I'm now on the writing staff of Last Resort, a new show on ABC premiering this fall.
It's created by Karl Gajdusek, a terrific playwright/feature writer, and Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield (which as you know if you know me, is my favorite show of all time, so I'm still getting my head around that). Just started. It's great, and the writer's room is full of amazing people...
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
THE CUPS
I love Ricky Jay. Just saw him guest-starring on an old episode of The Unit on TV last night and then spent an hour watching YouTube clips of his performances.
Friday, May 18, 2012
FIRST TEN MINUTES OF TEEN WOLF SEASON 2
MTV posted the first ten minutes of Teen Wolf season 2. It looks fantastic. Check it out, and watch the whole thing on June 3 at 11 on MTV, after the video music awards.
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
ROLE REVERSAL
This is a great New York Times article about how Qaddafi's torturers in Libya are being held captive by their former victims. Nasser reads like a great fictional character, and his conflicts and story are riveting. One of the best articles I've read in the Times in years.
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
BLAKE BUTLER & I INTERVIEW EACH OTHER
Blake Butler and I interviewed each other for Ron Hogan's literary site Beatrice.com. About The Obese and Anatomy Courses, both from Lazy Fascist Press this past spring. Check out the interview; buy the books.
Sunday, May 06, 2012
THE TEEN WOLF TRAILER
It's going to be a weird, excellent, bloody season on Teen Wolf. June 3, after the MTV movie awards. Trailer with footage of season 2 below.
This! And that "I'm exactly your type" line is from one of the episodes Ned Vizzini and I wrote.
This! And that "I'm exactly your type" line is from one of the episodes Ned Vizzini and I wrote.
Thursday, May 03, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
HOMICIDE
I've been reading David Simon's Homicide, which I can't recommend highly enough. A meticulous, exhaustive account of a year inside the Baltimore PD's homicide department, it's the genesis for The Wire and of course Homicide: Life on the Streets. What's remarkable is how good a journalist and a prose writer Simon is, and how well that translated to scripted television. I can't think of anyone else who's had a career like his. It's the best longform journalism I've ever read, along with The Executioner's Song.
Speaking of television, Sunday night is apparently the only significant night in TV anymore. So last night was immersive TV watching.
Game of Thrones: Not great drama but it's compulsively watchable. The American Psycho/1984-style torture scenes were a little much, so over the top as to be amusing. And the whore-abuse was a lot much. Joffrey is the character I most enjoy watching.
Girls: Cleverly written and daring. Opening the show with that literally nauseating sex scene demonstrates a certain creative commitment. I hated every character, though; male and female alike, they're insufferable. Don't know if I need to watch the show again.
Mad Men: I now watch every episode of Mad Men at least 3 times. The last half hour of "Far-Away Places" filled me with genuine dread. The editing and construction of the acid trip were masterful--reminded me of the jarring editing in Mulholland Drive when Naomi Watts is freaking out near the end and tearfully masturbating in her dilapidated bungalow. The acid trip was one of the best sequences in the whole series, but Don and Megan's fight was great too--a perfect study of how little resentments accumulate into a heap of kindling and suddenly ignite. My favorite moment in the episode, though, might have been Ginsberg's brief, surreal "Martian" story. The end of it was beautiful. "And then I got this one communication: Stay where you are."
Speaking of television, Sunday night is apparently the only significant night in TV anymore. So last night was immersive TV watching.
Game of Thrones: Not great drama but it's compulsively watchable. The American Psycho/1984-style torture scenes were a little much, so over the top as to be amusing. And the whore-abuse was a lot much. Joffrey is the character I most enjoy watching.
Girls: Cleverly written and daring. Opening the show with that literally nauseating sex scene demonstrates a certain creative commitment. I hated every character, though; male and female alike, they're insufferable. Don't know if I need to watch the show again.
Mad Men: I now watch every episode of Mad Men at least 3 times. The last half hour of "Far-Away Places" filled me with genuine dread. The editing and construction of the acid trip were masterful--reminded me of the jarring editing in Mulholland Drive when Naomi Watts is freaking out near the end and tearfully masturbating in her dilapidated bungalow. The acid trip was one of the best sequences in the whole series, but Don and Megan's fight was great too--a perfect study of how little resentments accumulate into a heap of kindling and suddenly ignite. My favorite moment in the episode, though, might have been Ginsberg's brief, surreal "Martian" story. The end of it was beautiful. "And then I got this one communication: Stay where you are."
Saturday, April 14, 2012
TODAY IN EXCELLENT, UNJUSTLY IGNORED ONE-SEASON SHOWS
1. Terriers - One of the great one season wonders. Odd, scruffy, lived-in, and completely pleasing. A world you just want to hang out in.
2. Lights Out - Didn't need another season actually, from a story perspective. Had a perfect finale and final line. And a near-perfect pilot, too.
It was weirdly cold last night and I stayed inside writing, and then I watched Haute Tension on IFC, and then I watched Wanted on FX. I think I'm staying in tonight, too, and watching more episodes of Terriers after I write for another two hours or so. I wrote a couple short stories recently. Now working on a script.
2. Lights Out - Didn't need another season actually, from a story perspective. Had a perfect finale and final line. And a near-perfect pilot, too.
It was weirdly cold last night and I stayed inside writing, and then I watched Haute Tension on IFC, and then I watched Wanted on FX. I think I'm staying in tonight, too, and watching more episodes of Terriers after I write for another two hours or so. I wrote a couple short stories recently. Now working on a script.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
