Random inspirations: MYSTERIOUS SKIN, LAST DAYS, PARANOID PARK, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES, WILD STRAWBERRIES, CHILD'S PLAY 2, AUTUMN SONATA, NEAR DARK; the music of Rilo Kiley, Broken Social Scene, Wilco, and Shellac; and... getting an autism diagnosis in my late 20s! #scriptsky

Logline: "A troubled seven-year-old grapples with his identity and post-9/11 life as he and his family take a trip from their suburban Detroit home during the infamous Northeast blackout of 2003."

A playlist I made and wrote a bunch to: open.spotify.com/playlist/2O0... #scriptsky

Of course this is why my last two ComEd billing statements have suddenly been 70 percent higher than normal.

wgntv.com/news/chicago...

I’m sure the feeling will come back. I tend to hyperfixate on interests, but that doesn’t mean interests can’t still ebb and flow. Writing about movies could not pay less, so it’s not like I ever really did it for money.

Anyway, here’s James Benning’s TEN SKIES to watch: youtu.be/dnBGr6VsDVU?...

I currently learn less from new films than I did before. Perhaps it’s because I already spent so many years dissecting my own taste. Maybe it’s because movies used to be more of a social vessel for me, but now that I’ve learned more about myself elsewhere, I get more from other things in my life.

So, do I still love movies? Yes. That’s about 90 percent of what I write about, or what I write, as an author. But as a projectionist in my life once said regarding new releases, “No, I don’t hate movies. I love movies; I just don’t love any of *these* movies.”

I recently watched James Benning’s TEN SKIES and was blown away by it. 98 minutes, ten different shots of skies, and nothing else. Its life is overpowering and I’m still digesting it. If there were more stuff like that in theaters, I guess I’d be more excited, but that’s a pipe dream.

I guess it makes sense that I pivoted to screenwriting about a year and a half ago. I figured I’d write stuff I’d like to see: stuff with wavering, sometimes lackadaisical plots; occasionally bleak work; scripts where things just continue to happen because the world somehow doesn’t ever end.

If there were more movies out there that toyed with internalization and lyricism—what Omnes Films is doing is a great example—I’d be more into contemporary film. But with a few precious exceptions (e.g. THE BEAST, EEPHUS), this is the least I’ve ever cared about new movies in my life. It’s weird.