1800-2000
Gangs of New York.
Greeeeeaaat fucking movie.
I can't really even come up with the words to describe right now.
I need to find some clips or something to show.
LIKE THIS HAHAHA
Sorry if this is spoilerific lololol this movie is great you should watch iiiiiiit.
But god.
Scorsese directing, for one. That man... his movies somehow get me right in the gut. Something about the violence and tension throughout the whole thing just keep me wrapped up in it.
And Bill the Butcher. Holy crap.
I think Daniel Day-Lewis is my current favorite actor, hands down. That man is so fucking intense. It's because of that intensity that you wanted to love his character and root for him, even though he was despicable and went against everything you stand for (at least, that I do.) And you were afraid of him at the same time - not afraid for the main character's life, even though that was part of it - but like he could reach out through the screen and slit your throat.
I think it must be the power of method acting. It's entirely believable to the point of it being a little frightening.
Just so many fucking things were amazing. It was reeeeeally long, but entirely worth it. A well-woven, well-crafted story, with a cast of characters that somehow balanced out well... it was well played. A fine movie. Great cinematography, direction, blah blah blah.
The point of it is, I think this was the kick in the ass of kickass I needed. I needed something so inspiring like this to get me wanting to make some of the same.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaagghgh such a good fucking movieeeee!!!!
A historical movie like my historical western? Good deal?
Aw man, though, it's like... I felt like I needed a really stiff drink afterwards. And I walked with a swagger and wanted to talk with an Irish accent, after hearing it for 3 hours straight, lol. Something about it....
I like movies like that. Something that digs at my soul a bit.
Things like this, or Taxi Driver (another Scorsese) or Dexter, things with blood and violence and some sense of twisted morality.. They scratch at something in me.
Also, it makes me wonder. I can't believe that things like this really happened, but I know they did, and possibly still do. Cutting people's noses and ears off... massive bloody gang wars. It makes me wonder if there's something about this... itch in people. That we don't see these things happening today, in America (on that scale, anyway,) because we're occupied by our internet and games and TV - we can witness violence, or feel like part of a community, or just be distracted, remotely and digitally instead of in the real world. I don't know how I feel about this. Part of me says this is a good thing, if it can help prevent senseless killing. Part of me says we're losing something about ourselves in the process, but that's just me.
I guess I've had time to think of it, being alone in my house, without internet. It's crazy how much I rely on things like this - on the people I know, and my connections to them. It's crazy how alone I get so quickly. It's crazy how crazy I get.
(Although I will admit, it's nice to have your own corner of the world to retreat to and be alone in, at the end of the day.)
I guess the tl;dr version is, seeing that movie, I saw what happens when people are poor, bored, and closely packed, and a fire is lit under them. It's amusing to see what people think up to keep themselves occupied, or what they get restless to do. I don't think people are any less restless today, but we have different ways of handling it.
But a week or two ago, when my power went completely out, it was a wake-up call. Because there was suddenly no internet, my chances to use the computer were numbered, everyone was asleep... there was nothing to do and I felt completely alone. And this is the world that my characters live in, only to an even greater degree, because it's not for 20 minutes, it's their whole lives.
I think part of me feels like doing a bit of 'method acting' myself, or at least, getting more in the heads of these characters. (It's probably partly why I'm so keen on getting props to work with, to wear and better understand them through, besides having good references.) Ruth is far easier to know, since I've been in her head this whole time, but even with her, I haven't realized her degree of isolation, frustration, contempt. And I was having a spot of trouble with Virgil, because I think I had been seeing his actions so abstractly, I was simplifying them into things they were not. I need to make a conscious effort to understand him better
Part of it is, he's changed since his conception, or at least, revealed more of his true colors. He's turned from a man trying to change his ways to one who can never escape them. He's become a worse person as it's wore on. And I'm fine with this, I actually like it quite a bit, but I have to keep that in mind as I work on something so closely tied to the beginnings.
But anyway, I'm rambling.
Gangs of New York is a good fucking movie, and if you have the 3 hours to invest in it, it's well worth your time. It's almost like a novel of a movie in structure, and even though it's long, you're watching it with rapt attention the whole time. It's pretty fucking awesome.
It's inspired me to move again on my piece, too, and that's just an added bonus.
And there was a pickpocket~ :3 I think I might have seen her do her shtick before, when I caught a clip of it on TV, so I think that's actually where Ruth's method may have been borrowed from - that and a few other thievery folks from movies and such.
---------
aaaaaaarrrrgh
but then, seeing a snippet of what Nickelodeon's become - 2 back to back shows about pubescent auto-tuned would-be pop stars - made me a little sick. They included the chick's twtter or facebook status or some shit INTO the show. That's just...... unnecessary.
What have we become?
