Tricky Bitch

I am a somewhat tricky bitch, ya know. When I need to be.

I have this blog, but because its public, I cannot be totally candid about topics close to my industry. I work with people, they work with other people, yada yada and I can’t insult the wrong person. So while I would like to write things about what I do, I can’t always do that, and further, I cannot necessarily write reviews of movies. Tv shows, etc. Except if they are going to be positive. So, no dirt.

But even within those limitations, I wanted to point something out that I think is a huge discrepancy. Huge.

I always used to say that I don’t watch much television, and while that used to be accurate, its less and less so. There are a bunch of shows I tevo and watch.

They include, in less than random order, The Shield, The Wire, Rome, Deadwood, Studio 60, Ugly Betty (don’t laugh), Entourage, Nip Tuck, Dexter, Weeds, and maybe even a few more (I’ve only seem one season of Lost, which I liked a bunch, and in fairness, I have never seen CSI, or 24, Greys, Heroes, or that thing with the firemen).

Now, the Golden Globes, from the esteemed Hollywood Foreign Press Association, has come out with its nominations for this year.

Any two people can disagree on whats good and what is not. But some things cannot be refuted, I think. Even in entertainment, there are some verifiable absolutes.

So how the hell do The Shield and The Wire get totally shut out. These shows, with some of the best acting (not to mention incredible writing) don’t even get a mentioned from the HFPA. How can that be? I don’t get it.

So yeah, while I cant review a movie or television show (at least a contemporary one), I can at least complain about the omissions of the Golden Globes.

Based on the Golden Gregs here are the awards for the main television categories…of course only based upon the television shows I watch. I can’t do alot about the shows I don’t watch.

Best Show, Drama:
The Shield – Come on, if you have to ask why, you haven’t seen it.
The Wire – Same deal, some of the best acting and most authentic writing on television.
Rome – Great filmmaking in television show.
Studio 60 – I am literally angry when there isn’t a new episode.

Best Show, Comedy
Entourage – The number one guilty pleasure on television. The OC for adult males.
Ugly Betty – And I am straight.
Weeds – If my sister was a drug dealer, this would be her.
Huff- Based on last season, I need to catch up, and there aren’t that many good comedies.

Best Actor
Michael Chiklis, The Shield
Forest Whitaker – The Shield
Jeremy Piven – Entourage
Kevin McKidd – Rome
Matthew Perry – Studio 60


Best Actress
America Ferrara – Ugly Betty
Mary Louise Parker – Weeds
Polly Walker – Rome
Sarah Paulson – Studio 60


OK, lemme have it.

Grumpy.

Sunday on the blog

Hey Y’all. Been very busy with work, and haven’t had much time for blogging.

I’m getting set for Sundance, and I booked my tickets this week. The Ten, the movie I production exec’ed for City Lights, got the Friday Midnight screening time at Sundance. It’s a great spot, the one that Blair Witch and Napoleon Dynamite both had. Hopefully that is the direction in which we’ll be heading for the Picture. Its obviously a lot to hope form, but why not.

The Slamdance (not to be confused with Sundance) deal is almost done, with financing to be provided primarily by a well-known Hollywood entity. The deal with these projects is as follows: Slamdance gets a whole lotta scripts in their script competition. A bunch fo them are horror film scripts. They are going to give me, out of these hundreds of scripts, the ones they consider to be the best ten. We’ll pick one of the ten, which we will make into a movie every year, to premiere the following year at Slamdance. I love this project, as its fun and high profile and involves giving young writers access to the Hollywood opportunites on the basis of merit. Enter your horror screenplay here if you dare.

In other news, I am sick of the cold weather. I hate the cold weather. I want to go somewhere warm. Maybe LA. Maybe Miami. Only current trip planned is to Park City for Slamdance and Sundance

That’s all for now. Gotta check fantasy football scores. Looks like a good year for my teams (the Low Key Elvises), as I took second place in baseball, and I’ve made the playoffs in football, and basketball is looking good, with D. Howard, Marion, Wade, and Paul making the rounds for the Elvises.

Grumpy

That Guy!!!! (Top 10)

OK. So I don’t blog for a week. More than a week. Now I am home for Saturday night, writing, sitting around, reading old movie reviews at RogerEbert.com (which I very much recommend) and I thought of a good list post, so even though I just posted, I wanna start this one off. The list is one Happy will definitely appreciate – It’s the “That’s the Guy From” List, meaning a list of the character actors that we have seen a million times, but their names have never quite crossed into the public consciousness (based upon normal people’s knowledge, not yours, Happy).

