley.

Area Man Cancels Thursday

Woke up this morning for my 8:30 AM class, looked in the mirror, opened wide, saw a lovely little white dot on my throat, got back into bed, slept until noon. Apparently the COF walk in clinic is at Wentworth and I'm not going there anytime soon. I'll pop by on my way home tomorrow. Home. Home is whenever I'm with you. So it goes.

Well Joseph is busy, I feel like crud, already wrote plenty this week. I think I'll pull a George Zografos and be wildly eccentric about what music I listen to. I'm feeling...albums that start with the letter "H". Also gonna tackle this collection of Hemingway short stories and hey, there's a hockey game on at 7. Not a bad gig.

It's not like I'll be doing a ton of this on the long weekend. I want to get a lot done on Cape. No freaking time to be sick...except today. Today is pretty all right...aside from swallowing being larger a task than it should be.

The Homecoming Tape

Few films actually display life as it should be. Hollywood gets too superficial and glamorous and turn imagination into Coke-a-Cola ads. The underground gets too gritty and grumpy. Jack Smith's Normal Love (1963-4) does neither. It hits to the core of what people want. Green fields. Pink clothes. A sense of euphoria. Swings! Who doesn't want to be pushed on a swing right now? I would simply die if someone was pushing me on a swing right now. I'd hold on to the chains tightly and stare out, looking for something miles away.

The film has such excitement and energy. Smith just finished his landmark Flaming Creatures (1963) which met much opposition. So he said "fuck it," got all his friends together, went way outside New York City, far away from the Village, far away from the swamp of a harbor, and made a bizarre film in vibrant color. Since he was too afraid to finish anything after Creatures, he would always edit the film on the fly WHILE IT WAS SCREENING. It's fantastic. It's the film I was trying to emulate all through high school even though I didn't know it.

Others like the Velvet Underground, I like the Mothers of Invention. Others like Andy Warhol, I like Jack Smith.

I can't wait to go home. I reserved a Hi8 camera just like the good old days and make a whole tape of everyone back home. All the places I love. 28 from Yarmouth to West Harwich. Main Street, Orleans. Eastham to Welfleet. Commercial Street, P-Town. My grandmother's living room in the afternoon. My dad's house near twilight. Chatham. I'll go there. I'll go everywhere. I'll see everyone and I'll create.

True Grit- Director's Log

Day 5- Jeff is doing a great job but I can still understand him. Better have him bite through his tongue in the shoot-out rather than just lose the tooth. That will work. Also need to talk with Josh. See how he's doing on being inarticulate and painfully obvious he can't talk in contractions, bless his little heart.

My Posty Wosty

I am often accused of being a film snob. So be it. But the remake of Dudley Moore's 1981 classic Arthur looks like it will be fantastic. I hate Russel Brand but I can't think of anyone more suited to play the title role, it has been confirmed as of late that Helen Miren is still a fox, Luz Guzman is getting work again (thank God), and the whole ordeal is written by Peter Baynham, the guy who said "Hey, what if you did this?" on the sets of the Borat and Brüno movies. Only complaint thus far, not nearly enough Burt Bacharach. Oh it will most likely suck, but I'll enjoy myself.

I need to finally start watching the Academy Award nominated films. All I've seen is Toy Story 3. I would like to see all of them before the 27th, but I really don't want to subject myself to 127 Hours, Inception, The Kids are Alright, and The Social Network. Stupid James Cameron basically lobbying for the 10 best picture expansion. I remember the days when I could kill all the nominated pictures in a weekend. I still can but I'd have to destroy whatever I have left that resembles a life.

I am listening to an interview with the Coen Brothers on Fresh Air. I love the fact that they talk about writing as if it just comes to them and it's as simple as that and the fact they laugh every time they talk about A Serious Man (2009). Maybe it's because it's the most personal movie they have made to date but Jesus, what a bummer of a film. Guess it's a mid-western Jew thing.

Any Way The Wind Blows

I do sketches of my thumbs exactly where I place them when I hold my notebook.

The only reason why I want friends of mine in a class with me is so I can roll my eyes at them when some jerk we don't like says something stupid.

I want it to be warm enough to drive past the abandoned Mill Hill Club on 28 and shake my head and shout thinking about my father working their in the heat of the 1980s listening to the same tunes blaring out of my stereo. It needs to be a certain type of warm. Warm enough to make your eyelids move loosely and for sleep deprivation to not matter in the least. I'm just sick of walking around freezing and wondering.

