Well, the film Open Five by Kentucker Audley won a bunch of awards at Indie Memphis this year. His previous film, Team Picture won a bunch of awards too. I'm tired of wondering why. I think I've made peace with it. At an early age my brother taught me about the dangers of conformity. He said "People think stuff is cool just because everyone else likes it. They don't know why". I started to notice this immediately. In sixth grade everyone suddenly liked Vanilla Ice. I knew it was bullshit. I told them all. They insisted that Vanilla Ice was the coolest shit ever. I said "two months from now, you will be embarassed that you ever liked that shit". I don't know if it took two months or not, but nowadays we all see Vanilla Ice for what it was.
Fashionable people always bugged me. In junior high they wore tie dyed shirts and listened to Grateful Dead. In ninth grade you had blue hair and liked Nirvana. In 11th grade you wore puffy clothes and went to raves. Now you're a hipster and like Goner records shit. I guess I don't let it bother me anymore. I used to wonder why and now I think I know.
Maybe it's bad politics to trash some local guy's art, but I'm going to be honest about why I don't like it. I haven't even been able to make it through the first 15 minutes of Open Five. Here's what I think: i think by putting himself in his movies he's trying to glorify himself and his lifestyle. His movies are filled with boring, awkward people and it never even explains why they are awkward. There are always long, uncomfortable silences where someone stares at the ground for a while. In Team Picture there was no conflict, no resolution, no motivation and no insight into the "characters". I think I understand why other people like it and I don't.
I like to make the joke that all my friends are assholes. I say "If it weren't for assholes, I wouldn't have any friends at all". The truth is, that I am attracted to strong personalities. Vibrant, opinionated and adventurous people. So much so that I've written a film about our lives growing up, and if I can ever raise the money to make it, I will show you a slice of real life that is not boring or mundane. We did shit. Crazy shit. Alot of us died, or got too fucked up but we were FIERY people. People with PASSIONS and yearnings and dreams. I think that the majority of the world is boring. Most people watch tv. Most people sit on their asses on the couch. I can't relate to those people. I can't relate to people with no dreams or ambitions or opinions. That's why Kentucker's movies bore me to tears. I'm smart. I've got way too much going on in my head for them.I once said that his movies have all the substance of a Michael Bay movie without the car flipping.
I've never officially met Kentucker. I saw him at a Q and A once and someone asked him "What is your inspiration when you write?" To which he pretentiously answered "I gave up writing a long time ago". Yes, we can tell. I would actually like to meet him one day. I would congratulate him on his success. You see, although I have a strong opinion about it it doesn't make me mad anymore. It just lights a fire under me to make good films. I've played in a band for 12 years that never had any success, yet we've seen the rise and fall of so many flavors of the month. The point is to always be real and honest, and that's what I strive to do. I have to say that I was inspired by his film, but probably in the opposite way that he would want.
A movie that inspired me in a good way, that I had not seen until this weekend was Craig Brewer's Poor and Hungry. He told a smart, beautiful story with characters and emotions. You knew what motivated them, grew to like them and felt the required emotions at their successes or failures. It was just good writing and good actors and he pulled off a huge film with no money. He's also genuine and unpretentious as a person.
Both of these films inspired me to get back to the writing desk. Let's see what happens.
