Total brain blurtage
Oh, look. The Sundance lineup is out. Neither of the films Tom worked on last year made it (we all knew it was a very long shot - they got a ton of submissions this year), but The Mysteries of Pittsburgh is, based on Michael Chabon’s novel. Cool. Wish I could be there. Anyone need someone to cover the festival? ::doe eyes::
It’s very cold out today. Or it feels cold. I think it is actually just damp.
We saw Paranoid Park last night. Better than I expected. I kept thinking of my brother, because it was all about a kid who skateboards and has floppy hair like my brother. But that’s pretty much where the resemblances ended. And that’s where my comments end, because I have to write a review of the film.
Which brings me to another point. I have come at this film critic thing (which, after two years at this, I still feel odd calling myself because, really, I’ve only written a handful of reviews that are more than 300 words in length, but whatever) so sideways that I am not sure of all the protocol. Can I blog about a movie I’ve seen in press screenings? Can I blog about it only if I am not reviewing it? Can I only blog about it after my review comes out? After the movie comes out? Can I quote my own reviews on my blog? And if we go to cast & crew screenings of big important studio movies (as we shall be, soon), can I write reviews based on those screenings? Does anyone even care? Help.
I am really exhausted today, and not sure why. Went to bed reasonably last night and slept close to seven hours, which is quite a bit. I did have a dream that frightened me a lot. I dreamt that because of the WGA strike (to which, for the record, I’m rather sympathetic, after spending some time watching Tom in the entertainment industry), they had to end The Office altogether, and in the series finale, they broke Jim and Pam up; Pam moved to someplace in the Third World to do charitable work, and Jim was completely heartbroken and may have possibly left town without telling anyone. I was ridiculously relieved to wake up and realize it was a dream. This bothers me. I am clearly far too invested in these figments of a writer’s room. This is why I do not watch television. Bad! Bad!
My boss calls people in offices down the hall on speakerphone sometimes, and I think whoever she is calling answers on speakerphone, and because our office is next to hers and we leave our doors open, it sounds like she’s in surround sound. It makes us laugh.
Tonight, at class, we are having pizza. I probably should not be as happy about this as I am. I am a huge fan of free pizza, especially when it comes at times when I’d usually be having to skip dinner.
Also, afterwards, I am heading to the Bitter End for a concert, which I shall blog about tomorrow, probably. I have lived in New York for two and a half years and not been to the Bitter End, so tonight! Is the night!
Peter T Chattaway wrote:
In a nutshell:
Reviews should be of finished films, not works in progress. So if the cast-and-crew screening is of the finished film, you can base your review on that.
Standard industry protocol is for reviewers not to offer opinions of films — in reviews, in interviews, on blogs, etc. — until opening day. However, if a film has been shown at a festival, it has been shown to the public and is thus fair game — though the studio might request that you limit your comments to a capsule review at the time of the festival screening, and save the full-length review until the movie goes into its regular release.
As for whether you can re-post your review at your blog (or have it re-printed in any other publication), that is between you and your publisher. They might expect you to specify that your review has already been printed in their outlet, or they might ask you to re-post only the first paragraph with a link to the review, or something like that.
At any rate, you are certainly not limited to the thoughts that you express in your reviews. You can express other thoughts about those films at your blog, or you can even express the same thoughts in different ways — provided, of course, that the usual embargos are not in place.
Posted on 28-Nov-07 at 6:32 pm | Permalink
annie wrote:
Don’t blog cast & crew screenings. That could jeopardize Tom’s work.
Everything else you mentioned is fine. Just wait until the release date to do so.
Posted on 28-Nov-07 at 7:21 pm | Permalink
TexanNewYorker wrote:
You were at the Bitter End? Last night? How did I miss you??
Posted on 29-Nov-07 at 10:55 am | Permalink
Alissa wrote:
I wasn’t there. Sigh.
Posted on 04-Dec-07 at 12:03 am | Permalink