So lets hit it.

1. Vincent Schiavelli - With that unmistakeable mug, the face of a corpse (he actually died this year), appearing in movies from Cuckoo’s Nest to Batman Returns to Better Off Dead.

2. Wallace Shawn - Best known as The Sicilian from The Princess Bride. "Never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line."

3. Henry Silva - Always the bad guy, in so many different cultures, too.

4. Alison Janney - A happy choice.

5. Tony Goldwyn - Shouldn't be on this list, too good an actor (and quite the acting coach as well, apparently.

6. Dan Hedaya - One of the top character actors over the past twenty five years. Made his mark first in Coen brothers movies and on Cheers, as Nick Tortelli.

7. Frank Whaley - Great in Swimming With Sharks, a personal fave. Also a good director, but number seven on the whose that guy list (no Its not a Madonna song).

Feelin’ kinda lazy.

I went out last nite to Ultra. My friend and new biz associate Ryan was hangin’ there with a bunch of friends and invited us to come meet him.

Ultra is this chic newish lounge, with the velvet rope, the huge bouncers, and the models, the whole deal. So it’s the shit in NYC, for whatever that is worth to you. I’ve been going to clubs in NYC for the last twenty years, since I was 16 going to Tunnel on the west side on Manhattan, getting chosen in by door men who thought I was a 25 year old investment banker (thank god for Willy Wear suits and limited lighting). So while I do like going out to these new exclusive places (Why not?), I have seen basically everything (except for seeing a topless woman give a lapdance at Cain on Wednesday nite, a first for me to see that in a club).

So I am going out to this ultra hip lounge for drinks and chillin and dancing. Whats the best thing to do first?

Right.

Karaoke.

So I meet my brother Rich and my sister (in town for Thanksgiving this week) at Karaoke 17. Now I used to be a little bit of a karaoke whore, which is the term I use for people who get a little bit too into it. I used to go quite a bit, a few times a month, spend an entire evening belting it out. I even went to karaoke in Bulgaria one nite when I was there recording the score for “My Brother.” I know, ultra cool.

***********************FILM ASIDE*************************************
BTW, I am watching the remake of “When A Stranger Call” and while I think it’s a great premise and I think Camille Belle is sexy as hell and a good actress to boot, and the movie is very well made, I am not quite sure that it cuts the mustard. It just doesn’t pack the punch of the original – she just found out that the Caller is inside the house. And I am just not that spooked. Now I knew it was coming, because I am a fan of the genre and I saw the original last year, when I was prepping for a horror movie that I never ended up making (though it was made with other producers). I watch tons of horror films as a form of instruction when I make one, both to remind me what I think works, and as much, or more, what doesn’t.
It just seems to me that while there isn’t enough here to carry a story for 90 minutes, and I’ll be damned if its readily apparent to me why it worked OK the first time and now, its falling short. I think its just too focused on the one character being traumatized, without interruption, and her breasts just aren’t big enough when she is running around. Did I say that. Im not even a boob guy. Never mind.
It just turned into The Shining, with the dude trying to break down the door to get to her, Not scary. And hes walking after her and the kids are crying kinda goofily. OK, enough about this, I am moving on. But I still love Camille Belle. Total fox (and shes getting all wet in the pond now, hehe- OK, maybe the movie isn’t so bad after all).

*******************************************************************************************************************

So I am at Karaoke, but my voice is really no where near where it was, strength wise. I do a few tunes, Steve Miller Band’s Take the Money, Cheap Trick I Want You, and my standard, Journey Don’t Stop Believin’. Also a little Clapton, some G&R, and Brandy, What A Fine Girl from the Looking Glass.

Haveta say, I haven’t lost it. Kid has still got it.

Went over to Ultra to meet Ryan. He actually told the girl at the door, Mia (I think, you know, you’re typical supermodel with a clipboard who watches to make sure that regular folk cant enter without the grace of someone far cooler, which I may pretend to be, but that’s why they call it pretending) and she said hi when I mentioned his name and then rather than just comping us and letting us in, actually walked us inside and took us to Ryan’s table. I guess I am a big shot now.

