Any help in spreading the word will be appreciated greatly. You know how it is for indie developers – lacking oversized and overpaid PR departments, we rely absolutely on the support of our fans and friends.
(And yes, quite obviously I could not bring myself to do a “straight” preview. But I rather like this.)
I’m hoping to have a nice little preview video of Phenomenon 32 up tomorrow. There’s a lot to do – the wedding is almost upon us – but I really want this thing out there.
Otherwise, I spent most of today building a level for Phenomenon 32 (the marshes) and coughing because of an annoying allergic reaction to my blood pressure medication. (Don’t worry, it’s not dangerous. Just annoying.)
I recently published a comment on Wil Wheaton’s blog after he – as so many others – bashed The Matrix Reloaded & Revolutions. I’m reposting the comment here because it’s something I feel very strongly about: the critical persecution of two the most brilliant films made in the last decade, and the fashion of anti-intellectual hating/bashing that has taken over the internet.
I am extremely disappointed by this shallow but fashionable bashing of the Matrix sequels.
Just once the creators behind a sequel actually a deliver a film that is more complex than the original, and what does everyone do? What do the self-proclaimed geeks, supposedly so much more intelligent than your average dude, do? They crap all over it because it doesn’t fulfill their expectations of being a rehash of the original, because it questions the simpler ideas the original presented, and because instead of being a fun popcorn flick it’s a serious, adult piece of science fiction and philosophy.
And then it becomes fashionable to hate this, and everyone starts going on about how much The Matrix Reloaded & Revolutions sucked, like tiny versions of George Bush laughing about numbers, glorying in their own stupidity. Yes, thinking is hard, we know. It’s so much easier to stand in line with the sheep and tell us over and over again that a film that deals in actual and difficult philosophical questions is so much worse than one than just throws the occasional quote at us.
I keep hoping to see a little more insight from you, Wil. I’ve been following this blog from the very beginning, and always supported your work, and enjoyed what you wrote… so this kind of fashionable and anti-intellectual hating is a big disappointment, even though I realize you’ve expressed similar opinions before. Obviously you’re not required to the conform the wishes of your readers – and why should you – but from someone I’ve always considered intelligent, a more complex opinion would be appreciated.
I can understand that these two films are considerably more challenging than the first one, and that they may take more than one viewing to fully appreciate. I was very disappointed at first by The Matrix Revolutions, for example – but that’s because my expectations had been off, and I hadn’t understood the point of the film (Smith as a metaphor for death, etc.). When I figured it out and adjusted my expectations, I was utterly blown away (and deeply moved) by the film.
I’m disturbed by current geek culture. I used to think like many of them still do – we’re so much more intelligent, we’re the outsiders, etc. – but it’s really a giant ball of bullshit. An obsession with computer technology doesn’t mean you’re more intelligent any more than living in a trailer means you’re stupid. Half these “outsider geniuses” haven’t read a book in their lives, and wouldn’t be able to appreciate a complex film if it hit them on the nose. Geek culture isn’t about intelligence, it’s about clannishness. In fact, it’s turning more and more anti-intellectual, with everyone running after this or that fashion (“M. Night Shyamalan sucks! Ben Affleck sucks! Lost sucks! The Matrix sucks! Long live the 80s!”) like they are always accusing people outside the geek community of doing.
I know, I know. I keep writing about Tom Waits lately. But there are so few artists like him – artists with an absolutely unique vision and voice (literally and metaphorically), and integrity. The music, the words, the singing… it adds up to something absolutely magical and beautiful.
Currently I am really amazed and touched by House Where Nobody Lives. Here is the end of the song, which always brings tears to my eyes:
Once it held laughter
Once it held dreams
Did they throw it away
Did they know what it means
Did someone’s heart break
Or did someone do somebody wrong?So if you find someone
Someone to have, someone to hold
Don’t trade it for silver
Don’t trade it for gold
Cause I have all of life’s treasures
And they’re fine and they’re good
They remind me that houses
Are just made of wood
What makes a house grand
Ain’t the roof or the doors
If there’s love in a house
It’s a palace for sureWithout love…
It ain’t nothin but a house
A house where nobody lives
Without love it ain’t nothin
But a house, a house where nobody lives.
