The Proof is in the Pudding - what does that even mean??

Brett has posted about his fifth day of the Nicholls ceremonies. Mm, I love living vicariously.

Yesterday I got a chance to see a sneak preview of Forgetting Sarah Marshall (and really, I did think to myself, a movie I get to see before Billy Mernit??). The director, Nicholas Stoller, came to present it to us and hold a Q&A afterwards. It was a great screening. Maybe I don't go to enough horrifyingly embarrassing comedies, but it's been a lot time since I've sat in an audience that's laughed together so much.

In one sense, I don't like talking about what I think about movies. I think it's because, as a film student, I feel like I'm supposed to have a different opinion than everyone else - a more educated, analytical opinion about movies. And some part of me does that when I watch movies. I do analyze, I do look for turning points and structure, and sometimes, especially in an academic setting, I enjoy it. But in general, when I watch movies, I do it for personal enjoyment. My friend asked me once what my top five favourite movies are. I think I have the list floating around here somewhere, but I can tell you, it wasn't a list full of obscure cinematic classics. I'm pretty sure Lord of the Rings was on there, recent Oscar nominee Walk the Line, and standard cult classic Fight Club. There are movies that I enjoy, in a strictly personal sense. I once used the phrase "in my professional opinion" when talking about a movie, and it was a joke when I said it, but it held a little bit of tension for me. You expect people who study poli sci to have stronger, more educated opinions about politics. You expect someone who's a doctor to be able to use their medical knowledge outside of the hospital as much as within. So when people ask me what I think about a film, what do they expect me to say? I know my friends don't expect too much, because they consistently joke about my major, but one day I'm supposed to be a professional in this field.

I'm just going to blame it on my terrible memory. I just don't feel like I can talk analytically about a movie after just seeing it once. : )

Screenwriting class is progressing. We're done with prewriting and are supposed to turn in our first five pages next week. We turned in step outlines last time. We talked about the first five minutes and what you can tell about character and story through the scene. We watched the first five minutes of Lost, and our guru asked us what we knew about Jack from the scene. I most definitely said, "That he's hot!" Ok, I said it more quietly than that. Then we watched the first five minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean. Am I noticing a trend here?

Giving up something for Lent? I sort of am (I came up with it a day later, too). It's more like an experiment, really. We'll see how it goes. : )