Part of me wants to retreat to my Westerns and tales of the 1800s, which at least make some sense. But thinking about it, there's plenty of things about our modern age I do like.
You can listen to music from around the world with a push of a button, and you don't even need musicians to play it. You can watch movies and not have to go to the theater, or even pay for them. I can write this, and I can composite my work digitally. I can stay clean every day and not be covered in grime.
In all honesty, if I was living back then, I'd be a factory girl, a petty thief, a whore, a destitute mother, or, if I was lucky, some somewhat-well-off man's wife. I've never been rich in my life, but at least I can have the luxury of calling myself an artist, and the good graces to not be laughed off the block or looked at with scorn. And I can get my ideas across the world in half a second if I wanted to.
In all truth, our age is pretty amazing. And we take it for granted.
I think my issue with it is when we come to be ruled by these new things. When we forget our humanity and push it aside. When we can't even interact by speaking to one another, and passive-agressive facebook wars start instead of real life conversations. It can bring about much good, but also much festering.... badness. Not evil, but not good either.
In an age of instant communication, you wonder if something's up when you don't get an instant reply, when it could mean nothing at all. Things like this.
It's made our interactions with each other skewed. At least, back when all you had was face to face, letter, and telegraph, things didn't get so confused, or so I'd like to think.
And people forget the ways we entertained ourselves for hundreds of thousands of years before technology, when those things are still just as valid.
Ahhh well.
I think it all boils down to the fact that we need to find some balance in this. Oddly enough, Erin talking about Werewolf the Apocalypse, with its Wyrm and Weaver and Wyld, and it parallels some of this thinking... (I love it when influences converge like thissss haha) But basically the Wyld is the force of chaotic creation, the Weaver brings about order, and the Wyrm is destruction - and the Weaver's cocooned up that destructive power so its reign is eternal, and the Wyrm's gone mad because of it. It's a really interesting way of thinking about the forces at play, in our world too.
So in those terms, I guess you could say I appreciate the benefit that order, technology and civilization have brought us, but when it wrenches too tight, something in me feels sick. I long for more chaotic, more natural elements to be brought in. Destruction is fascinating, but so is creation. Perhaps it's why I feel I need to create - not to bring order to things, but to bring in some chaos.
Ah, but I've rambled too long.
Time to get back to work, and fight off more let-downs and such. Christ these buggers keep trying to get at me. Best to get busy, listen to good music, remember badass movies, and reread that mission statement again, remind myself why I do things in the first place.
Greeeeeaaat fucking movie.
I can't really even come up with the words to describe right now.
I need to find some clips or something to show.
LIKE THIS HAHAHA
Sorry if this is spoilerific lololol this movie is great you should watch iiiiiiit.
Click to viewBut god.
Scorsese directing, for one. That man... his movies somehow get me right in the gut. Something about the violence and tension throughout the whole thing just keep me wrapped up in it.
And Bill the Butcher. Holy crap.
I think Daniel Day-Lewis is my current favorite actor, hands down. That man is so fucking intense. It's because of that intensity that you wanted to love his character and root for him, even though he was despicable and went against everything you stand for (at least, that I do.) And you were afraid of him at the same time - not afraid for the main character's life, even though that was part of it - but like he could reach out through the screen and slit your throat.
I think it must be the power of method acting. It's entirely believable to the point of it being a little frightening.
Just so many fucking things were amazing. It was reeeeeally long, but entirely worth it. A well-woven, well-crafted story, with a cast of characters that somehow balanced out well... it was well played. A fine movie. Great cinematography, direction, blah blah blah.
The point of it is, I think this was the kick in the ass of kickass I needed. I needed something so inspiring like this to get me wanting to make some of the same.
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaagghgh such a good fucking movieeeee!!!!
A historical movie like my historical western? Good deal?
Aw man, though, it's like... I felt like I needed a really stiff drink afterwards. And I walked with a swagger and wanted to talk with an Irish accent, after hearing it for 3 hours straight, lol. Something about it....
I like movies like that. Something that digs at my soul a bit.
Things like this, or Taxi Driver (another Scorsese) or Dexter, things with blood and violence and some sense of twisted morality.. They scratch at something in me.
Also, it makes me wonder. I can't believe that things like this really happened, but I know they did, and possibly still do. Cutting people's noses and ears off... massive bloody gang wars. It makes me wonder if there's something about this... itch in people. That we don't see these things happening today, in America (on that scale, anyway,) because we're occupied by our internet and games and TV - we can witness violence, or feel like part of a community, or just be distracted, remotely and digitally instead of in the real world. I don't know how I feel about this. Part of me says this is a good thing, if it can help prevent senseless killing. Part of me says we're losing something about ourselves in the process, but that's just me.
I guess I've had time to think of it, being alone in my house, without internet. It's crazy how much I rely on things like this - on the people I know, and my connections to them. It's crazy how alone I get so quickly. It's crazy how crazy I get.