It’s a shame there isn’t a really good version on YouTube. So you’ll just have to buy Mule Variations. Go ahead. You won’t regret it.
We just came back from Greece, and just as I was grumbling to myself about how depressing Germany is, I turn on my computer and see a review of Desert Bridge at auntie pixelante. It’s just three paragraphs, but it put a huge smile on my face.
Thank you.
(For those still having DPI-related issues: a fixed version of Desert Bridge is still on the way. It will be out just a few days after Phenomenon 32.)
And now for a shower and some pizza.
We’re in Greece and enjoying the weather, the food and the sea. It’s only a very short vacation, and there’s a lot we won’t manage to do, but it’s good to relax, even a little. Reading Duma Key, which is excellent.
OK, gotta go now. See you in a few days.
We’ll be in Greece from the 30th of June to the 12th of July. Just so you know. I’ll still be reachable by email and everything, but I won’t be working on Phenomenon 32. Then again, I will be working on my novel. Gotta catch up with Verena at some point, or she’ll be published before I’ve even finished mine. (Not that I mind. She is a wonderful writer and deserves to be published. At least people will want to read her stuff.)
But anyway, we’re leaving in two days and I’m already immensely stressed. As if it wasn’t bad enough that I am terrified of flying, there’s also so much to do before we go: tomorrow morning I have a doctor’s appointment about my extremely elevated blood pressure, then I have to work, then we have to do a bunch of shopping… argh. I really wanted to be done with Phenomenon 32 before I left, but that’s just not possible, given the scale of the damn thing.
I’m also stressed about not seeing our cat for 12 days. It’s like having a child, or worse. Right now I almost wish we’d stay here, just for the sake of the kitten. I can’t believe how much I adore the little monster.
Ah, well. I will now attempt to take my stomach-destruction-preventing capsule and then go to bed.
There’s a new trailer for 2012, and it’s pretty impressive.
Yes, I know. The whole 2012 myth is nonsense. Of course it is. And there’s no King Kong, either. And no vampires. Doesn’t mean you can’t make a good movie about them.
So, anyway. I used to hate Roland Emmerich when he was doing nonsense like Independence Day. Ironically, now that it’s fashionable to bash everything he does, he’s started making good films. The Day After Tomorrow had some really great scenes (especially those with Ian Holm); 10.000 BC, which I expected to be silly, was actually really good and touching. And it looks like 2012 will also use the silly myth in order to tell a good story about humanity. Since that is the true purpose of art, and most films these days fail to do it, I’m looking forward to this one, no matter how flawed it may turn out.
So it turns out that I’m still not finished with the unpleasant “real” work. I’ve spent hours upon hours copying bibliographical data, but there is still more to do. Post-colonial this, post-modern that, heremeneutics here, transculturality there… gah!
Interesting updates shall have to be postponed until tomorrow. If you’re bored, watch this fascinating and funny and disturbing Tom Waits video: What’s He Building?
I’ve had lots of health issues lately, which have kept me from working as much as I would like, but there’s also plenty of exciting stuff going on. I have to spend tomorrow morning on an incredibly mind-numbing bit of work (we have to pay the bills somehow), but after that I’ll write a nice update.
For now, watch this trailer for The Last Airbender. I could never get into the animated series, which my friend Julian loved, but this trailer is awesome. The beginning doesn’t look like all that much, but that last shot… is exactly what I would have done. I’ve always wanted Shyamalan to direct an epic, and I’ve always adored the epic music of James Newton Howard, so this is a film I’m really looking forward to. Which is something rather rare these days.
