I finished screencapping “Smoke” and “The Good Shepherd”.  I’ve got to confess that “Smoke” really helped me.  I’m going through a bit of a rough spot. I love September to December, probably my favorite time of the year, and I told myself this year I would savour ever second because it goes so fast. However, some occurences have reared their not so pleasant heads trying
to spoil those intentions.  Making the pictures from “Smoke” really helped. It reminded me of what a good film it is and how William Hurt gives a really outstanding performance. 

I know that Hurt’s work as Richie in “A History of Violence” is often heralded because it is so different from his usual characters but in a very strong way Paul Benjamin is equally diverse, or at least William Hurt makes him different. Of course, the man is able to do that with any character he decides to tackle but I’m focusing on Paul at the moment. I love the way Paul methodically moves,  giving the impression of slightly bent shoulders as if he really has been sitting for a long time in an uncomfortable chair, working on a book that isn’t coming together. Or the way that he occassionaly scratches his leg. I love the little touches like that. Not to mention the heartbreaking scene where Paul sees a certain photograph from Auggie’s marvelously strange hobby. I’m not too fussy on Paul kicking Rashid out of the apartment but, hey, what great character doesn’t make a few goof ups and needs to learn something?

William Hurt is a delight in “Smoke”.

It was just announced that William Hurt will be portraying Richard Feynman in a BBC2 drama about the tragic 1986 Challenger space shuttle disaster. Richard Feynman investigated the cause behind the tragedy. He was simutaneously battling cancer at the time.

This looks like  a project that would appeal very much to Mr. Hurt. Fans of his work will recall that he narrated a biography of Albert Einstein called "A. Eisntein: How I See the World".  Both Einstein and Feynman were truly blessed by God to see and understand things about the world and universe that most of us, myself included, aren't likely to.

Filming, supposedly, is set to begin in October and the finished project will air in 2013.

What I'm worried about is when is Mr. Hurt going to get a chance to catch his breath? The man is going to be in "Winter's Tale" which is set to begin filming in October also. . I know that his work means so much to him, and likely if he were to stop it it would cause more damage to him than over working but still I worry about him.

If you ever read this, which now I hope you do for the sole reason that it will mean that you have enough free time to do something as silly as to read my words, please take care of yourself. I'm sure all of this work will do something marvelous for your mind but it is still trapped in the form of a body that is very particular with what it will and will not allow you to do. Believe me, I've found that out the hard way just recently. Please take care.

“Winter's Tale” will begin shooting on October 29th 2012 and will continue until January 30th 2013.

I will be the first to admit that I have almost no idea how long it takes to shoot a film. I’m not the most informed, having worked on absolutely zero movies, but I find this very shocking since the film is based on a longer novel.  If my memory serves me right, which it frequently does not, I think that “Altered States” took about 150 days.

Something tells me that William Hurt is not going to get a whole lot of rehearsal time. I hope I’m wrong about that.

I’m a little concerned that they are giving the director, crew and actors so short a time to work on the film adaption of a novel that deserves a lot of care. The budget seems small too for a story that is very complex and grand.  I hope that the studio execs are
thinking properly. I know that Akiva Goldsman’s heart is in this production (he's been trying to get it filmed for years which hopefully means he has planned a lot of it already in his mind) and he is probably willing to adapt to a whole lot of limitations to make his dream come true but this hardly seems like fair and thoughtful film making. Especially since it will be the man's film directorial debut, I believe.

On the other hand, it should be a challenge and mankind is usually at its best when it has something to strive for and overcome.

I wish the production good luck in regards to the things that can’t be controlled like weather  etc...  Concerning the work, all I can hope for is that they will put their heart and souls into it because that is something that can be controlled and it can make all the difference in the world.