Spending the summer at home is going to be great. It's already been great, and it's barely started. Spending two summers ago in Florida and last summer in Paris...those were also great, but I'm preparing myself for a very productive and fun summer with my favorite people in the world, and there's really no beating that.
Here's the plan so far: 1) edit The Novel, and prepare it for third draft readers, 2) work on my offerings to the summer Creative Writing Forced March Athena and I set up (20 participants, at last check), 3) do edits on The Play, paying special attention to the beginning, 4) play around with my other loose end writing projects (especially the U.N. show), 5) train for Dad's and my epic scaling of Red Elephant (i.e. start running again, which I should have been doing all along), 6) flirt with the idea of studying for the GRE, 7) study for the GRE, 8) continue screening senior thesis-related movies, and taking copious notes, 9) continue reading senior thesis-related books, 10) go on much-anticipated family trips to two very different relaxing locations.
I like this plan.

Day 30 - Your favorite movie of all time



But, let's face it, the poster really doesn't do it justice.

Day 29 - A movie from your childhood



"MOTHER. That book you're reading is upside down."

Day 28 - Favorite movie from your favorite director



When I'm picking a movie to watch, I usually do so based on genre or actor. Almodóvar movies, though, I'll watch without knowing anything about them in advance.

Day 27 - A movie that you wish you had seen in theaters



But then again, I would have been a bucket of mush either way.

Day 26 - A movie that you love but everyone else hates

Again, I don't like terrible movies, for the most part, so this isn't really the answer they were going for.



A lot of people hate on this because it's not Tim Burton enough. That's exactly why I like it. Plus the ending always makes me cry. And who can say no to Ewan McGregor's charmingly off Southern accent? Or Marion Cotillard as a pregnant French lady?

Day 25 - The most hilarious movie you’ve ever seen



I have never laughed so hard watching a movie for the first time in my life.

Day 24 - That one awesome movie idea that still hasn’t been done yet

One?!? Please.

Idea #1, an adaptation:

I admit that an film version of the Lymond Chronicles would probably be better suited to a series on Masterpiece Theater, but you can't ask that question and not get this as my first response. This is the adaptation I most want to write myself, but it would be a task that would take a lifetime. Thus, probably, the fact that it hasn't happened yet.

So then idea #2:

Lewis. And. Clark.
Think about it: Intrigue! Thomas Jefferson! The very first road trip! Sacajawea! Clark's red hair! Lewis's angst! It's perfect. Why has no one done this yet?

Day 23 - Favorite animation



This one I chose 30% for the story, and 70% for how he does rain.

Day 22 - Favorite documentary



I actually like a surprising number of documentaries, but contemplating this one just fills me with joy.

Day 21 - Favorite action movie



It's one huge metaphor. Also Ian McKellan rocks my socks.

Day 20 - Favorite movie from your favorite actor/actress

I'm going one for both actor and actress, since it's been demonstrated pretty conclusively that I have trouble sticking to just one movie.

Tom Hollander (no one can eat jam like him):



Hayley Atwell (one of my most successful female characters I've ever trotted out for creative writing class is partly based on her speaking rhythms in this):

Day 19 - Favorite movie based on a book/comic/etc.

Oh good grief. A lot of my favorite movies are based on books, but I'm going with this one because I like it better than the book, and because I love it and haven't used it yet.



BUT! I would be remiss if I didn't point out that there's a tantalizing "etc." on the end of the prompt for today. Therefore, I am going to gratuitously list three movies based on plays that I really like.



I liked it on stage better, but my crush on Scripps is only amplified by up-close shots of Jamie Parker's reaction shots, so the movie's all right in my book.



Guh. I've only ever seen amateur and regional productions of this one, so the miniseries far and away eclipses the live performances I've seen.



The movie is awfully faithful to the script, and I've although I've never seen it on stage, I don't care. How could it be better than this?

Day 18 - A movie that you wish more people would’ve seen



Let's take stock, shall we?
1) Colin Firth
2) Julianne Moore
3) Matthew Goode
4) CAMEOS! Ginnifer Goodwin, that guy from The Fall, Dana from The L Word...I'm probably forgetting someone.
5) Cinematography. (clothes porn)
6) The renaissance of the About a Boy boy.
7) Angst

Wide release probably didn't happen for a variety of reasons. I do think, though, that there was less homophobia at work than people thought. This is a really, really artsy film, with a pacing that wouldn't appeal to a lot of people.

Day 17 - A movie that disappointed you the most

I really, really wanted to like this movie.



