Alan Kistler's Thoughts On New Year's Eve
Monday, December 31, 2007 at 11:19AM Previous Column Entry - Kistler's Thoughts on: Film Adaptations - Part 1.
This is the last thing I will write in the year 2007 AD (or 2007 CE depending on how you choose to identify the Gregorian calendar).
I know it's not Thursday yet, but it is a new year that begins tonight. And as I've always had a good time on New Year's Eve and have tended to enjoy it noticeably more than Christmas, let's take a moment to reflect on the past year and times yet to come.
2007 was interesting. Live Free or Die Hard displayed that you can indeed make a fourth installment of a film franchise that makes people cheer rather than groan. Transformers showed us that it is possible to make a movie about giant fighting robots that the entire family can enjoy and that can thrill and entertain people who normally wouldn't give that kind of story a chance (if only more comic book movies had been made in the same way). Spider-Man 3 reminded us that you should really focus on creating a solid story rather than just film a lot of scenes involving special effects and try to build a plot around them (and it would help if you're actors weren't so apathetic about the film that none of them could even feign excitement when plugging it).
The President of the U.S. revealed to us that he is apparently still unaware of how to pronounce nuclear, coming from the word "nucleus" not "nucules" (I don't care what party you belong to, if you are in command of the weapons you should be able to pronounce their names). And the WGA strike has proven to us creative types once again that even those who have made writing into a solid career can still get unjustly screwed over by corporations.
As for me, 2007 was the year where I found more balance in my life than I've had in a long time. I have a good job, my side-career as a comic book historian has been steadily rising, I've been able to noticeably and directly affect the lives of some folks for the better, and I got back into acting. Yes, I seem to be working long hours and there's no telling in any given week whether I will be in New York, D.C. or Puerto Rico, and most nights you can still depend on me being awake at 2 am typing away even if I have to wake up at 7:30 am, but that's just part of the excitement. And while I am quite busy, I am not stressed. So this is what it means to be at ease with life. Wonderful.
Of course there are problems and stresses that show up from time to time. Of course those annoying things like money and time and opportunity never seem to be in great enough supply. But hey ... life isn't supposed to be easy. That's kind of the point. That's the fun.
In the next year, I look forward to my television debut on Fuse TV's "Ten Great" mini-series. I eagerly await the Iron Man, Hulk and Dark Knight films (particularly since I said years ago that I thought Ed Norton would make a good Bruce Banner and was told by everyone that it would never happen after his roles in Primal Fear and Fight Club). And I muse about the stuff I will write/create that I haven't even thought of yet. I smile as I think about the projects I will be finishing soon (perhaps that religious musical can finally get off the ground). And any problems that arise will be dealt with when they come. Worrying about the unknown is pretty pointless.
(Of course, I am terrified about certain things our country is involved in and I have anxiety concerning the upcoming election, but I also take comfort in the fact that it's not up to me to solve such problems by myself and that others share my feelings).
So thank you, kind readers, most of whom I've never met. A great deal of this state of affairs is due to you, your loyalty and your word-of-mouth which got Warner Bros. Pictures and other people to notice me and to actually decide they might want to listen to what I had to say. Your support is invaluable.
I close this with a quote from one of my favorite characters Spider Jerusalem, the tortured and violently insane
journalist from the brilliant Warren Ellis comic series Transmetropolitan.
"My grandparents dreaded winter. Back when they were kids, winter always meant bad things. Meant another war. Meant foodlines, and power outages, and people their age dying alone in the cold. But when I was a kid, I looked forward to it. And not just because I like to see old people suffering ...
"The future is an inherently good thing, and we move into it one winter at a time. Things get better one winter at a time. So if you're going to celebrate something, then have a drink on this: The world is, generally and on balance, a better place to live this year than it was last year.
For instance: I didn't have this gun last year."
Cheers to you and all your loved ones. Who knows what fun, creativity and insanity we shall enjoy in the next year?
- ALAN KISTLER ...
... raises his glass to you.
Preview for this Thursday night's column: How Hollywood intended to destroy Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Brainiac's foster daughter, an idea for a homosexual version of R2-D2, incest among super-heroes, ill-tempered polar bears, and other things you should be glad were never actually put on film by idiots with money. Oh, and something about a giant robot spider.
Skip ahead to the Next Column.
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