Writer's Block Un-Blocked

I sometimes feel like I'm not writing material. Sure, I could tell a story, but can I write it well enough?

I currently have two projects on the go:

1) A spec script for Dexter.

2) The first act of an original feature film.

I am pretty confident in my Dexter episode, but then again, it's easy to take characters and relationships that someone else thought up and put them in different situations. Especially in Dexter's case where I have seen almost four seasons of it and am well acquainted with the characters and their habits and behaviors.

Dexter, now a baby daddy, is in his fourth season of television on Showtime.

No, I have no problem writing for Dexter. What gives me that uncomfortable feeling that I am perhaps not good enough for what I want to do is when I settle into something that was born in my own head. An idea. It always starts with an idea. The idea is not the problem, it's the development of that idea that I have trouble with.

So, in an eleventh hour plea for inspiration, I popped in The Devil's Advocate, since my story has to do with the Devil.

Problem: this did not cure my writer's block.

My main issue here is how to draw inspiration from other films but not plagiarize them. I feel that all of the ideas that came after watching The Devil's Advocate were a direct consequence of me watching the film. I felt that even though the ideas were unique to my own premise, they were still too much like the film.

Al Pacino is one terrifying Devil.

And this put questions in my head:

Are the two ideas actually similar or does it just seem like it to me because I just watched the film?

How do I draw inspiration from a film, novel, or television show without using their ideas?

In the end, I decided not to drastically change my story idea therefore making my watching of The Devil's Advocate was rendered useless*.

I found the best cure of writer's block to be talking to someone else about my ideas. Scratch that, not talking to someone, talking at someone. Once I talked through my ideas with a friend, my story practically wrote itself!

How do you handle writer's block? Can you give me advice on better ways to handle it?

*When I say useless, I only mean useless to my own writing. I had never seen the movie and I'm really glad I did because it was a different take on the Devil and how he works. Plus, it was a great film!

V is for Visitors

Amidst the candy eating, constant school work, and late night/early morning fire alarms, I seem to have once again neglected to blog. But I am back, and what has brought me back is ironically the thing that eats up most of my time: TV.

I just watched the pilot episode for ABC's new...ish series about visitors from another planet, V.



Now I say new-ish because the show is actually a remake of a 1984 TV series of the same name. I haven't seen the original - yet - so I can't make a comparison with its remake - yet.

The show is about an alien population, who call themselves the Visitors or Vs, coming to Earth and asking humans for water and food in exchange for technological information that they say will benefit the human population. They have several ships hovering over all of the world's major cities (think District 9 but not just in Johannesburg) and their leader, who goes by the name of Anna, comes down to Earth to meet with the world's leaders.

As the episode progresses, we learn that these aliens are not what they seem to be and that they cannot be trusted. A determined FBI Agent, Erica Evans, is tracking a terrorist cell when she finds intel about a secret meeting. She goes to the meeting location and discovers that it is not a terrorist cell at all: it is a group of civilians teaming up to begin a resistance against the aliens. Erica learns that there are Visitors living amongst humans, in disguise. Suddenly, the meeting is interrupted by a group of the Visitors, one of them being Erica's partner at the FBI.

A Visitor's spaceship hovering over one of the world's major cities.

So far, the show has made an impression on me. A good one. Despite it being slow in the beginning, it really gained momentum near the end. The last half hour had me glued to the TV. That being said, it could have definitely used a two hour season premiere as opposed to just one. It would have hooked the audience more and made more of a first impression on them.

I say this because the pilot episode did not give the audience enough character development to make them care. In order to tune in to a show every week, an audience needs to care about the characters and what happens to them. I found Erica to be very bland. She reminds me of a less aggressive Olivia Dunham. Although I do have to say that Elizabeth Mitchell plays a much better Erica than she does Juliette. Logan Huffman plays Erica's son Tyler, an angsty teen who lashes out at his mother because of her absence in his life. He decides it's a smart idea to become a "Peace Ambassador" for the Visitors, mostly because his mother is not comfortable with them.

Erica Evas > Juliet Burke

Joel Gretsch plays a cynical priest who is only trying to do the right thing. The writers did well creating conflict in this character who, in the beginning is doubting the existence of God because of this extraterrestrial life. Soon enough, he is dragged into the resistance, kicks some Visitor ass, and decides that he will fight to defeat the Visitors.

We then have Georgie and Ryan, played by David Richmond-Peck and Morris Chestnut respectively, two old friends who seem to have lived through something similar before. Ryan is engaged and working a decent job, and wants nothing to do with Georgie. However, this is complicated by the fact that Ryan is in fact a Visitor who is helping the humans.

