Mind of Migg

Goodbye Tennant, hello Smith!

David Tennant was my Doctor. Sure, Christopher Eccleston paved the way for the reboot, but I saw most of season 2 before season 1. So I was all about Tennant. I was skeptical heading into series 5 that things would never be the same.

Then Matt Smith made me smile after a tragic regeneration scene to finish the 2009 specials. I tried to stifle the smile, not wanting to appear a traitor to Tennant. It nearly worked, except that the series 5 teaser trailer blew me away. I found myself excited for Doctor Who all over again.

The season premiere episode did a great job of defining the new quirks of the Doctor and companion as well as paying homage to the previous Doctors. It was a strong episode and had the Steven Moffatt flair for adventure that I was hoping to see in the new season. It’s hard to describe how I felt about this season – it was familar, but different. Actually, I guess that wasn’t so hard.

Moffatt appears to go more for entertainment value, less for dramatic epicness the way Russell T Davies did. I love both approaches so it’s hard to choose a favorite, but I do miss some of the moments where Tennant’s Doctor would stand up and save the universe with a wink and a nod. Smith’s Doctor prefers to point out he’s brilliant in smaller doses and is much less cheeky about his actions while saving the universe. Still, he has that Doctor charm.

My favorite episodes, in no particular order:

• The Eleventh Hour – Great intro to the new Doctor and new companion.
• Amy’s Choice – The Doctor holds a mirror up to his darkest side.
• The Hungry Earth – Excellent characters and lots of suspense and adventure.
• Cold Blood – A strong finish becomes tragic with a crazy surprise ending.
• Vincent and the Doctor – One of the most touching episodes of Who I’ve seen. I dare you to not choke up a little at the end.
• The Pandorica Opens – All kinds of epic. Sets up a great finish to the first season of the Matt Smith/Steven Moffatt era.

Of course, there’s things I didn’t like about this season. Sometimes it felt like the ‘science’ aspect of the ‘science-fiction’ was sacrificed in the name of entertainment. A few of the episodes felt a little to rushed, or problems too easily solved, like in “The Beast Below”, “Victory of the Daleks”, and “The Lodger”. And don’t get me started on the finale.

I think paradox’s are fun when used sparingly but I felt the paradox used to get the Doctor out of the Pandorica was a huge cheat. For all the setup of the outstanding previous episode, I was let down by the finale. Strange too, that I had no problem accepting that one word, connected by a psychic link can defeat the Master, but when Amy uses her memory to bring the Doctor back I was disappointed. Maybe the entertainment over science? Maybe the low key epicness? Maybe I’m not fully connected to these characters yet? Maybe a lack of execution? I can’t decided so I’m going to go with all of the above.

Make no mistake, despite my criticisms I loved this season. It has a strangely nostalgic feel. The way so many shots were framed and just the overall vibe of the show feels like a throwback to the older seasons. I’m excited that the mystery of “the silence” wasn’t solved this season and along with the mystery of River Song, will unfold over the course of next season. It’s nice to have a sense of continuity with all these new characters. And one more thing…bow ties are cool!

Well, you don’t have to be your job, if you don’t want to. A few months back, I was speaking to a friend who had recently been laid off. Here’s how the conversation went down:

Him: “So how’s it going?”

All I need - headset, coffee, and a reminder that the job could be much worse.

Me: “Well, I have a job.”

Aaaaand, cringe. Only I didn’t mean it to be rude. It was a sigh of resignation because I had recently returned to a “day job”. The way I meant it was that things weren’t going so hot for the stuff I truly had a passion for. It was one of those moments where I wished I could hit “undo” on the words coming out of my mouth. (side note: my friend is brilliant and has since found a job that is not only better than his previous one, but he found the time to do some amazing writing work and come up with a great concept for a new feature during his time between jobs.)

