Bruce, deep down you may still be that same great kid you used to be. But it’s not who you are underneath, it’s what you do that defines you.
~ Rachel Dawes, Batman Begins (2005)
slip:4a1562.
What defines you →
Live every day →
Live every day as if it were your last, for one day you’re sure to be right.
~ Breaker’ Morant, in 1980 film
slip:4a1561
It’s only a movie →
The movie is also missing (though it very nearly captured) a fascinating archaeological sidenote to the story: the extraordinary investigations of Dutch archaeologist Hendrik Robert van Heekeren while he was a prisoner of war.
~ Cyler Conrad, from An Archaeologist on the Railroad of Death
slip:4usaaa4.
Sure, it’s a film from the 50s, so it’s going to gloss over some things. But it’s interesting to learn about what really went on in that theater [of war.]
ɕ
Paying attention →
There’s something I believe in greatly: intuition. At one point when I had finished my second year at the American Film Institute,I desperately felt my character as a human being needed a political waking up. I felt that I was too naïve. I ended up doing a Frontline piece on El Salvador that led me to working with Oliver. I wanted something, I was given a sign, and I followed it. That’s what I mean by intuition — and I believe that each step of the way I have gone I have been given these fortunate signs and I’ve been able to see them and to move with them.
~ Robert Richardson, from Robert Richardson – The Talks
slip:4uteie29.
People who self-identify as creatives make this point quite often: They are fortunate in opportunities. But the key to their success was in being able to see it, and in having the courage to try.
ɕ
Labyrinthine and awkward →
But my very first memory was the Jim Henson film, Labyrinth. This has to be, without doubt, the creepiest Muppet film ever. I reacted strongly to the film as a child: frustration, intrigue, terror, revulsion, surprise, delight, and an awkward boyhood crush on Jennifer Connelly as Sarah, the heroine. It was a powerful film, not least because of David Bowie as Jareth. Evil and allure, Bowie is my archetypal Goblin King.
~ Brenton Dickieson, from Faërie Stories in The Labyrinth
slip:4uaieo1.
I agree with this entire post. As in: OMGYESPLEASE jumping up flipping my desk. It’s now been 8 years since Bowie died… and I very nearly rewatched Labyrinth just because of this post. “Evil and allure” in every direction, indeed. Muppets and kidnapped children. Beauty and horror.
ɕ
My mind is an emulation →
My mind is [apparently] a poor emulation of every movie ever created.
I mean, can you reliably tell whether you are an actual human in base reality or an upload/simulation?
Or to extend this even further:
Is there any text conversation that somebody could have with you that would convince you that you are actually a machine?
What a weapon that would be. What a cursed SMS that would be to receive.
IF YOU’RE READING THIS, YOU’VE BEEN IN A COMA FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS NOW. WE’RE TRYING A NEW TECHNIQUE. WE DON’T KNOW WHERE THIS MESSAGE WILL END UP IN YOUR DREAM, BUT WE HOPE WE’RE GETTING THROUGH.
~ Matt Webb, from Turing test variations
slip:4uieho4.
First off, there are three different things I wanted to quote and three different directions. Go read the thing. I wish I had written it. Hello? Could the programmers running my brain in the simulation please drop the upgrade soon?! I digress.
As I read the above (the bit I quoted) I had a few thoughts…
One — There’s an idea—I recall it being called a “scissors” or a “shears”—which breaks a mind (human, but the discussion was also about an AI’s mind) once you have the idea. I mean: There’s a discussion of whether or not there can exist such a scissors. I’m sure I’ve read about this; I would have swore I blogged about it. But I can’t even find the discussion on the Internet. What I have found is discussion about the discussion with references to the discussion being deleted and moderator-blocked for a few years. Apparently, because if such a scissors actually exists . . . *bonk* Therefore, my first thought after reading the quoted bit above is that I think that “scissors” once broke my brain, and caused an emulator crash. And the information was mostly erased before I was restarted.
Two — Have you seen the film, The Thirteenth Floor? No spoiler! Go watch.
Three — Making this connection, as I read, made the hair stand up on my arms. Have you see the film, Prince of Darkness? No Spoiler! Go watch.
ɕ
Filed and lost →
Taking notes on the books I read was a great start, but it wasn’t enough. It did me no good to leave those notes sitting in a software program like a musty filing cabinet in the basement, never to see the light of day again.
I realized if I wanted to benefit from my reading, I needed to engage with the books I read on a much deeper level. I needed to make something out of them. Otherwise, I would continue to passively consume information with no lasting memory of what I learned.