I keep talking myself into watching Tarantino films. I regret it every single time.

Day 16 - A movie that you used to love but now hate

Wow. This one's lame. Also, hate is a very strong word. I'll just go with this one because I used to watch it over and over and now I can't even remember what it's about.

Day 15 - A character who you can relate to the most

I relate to a lot of characters at any given time. It's kind of my thing. For a while in high school, I really thought I was Cyrano de Bergerac:



Then I decided that Fiona from Four Weddings and a Funeral was a better stand-in, for any number of reasons (but not the smoking and the skeletal frame):



And then there's this girl:



Reading Atonement freaked me out, because I was around Briony's age and I was a writer too, but I would never do the horrible things she did (not least of which, in my mind at the time, was to show her work in progress to her unreliable relatives--how stupid was she?)

So I guess it depends on how I feel at any given time. At the moment, though, I'm leaning towards Fiona. She's definitely the happiest. Plus she's a) not dead and b) awesome.

Day 14 - A movie that no one would expect you to love



I don't know that I love it per se, but everyone who knows me knows that I don't do well with scary movies. This was kind of the upper limit for me, but I really liked it anyway. Noir can get me through a lot.

Day 13 - A movie that is a guilty pleasure

Anything I've ever watched with Subcontinent?
Kidding.



I don't really feel particularly guilty about this, but it doesn't quite stack up against the other movies I like either. So there you go.

Day 12 - A movie that you hate



Actors who can't act, a main character who takes forever to die, and a meandering plot.
(It's a shame the poster is so beautiful.)

Day 11 - A movie that changed your opinion about something

Tough one. If this were open to TV shows, though, this would be easy--The West Wing was solely responsible for getting me interested in politics.



This is another cop-out, in that this film didn't really change my opinion about something, but I did come to a sudden realization coming out of the movie theater.
I loved this movie--still do--but when I first watched I found it almost unbearably dark. My grandparents were in town for Thanksgiving and my entire family went to The Art to go see Capote. During the movie I just kept sinking lower and lower into my seat. "This is so bleak," I thought, "so heavy. I can't believe we brought my grandparents to it." After the credits rolled, we all came out of the theater and my grandfather said, "Well, that was quite good. So. What's for dinner?"
I realized that people can watch the same movie and have completely different viewing experiences. Perhaps at the time it didn't help that I had just written something that drew its inspiration from other peoples' pain. Maybe I identified too much with Capote's dilemna. Maybe not enough.

Also, I love Catherine Keener as Harper Lee, so I had to include this one way or another. :)

Day 10 - Favorite classic movie



I totally think this is it. Of course, there are other "classic" movies I'm using on other days, but this feels right. Also, I'm eager to get home, and there's this:

Massive Update
-or-
Why I’ve Been Speaking In Movie Selections

First there was The Play. My cast was great—especially the leads; they even electrified me and I’ve read/seen the play a million times. StOlafBoy came to visit, and the Aged Ps used their spring break to fly out for the week and spend whatever time with me they could. We went to the movies and saw The Ghost Writer (welcome back, Ewan McGregor crush), and we went to Five Guys for lunch, so all was right with the world. StOlafBoy showed up on the day of the show and so he joined my parents while I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off before curtain. Aside from a couple line flubs, it went well. Having an audience made me realize what I need to do when I go back for the next round of revisions (this summer—more on that later), and reinforced the knowledge I have had for a while but somehow still kept resisting of who the real main character is. That was good to know. I also decided to stop trying to stretch this into a full-length show and be content with it as a one-act. Figuring that up has really freed me to go back and play with the beginning, which is slow, and the ending, which is abrupt, without messing with the middle, which is solid gold.

So that was all great.

The rest of StOlafBoy’s visit was low-key but fun. I had a lot of work to do, as did he, so I showed him the sights, including an abbreviated ice cream crawl, one day and the next day we met up with HSClassmate for drinks at Triumph Brewing Company and reveled in our classiness. It’s always fun to introduce high school friends to Princeton friends and see what happens. In this case, as in all the other instances so far, it was a success.

And then the show I did dramaturgical work for opened. In the last few weeks I got to go to rehearsals in Manhattan and work with the stage manager and literary associate of the company doing research, and also running less glamorous errands to Staples. Then the cast moved into tech at Princeton and my life got swamped. Still, it was great sitting in rehearsals, sending in notes, and in general feeling useful and efficient. It reminded me of Florida, where the reward for good work was more work, but this work was less manual labor and more split-second Googling. My classmates and I got to be in the talk-back at the end of the second show, and I even got a few laughs. So that was good.