(Although I will admit, it's nice to have your own corner of the world to retreat to and be alone in, at the end of the day.)
I guess the tl;dr version is, seeing that movie, I saw what happens when people are poor, bored, and closely packed, and a fire is lit under them. It's amusing to see what people think up to keep themselves occupied, or what they get restless to do. I don't think people are any less restless today, but we have different ways of handling it.
But a week or two ago, when my power went completely out, it was a wake-up call. Because there was suddenly no internet, my chances to use the computer were numbered, everyone was asleep... there was nothing to do and I felt completely alone. And this is the world that my characters live in, only to an even greater degree, because it's not for 20 minutes, it's their whole lives.
I think part of me feels like doing a bit of 'method acting' myself, or at least, getting more in the heads of these characters. (It's probably partly why I'm so keen on getting props to work with, to wear and better understand them through, besides having good references.) Ruth is far easier to know, since I've been in her head this whole time, but even with her, I haven't realized her degree of isolation, frustration, contempt. And I was having a spot of trouble with Virgil, because I think I had been seeing his actions so abstractly, I was simplifying them into things they were not. I need to make a conscious effort to understand him better
Part of it is, he's changed since his conception, or at least, revealed more of his true colors. He's turned from a man trying to change his ways to one who can never escape them. He's become a worse person as it's wore on. And I'm fine with this, I actually like it quite a bit, but I have to keep that in mind as I work on something so closely tied to the beginnings.
But anyway, I'm rambling.
Gangs of New York is a good fucking movie, and if you have the 3 hours to invest in it, it's well worth your time. It's almost like a novel of a movie in structure, and even though it's long, you're watching it with rapt attention the whole time. It's pretty fucking awesome.
It's inspired me to move again on my piece, too, and that's just an added bonus.
And there was a pickpocket~ :3 I think I might have seen her do her shtick before, when I caught a clip of it on TV, so I think that's actually where Ruth's method may have been borrowed from - that and a few other thievery folks from movies and such.
---------
aaaaaaarrrrgh
but then, seeing a snippet of what Nickelodeon's become - 2 back to back shows about pubescent auto-tuned would-be pop stars - made me a little sick. They included the chick's twtter or facebook status or some shit INTO the show. That's just...... unnecessary.
What have we become?
Part of me wants to retreat to my Westerns and tales of the 1800s, which at least make some sense. But thinking about it, there's plenty of things about our modern age I do like.
You can listen to music from around the world with a push of a button, and you don't even need musicians to play it. You can watch movies and not have to go to the theater, or even pay for them. I can write this, and I can composite my work digitally. I can stay clean every day and not be covered in grime.
In all honesty, if I was living back then, I'd be a factory girl, a petty thief, a whore, a destitute mother, or, if I was lucky, some somewhat-well-off man's wife. I've never been rich in my life, but at least I can have the luxury of calling myself an artist, and the good graces to not be laughed off the block or looked at with scorn. And I can get my ideas across the world in half a second if I wanted to.
In all truth, our age is pretty amazing. And we take it for granted.
I think my issue with it is when we come to be ruled by these new things. When we forget our humanity and push it aside. When we can't even interact by speaking to one another, and passive-agressive facebook wars start instead of real life conversations. It can bring about much good, but also much festering.... badness. Not evil, but not good either.
In an age of instant communication, you wonder if something's up when you don't get an instant reply, when it could mean nothing at all. Things like this.
It's made our interactions with each other skewed. At least, back when all you had was face to face, letter, and telegraph, things didn't get so confused, or so I'd like to think.
And people forget the ways we entertained ourselves for hundreds of thousands of years before technology, when those things are still just as valid.
Ahhh well.
I think it all boils down to the fact that we need to find some balance in this. Oddly enough, Erin talking about Werewolf the Apocalypse, with its Wyrm and Weaver and Wyld, and it parallels some of this thinking... (I love it when influences converge like thissss haha) But basically the Wyld is the force of chaotic creation, the Weaver brings about order, and the Wyrm is destruction - and the Weaver's cocooned up that destructive power so its reign is eternal, and the Wyrm's gone mad because of it. It's a really interesting way of thinking about the forces at play, in our world too.
So in those terms, I guess you could say I appreciate the benefit that order, technology and civilization have brought us, but when it wrenches too tight, something in me feels sick. I long for more chaotic, more natural elements to be brought in. Destruction is fascinating, but so is creation. Perhaps it's why I feel I need to create - not to bring order to things, but to bring in some chaos.
Ah, but I've rambled too long.
Time to get back to work, and fight off more let-downs and such. Christ these buggers keep trying to get at me. Best to get busy, listen to good music, remember badass movies, and reread that mission statement again, remind myself why I do things in the first place.