The place was fun (places populated by 80 percent women, and a very good looking crowd at that, for some reason tend to be fun, not only for guys but for the women too, because women don’t seem to mind being in groups that are mostly female, as opposed to us guys who dread the sausage party). We drank, danced a bit. Bitter shook her thang and was having a great time with 24 year old boys hitting on her. While Richard had left, Newman had replaced him, meeting us just before we got there. A good time had by all, thanks to Ryan’s seemingly never ending supply of hospitality.

We left at three AM or so, and Ive barely left the bedroom today. I didn’t think I drank that much, but it musta added up. So I’ve been home. Briefly contemplating going out, but I think its one for them, one for me on this Saturday nite, though (I am told) the weather is gawgeous.

Hope you all had a great thanksgiving.


Grumpy

Whats with all the quitters in the blogging world?

Seems like in the blogging world, every week, someone is quitting something. They might be quitting dating. They might be quitting blogging? They might be quitting blogging about dating, or dating bloggers.

But what it all really seems to amount to, more than anything else, is an announcement of something that is bound to change in like two days. Or three.

I don’t think its any terrific big deal, and I am writing about it probably because it popped into my head after reading two blogs in a rom that I frequent, one announcing that someone was going to stop dating (or looking to date) and the other (BITTER) an updated blog from someone that I am quite glad has decided to continue blogging, after saying that perhaps they wouldn’t be so bloggy for a bit (DAVE).

Now, I believe in changing your mind when it makes sense. Im not stuck with a decision forever, if it doesn’t work for me. But it just seems that people get pretty capricious with what they say and do on their blogs.

(Aside: I think there are a number of women I have met who have this behavior in real life, and so maybe its not so miraculous that I see women online with the same characteristics. Dave, however, well, we can write it off to an emotional moment, and rightfully so. You’re a little bit chick I guess.)

But what about commitment. Honesty. Don’t falsely lead me on to think A, when its gonna be B twenty four to seventy two hours later. I’m invested and then I have to rethink your whole psychological dilemna.

And is it something particular about blogging that makes people try to draw these lines in the sand, very demonstrably, about life changes that they are making. Changes they are making in the way they live, they love, they leave.

But really, you just cant believe everything you read.

And Dave, Bloggers do it while watching The Empire Strikes Back, which really stands up to todays crappy sci-fi wanna-be tentpole summer popcorners.

Airplane Bloggin

Sorry I haven’t blogged since before I left. It was a crazy busy week on all fronts during the week I spent in California. Russ and I headed out there together to get some work done on individual projects and on a project we are working on together.

I got out there on Saturday nite and immediately headed to a house in the Hills for a party at a well-known producer’s house, off Laurel Canyon Rd. Now, I live in New York, I’ve spent a total of three weeks or so in LA during the past fifteen years (all this year) and needless to say, when I go to a party in the Hollywood Hills I don’t really expect to know anyone beyond the people with whom I showed up (and in Hollywood, even knowing the people with whom you’re traveling is an “IF”).

So wrong.

I walked in and I knew five or six people at the party from the forty people there. A producer with whom I worked on The Ten, a producer/line producer who worked with Johnnie G. (I think as a prop master), and the beautiful young actress Katherine Winnick. Also a well known NYC entertainment attorney, Steven Beer, from the same firm that my brother works for in Miami, and one or two more people. All of sudden, heya, I am on the scene. And I know people.

I guess all the networking is paying off.

The next few days were spent attending the AFM, which is the total meet market (pun intended) that its made out to be. As Johnnie said, a Fellini Film. Borat was there, but I musta missed him. Did see David Carradine, hung with a slightly egotistical Fred Williamson, met with bunches of biz people, and pitched a project to Focus, that seemed to be well-received.

Also, one nite we crashed the Google Party at the AFM. We basically talked our way in, and it was a good one. I guess those google guys are doing OK. Ran into Dan Mirvish, Slamdance cp-founder, and invited him to serve on the Jury of the next PictureStart Film Festival (aka the Home Film Festival). He accepted, so I guess we’ll be seeing him in NYC. I like the idea of having someone from Slamdance there, given my recent production deal with them.

