You cannot simply shift a load of television actors onto a movie screen and expect them to command its greater expanse; only one in a thousand will be able to summon that mysterious confluence of presence and reserve on which stardom relies—the will both to offer oneself to the camera and yet to keep back the hidden, unguessable sources of that self.Alongside that 99% of reasoning about film, let alone writing, is just hot air.
Friday, June 06, 2008
In praise of Anthony Lane
The film critic who makes most others read as if they're typing in boxing gloves. In the New Yorker he has this to say of "Sex And The City":
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“Apparently,” I said to the woman behind me in line, “some of the girls have problems with their men, break up for a while, and then get back together again.” “Oh, my God!” she cried. “How do you know?”
ReplyDeleteBrilliant...and scary...'apparently' the movie is doing very well with a certain demographic.
Not strictly connected but one of my favourite lines about screenwriting comes from Robert McKee's Story course.
ReplyDeleteThe dramatic writer looks at the world as says, 'No matter how many obstacles he has to overcome, the human spirit wil always triumph'
The comedy writer looks at the world and says ' No matter how good it gets - we humans will always manage to fuck it up.'