This is the longest time I have spent off Cape. It makes me anxious. Joseph tells me to fight it. I want to throw in the towel. Dad's off Cape too this weekend. If I went, I'd be alone. If I was alone, I would get quite upset. Better stay here and let my routine act as blinders. I need to take a shower anyway. Lately I've been mentioning the fact I am from the Cape more and more often. I think it's more to comfort myself than to inform others.

All for now

Slobberknocker

Tonight's Boston-Montreal hockey game is the most exciting sporting event of the year thus far. Green Bay can enjoy their forgettable Super Bowl win, Anderson Silva did a brutal head-kick KO for the title, but this...this is what Bostonians live for. Brutal old school hockey. Boston- 8 (should have been 9.) Montreal- 6. Two huge brawls (including a square off between the two goalies), two smaller skirmishes, and lots of ill will exchanged. The only thing that would have topped everything is if Lucic or Ryder got a hat trick.

We like our sports to go into the wee hours. Who the hell needs sleep when you have hot testosterone and cold beer? The Canadians need to find a new hotel tonight, far outside the city limits, or else their safety could be in jeopardy. If I wasn't in my Pac-Man pajamas, I'd be darting between the high rises, hunting down a celebration. Who the hell cares about Spring Training? All I care about is Friday night when we play Detroit. If you're not watching the NHL, you are missing out.

Certainly canceled out all the shit I had to watch in Screening today. God forbid I ever run into Stan Brakhage's wife or daughter after seeing her give birth five inches away from her vagina on a full color 16mm print. Jesus H. Christ on a crutch.

Excited for tomorrow's writing and Hi8 transferring sessions. I predict screwdrivers in the AM and dark and stormy-s well into the evening. Gotta keep the fingers nimble, the mind clear, and the liver on guard.

020711

What a horrible Super Bowl. Not because of the outcome, in fact that was the best part of the game. But by and large, it was a very average football game. The half time show was wretched and the commercials were sub-par. However, I haven't laughed this hard in a very long time. Paul and Dani helped me greatly as with the state of New Hampshire; proving the fact I most likely will never live outside of the northeast. Perhaps west coast or somewhere exotic, just not anywhere else in this country.

I forgot to pack something this weekend. That was a huge mistake on my part. That being said, these things helped me me the most-

- my grandfather's dog, Mia
- getting tipsy at the hotel with my family and playing music all night and telling stories
- biting my tongue and being civil with my grandfather's widow's family
- the Marines who attended and participated in the twenty-one gun salute. I regret not thanking them. I was just a wreck and wanted to look as brave as they did.
- the recent-ish photograph of my grandfather I stole
- allowing myself to drain my body of emotion because that was way more than crying
- a very honest photograph of Miley Cyrus where she looks like she's looking for something meaningful to fall into her plastic lap.
- a demo recording for a very very obscure soul label out of Columbus, Ohio. If I wrote soul songs, they would sound like this:

020611

i need inane chatter.
i need things that do not matter.
thank god it's Super Bowl Sunday.

Later That Same Drink

There were continued typewritten escapades last night. I wrote this to cheer my friends up.

It's summer now.
There isn't eight feet of snow outside our window.

It's 80 degrees and everything is wonderful right now. We'll go to the beach tomorrow and wear our best shorts. We'll eat sandwiches and drink ice cold beer. We'll swim in the ocean. We'll wade out not so far from the shore and smoke cigarettes. We'll have a small radio that plays all of our favorite tunes. We'll build a sandcastle to the sun and wait for the tide to roll in and not feel sad when it finally washes away. We will feel a sense of pride. We will feel like we've created something stronger than sand; Rocks that will never be broken down by time or tides or larger and more daunting rocks. We will all be in love as we roll up our blanket- back in the car backseat relatives. Low light night, entertaining each other as we stave off unconsciousness and praise the warmth around us. We want no pause. We know rest would better us. We talk of it as a high concept like marrying the ones we care deeply for or doing our laundry with a meditative spirit.

We just want breakfast and everything else the world has to offer us.

No more. No less.

The One Page Book

(or a Favini Sandwich with Stanton Bread)

Introduction by TKS

I might even be a fucking rock star.

I

We are in a fighting war now, amigo. The banshees are closing in and the generals are wearing cowboy hats. The smoke from the gun barrels move like a beautiful woman slowly walking away from you. You have to come down and see this. See this now before peace breaks out and there's nothing to talk about anymore, at least nothing worth telling your grand kids. You need to make them believe there's things in this world worth fighting for.

