For some reason I still don’t subscribe to Netflix. I couldn’t even give someone a reasonable or justified answer if asked why not. So, I simply order films with my “On Demand” feature with my current cable provider. What is really great about this service is that I can also watch IFC films that are currently playing in the theater. Lately, I’ve been struggling to watch anything related to the Toronto Film Festival which this year was in it’s 32nd year! A few months ago I had watched a trailer for the film Starting out in the Evening. Unfortunately I haven’t read the book the film is based off of, though I am hopeful and from what I’ve read, the film manages to give the book some justice. You will recognize one of the lead actresses from Six Feet Under, and of course Lili Taylor (whom I fell in love with at a very young age with her film DogFight) ie: one of River Phoenix’s last films. The film centers around a writer played flawlessly and beautifully by Frank Langella. Not surprisingly Langella was nominated for several awards for the role - deservingly he was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award. What struck me independent of the characters and the storyline, was the score. I have always marveled at how a score can bring me to tears - how it can create the emotional inertia that brings the characters to an even fuller sense of purpose and being. Watching films like this leave such impressions on my psyche as a writer.

What films about writers have inspired your writing?