Blog News 3/31/11 & Blogging Around

With the new month coming, I'm finally catching up not just on some projects but also finally getting a chance to work on personal projects including an outline for a screenplay.  I would definitely say the motivation for it comes down to one person.  Jena Malone.  She's an actress I've admired for many years in films like Bastard Out of Carolina, Donnie Darko, Saved!, Into the Wild, and other notable films.  While I wasn't impressed by Sucker Punch which I believe is to be the first real disappointment of 2011.  She was one of the few highlights for me as I felt that, along with Abbie Cornish, were the only actresses of their young age group to really put in some substance into their roles.  I'm glad some of my bloggers were able to give Jena some positive notices as I'm aware that she remains overlooked in the world of Hollywood.

In response, I finally felt motivated enough to work on a project with her in mind as the lead.  I'm not sure where I'm going with the project though it's been something I've thought of for years.  I hadn't really put anything into words until early this year as I'm often hesitant to really start my own screenplay projects.  I had completed two screenplays in the past but never felt confident enough to submit them into contests and such.  This will be the one project I'm going to work on from time to time and I would like to have some feedback if anyone is interested in reading it once the first draft of the script is completed.

Aside from the screenplay project that I'm working on, I'm also getting ready to work on the Auteurs profile on Todd Haynes which will arrive once I see all five parts of his TV miniseries adaptation of Mildred Pierce. Those are the two big projects I'm working on as well as other reviews. My music reviews at The Void-Go-Round might come around as I hope to have reviews of albums by TV on the Radio, Cut Copy, Fleet Foxes, and the Strokes. I'm just not sure what to do.

With new releases like Source Code, Hanna, and Your Highness coming this April which I hope to see all three along some art house releases. I'm going to devote most of April watching various movies I've recorded in the past month. Some of which will come for the upcoming Cannes Film Festival marathon as May will be a very hectic month due to family arriving for my sister's wedding. Among the films that I will see this month are Moon, Bright Star, Please Give, The Secret in Their Eyes, Fish Tank, White Ribbon, and others I can't remember right now. That's all I have for April and what's ahead at Surrender to the Void.

In the world other blogs, because of the disappointing response to Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch, there has been a wealth of excellent reviews that I enjoyed that chronicled why the film didn't work and such and what did work. Among them are reviews by CS at Big Thoughts from a Small Mind, Bryce at Things Don't Suck, Sasha at The Final Girl Project, and Alex at Film Forager.

Max at Anomalous Material has a great column about Film Criticism that I think every budding critic should read.

Andrew at Gman reviews asks What Kind of a Movie Would You Make?.

Finally at Cinema Du Meep, there's a review of Take Me Home Tonight along with various 80s retro films that are surely better than that film.

Well, that is all for today as I hope we get the 2011 film year rolling and it looks its coming off to a decent start.  Until then, this is thevoid99 signing off.