At the Google party, I also ran in Oldenburg Alum Chris Stromopolous, who I met first in 2004 at Oldenburg. Chris did something very unique as a young man. With two of his friends, Chris, at the age of eight, began a scene by scene remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark, exactly the same as the real deal (or as close as they could get - a dog played the monkey and chris, I believe, played Indy), complete with rolling boulders, etc. It took Chris and his friends ten years or so. After they were finished they put aside their opus, and went on with their lives, until years later, someone got a copy of the film to Steven Spielberg. Her was very impressed and thought it was a great story, so he sent it to Scott Rudin. Voila, three years later they are close to a final script from the writer of Art School Confidential, Chris is producing, and the movie is supposed to be shot in Alabama in 2007. A great story.

Rest of the week was many meetings, get togethers and as common in LA, lots of driving around. Went to New Line, CAA, and made a bunch of other stops, including a lunch/pitch session with a legendary tv producer who produced both Star Search and Solid Gold, the type of guy who pitched directly to the decision makers at the networks. And he liked my idea.

“My Brother” screened to a crowd of 450 people of so at the Writers Guild Theater on Doheny on Friday nite, and that seemed to go very well.

But the big professional highlight of the week was the Slamdance release, which kicked off a bunch of press, with Angel Baby Entertainment appearing in Variety, Hollywood Reporter, IndieWire, Reuters and IMDB News all on one day, and in the LA times over the weekend as well. I met with the Slamdance people, and they are all very excited about going forward with the deal, as are people in the industry who are talking about various distribution alternatives with the movies made out of this production deal. Also, dropped off Hot Baby for the first time, and The Insurgents, which already had gotten good marks from its initial screening at Slamdance. Hopefully, one or both of the movies will be playing at Slamdance. Either way, I will be there, giving away a ten thousand dollar check to the writer of the winning Horror Script in the Competiton.

BTW, trying to figure out a name for the brand of movies coming out of the competition and production deal – the first idea I’ve had was “Screaming Voices” which pays some homage to the Writers who fuel the competition and also obviously makes sense for the Genre. Gonna keep thinking. If you have any suggestions, lemme know. Maybe I’ll get one I like better.

After the screening, I went to meet Heidi’s sister, Kristina, who attends USC and is, personality-wise, a spitting image of her older sister. She was definitely the coolest girl in the very hip and crowded place we met, Monroes, as her co-revellers seemed to make very clear. She’s an actress as well, and she has quite a presence, I think she’ll go far.

The irony of coming home is that perhaps two of the most important conversations I had in LA ended with my counterparty asking me when I am back in LA. Like, can I come back next week. Ugh. I like LA. I hate flying (especially when there is turbeulence, like there is right now). But for obvious reasons, looks like I am going to be a bi-coastal blogger for the time being.

Slamdance Writing Competition - Production Deal

We’re live, and I am damn happy about it. The Angel Baby (Ahem, yes us) sponsorship of the Slamdance Horror Script Competition is up and running on their site, thanks to me and John Sawyer (who, as usual, does boatloads of work without taking any credit), and Peter and John from Slamdance.



I love this concept. Here it is….

Slamdance is the top genre film festival. The one that introduced to you horror classics like Zombie Honeymoon. It just is a great program, done by filmmakers whose dedication to the independent film world has been unwavering since their inception. And now, as one of the biggest and best festivals in the world, they sponsor script writing competitions for new talent. They are bringing it out, just like they’ve been doing for years and years.

And now, Angel Baby Entertainment is going to partner with Slamdance, to take the best of the best from the wildly popular script competition and make a movie from it every year. So the writer that wins will get his script bought (at a nice fair price, I might add) and made into a movie.

Y’all will never guess where this writer will get to see his movie premiere the next year.

OK, ya guessed it, at Slamdance in a special screening, in front of the genre fans and the industry and everyone else he needs to have see it.

Pretty cool, huh?

Dis-concert-ing?

I went on a date tonite. We hadn’t been out before, and I am of course going back to California on Friday nite, so there was limited time to get together before I leave for a week or so. Not or so. A week.

Anyway, I don’t think I am going to start blogging about my dating life again. We all have seen where that can lead. Interestingly enough, the person with whom I went out has also seen where it can lead – she used to have a blog about dating in NYC.

How many of these things are out there, anyway? Perhaps I’ll check after posting.

And for anyone who thinks that this isn’t a new person, but that this blogger is someone I have spoken about on here before, you’re wrong. Control your imagination (Dawn). All that is as over as writing about it is. As in, moveonmofo.org.