Finally, we have Chad Decker, an ambitious reporter played by Scott Wolf. Chad is handpicked by Anna to do a one-on-one interview with her so she could communicate with people all around the world. However, right before the interview starts, in a scene that is arguably the best scene in the entire episode, Anna tells him that he cannot ask her any questions that would portray the visitors in a negative light. He tries to resist but she threatens to cancel the interview. Chad had two options here: accept this rule and be seen by billions of people worldwide or stay true to his own beliefs and turn down the exposure. He chooses the exposure.

Chad Decker, ambitious reporter

Chad is, in my opinion, the most interesting character in the show so far and I'm hoping that as the season progresses, we get to see that all of the characters are like Chad is, conflicted and pushing for more. I'm just not getting my hopes up because network television has let me down on so many levels. V is certainly better than ABC's other new drama, FlashForward. I will tune back in next week to see just how many of these Visitors are already on Earth.

I'm still trying to decide whether I watch the old series now or if I should wait until this one ends. What do you guys think?

"We come in peace" - Anna

Dream of Californication

David Duchovny has come a long way since his days as the timid Fox Mulder on the 90s scariest television show. In his current role, Duchovny plays the obnoxious Hank Moody: a writer who despises Hollywood despite having sold out to it, drinks his weight in whiskey, hides weed in his typewriter, and constantly chases after his ex-girlfriend. Duchovny is the star of Showtime's hit show Californication.

Season 3, now on Showtime.

In the first two seasons of the vulgar show, Moody:

1) Struggled to write a new novel after a Hollywood adaptation ruined his last one. While doing this he is trying to win his girlfriend back before she ties the knot with another man and be a good father to his pre-teen daughter.

2) Met a rock star and wrote his autobiography. After winning back his girlfriend, he struggles to keep her and he's still trying to be a good role model for his daughter.

You see, Hank has a hard time being a role model because he constantly drinks, smokes, and has sex with women he just met. He is shameless and is no good at hiding it from his daughter. The third season, which just started, is the first that has (so far) been without Natascha McElhone, who plays Moody's longtime love interest Karen. The premise is that she is gone to New York for a new job. Left behind in California are Hank and his daughter Becca, played by the very convincing Madeleine Martin.

Madeleine Martin and Natascha McEhlhone on Californication.

This is the first time that we've seen Hank trying to raise his daughter by himself and so far he's doing a miserable job. In the first episode he caught her smoking pot with a friend and the second episode ended with him throwing her cell phone against the wall and yelling "I hate you too!" while she runs to her room.

The first episode was, in a word, hilarious. The irony of Hank throwing a lit cigarette at the man whose house he would be eating at that evening was great! And then he re-awakes an alcohol addiction in a high-class college professor. When it is established that this professor will have to go back to rehab, the teaching job is then offered to Hank.

Professor Richard Bates unveils his "mangina" at a dinner party after rekindling
his love for whiskey in the season premiere of Californication.

The second episode gives us a glimpse of Hank's first days on the job. In this little while, Hank manages to hit on one of his sexier students, drink during his office hours, smoke up before a meeting with the Dean, and push a student to the brink of suicide. I believe it is a blend of his brutal honesty and obnoxiousness that bring about these situations in his life.

Even though this all seems a little ridiculous and unbelievable, it just works so well because the writing is just fantastic! Hank Moody is a sex addict, alcoholic, and pot head yet we're drawn to him and we want him to succeed in all of his endeavors. How can this be!? The writers have just created a character that is so complex. Despite the horrible side to Hank Moody, there is a certain humanity that appeals to us that we just can't ignore. We see the father who is desperately trying to connect with his daughter. We see the man who regrets decisions from his past and just wants his girlfriend back. It is these simple things that the audience can relate to and therefore take Hank's side.

David Duchovny as the complex Hank Moody in Californication.

On top of the character, each season has one overarching story line (much like Dexter, post on that coming soon). The overarching story progresses a little further with each episode and there are smaller sub plots that begin and end in the same episode. This keeps us interested in the larger story of the season and it keeps the show fresh with new content and characters.

I love this show. I think it gets better and better with each season. The writing is witty and the acting is authentic. It's vulgar, disgusting, and hilarious. Kudos, Showtime, for bringing us yet another great show. If you do not watch this show, I suggest you start because you're missing out on what great television really is.

Goodbye Summer... Hello TV!

In the past two weeks I have:
a) Eaten all the food in my place.
b) Spent all the money I had in my bank account.
c) Watched The Godfather Part 1, 2, and 3.
d) Watched the complete 3rd season of Dexter.

Okay, the 3rd season of Dexter was watched in the last three days, not two weeks. But can you imagine watching twelve hours of mind-blowing television with no junk food to munch on at all!? I vowed to never do such a thing again.

Today I spent about an hour and a half at the grocery store, stocking up for the next few weeks of season premiers, movie nights, and old school cartoon marathons. So as soon as I came home, with a room full of food, I put on the first two episodes of the second season of Fringe.

Peter, Olivia, and Walter are back!

