What will I remember about this year? Obama won the Iowa caucuses, Heath Ledger died, Diablo III was finally announced, The Dark Knight came out, and Obama got elected. Then a few other things happened in between. Personally I graduated film school and was released out into the unsuspecting Los Angeles public.
I was going to do a list of my favorite movies or songs or TV shows or books or video games of the year, but there are so many of those out there that mine might feel a little redundant. Obviously I fell madly in love with The Dark Knight, but who didn’t? I recently got to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which I thought was one of the most atmospheric films I’d seen in years. But here I am talking about my favorites. Ultimately it’s hard for me to judge things like that—I’ve loved movies since I could comprehend them, and except in cases of exceptionally horrible movies (I’m looking your direction, The Happening) I’m happy just to be in a movie theater in the first place.
That's something to keep in mind when things get rough trying to get anywhere in Hollywood. As anyone who’s ever made any effort at succeeding in the film industry knows, it’s difficult out here, and I think this year has been especially so. Luckily there are a lot of film school friends out here with me in the same boat, and we struggle along together.
When I was driving home from a set at around 4am earlier this month, I stopped at a light on Hollywood and Vine. I had never seen any part of LA so free of traffic before, but at that moment I was the only other car, the only other human being, in sight. It was raining (also rare in LA) and I could just make out the rain clouds drifting over the mountains. There was a neon-light Christmas tree on top of the Capitol Records building: something you would never have noticed inching through the intersection in the usual line of cars. For just a small moment, it felt like I had Hollywood all to myself. It’s easy to beat up on Los Angeles (and fun!) but there are tiny moments when it becomes quite beautiful. For most of us out here, there’s simply nothing else in the world we’d rather be doing than working on movies and TV shows. It’s important to hold on to the small little moments that help us to remember that.
Here’s hoping for a better 2009!
(I can’t help it. More great movies: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Wall-E, Iron Man. Still very much want to see Let the Right One In. And about a dozen others—it seems like I never get to see half the movies I want to in a year. There are always new ones coming out to get hyped up for!)
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