Being a creative person who needs a day job to make ends meet is tough. Too often, we are labeled by the positions we have. We allow it to define us. But that’s not fair. I can still call myself a writer, even if the only time I’m writing is when I stay up late, get up early, and spend weekend afternoons struggling to get in writing time because I have to work 40 hours a week in a completely unrelated field.

Many times I would doubt myself. I’d hesitate to refer to myself as a filmmaker or a writer because I didn’t feel I had “made it” yet. That is backwards thinking. You don’t need an external measure to decide who you are and what you do. I write, so I’m a writer. I make films, I’m a filmmaker. I recruit financial advisors (which I do well and don’t mind), so I’m also a recruiter. And that’s not the end of the world.

Even if the job you have is your dream job, you eat, sleep, and dream it through other actions. If all I did was write and make movies, eventually I’d run out of things to share. My life would be confined to such a limited scope. I’ve realized that trying to fit work into every waking hour is counterproductive to my goals. So I travel. I play sports when I can. I cook. I read (scripts and books). I try things outside of my comfort zone because when I look back, I almost always tell myself, “yeah, that was worth it.” Even when it’s not worth it, the experience gained becomes hindsight for later stories to tell.

People are more than the work they do. Having a mundane job, an exciting job, or not having a job at all doesn’t determine personal success and satisfaction. There’s a lot more to it than that. Experience. Share. Cringe. Have fun.

This guy knows how to engage.

One of the great things about an iPhone (besides all the awesome apps) is that when you have one, you can always look busy.  Or at least give the appearance of being busy.  Ok, it really doesn’t fool anyone, but when you’re the one standing alone in a corner because you’re incredibly shy it helps give peace of mind.

I used to think this shyness was only the result of preferring the written word to the verbal one, but then I realized I even do it online.  I hesitate to comment on blog posts I read, I retweet people I admire, but don’t make an effort to speak to them directly, and I even keep my blog in it’s own quiet corner.  I don’t promote it, I don’t talk about it, and I’ve just quietly written personal notes here and there without really letting anyone know.

That all is going to change.  I’ve redesigned this site to be a little more organized and speak to an audience.  I really don’t expect the audience to grow beyond its two regular readers on its own either.  That will be the biggest difference.  Too often it’s easy to become passive in life, thinking a break will happen on it’s own.  I forget that things are only going to happen if I actively create my own big breaks.

One of the most important and inspiring things I took away from the (DIY)stribution and Marketing Symposium at the LA Film Festival a few weeks ago was the need to engage – engage an audience, engage other filmmakers, engage anyone who will listen.  It started with Ted Hope’s talk and became a word used several times over the course of the weekend.  It really resonated with me.

So this new launch of my website is the beginning of my attempts to engage.  I’ve got cool categories on my main page, mostly focused on film and writing.  I’ll still throw in the occasional post about the Phoenix Suns or what I’m doing over the weekend, but they won’t even necessarily pop up on the homepage.  I saved some of my favorite posts from the last two years, although I apologize to anyone who’s commented, because I couldn’t save those when I moved to WordPress.

It’s not going to be the little blog in the corner anymore.  I’m going to be more active in engaging in real life and that will give me more experiences that I won’t hesitate to share.  I will make an effort to engage with like-minded people, not just through writing this blog, but through as many outlets as I can find the time for.  No more hiding behind a phone, absentmindedly checking my email every minute.  Nope, I’m going put the phone away…and then continue standing in the corner, but slightly closer to the crowd.  One step at a time.

The annual NALIP Conference is this weekend.  NALIP is the National Association of Latino Independent Producers.  It’s a group that has been a huge support in my development as a filmmaker.  I attended their Writer’s Lab in 2008 and their Media Market where I was able to practice pitching my project in 2009.  This is also the fourth conference I’ve attended.  And yet, there was something not quite right while I was there today.  I’m not sure what it is, but I have a bit of an idea.