~ Tiago Forte, from The Ultimate Guide to Summarizing Books
Has anyone noticed that’s what I’m attempting to do with all my blogging and writing? Shirley, that’s obvious. (It’s not obvious, and don’t call me Shirley.)
I’ve always deeply loved movies. I was raised (on hose water and neglect) in the era when going to a movie was special. Remember when you had to use the phone (with a rotary dial, mounted on the wall) to call the theatre and listen to a looooong recording detailing what was playing and when? I could tell you so so so many stories about going to the movies. In more recent issues of 7 for Sunday, I’m feeling less inclined to stomp down the inside-joke movie references. If you find them even half as enjoyable to read, as I do to write them, then we’re both better off. I’m pretty sure that my recalling and retelling of all those stories about and around movies makes the entire movie experience more fun; yes the experience during the movie, but also all the stuff around it too.
No, I’ve not lost my own plot. Forte’s point about how to benefit from what one reads is the same thing. If you want to hold on to whatever it was that you’ve gotten from a book… you have to integrate it with the rest of your ongoing, lived experience. You have to go around telling the story of who gave you the book, what the book means to you in the context of your entire life, and what you think your interlocutor might get from it (like this, this, this, this, this, this or… you get my point.)
And as soon as you realize that’s fun for movies, and great for books, you should wonder if it could be a super-power for self-improvement if you could share the contents of your mind, with yourself, in that same fashion. Two suggestions: Start journaling immediately after reading this issue of 7 for Sunday, so you can then begin in a year, to regularly review your journals.
ɕ
A way of seeing →
As a filmmaker, you have a way of seeing things that is inherent in any telling of a story. You read a book, and images form in your mind, and as a director, you explain those images to the crew members. That’s what directing is, that’s what they mean when they say explaining your vision. So for me, it’s really not about any conscious desire to imprint a style. It’s simply: here’s how I see it. This is my understanding of the material. This is what affected me, here’s when I cried, we need to make sure that this moment is real, we need to make sure that your your heart is broken like I felt when I read the script. It’s about communicating exactly what you feel. And that’s the art of directing.
~ Sam Rami, from Sam Raimi – The Talks
slip:4uteie14.
I find I’m often confused by having too many options. I can get far into the weeds exploring all the possible way to do something. Instead, I truly believe that after enough time practicing some creative endeavor, it’s more important to simply follow your own feeling. Follow your own inspiration. “This is what I feel I want to do,” becomes the correct compass to follow. It’s simply: Here’s how I see it.
ɕ
Will it last? →
[How do you know if something will last or not?] Well, you don’t! That’s a form of arrogance! I think that if you can somehow tell some kind of truth or at least get to some sense of truth… Then it will last. Because then you’ve reached some kind of primal understanding of something that will transport you over time. But I don’t sit here and say, “Is this going to be great and last?” I don’t think so. I just try to make it something that has a sense of something that matters, you know, that makes it of value.
~ Eric Roth, from Eric Roth
slip:4uteie5.
Eric Roth wrote the screenplay for Forrest Gump, an adaptation of the book.
ɕ
Hidden gems →
Suppose you wanted to be surprised and delighted (and possibly intrigued and befuddled) in some field. You could start with the Top 10. Today, I’m talking about movies, so find some list of the 10 Greatest Films. This sort of listing is ubiquitous: 10 Greatest Dramas, 100 Films preserved by the U.S. Library of Congress, The British Film Institute’s (BFI) 100 Greatest Films, and on and on.
The following list from BFI is not that sort of list. Not at all.
Each of these films is one of the greatest according to just one voter in our recent Greatest Films of All Time poll; they are some of the hidden gems among the more than 4,300 films voted for by more than 2,000 participants. (For the pedantic reader, the films that got one vote each – more than we can fit in here – are all technically joint 1,956th greatest film of all time, combining the tallies of our critics’ and directors’ polls.)
~ from 101 hidden gems: the greatest films you’ve never seen
slip:4uousi2.
Effectively, that’s a list of 101 movies which all tied for last place, in list of the top 2,000-or-so movies. Above, the BFI is showing an entirely different way to be surprised and delighted (and possibly intrigued and befuddled): Find one person who is into the thing way more than you, and ask them for a list of the greatest. On their list, it is likely there will be one which they recommend, that no one else would recommend. What is up with that one recommendation?
Any big list is created by many people collaborating and, in the end, averaging out their individual tastes. But if you ask that one really-into-it person, you’ll get a very surprising and delightful (and probably intriguing and befuddling) opinion.
ɕ