debor009

I'm one of those who thinks that to succeed as an actor you have to live, breathe, and love film. You should swoon over lighting and close-ups. Marvel at the honesty in a moment's expression. After awhile you'll get a feel for what makes a scene work and, if it doesn't, why. I just finished reading author/screenwriter William Goldman's wonderful book Which Lie Did I Tell? , which is a sequel to his equally wonderful Adventures in the Screen Trade . If you want a behind-the-scenes look at how Hollywood works, from the screenwriter's perspective, these two are a great place to start. Move on to Hollywood biographies and autobiographies. Budd Schulberg's Moving Pictures (and his novel What Makes Sammy Run? ) Michael Caine's What's It All About? Alec Guiness's Blessings in Disguise . Michael Korda's Charmed Lives . So many others. Inspiring stories of struggle and providence and luck. I've read that Bette Midler is a collector of Hollyw...

I haven't watched a vampire film since Count Yorga, Vampire scared the bejeesus out of me as a kid by letting the vampire win. (What fun is that?) But what I've read about A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night , written and directed by Ana Lily Amirpour , has me intrigued. This sounds like a brilliant twist. More later when I actually get a chance to see it.  As I said, lots of good films out, and women filmmakers!

After starting off the year with the usual over-the-top CGI Superhero flicks designed to attract the easily amused, this has become a phenomenal year for small, funky, creative, inspiring films. My husband and I would rather eat popcorn in a movie theatre than dinner in a French restaurant, but over the summer there were weeks when we stayed home. Now there are so many choices! The 2014 Oscars are shaping up to be a real horserace, although if Michael Keaton doesn't win the Best Actor Oscar for Birdman I'd like to see the performance that does! (More on Birdman in a separate post below.) Check out Naomi Watts both in Birdman and St. Vincent , where she does a brilliant comic turn as a pregnant Russian prostitute. Has Filmdom discovered that a fine small film can turn a tidy profit with much less financial risk?

You have to be an optimist to be an actor. You get great reviews in a play, or your film wins an award, and then for months you get nothing and begin to wonder if you're on anyone's radar. What keeps me going through the down times is the persistent belief that something wonderful is about to happen. Like now, for instance. For the past week I've been obsessed with organizing the house. Clearing out closets and attic storerooms. Hauling unused items to the thrift store, junk to the dump, trash to the curb. Cleaning out the basement and setting up a space to tape auditions. The last time I felt this obsessed with the nest I went into labor! So what else is about to pop? A few nights ago I had this dream. I can't remember most of it, only the end where I walk to a picture window, pull back the drapes, and gaze up at that hill that has the #Hollywood sign on it. Only in my dream, instead of "Hollywood" it has "2014" in great big numbers.  Not sure what...