Read more…

I failed completely in my first attempt at NaNoWriMo last November.  I barely completed two chapters and maybe a few thousand words.  Actually, let me see how sad my word count really was…still looking…saved them as separate documents…there it is…3024.  I also wrote three chapters, not two.  Still, a sad performance.  But I loved the idea of trying to write an entire novel in only one month.  After the poor first showing, I felt the need to redeem myself.  What better way than to return to the familiar – screenwriting.  Yes, it’s time for Script Frenzy!

Script Frenzy follows the same idea as NaNoWriMo, only the goal is to write an entire screenplay in one month instead of an entire novel.  Difficult for some, easier for me.  Okay, let’s be honest, a script rough draft is easier to spit out than a novel.  There’s less pages in a script and the more white space on your page, the better.  Does that really make it easier?

At first I thought it would.  Then I remembered exactly what I enjoyed about branching out to fiction pieces the last few months.  You can wander more and feel your way around a longer piece.  Nobody flips to page thirty of a novella to see if there’s an act break.  Writing a script requires some form of outlining and structure.

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get into much outlining.  I’m going to wing it.  I focused more on my new writing playlist than I did on my plot points.  A mistake?  Only time will tell.  I have two characters, a mood, and a few ideas.  And a shade under two hours before April 1 to OUTLINE LIKE CRAZY.  We’ll see what happens.

I thought proclaiming on a blog post that I was ready to get back to work would be enough motivation on its own.  I was wrong.  The thing is, I was healthy again a few weeks ago, but two things happened – 1) lots of rain and I never do well in gloomy weather, and 2) I wasn’t over finishing my TV Pilot.

Finishing any piece of writing is a great thing.  There’s a sense of overwhelming relief and elation, even if it’s something as short as a pilot or a short story.  Page length is not a factor in difficulty of getting word to paper.  The next couple days are an emotional high of satisfaction.

Unfortunately, after that the panic starts to sink in.  What’s the next project going to be?  Is it going to be as good as the one just finished?  What if I can’t even think of a new idea?  That’s one part of it.  The other part is that the writing process might be painful sometimes, but it’s always fulfilling.  There’s an emptiness when a project is complete and it’s no longer with you every day.  It’s a downer.

I thought maybe this time, I could overwhelm myself with other writing.  Dive right in to a new project.  I had plenty to choose from.  But I hadn’t attached myself onto any of them yet.  They were all cool, but I wasn’t excited about any of them.  So I dabbled a little on all of them, not really getting anything done the last few weeks.  I finally accepted the fact that I had to allow some in-between time and also settle on only one new project.  Forcing the issue was only making things take longer.

Trying to convince myself that the period when I was sick a few weeks ago counted as my writing time off fooled nobody.  I’ve settled on the next project (my Doctor Who spec) and finally moved past my period of mourning the ending of my pilot.  It’s full speed ahead, for real this time.

On a side note, I didn’t understand why I felt so sluggish and tired the last two to three weeks even though I was fully healthy.  It wasn’t until I mentioned to Violet that it had been a solid two weeks since I tried to cut back my coffee that I made the connection.  No idea why I hadn’t considered it before.  I’m down to one cup of coffee and maybe one tea a day, which is way down from the 3 plus cups of coffee I was at earlier.  My body is suffering, but I haven’t cracked yet, and I think I’m finally starting to adjust.  I’ll be off my caffeine addiction in no time.

It took me a long time to see Avatar, longer than I had planned.  I didn’t want to get caught up in the hype, but I knew I had to experience it on the big screen in 3-D to fully appreciate it, so I finally made the time.

Yes, it’s true that it’s not a very original story.  Pocahontas, Fern Gully, Dances With Wolves.  The story of the man who gets to know the natives, and them helps them fight against his own people has been told before.  But that’s never reason enough alone to knock a film.  Everyone thought Vanilla Sky was original, but we all know it wasn’t.  Most stories have been told before, but if it is well executed, with an original twist, then there’s nothing wrong with that.

