A Pleasurable Headache - 3rd May 2020
Updates
Not too much to get into up top. The deadline for Project Kaiju passed a few days ago, so I'm now truly in the waiting game period of fiction submission. Watch this space, I guess.
Instead I'm going to use this part to recommend a movie double bill.
First up is The Assistant the feature film debut of documentary film-maker Kitty Green (who also wrote the movie). The film follows Jane, an assistant at a company that is Miramax in all but name, as she goes through a normal day at work. Her boss remains unseen throughout the movie. Instead his presence is shown through the occasional phone call and the reactions of those who remain in his personal orbit, from his wife through to the other employees at the company. This is a man who rules through fear and unbridled arrogance and narcissism.
As the plot and day move along Jane begins to suspect that her boss is abusing his power in exactly the ways you'd expect. Thus follows a trip to HR and a conversation with a representative there, played by Matthew Macfayden (who seems to be cornering the market on middle management jackasses). The scene is quietly unsettling and shows just how men of power get away with this shit for so long.
This isn't a film of victories, just a presentation of a smart woman trying to move through a power structure rife with sexism and corruption. The victory comes in surviving one more day.
Next up, is Leigh Whannell's The Invisble Man, which I'm sure everyone has seen, heard or read about by now. Whannell turns the old crazed scientist trope on its head, shifting the focus of the narrative to the long suffering and abused partner, here played by Elisabeth Moss. Whilst its narrative focuses on gaslighting there is another aspect that Whannell focuses on.
Moss' character in the movie previously worked at an architectural firm, which is apt given Whannell's focus on the spatial. He fills the frame with empty space, coaxing the viewer to look for a threat that may or may not be there. There are lingering shots of chairs, doorways and shadow filled corners. Like The Assistant, Whannell shows us how male toxicity can completely invade and corrupt a physical space merely with its suggested presence.
Links
The Doctor, The Disease, And The Division
Part memoir, part game commentary, this piece from Kotaku by Siddhartha Bajracharya is very much of the moment. It describes a medical professional's experience of our zeitgeist, juxtaposed against his experiences of the aftermath of an fictional pandemic in the video game The Division 2.
Writing Advice In The Age Of The Pandemic
Chuck Wendig, as ever, doles out some useful advice given the current state of things:
"The goal is simply to move forward.
The goal is to progress, however slowly, in a productive direction.
It is the realization that this is, now more than ever, a game of inches and not of miles."
Bonus: Jason S. Ridler on dreams and realities in writing.
A Comprehensive Guide to the Golden Age of Slashers, Part 2: 1981-1984
Part 2 of a feature over at Bloody Disgusting by Meagan Navarro. This second part covers arguably what is the peak of the 80s slasher glut. Part One can be found here.
The State of Crime Writing in 2020: Part 1
Crime Reads has its annual roundtable on the state of the crime genre. The writers, as ever, are made up of this years nominees for the Edgar Awards (the winners of which were recently announced).
Part Two is here.
30 Seconds of Wick
I've been enjoying reading the above series of blog posts by TG Shepherd. Deep dives into fight choreography? Yes please.
Bonus Links
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Scott Nesbitt has been writing some interesting bits about information overload in his Weekly Musings newsletter.
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A huge list of action movies to watch during lockdown as recommended by James Gunn.
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Similarly there's this list of movies, culled from Twitter by directors such as Del Toro, Aronofsky and Ari Aster.
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Right, I'm off to bask in the remainder of this rain-sodden weekend. See you in two!