It makes me happy this spurred memories for all of you. I am a dad with no time and no energy so I watch many movies at home. But nothing will replace the group experience of cinema for me. Dreaming in the dark.

I think artists spend so much time feeling like beggars at the door that they internalize this feeling. It's really destructive. I was recently discussing a project with some people who were not writers and were, in conventional terms, much more successful than I. When they turned to ask me a question about something a thought occurred - "Oh, right. They NEED me. None of them can do what I do. So why am I sitting here feeling like I'm lucky to be here?"

A beautiful dissection of a beautiful scene. I love it when directors trust actors. It pays off wonderfully here.

Oh, Rolo! This makes me a bit weepy. You too are a wonderful writer, and it is my great privilege to be your friend. Thank you.

Well, the same thing should be true of filmmakers then, yes? Rather than go to school, or write a story, or set up shots, you should just give cameras to people with no idea what they are supposed to do. That way they won't use any of those irritating filmmaking "tricks". Truly offensive. Great actors make acting look effortless, so people assume that it actually is.

I have very little to say about this other than I think it's a terrific post. I love that you did not push yourself to a conclusion you did not feel. The writing here feels authentic, lived-in, questioning. Well done, Rolo.

There's a terrific book, The Revolution Was Televised by Alan Sepinwall, that talks about this specifically. It says that one of the revolutions of The Sopranos was just that, the rejection of the classic story arc of growth. I think it's genius goes even further, to speak of the limits of psychiatry itself. Without the desire for actual change, which Tony lacks, there can be no growth. In the end, Dr. Melfi was just helping him be a more efficient sociopath.

Hmmm..."Life Drawing" class? I saw a wonderful play that featured a Life Drawing class once...

It's a terrific piece, David. I love these movies in a very personal way. I love the respect with which these lives are regarded. There is a phrase that says that anybody's life, told properly, is the stuff of great art. The Up movies are the strongest argument for that I know of.

I think walks are built in to the MacDowell experience. I think that's most of the reason it is put in such a beautiful place. I know many seemingly intractable problems in my work would be simply and efficiently resolved while on a MacDowell walk.

I never stop reading. One of the great joys of an artists colony is the ability to have sustained attention, to read for longer times, to read deeper. God I miss them!

Opening those floodgates is one of the key functions of art. I had a total breakdown watching King Kong (of all things) after a miscarriage. Though it was overlong and a bit self-indulgent, I've always been grateful to Peter Jackson for that.

Welcome back, Rolo. Be gentle with yourself. It can be a tough transition. I think walking is very meditative. I walk to and from the train every day (15 min) and it is good for my soul.

I think it depends on the series. I watched The Wire and The Shield straight through and loved it that way (I got so far into The Wire I started dreaming about it). Modern Family, however, I find much better week-to-week. This is no slight on the show, which I still find hysterically funny. But the episodes are all self-contained. There's nothing to follow show-to-show. And frankly, the sitcom format is not forgiving of that kind of scrutiny. Watching that family get into 22 sets of wacky hijinx in a year, it is hard not to roll your eyes.

I admire the bravery of your choice, though I cannot share your enthusiasm for the choice itself.

I'm not a slut. I'm just unconstrained by your petty morality. I have so much love to give!

You know, David, it would be fun to have a public smackdown on the subject of movie disagreement. You pick 3, I pick 3, we argue our points. Then, you know, you apologize for being so wrong...

Fantastic pick, Bruce! I love An Innocent Man. It may be my favorite Coen Bros. movie. Starring Micahel Stuhlbarg, one of my favorite actors. I thought of another one: Galaxy Quest. A truly great comedy, not that well known.

I love the movie version of Hair. The Matrix is genius. Give it another shot.

Oh, you're really in it. It comes through your words, the serenity, the contemplation. I would wish this gift on no one more than you, Rolo. Drink deep from the well.

Mark, thank you so much for linking to that article. Amazing that we published such similar things days apart. Something in the air, I guess...

I heard Sandra Tsing Loh describe a career this way: you long to win an award, you work to win an award, a piece you don't respect wins the award, you rethink your feeling about the award, THEN you win the award. It is (to steal a phrase from David Licata) a life's work to do what we're talking about. To be selfless about something that is an assertion of self. Balance desire for recognition with an understanding of how much that recognition actually means. I am hoping my work on the kid's play gives me something similar to the experience you had acting in children's theatre. Thanks for this, Bruce. It means a lot to me.

I'm intimidated too, Rolo! And they are brutally honest. But when they love something they love it with no irony, with their whole hearts. I'm hoping to get me some of that.

I think we fall into it because we want it so badly. It's hard to look cleanly at things when you so clearly want the outcome to go a certain way. I just hope I am helping to create an audience for theatre. When you see kids watching plays, you can see how vital a form it still is. But they have to see it first!

"It's kind of astonishing that in a time when playwrights seem to grow on trees, small ensembles and directors don't feel they need them" Truer words were never spoken. I love it when you get riled, Rolo!