I haven't picked my target yet. The sights are off. They are convinced there isn't an enemy around. But the men are anxious and crave blood since the absinthe is drained. There is nothing I can say. There is nothing I can say. Their minds have deviated from their intentions.

II

This apartment looks like a god damned ski lodge. Seriously, girl, what are you paying for this place? I live in a banana crate off twelfth street. I can take a piss without having to leave the water running. I keep the stove on unattended. But I get by. Least I've got a roof to keep the bad out. The shit in the sky these days, you wouldn't believe. It's rough, babe, but I'll manage. Always have. Just last weekend, I staved off the god damn red army. So how about it, babe? Let me hang my hat and explore your parapets.

III

The church bells rang four times in succession. The sun was trying to hide its face somewhere behind the trees. Heat was low and sweet. The Pastor opened up the doors, then he opened up his lungs. The glow behind the trees found his neck and wrapped around it. His eyes closed slowly as he descended down the steps. His jacket briefly dances with the breeze. Such a horrible day to pass away. No one deserves to miss this.

Afterward by Joe Favini

I miss the days when you could eat a Wonder Bread sandwich and be full. It's such small bread.

My Afternoon with Sooki and Favini

I'm drinking out of Joesph's whiskey set. The stopper was hard to pull off but who knows how long it has been shut. I'm envious of those who have photographs of him right now- the disadvantage of moving is having no photographs of where I came from. I noticed that at Sarah's last night. On the refrigerator, she had a snapshot of John and Betty Ann in an embrace. On the back, in my namesake's soft hand, read "I don't know who these people are."

I'm glad I know my family. I know it's such an odd statement. I am a continuation. I am a continuation of people like Joesph. I am a connection. I am connected to people like Bailey. I am more than myself.

I need a framed picture of Bank Street right underneath my beloved American flag.

I am a citizen of the United States and I play the guitar. My name is Stanton.

RockafellerNixonHumphrys

I sit here surrounded by my LPs a man talked to me about faith I asked him about his face a small androgynous person of the Asian persuasion cut my hair it was fair I said it was "all right" I drove a boy down to the beach in the material world we are so far from that now from smiles from written down messages and "oh things" its over "I'm older than that now" I'm braver than most I've learned that now it doesn't make me hold my head any higher but I feel better in certain situations my cousin my family my my my my I told you to be patient you asked me for patience rather you asked me for little I "dreamed of nothing and got nothing in return" it is surprising how much floods back to me now back to me

I watched a documentary on the BeeGees and felt a certain type of sympathy that is reserved for few I'm not sure why maybe it's my father maybe it's my mother maybe it's my tape player or the people I surround myself with it's a war worth fighting for IT sure is a war worth fighting for.

Dear Reader

Since mid-November, I have been rereading the entire Harry Potter series- prompted mainly by the latest movie. I saw it without having read the final book much to the shock of my Potter-fanatic friends. Due to the embarrassment, I decided to pull out all my old books from storage...and pirate the books-on-tape due to my constant traveling at the time.

It's really excited to read now as a full collection and not like when I was younger waiting seemingly for ages for the next book. I used to only like the first three books because I saw the more as detective novels that could do well as stand alone episodes. Now I view them as one epic story, and because I don't remember (or read) anything past the fifth, I am just as ravenous about reading them as I was when I was in middle school. Yesterday I had a snow day and all I did was read. Today is a snow day as well and if I didn't have things to attend to later on, all I would do is read. Like when I finished watching Twin Peaks senior year of high school, I'm going to go through withdrawals once this is over. I doubt the movies would satisfy me since re-watching the third one a month ago was painful on a level I couldn't imagine. RiffTrax pointing out the faults probably didn't help, but they were all valid points.

Maybe I'll just record my own versions of Wizard People, Dear Reader. My roommate already suggested I do one for Twilight. That could be a thing.

Two Experiments in Accidental Poetry

020111-

I just want to talk to you
And by that I mean be with you
because I need some family right about now

Tech Talk Makes Me Gag-

Digital Cheeseburgers
Video Flapjacks
Suck my virtual Dong

Fuck your video, I'll use my radio
Hell, who needs a when I have my pen?
Over-education clouds ideas
I'm a great teacher
And she's an economist, Bob!

As a writer, I don't fear the end of the physical
I advocate it.
My mind is my own.