That is exactly what Avatar is.  The original twist is the amazing visuals of the film.  Pandora is a uniquely beautiful planet with creatures and landscapes one can barely dream of – strange animals, floating land with waterfalls, and a scientific explanation for the connectedness of all the living creatures (dealt with more deftly than the midichlorian attempt).  Sure Captain Obvious delivered every line of politically charged dialogue, but it didn’t bother me.  I knew I was getting into a tried and true storyline, and so long as I enjoyed the ride, I didn’t care that I knew where the ups, downs, and curves were.

The cool visuals, of course, are what made this movie an experience.  I’ve been adamantly opposed to the use of 3-D.  It’s a gimmick and it doesn’t bring anything of value to the movie-going experience.  It’s like adding extra whipped cream on top of the cherry – after so much, you forget that what you really wanted to enjoy was the ice cream at the bottom.  I will admit that the 3-D made the digital characters look and feel more real.  I did like the effect of small bugs flying around off the screen.  But I hated every swing or move directed at the camera that was a “hey, look at the cool stuff 3-D can do!” moment.  It would pull me out of the movie I was enjoying.  In summary, atmospheric use of 3-D: good, blatant gimmick use: bad.

As much as I enjoyed this movie, I will be a little disappointed if it wins best picture at the Oscars.  To quote Roger Ebert, while listing potential nominees, “Yes, it’s a phenomenon and I loved the experience.  But the best film?  Not compared to those other titles it isn’t.”  More than anything, it’s an experience.  It’s a breakthrough in technology in movies and for that it should be applauded.  But a well told rehashed story should not be valued over richer stories such as “The Hurt Locker” or “Up In the Air”.  No matter how much money it makes.

“You be careful.  Because your song is ending, sir.”

Those were the words of warning in the first Doctor Who special of 2009.  And then this:

“He will knock four times.”

(Watch the scene for yourself here)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBMPTsI-PL0

Doctor Who fans like me were left hanging, wildly speculating on what this meant.  Everyone thought it was obviously a reference to The Master, and his sound of the drums (duh duh duh duh).  But David Tennant and Julie Gardner had this to say on the Planet of the Dead commentary:

David: “…and if you think you’ve figured out what that means, you’re wrong!”

Julie: “But when you do figure it out, it’s a sad day.”

She was absolutely right.  It was a sad day indeed.

The rest of the post includes spoilers, so if you haven’t seen “The End of Time” yet – 1) what are you waiting for!  And 2) don’t read this if you want to be surprised when you do watch it.

Everyone knew David Tennant would be leaving his run as the Doctor after the four specials of 2009.  It was only a question of how.  By the time the two part “The End of Time” came around at Christmas and New Years, I was dying with anticipation.  I was so sad to see him leave, but I was tired of delaying the inevitable.  This is in part due to the great episode, “The Waters of Mars” that showed a conflicted Doctor going through the exact same emotions as the audience, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the prophecy would come to pass.

Each season of the new Who has had a progressively larger finish.  Who thought Rose looking into the heart of the TARDIS and destroying an army of Daleks would come in fifth on epicness scale?  That was followed by a Dalek/Cyberman war, the end of the world by the Master, and the theft of Earth by Davros bringing together characters from three different series.  The End of Time blew all of those finishes away.

The main reason it blew everything else away, besides the heartbreaking story, was the amazing acting.  I look forward to Wilf (Bernard Cribbins) every time he’s on an episode.  He made a great companion to the Doctor in this finale.  John Simm’s Master is so awesome.  The others were brilliant as well, and I loved the appearance of all the supporting people in this Doctor’s life, but those three in particular were the primary players.

The prophecy that I referred to earlier also had another part – “It is returning through the darkness.”  Now, there was a lot of speculation of this line also, and my thoughts about it turned out to be true.  The “it” was Gallifrey!  You’d think this would be an exciting thing, the Time Lords returning and the Doctor no longer so alone.  It would also change the landscape of the coming seasons if there were other Time Lords again.

However, this wasn’t the case.  I got chills when the Doctor, not one for violence and after refusing a gun from Wilf, takes the gun and runs when he learns that Gallifrey is returning.  The Time Lords returning wasn’t a good thing, because it meant everything about the last moments of the Time War came along with them.