Fringe's season finale last year left me with wide eyes and a jaw hung open. It answered questions that were brought forth all season and, despite its cliff-hanger ending, left me satisfied...more so than the ending of the first season of Lost anyways. So I had high hopes for this new season and its capability to push the laws of science even further and see how much the audience would believe. And I have to say...

I'm disappointed. The last season ended on such a high note (SPOILER ALERT): Olivia Dunham meeting with William Bell on the top floor of the World Trade Center in an alternate universe. It left me in wonder. It left me in awe. It left me craving more. So I was really looking forward to at least partial answers to some of these questions:

• How do people travel back and forth between all the alternate universes?
• WHAT THE EFF happened to the Peter Bishop from the universe we're in that Walter had to bring the other Peter Bishop over?
• What is going on in the alternate universe that Olivia and William Bell were in? What kind of world is it? What are some of its current events?

To be honest with you, I was expecting this season to take place mostly in the alternate universe answering those questions. And yes, I knew they wouldn't all come in the first two episodes but to not even mention it? That's just cold.

The first episode was effective enough. It established that Olivia didn't remember anything and was being tracked down by a shape-shifter being who would take the form of the last human he hooked his thinger-ma-jigger up to. The FBI was threatening to close down the Fringe division (similar to what happens in every other season of the X-Files). The episode ended on a cliff-hanger. I was okay with it. I didn't think the first episode was that bad.

The shape-shifting device used in Episode One of Fringe's second season.

Now for the second episode. I found this one to be long and boring. It told the story of a man who had genetically mutated his unborn son so that the kid would survive the childbirth (the mother had lupus therefore she couldn't give birth). The mother died while giving birth and, it was assumed, so did the child. Now, seventeen years later, people are disappearing in a small county in Pennsylvania. This half-human half-scorpion is living underground beneath his father's house and feasting on humans there. Peter and Olivia decide to go down and check it out. My biggest problem with this episode was that it felt as if I had seen it before. And I sort of have.

In the eighth season of the X-Files, there was an episode titled Patience that took place in Idaho about a genetically mutated human living underground, killing the people of a small community. This mutant was half-human half-bat but the resemblance is still too close for me. Everyone's comparing Fringe and the X-Files and now the writers of Fringe are giving us more and more reasons to do so. Not only was this episode boring, it had nothing to do with any of the Fringe mythology. No references to the pattern, the Fringe division being almost shut down, Massive Dynamic, William Bell, etc. We got to see more of the shape-shifters actions and Nina Sharp giving Olivia the name of a man who can help her overcome her symptoms of traveling between dimensions which include super-hearing powers. That was the extent of the mythology in the episode.

Other observations of the new season? Walter is a little more ridiculous in some of his dialogue but I like it still. He's always been funny and they're just pushing that a bit further.

And did anyone catch the X-Files shout out in the first episode?

Mulder and Scully on TV in Fringe!

'Scar Tissue' to become HBO Mini Series

Hi readers!

Sorry I've been gone for so long - been super busy (preparing a massive post about my four day vacation to NYC!)

I just came across this on the interwebz:

"Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis is developing a series for HBO based on his unconventional, rock 'n' roll childhood.

Kiedis has partnered with Catapult 360 partners Marc Abrams and Michael Benson to create the series, tentatively titled 'Scar Tissue.'

Abrams and Benson are scouting for a writer to pen the script, which will center on Kiedis' relationship with his father, Spider, who sold drugs and mingled with rock stars on the Sunset Strip, all while aspiring to get into showbiz.

The show will begin with young Kiedis moving from Grand Rapids, Mich., to West Hollywood to live with his dad. But Kiedis' father, having been raised in a tyrannical household, decided to go to the other extreme." (source)

This is exciting (and apparently old) news! One thing not included in this article is that they did find a writer in John Sayles who penned scripts such as "The Spiderwick Chronicles" and "Sunshine State".

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been one of my favorite bands since I read Kiedis' autobiography 'Scar Tissue':

This book was captivating. Not only did it let us peek into the life of a recovering drug addict, it also gave us a breakdown of what it's like coming up in the rock n' roll world. It spent time as #1 on the New York Times Bestsellers List and let's us into Keidis' life. And not just the bad boy rocker, but the man himself, who struggled with heroine for many years and shared friendships with some of the great icons of the 90s (such as Kurt Cobaine and Cher).

This miniseries sounds like it's going to be fantastic! Thank God it's on HBO where they censor less and give us a more realistic portrayal of Keidis' childhood. It will concentrate more on Keidis' years growing up with his father and less on his rock n' roll adulthood. I'm totally cool with that. Considering his father dealt drugs to The Who and Led Zeppelin, this should make for some pretty good TV!

If you haven't read the book, read it! It's just fantastic!

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EDIT: I just read on Ultimate Guitar that the Red Hot Chili Peppers are ending their two year hiatus! They plan to reconvene in October and begin work on a new album. What a great day for Chili Pepper news! Whatta yall think?