Cold and Wet, Both

Tonight I dug deep into the pile of DVDs and pulled out one of my earlier purchases, Das Boot. I have to say I like it, though it has its detractors.

Just a note here to say I've uncovered an interesting secret to the creative process. The version that I'm watching is the "director's cut," which means it's longer than the commercial release, which I also saw. In fact, it's the first movie I saw with the woman who'd be my wife, though I didn't know that at the time.

It was a foreign film (still is, for that matter), and she was foreign, so I thought it fitting. I'm not sure if I was conscious of trying to be hip and continental or if I thought it would, for some reason, be enjoyable for her, but we went and talked about hardly at all.

Anyway, the interesting point is these director's cuts. I've yet to see one that was shorter than the commercial release, and that got me to thinking. I think if I ever had one of my novels published and was later asked for a "writer's cut," that it would be shorter. I'm not sure any work is better because it contains more stuff, but I think I'm in the minority there. All these directors who get awards, acclaim, and money, hookers, and blow, have their thumbs on the pulse of art, and their ideas is always for more.

I just find it odd that all these famous writers (none of whose names I can recall right now) say they work and work at paring their works, at trimming the fat, and film directors, given their choice, do the opposite.

There might be something meaningful there, or maybe not.

In other movie news, in what I consider a sure-fire move to create a revolt and guarantee that *I* won't be seeing the movie, the producers of Snakes on a Plane are considering changing the title. This would be a bad move, if only because I can't imagine any title that's more descriptive.