A lot of mysteries from the past four seasons were revealed in these two episodes, but a lot of questions were left unanswered.  We saw whom it was that picked up the Master’s ring after the Doctor cremated him at the end of season 3, but we still don’t know who she is (ok, technically we know it’s the Doctor’s mom, but will she back again?).  We also got more tidbits of exactly what went down at the end of the Time War and why the Doctor did what he did.  We may not have had a full play by play as some had hoped, but it was more than enough for me.  We also learned why the Master had the sound of the drums in his head.  The Time Lords created a monster and drove him mad.  He did not appreciate that.  And finally, we learned who knocked four times.

Everyone (at least I did) thought the knocking part of the prophecy was over in part one when the Master knocked four times to get the Doctor’s attention.  But no, that wasn’t the final knock.  That made it even more sad and surprising when the knocks did come at the end.  Part of me even hoped that it didn’t actually mean the Doctor would “die” the same way Donna didn’t “die”.  Just as tragic, but at least he wouldn’t be gone.

It wasn’t to be.  There he was, having survived the Master, survived a leap from a speeding spaceship, fought off the Time Lords, and watched as the Master helped destroy them, when he heard it.  Four knocks.  That’s when my heart sank.  Wilf was trapped in a compartment that could only be unlocked by another person stepping into the other side.  He had trapped himself in to let an innocent scientist out.  That’s the type of person he is.  That’s also the type of person the Doctor is.  He knew he had no choice but to let Wilf out and absorb all the radiation, meaning he had no choice but to die and regenerate.  So he did.  He saved Wilf.

The new series had been building to this moment.  This isn’t the same Doctor from years ago.  He had to destroy his people and is alone now.  He finally reached a point where he’d had enough, and he wasn’t ready to go.  The Doctor carries the weight of the universe on his shoulders but does so with a smile and a run.  But he had been worn down too much this time.  That’s why it’s so heartbreaking at the end.  After all that he does, his reward is another death.  Watch the sequence for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubi1TaVlbso

This was different from previous regenerations because he had time to absorb what was going to happen.  It was bad enough to kill him, but not so bad that he couldn’t delay the regeneration for a bit.  He had a chance to say goodbye to a lot of people, Jack, Martha, Mickey, Sarah Jane, Donna, Wilf, and of course, Rose.  The tenth Doctor’s final lines are fitting.  He had saved so many people, expanded his powers, was a bit pompous sometimes, but cared so much.  Of course he didn’t want to go. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQrd44v7Q6w

It was such a great end to David Tennant’s Doctor.  Strangely, I enjoyed the last few moments that introduced Matt Smith.  As much as I loved the tenth Doctor, I’m ready for the 11^th.  I feel like we’ve been saying goodbye forever.  Watching the trailer for the upcoming season of the new Doctor Who has me even more excited.  With Stevan Moffat running things now, I know it’s going to be great.  But David Tennant, you will be missed.

To qualify for this list I had to either

a)    See the movie in theaters

b)   See the movie on DVD, but it was released in theaters in 2009

A disclaimer first.  There are a lot of great movies from this year that I haven’t seen yet that weren’t factored into this list.  I’m going to try to get to most of them before the Oscars, but some of the popular ones I haven’t seen yet include: Avatar, A Single Man, Crazy Heart, A Serious Man, Nine, The Messenger, Brothers, and many more I’m sure.  It’s hard to get to that many movies in a year without press or industry access.  Anyway, on to my list.

I’m not going to list them in any particular order.  It’s hard enough to choose just ten.

Precious – One of the most powerful, heart-wrenching films I’ve watched.  Amazing performances, great movie.  The final scene is a stand-out, and should singlehandedly win Mo’Nique an Oscar.

An Education – Classically well executed British film.  Alfred Molina is an overbearing father with depth, Peter Sarsgaard romances a teen yet somehow isn’t creepy, and Sally Sparrow was brilliant.