Then there was prison. Every Monday morning I’ve been going to a men’s prison to help out a teacher in one of their preexisting classes. I answer questions, provide another pair of eyes, and in general make sure my teacher, Ms. T, doesn’t get swamped. Right off the bat we were told that friendliness could be interpreted as weakness and that “undue familiarity” was a huge no-no. Now, I had no problem with the second half, but my main means of putting people at ease is to adopt a, let’s face it, kind of flirtatious tone. That was obviously NOT going to happen in prison, and so as a result, even though I successfully tutored for weeks on end, it wasn’t until the last class of the semester that I feel I truly found my voice there. Which was a shame for this semester, but bodes well for next year if I can remember what I was doing right. For one, I allowed myself to laugh. That’s important.

Also prison-related was the dinner the Princeton group (founded by alums) that organizes these volunteer trips threw for us in the swanky faculty dining house. One of the alums there talked about he was inspired to set up this program in part because his father had taught Leopold and Loeb at the University of Chicago, had remained in contact with Leopold during and after his prison sentence, and had always believed that no matter how horrible a crime a person may have committed, they should always be given the chance to do better. That really moved me, as did the seniors who spoke. Some of them had been involved with the program for years, and some had just started this semester as I had. There was also an administrator present from the other of the two prisons we send people to (I go to the slightly less intense one) and he was very thankful, but mindful that there were still ways we could improve on the program, on both ends. So it was a great, thought-provoking meal. I still have more musings to do on my experience tutoring in a prison, but that’s for another entry.


Throughout all this: Junior Independent Work. I was writing about John Banville, John Le Carré, Alan Bennett, Julian Mitchell and their writings about Cambridge Spy-like characters, so that was great and addictive. I would have liked to have worked just on my JP for weeks on end, but that’s what senior year and the thesis is for. My adviser was great (albeit difficult to get in touch with—when you get an appointment with him you camp out outside his office well in advance of the meeting time), a rock star in his field, and, most importantly, a really nice guy. When I wound up my JP (yesterday!) I felt like I still had a lot to say on the topic, so I’ll definitely be extending this into my senior thesis and sticking with the same adviser. So things are falling into place.

Things not falling into place: not getting into the Program in Creative Writing. I’m still thinking my way through this, but I’m cool with it. Like I said, I’m excited to Cambridge Spies it up next year. I have a bit more to say about this, but I’ve already been away from this paper longer than I should be. Until then: May the Fourth be with you (har har).

Day 09 - A movie with the best soundtrack

Another hard one. Do I pick Angels in America? Little Women? Another movie with Thomas Newman music? He is my favorite screen composer, after all.



Once I thought about it, though, there's really no competition. In addition to being full of cello music (and Paul Bettany, playing the cello), this is the movie that introduced me to Ralph Vaughn Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis a.k.a. the saddest tune ever written (second place: Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings).

Day 08 - A movie that you’ve seen countless times



OH MY GOODNESS. Even thinking about this movie brings joy to my heart. It is so, so good, especially once you've seen it enough times to stop watching for plot and start watching for all the things that happen on the periphery. Seriously. Watch the characters standing in the corner of the screen, not talking, or watch reactions, or, hell, just watch everything Kristen Scott Thomas and Simon Callow do, and you're in for a treat. Plus the day that I realized John Hannah was the movie's moral compass was a good day.

Day 07 - The most surprising plot twist or ending

Not The Crying Game. I saw that one coming from a mile away.



This is a bit of a cop-out, since I was eight or so when I first saw this, but I was surprised when she got on that plane.

Day 06 - Favorite made for TV movie

I really only have one strictly made for TV movie that I like enough to put on this list, and I already used it. I'm going to extend this to miniseries in which case, whew, my choice just got a whole lot tougher to make.

Let me take you through my thought process. My first instinct was: Pride and Prejudice! Of course! Then I thought, really? Are you sure it's not just Jennifer Ehle being awesome and Colin Firth being...Colin Firth that would lead you to make this decision?

Then I thought of Prime Suspect...until I remembered that there's nothing mini about that series.

And then, of course, it came to me. What am I writing, in part, my spring JP about? What has obsessed me to the point of thesisdom? What would I, once I had finished watching it, go back and start again immediately?



Let me give you three reasons:
1) Bill effing Haydon. He is a BAMF of the first degree.
2) George Smiley cleaning his tie.
3a) "Young" Peter Guillam
3b) Jim Prideaux: breaking viewers' hearts since 1979