It’s still got fresh paint on it, and there are some unfinished rooms. Excuse the dust, watch out for the guys with masks and blowtorches, and if an area looks unfinished, that’s because it is. Not all of the reviews and articles have been transferred yet. And when it comes to organization, well… I’ll be working on that for years to come.
Well, I’ve run out of time to deliver the review of Twilight I’d hoped to write this weekend. Too busy working on the third book of The Auralia Thread, and we had our Thanksgiving dinner a week early, thanks to a visit from my parents.
But that’s okay, because I’ve got something much better for you than my disgruntled perspective on the film. The best thing I’ve read on the appeal of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight is Laura Miller’s article in Salon. It is a brilliant interpretation and diagnosis. And very well written.
Read all two pages of it here. It makes a lot of sense. And it’s kind of scary.
Know anybody in Bellingham? Tell them to come to the reading! I’ll be signing copies for Christmas gifts and passing out free posters to anybody who wants one.
The Browser: News & links to raise your eyebrows & furrow your brow. New headlines may be added as the day goes on. Stay tuned.
Walden Media has done a few admirable films. And quite a few misguided adaptations. Are they learning as they go? Or are they in trouble? Peter Chattaway serves up a few brow-creasing details: Walden hasn’t greenlit The Voyage of the Dawn Treader yet. (Frankly, I wish they’d shut it down. After what they did to Wardrobe and Prince Caspian, I don’t want to see them throttle Lewis’s vision further.) Meanwhile, Walden also wants to turn The Screwtape Letters into “a broad comedy in the vein of MR. BEAN a la Richard Curtis.” WHAT?
I hate to make a punchline out of “Change We Can’t Believe In,” but, well….
“Actually there are two or three albums of finished mixes that we could release tomorrow but we’re looking for a certain kind of arc to the entire collection of songs and so that’s why we’re keeping working until we’re 100% happy with that. For us it’s about artistic integrity, about making the album that we want to release. It’s only in the process of making an album that you start to understand what it is you have. So it was only recently we started to get a sense of the scope of what we had and having got to that point we asked ourselves if it had reached its potential or if it could go further… and we concluded it could! It’s an amazing piece of work and it needs further development.”
Thanks to Stuart B for sending me that clip from an interview at U2.com.
Tambor didn’t know much about details, but he told Weintraub that “when the writer calls you, the director and the executive producer calls you, it’s a pretty good sign.” So while we wouldn’t bet the farm on it, his own certainty gives us reason to hope that this news is change we can believe in.
Friday night, at Café Babel in Seattle’s Fremont neighborhood, at 7:30 p.m., I’ll be reading from Auralia’s Colors and my new novel, Cyndere’s Midnight, with a Q&A and a book signing to follow.
And here’s a bonus: FREE POSTERS!
WaterBrook Press has printed a stack of beautiful posters featuring the artwork from the two book covers. If you show up and show me your copy of Auralia’s Colors or Cyndere’s Midnight, you can walk away with a poster for the wall of your bedroom, office, cubicle… or heck, the ceiling of your RV.
The event is free and open to the public. Seattle Pacific University’s bookstore will have copies of the novels for sale. Come on over to the canal in Fremont for an evening of otherworldly storytelling!
I first met Charlie Kaufman when he visited Seattle to promote Adaptation. I met him again when he came back to talk about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
About a week and a half ago, when he returned to Seattle to discuss his fantastic new movie Synecdoche, New York, I interviewed him a third time. This was the most enjoyable and in-depth of the conversations. A few short excerpts appear here, in my latest article for Image’s “Good Letters.”
Kaufman is one of my favorite interviews, because he loves to talk about big ideas and philosophy. I’ve always wanted to prompt him to share some of his views on faith, and this time, that opportunity came.
Eventually, I’ll publish the whole conversation. But I’ve got to meet some assignment deadlines first…
So… I spilled the beans and mentioned that I have some glorious new posters for The Auralia Thread. And I started getting emails from people who actually want one!