Up – If this movie doesn’t make you tear up at least a little, I don’t know what to say.  Great, honest story that deserves to be nominated along with the live action films this year.

Up in the Air – Understated movie.  It says exactly what it’s thinking, but you don’t even realize it because you’re enjoying the ride.  Also, I love Anna Kendrick.

Sin Nombre – Brutally realistic portrayal of the plight of immigrants.  I heard the actor spent years traveling on trains through Mexico like the characters in the movie.  It shows in the authenticity.

Food Inc. – This, combined with reading Michael Pollan, has convinced me to be more mindful of my diet and the food I choose to purchase.  This is a documentary done right – different perspective, clear message, more content than propaganda.

The Hurt Locker – Most intense film of the year.  My heart was pounding through most of it and I couldn’t relax at all.  I imagine it’s actually like that on a whole other level in Iraq in reality, but this film does a great job of conveying that feeling to the audience.

District 9 – Best sci-fi film of the year (until I see Avatar, at least).  Awesome explosions, cool special effects, and strong story.  You can’t ask for much more from a sci-fi and this one delivered.

(500) Days of Summer – Feel good movie of the year for me.  Zoey Deschanel is the latest manic pixie dream girl and it’s a tough character to pull off successfully, but she does here.  I think every nice guy could feel Joseph Gordon Levitt’s pain and roller coaster emotional ride.

Goodbye Solo – I’ve become a huge fan of Ramin Bahrani.  I loved Man Push Cart and Chop Shop and this latest effort was just as strong.  His movies are so quiet and tell so much with so little.

I recently completed the first rough draft of a TV drama pilot I’ve been working on.  Finishing a piece of longer work is strange.  Not only does it feel empty once it’s complete, but it also is a challenge to go back to it.  After all that effort, after all those sweat and tears, reaching “Fade Out” or “The End” is really only the beginning.

The real writing doesn’t begin until the rewrite.  This is a fairly recent discovery for me, mostly because I got away with turning in rough drafts hot off the presses all through college.  In fact, there may have only been one or two papers I actually even read before turning in.  I was lucky to pass, and extremely arrogant in my writing abilities.  I didn’t realize how much that approach hurt my writing potential.  It’s a habit I find hard to break.  Many times I have to force a deadline upon myself to finally get words to paper.

The difficult thing about editing is that the process of writing the first draft is so mentally draining.  Why edit something that already took so much effort?  Add to that the fact that once I’ve stepped away from something for a bit, I can look at it more objectively.  When that happens, my “work of art” quickly becomes a “piece of crap”.  I seriously hate going back to pieces I’ve written.  It’s like going through your digital camera after a drunken night.  You cringe wondering how sloppy those glamour shots you felt you were taking the night before actually look.  I have that same dread when I sit down to edit something I’ve written.  I go through a period of self-doubt and questioning why I keep doing what I’m doing.

At least, that was how it used to be.  Two things have happened over the last year of my writing development.  One, the pictures don’t look so bad, and two, it’s not so hard to fix the ones that do.  I suppose you could say, metaphorically speaking, that I don’t get as drunk as I used to.  Learning how to edit has helped my initial drafts.  I’ve accepted it as a natural part of the process so it allows me more freedom in my writing.

Also, I’m no longer so stubborn and defensive.  I would convince myself that what was already written was not only correct, it was as good as it could get.  Not so anymore.  I won’t hesitate to chop out what was my favorite line or paragraph.  I’ve learned that nothing is written in permanent marker.  I’ve also accepted that just because I didn’t get it right in my first go-round, doesn’t mean it’s a lack of knowledge or talent.  Re-writing is a vital part of the process.  It’s okay to edit.  It took some time to convince the “me” of college of that fact.

Knowing how to rewrite – how to recognize where to edit, what to edit, and how to edit is vital to creating a good piece of work.  I know now that it is one step of the process and not a knock against my writing to edit.