One of the best/worst feelings in the world...

...is when you slave away on a project, working 12 hours a day and sacrificing all free time and fun things thinking it is due on Friday. And then you find out it is actually due Thursday...of next week. I'm not sure if I want to laugh out of relief or cry from frustration. I think I'll laugh.

A Common Misconception

There is a rather common misconception that I have recently taken note of as I've tried to explain to people what I'll be studying for my Masters. I tell them I'll be doing film studies, and they usually reply with "Oh, wow! Well, remember us when you're famous!" or "Cool! So we will look for your name in the credits of the next big movie" and other variations upon that theme. The thing is, I won't actually be making movies in my degree. I'll be studying them, rather like someone getting an art history degree would study art, not actually make art. That's not to say that I'm giving up on making movies. I've been told by some people that I have talent at making movies (directing mostly). Oddly enough, none of these encouraging people were my professors at BYU. In fact, most of them steered me away from production and towards film studies. When people find out ill just be watching films, not making them, I can tell they're thinking "ugh, how booooring! You want to spend the rest of your life writing papers?" That's when I think, "They're right! You started down this path to MAKE movies! WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?" That's when I have to remind myself of a few things. I do love film studies, don't get me wrong - sometimes I think there's nothing I'd rather be than the worlds foremost expert on film musicals. But I have to remember that didn't love being on set, at least in the capacities I found myself. I was never in any artistic positions - mostly managerial. Of course, student productions work differently than "real" productions, and I do love directing and writing. I just had friends who craved being on set, craved getting back out there to make more movies, while I never have had that drive. I like making something here and there, but not full time and not enough to sacrifice normal life.

The real point to make - to myself and those around me - is that making movies doesn't have to stop because I'm studying movies. I can still write and such in my spare time. The trick is actually doing it.

Anyway, just thought I'd clear that up. I will probably never be famous, but I will always be in love with movies.

Flavors of the Month

I have recently found myself in three simultaneous celebrity crush phases: April was dominated by Peter O'Toole, beginning with How to Steal a Million - great movie, and now it's on Netflix! Towards the end of April, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol was released on DVD and I felt a resurgence of my Jeremy Renner crush, amplified by the fact that The Avengers (in which he stars as Hawkeye) comes out tonight/tomorrow. Yes, please.

However, these two crushes have been rather eclipsed by Martin Freeman. Yes, I already loved the show Sherlock, and I thought he was marvelous in it. But I just watched, via interesting Internet sites, the second season of Sherlock. And I am now in love. I love his performance in that show - I love both him and Cumberbatch. They are the best Sherlock and Watson, definitely better than Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law (though I love them too). Martin Freeman is also Bilbo in The Hobbit being released later this year. He is also Arthur Dent in Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy (2005). And guess what? I had a crush on him in 2005 when I first saw that movie. I think he's marvelously talented, comedically and dramatically, and I remember thinking, "I wish he was in more movies that I could watch!" Well, it looks like dreams can come true. It takes quite a guy to play three of the most iconic British roles out there. I am a fan.