Perhaps the glass wasn't broken enough?

Just got back from seeing the new Alice in Wonderland. Not as bad as I’d heard, just as beautiful as I’d heard. Sometimes the 3D was cool, sometimes it was just annoying. All in all, 6.5 out of 10.

I found the advertisements at the beginning fascinating. They were all aimed at kids from 5-15, and heavy on the girl (buying) power. I had heard this was a dark movie. And there were dark moments to be sure, but no real menace. Some of the character performances were strong, if not great (not sure where the writing / directing was really going). I’m a big fan of Crispin Glover, and except for some digital / irl mash-up problems (his physical head didn’t really move with his digital body), I enjoyed his performance a lot.

I guess the main thing is…it wasn’t BIG enough. It was a small story, in a small land (yes, I know Alice shrinks to get there), and I wanted a BIG story in a HUGE land!

I didn’t really get Depp as the hatter, until he really started going bonkers-raving-stark, which wasn’t nearly often enough. (I wasn’t fond of his Willie Wonka, either.)

I liked Hathaway as the White Queen. I felt like she was light enough for the aperitif that was this movie. She moved the digestion along well. What else is a White Queen for, after all?

The Jabberwocky wasn’t scary, and the final battle was silly. And I love Helena – but hate most of her roles.

Bitch, bitch, bitch. I didn’t ask for my money back.

Oooohhhh! The first part of the closing credits was delightful!

Shake the foolish tree,

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

Inspiration, for me, is often a matter of getting down to it. It’s my understanding that many writers (for instance) get “writer’s block.” Well, when I’m writing, at least for the past 7 years, I don’t have any problem actually writing. The words come. The trick, for me, is getting to the computer. I get, “sitting down at the computer” block.

One way to combat that is to have a regular schedule for writing. Every morning for a half hour, or every evening for an hour, or, if you simply don’t have the time, 20 minutes every other day. I had a teacher once, in Chicago, named Dr. Robin Herndobler. She was an amazing woman, and really the strongest “womentor” I’ve ever had. She taught English and writing and women’s studies. What she told us was something along these lines: “If you can’t find at least 15 minutes, every day, to write, then you shouldn’t be a writer.” Strong words, but I think she’s right (for the most part). A writer writes. That’s it. Getting published – and getting paid – are wonderful. But they do not make you a writer. Writing does that.

I adore being a creative person. If I thought that I could no longer create…that would be a bad, bad day for me. Part of the trick about running this business is allowing my learning about the business to be as creative as possible. Simply enjoying the newness – the creation – of the business. Tricky for me, sometimes, but worth it. This is the path, and it’s a way for me (and my lovely lady wife / CEO) to make our dreams happen.

So here I am, sitting at the computer, and pounding it out. It’s creative – and I hope inspirational for you all.

Best,

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

Part 1 of 3 can be found here: www.foolishtreefilms.com/blog/ian-blog/iansvlog1/

Part 2 of 3 can be found here: www.foolishtreefilms.com/blog/ian-blog/iansvlog2/

Thanks so much for watching the vids, and please be sure to rate, subscribe, and comment. Thanks!

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyg0xZxu_Fc

One of the main reasons that foolish tree films became a reality is my desire for many years now to make “The Hornman” documentary. I spent Monday and Tuesday with him cataloging and organizing his stories for a book and that time with him fomented in me an even stronger resolve to make this movie a reality ASAP. I didn’t realize that until just now, when a number of ideas flooded in as I started to write this blog about a totally different topic. Ah, well… the nature of the beast called my brain.

We presently have no funding for the project except our own sweat equity. But my first task will be to create a facebook fan page for The Hornman. We have a million video clips, photos, letters from audiences of all ages, audio files and of course, his written material. Maybe I could even get him to blog … Dad? Are you reading this? At any rate, duh, a FAN PAGE. I will for sure let you know when it’s posted.

Meanwhile, here’s a little video I took when I was at his place earlier in the week.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWB6ueLqfx4

Part 1 of 3 can be found here: www.foolishtreefilms.com/blog/ian-blog/iansvlog1/

Part 3 of 3 can be found here: www.foolishtreefilms.com/blog/ian-blog/iansvlog3/

Thanks so much for watching the vids, and please be sure to rate, subscribe, and comment. Thanks!

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBfzcn0vzoo

This is also true in my life as a whole. If I can’t see what I’m doing, it makes it a lot more difficult to get it done. And lately, around here (San Francisco), it’s been overcast like Seattle, which has made it a heavier prospect keeping my eyes on my dreams. The light coming into my eyes and into my skin (killer vitamin D source, don’tcha know) helps make it possible for me to lift up my eyes – and my head – and look ahead.