It’s like… 20 degrees here, and there’s snow on the ground.
I’m preparing for my third presentation of the day at Northwestern College. It’ll be a public lecture about Christian discernment in the arts. So I’m busy, I’m tired (jet lag and stress), and I’m having a fantastic time with gracious hosts.
Normal blogging will resume when I get back and catch up on my sleep.
…
that I live in a democratic country;
and that my HOPE is placed in the right man:
a leader with no term limits;
who loves everyone equally (red, blue, rich, poor, white, black, born, unborn);
who even loves his enemies… so much that he forbids mocking them or laughing at their folly;
who will prove himself faithful and true on every single promise;
who shows me grace in spite of my blindspots and pride;
and who will
never
ever
make a concession speech.
And now, let’s get back to doing justice, to loving mercy, and to walking humbly with our God.
More ways to bring some beauty and life into this day of hysteria and hate speech:
This might be old news to you, but have you heard Sam’s October 20th appearance on Acoustic Cafe? She’s got the full band with her and does deathless versions of “Can’t Come Down,” “Signal,” “Fan Dance,” and “Sister Rosetta.” Sparkling fidelity and a great interview make this a must for Samfans.
That’s one of the comments left in this Commentary story, which informs us that Seattle isn’t the only place where public media is posting the names and addresses of McCain supporters (but not Obama supporters). You know, so this proud, democratic nation can more easily persecute all of those voters who don’t conform.
Let’s all think back to that great live Steve Martin routine…
STEVE MARTIN: Let’s repeat the Non-Conformists’ Oath. I promise to be different.
AUDIENCE: I promise to be different.
STEVE MARTIN: I promise to be unique.
AUDIENCE: I promise to be unique.
STEVE MARTIN: I promise not to repeat things other people say.
AUDIENCE: I promise …
Amazing, how so many Americans who zealously declare that their candidate will bring out the best in America are proving by their behavior the exact opposite.
For a limited time: Pick up any three books by Jeffrey Overstreet for Christmas gifts, send him a photograph of the books in your hands, and he'll send you a signed Auralia's Colors/Cyndere's Midnight poster. You'll find Cyndere's Midnight, Auralia's Colors, and Through a Screen Darkly in bookstores and on booksites everywhere. Try Barnes and Noble and Third Place Books.
Welcome to Jeffrey Overstreet's blog. You're invited to consider and discuss news, reviews, and perspectives on movies, music, literature, culture, faith, and Jeffrey's books. (Please observe the Comments Policy below.)
Through a Screen Darkly, Jeffrey's travelogue of "dangerous moviegoing." It's a memoir, a guide to the best movies you've never seen, a resource for discussion groups and classes, and an archive of amusing anecdotes drawn from interviews with filmmakers, movie stars, and cantankerous cinephiles.
"Inspirational. Sometimes all of us forget that love for movies, that internal spark inside us that movies lit, and [Overstreet's] book is going to remind many of us about it."
- Darren Aronofsky, director of Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain
Monks, rats, mass murderers, sex dolls, an "oil man", and a guy who's unable to move anything but his left eye. What do they have in common? They're in some of Jeffrey's favorite films of the year!
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10 Favorite Recordings of 2007
Bob Dylan, Arcade Fire, Joe Henry, Radiohead, Over the Rhine, PJ Harvey... read about Jeffrey's favorite records of the year.
COMMENTS POLICY
- Please speak up! This blog exists to encourage conversation. I've learned a lot here, even (and especially) from those who know how to (respectfully) disagree.
- I reserve the right to approve or delete any comments, so I can keep the "dialogue" on-topic and civil. This is not an "anything goes" site.
- Please keep comments fairly brief. No manifestos. No essays. Feel free to include links to your own sites, where you can ramble on as much as you like.
- If a back-and-forth debate gets on my nerves, I'll delete it. My nerves get enough trouble as it is. Take the debates into email, please.
