Have never seen Valmont and probably should. Also, will probably end up watching HTTM at some point.
Spike: At least give me Wesley's office since he's gone. Angel: He's not gone. He's on a leave of absence. Spike: Yeah, right. Boo-hoo. Thought he killed his bloody father. Try staking your mother when she's coming on to you! Harmony: Well…that explains a lot.
'Destiny'
Buffista Movies 7: Brides for 7 Samurai
A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.
erikaj - Mar 24, 2010 7:30:04 am PDT #7372 of 30000
"already on the kiss-cam with Karl Marx"-
Tom Scola - Mar 24, 2010 8:40:54 am PDT #7373 of 30000
hwæt
Daisy Jane - Mar 24, 2010 8:44:57 am PDT #7374 of 30000
"This bar smells like kerosene and stripper tears."
And Milos Forman is a all-too-frequently overlooked director of quality. When film critics talk of top-notch directors, his name is rarely mentioned except as an afterthought.
Loves of a Blonde! Fireman's Ball!
erm, I may be a fan...
Jessica - Mar 24, 2010 8:58:49 am PDT #7375 of 30000
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset
Ignoring the asscaps and overall Mamet-y-ness of it, it's actually pretty solid writing advice.
HERE ARE THE DANGER SIGNALS. ANY TIME TWO CHARACTERS ARE TALKING ABOUT A THIRD, THE SCENE IS A CROCK OF SHIT.
ANY TIME ANY CHARACTER IS SAYING TO ANOTHER “AS YOU KNOW”, THAT IS, TELLING ANOTHER CHARACTER WHAT YOU, THE WRITER, NEED THE AUDIENCE TO KNOW, THE SCENE IS A CROCK OF SHIT.
DO NOT WRITE A CROCK OF SHIT.
§ ita § - Mar 24, 2010 9:04:49 am PDT #7376 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Any time two characters are talking about a third? Really? I beg to disagree with the mighty man on that one. I can think of many narrative moments I've enjoyed one way or another that definitely fell into that category.
Frankenbuddha - Mar 24, 2010 9:19:45 am PDT #7377 of 30000
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
Any time two characters are talking about a third? Really? I beg to disagree with the mighty man on that one. I can think of many narrative moments I've enjoyed one way or another that definitely fell into that category.
I'm guessing a certain level of hyperbole is involved here (From David Mamet? Shocking.) and that he's just saying it's a warning sign. Because I have seen plenty of scenes of that nature that were purely Basil Exposition moments.
I do agree that I have seen enough of those type of scenes that work for various reasons that's it's dangerous as a blanket rule. Not so much with the "As you know" cavaet.
Strega - Mar 24, 2010 9:25:34 am PDT #7378 of 30000
You can't pronounce "Mamet" without "meh."
There are valid points in there. There is also a lot of nonsense. I was mostly amused that David Fucking Mamet is telling people to try to write scenes without dialogue.
Oh, the bit about how it's the director's job to remind the actors to talk fast did make me laugh. Although I think that's more important with Aaron Sorkin's shows.
Sean K - Mar 24, 2010 9:38:43 am PDT #7379 of 30000
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
No really. If you don't regularly remind actors to pick up the pace, they will savor every line until the glaciers melt.
And come back.
erikaj - Mar 24, 2010 9:40:37 am PDT #7380 of 30000
"already on the kiss-cam with Karl Marx"-
Not bad, but I'm fucking ambivalent about fucking Mamet. Although I am very anxious that my scripts not be CROCKS OF SHIT, natch.
javachik - Mar 24, 2010 10:03:55 am PDT #7381 of 30000
Our wings are not tired.
I love Mamet mostly, but I did get to tell him face to face that his version of Faustus was a crock of shit.