The House Next Door

1. Roger Ebert is musing, beautifully, on the inevitability of death and the nature of one's own mortality.

["I know it is coming, and I do not fear it, because I believe there is nothing on the other side of death to fear. I hope to be spared as much pain as possible on the approach path. I was perfectly content before I was born, and I think of death as the same state. What I am grateful for is the gift of intelligence, and for life, love, wonder, and laughter. You can't say it wasn't interesting. My lifetime's memories are what I have brought home from the trip. I will require them for eternity no more than that little souvenir of the Eiffel Tower I brought home from Paris."]

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2. Twitter, what hast thou wrought? A challenge between some pals on the social-networking site has resulted in a project to make a film in two weeks, from first day of shooting to final cut. Want to join in? All you have to do is make it sometime in May. This is like that National Novel Writing Month thing, except I imagine there was a lot more alcohol involved. Lucas McNelly has more information here.

["All films are created within a context so the #2wkfilm collective also includes film critics, reviewers, filmmakers, and film lovers. Participation will include posting reviews of the films and online roundtable discussions on different aspects of independent filmmaking. This is inspired by the fantastic roundtable discussion that Alejandro Adam's put together on self-distribution."]

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3. The latest issue of Bright Lights Film Journal is up, and it includes a number of great pieces, including Dan Callahan on Ida Lupino (excerpted below).

["As Bright Lights Film Journal editor Gary Morris notes right up front, there is but one review of a recent theatrical release in the new issue, Robert Ecksel's take on James Toback's Tyson: 'The presence of a virtual tidal wave of book reviews didn't settle my mind. Talk about old school! But a quick consult with Igor proved as soothing as one of his "happy ending" massages. Everyone's favorite slobbering hunchback says BL has not gone reactionary after all; we've just relocated our thoughts on contemporary film in festival reviews, yours truly's Little Stabs roundup, and our ever-changing blog, q.v. Whew!'"]

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4. Or maybe you're in a contest-y mood, but you just want to write a sitcom. Fox, Procter & Gamble and the New York Television Festival have your back, in that case, with a contest, where the prize is $25,000 and a development deal with Fox. Got any sitcom pilot scripts in the works? Well, hurry up.

["Enter the FOX-PGP-NYTVF Comedy Script Contest and submit your script for an original half-hour comedy series. One winner will receive a development deal with Fox and a $25,000 prize, and Procter & Gamble Productions will have the opportunity to produce a network pilot from the winning script. Up to 25 finalists have the opportunity to earn a first-look deal with Fox. Scripts must be entered by uploading them in a PDF format on the NYTVF upload page. The submission period will open at noon Eastern on June 1st and will close at 12:00 noon Eastern on June 15th. All submissions must be uploaded during this time period, without exception. The contest will stop accepting entries if this period elapses or if the Festival receives 1,500 script entries, whichever comes first."]

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5. Finally, today, director Mark Rocco, who was most famous for 1995's Murder in the First (a movie my English teacher at the time swore by) was found dead over the weekend. Kris Tapley has the story.

["I was informed of the news earlier today by a mutual friend, so I called the Devonshire division of the Los Angeles Police Department in Northridge to get the details. It seems Rocco was found by a friend on Friday, May 1 after he had not been seen for nearly a week. Police say there was no foul play involved and they are still awaiting autopsy results. It appears to be a natural death, I’m told. Five days later, nothing at Variety, nothing at The Hollywood Reporter, nothing at the L.A. Times — nothing anywhere. According to police, no one has even called asking questions yet. Bizarre."]

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Quote of the Day:

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."
-Carl Jung

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Image of the Day (click to enlarge): Here's a nice-looking still from Jane Campion's Bright Star.



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Clip of the Day: Man, this District 9 movie looks like just my sort of late-summer genre comfort food.



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"Links for the Day": A selection of Links that will hopefully spark discussion. Comments encouraged. Suggestions for links are also welcome. Please send to todd@vanderwerff.us.