And the truth is, because of my ability to keep going, and hold that light inside me, I’m living a number of my dreams right now. I’m in an amazing relationship – personal and business – with the partner of my dreams, my wife of almost 12 years. Wow! I’m making movies for a living, writing scripts, shooting film and editing like a madman. Yes, there’s an enormous amount of administrative work that goes along with that, and yes, sometimes that’s a drag…but the light of the dreams I’m actually living in help keep me going.

So, anytime you’re having a hard time keeping your eyes on your dreams, because it looks pretty dark around you, find what light you can find. Don’t worry if it’s not a light anyone else can see. That’s not the important thing. Not that having other folks support your path by being on a similar one themselves isn’t wonderful and wonderfully helpful; it is. But it’s not as necessary as the truth of that light for you. If it’s true for you, then it’s true enough.

As Brian Setzer sings, in his song “We are the Marauders:” “Life is one tall order / You gotta do what you wanna do / You gotta do what you were born to do / But this whole life is way too short / If it feels right to you / Well, there’s a start.”

Light your way, fabulous ones!

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

Part 2 of 3 can be found here: www.foolishtreefilms.com/blog/ian-blog/iansvlog2/

Part 3 of 3 can be found here: www.foolishtreefilms.com/blog/ian-blog/iansvlog3/

Thanks so much for watching the vids, and please be sure to rate, subscribe, and comment. Thanks!

Ian Carruthers
Filmmaker
www.foolishtreefilms.com
Let’s make a movie!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGMD80bcA1A

I love writing. I always have. There’s a flow to it, for me, that feels so good. Dialogue has emerged as my favorite part of writing. When the characters I’m writing say something amazing, I love it. It lifts me up. Getting it right – having the characters – no, the people – come off the page, alive, because of words that they’ve spoken, through me, is a feeling like no other.

I’ve always been a sci-fi / fantasy-head. Just loved it. Ever since my Mom read The Hobbit to my brother and I as a bedtime story, and my Dad gave me Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land when I was 11. There’s a generally accepted idea around sci-fi readers and writers. Basically, it goes like this: “Idea is more important than character.” As long as the ideas are original, well thought and wrought, the humans (or other intelligent species) in the story are merely vehicles for those ideas. They don’t have to be/feel “real,” they just have to do whatever serves the idea, and not their inner lives.

Not for me. If the beings don’t have emotional resonance, I’m just not interested. Don’t get me wrong – brilliant ideas make me happy too. But character comes first, for me. And that pertains to my personal life, as well as to the lives in my fiction.

At foolish tree films, that’s one of the things we aim to do. Show the reality of the mundane – and how amazing that is. We’d appreciate you letting us know how well we’re doing at that.

Cheers!

I say, wait to give money. Everyone is giving now; and that is righteous. I have never given money to the people of a disaster-impacted area (unless you include the US political system). I plan to this time.

But I’m going to wait a few weeks. I’ve only got so much, and creating our own business, as you might understand, has a deep impact on that. But I will give as the donations start to fall off. They need someone on that other side of the wave of giving to keep the momentum going. I will do my small part.

Just saw the Golden Globes. Avatar won for best film. I’m just not feeling it. Don’t get me wrong – it is an amazing film, and film tech at its best. I saw it in 3D IMAX, and thoroughly enjoyed it. And who the hell knows? Maybe it will have some actual impact on world opinion and action regarding earth-death. But it wasn’t a great film, in my estimation.

I do know that virtual reality is (and has been for some time) the wave of the now. That scares me. And I make my living by it. All the spectral imaginations creating…a world that is not our world, which becomes our world, which is our world because it’s part of the one with which we were created. It’s all the world.

Maybe I’m scared because…that puts the power in my hands?

BTW – Helen Mirren, Kate Hudson, Christina Hendricks – best dresses, in that order. Go Monique and Drew!

La,

Ian

I also think that a fallow “period” is perfect for a writer (of English, at any rate). Not only is it is an unspecified length of time, it’s the punctuation mark that signifies the end of a complete thought. Once upon a time, there was one space in between typed words, and two spaces in between sentences, occurring immediately after the period. A perfect place to lie low.

A “period” also refers, of course, to women’s ovulation cycles, the times when women are fertile, and when they’re not. Just as the skin of the earth and the womb of a woman, so too does an imagination have periods where it is rich and ripe, and periods where it is empty and must rest. Whether we let it rest, or not, is up to us.

These sorts of times are not abnormal periods for me, but they can be frustrating. I feel I must work, work, work. Do, do, do! (“deh-da-da-da,” goes the Police song…) And the truth is (I work to remind myself), these fallow periods, these times of lying low, are absolutely crucial to the continued, long-term success of any endeavor, no matter the creative vein.

Hooray for creatively invigorating periods of non/low activity!

Aaaaand…now back to work.