Reading: JPod
Music: Earl Scruggs
TV/Movie: Shawshank Redemption
Link o' the Day: "25 Great Things About Being a Comics Fan."


You gotta love American Splendor. Yeah, the comic, of course. I've got most of them--what's available in trade format at least. But what I'm really talking about is the movie, directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini. You remember. It came out a few years ago starring Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar, and Harvey Pekar as Harvey Pekar, and Donal Logue as Pekar on stage. Three Joyces. Two Daniels. Two Tobys. But there's only one Robert Crumb, portrayed by my man James Urbaniak. Those are just the actors on screen. Don't forget the various artists who have had their turn drawing Harvey and friends--some panels of which show up in the film. It was that rare instance of biopic being narrated by both the actor who played the subject, and the subject himself.

I'm always impressed by the daring it took to format a movie this way. Was it a blockbuster? Of course not. People want Iron Man on the big screen (rightly so, but still). It wasn't Juno. American Splendor had, I guess, what you'd call limited appeal. Successful among that crowd of lovers of indie film and indie comics, but limited compared to the audience for Batman.

Yet I believe that more movies should take chances. Play with structure and dialog. Hey, it works sometimes. Remember Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction? Momento? Hell, rope in Shyamalan's Sixth Sense and Fincher's Fight Club as examples of movies where the dice was tossed and it didn't turn out too badly. I know movies that take chances tend to fall into the Indie Movie Pit and are often missed because the big studios don't like to take chances. But really, if it earns out--what have they lost? And if it works--well hell. Ask Charlie Kauffman.

I'm not calling for Hollywood to drop its tried and true three act (or five act depending) structure. I'm just saying it's good to mix it up and bit, and I'd like to see this happen more often.

I'm just saying.

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Touching upon comics (as in American Splendor, today's link takes you to a fun little column at The Comics Reporter called "25 Great Things About Being a Comics Fan." It's a good read, but it's not going to change hearts and minds. That is to say, if you're already a comics fan, you'll appreciate it. If you're not a comics fan, it probably won't change your ways much. But for those of us who are fans, well... it's a feel-good sort of piece. Plus, it includes this classic early-Peanuts panel. I remember that particular strip. Takes me back.