Thing is about this date, is because of the limited time before I was leaving for Cali, we decided to do something kind of untraditional on a first date (not water sports, Lozo). We went to a rock concert. A good old fashioned rock concert, with loud music.

Now I wondered about this a bit before accepting. A couple of reasons why include, spending 60 bucks on my ticket for a date I might not enjoy, plus food and drink and whatever else; the relative inability to have a conversation during a concert that was sure to be loud (it was); and maybe the most important, did I like this band enough to go to one of their concerts. I am not a huge concert fan, as I am not a huge fan of crowds. I love music, but the vibe of the concert has to be right. Otherwise sometimes I can’t wait for it to be over.

The band, you ask? What band? Alice in Chains, with a new lead singer.

I was overwhelmingly pleasantly surprised by the concert. It was really great, the band put on a great show. I even knew a bunch of songs I wouldn’t have been able to mention had someone asked me to name song by AIC. Some of course, I knew I knew. They were great, the vibe of the crowd was cool. Just nice all around. I think one think that helped the vibe of the place is that their fans are adults, mostly. They began, I am told (my date lived in Seattle for ten years, where she was a college DJ at a big school, so I’ll take her word for it), in the late eighties. As a result, many of their fans are my age or thereabouts (I am 36). So less annoying kid shit at the concert. Very few teens, from what I can see. Just an adult crowd loving a great show put on by a great rock band. It’s a little weird to me that the singer that replaced Len Staley (sp?), who died of a heroin overdose I think, sounds a lot like him. You’d think they guy would want to take a different approach. But, in any case, it worked and they sounded terrific and I highly recommend them, thought tomorrow nites show is sold out, SRO.

So far as the lack of conversation, it was a little bit of an issue, but since we got together before for a bite and there were intermissions etc. I guess not too much of an issue. Still, maybe not the best first date to get to know each other. “Course, if you have a good time on a date, that makes it a good date, no?

Grumps

Brand New Day

We’ve made peace, I think. There won’t be anything more on this from here, so if you’re stopping by to look for drama, you’ll have to look elsewhere. I’ve moved on. You are, of course, welcome to stay and enjoy (or not) whatever else I write about, but if your jumping back and forth looking for grease, well, Im not selling that anymore.

Final Warning

People should know that if she keeps up the Grumpy-bashing, in a manner that doesnt allow me to defend myself or even address it, I am going to out her, and she doesn't want that to happen. I am restraining myself in view of the fact that it is very clear how much her "privacy" means to her, which, yes, is IRONIC (and if you can't understand why, I suggest you find somewhere else to waste your time).

Peace out.

Update:
And bashing in private may not be as obnoxious as doing it on an open blog, but its still unjustified (if one actually listens to both sides of the story), and still cause for me to defend myself. Someone just called to ask if I was going to disclose this person's activities to their workplace. Before the last bit here, hiding the blog, which only makes me think that she has decided to continue the bashing but just doesnt want me to be able to read it, I said no. Now, its almost like she is trying to force me, if I care to defend myself, to open up a whole different can o' worms unrelated to family members reading her blog.

Do I want access? No. What I want at this point is a simple promise to leave me out of it, permanently, to which I will, at this point, promise to return the favor. How would I know the difference? Try me.

Last:
Im not gonna out her, to anyone. I want this to be over. Its over on my side. Hopefully, she'll see fit to do the same.

Back to Cali.

Going back to Cali, Cali, Cali. Going back to Cali (inappropriate chorus excised).

So a studio bit on 4Chosen. Great news. We need to go find a little more co-financing money, but its very exciting to be in partnership with an enthusiastic distributor on a great project that will mean a lot for audiences (I think its going to be an important movie) and for me personally.

So Jon D. and I head back to California. The American Film Market (AFM) is going on starting Nov. 1. It is, quite simply, the monster of all film sales events, where American movies are sold to worldwide distributors. Some movies are already made, like Transamerica, the producers of which smartly waited til post-oscar run to sell many of the territories.

We’ll hit the AFM, and build some meetings off of it. Everyone is out there during the AFM (who isn’t out there all the time). Plan to hit some majors and some indie labels of majors (already set a meeting with one of those). Also there are some indie finance companies we should meet.

Also, My Brother plays for the BMW Blackfilm.com series. We just had a screening at the Rialto in Atlanta, and next on tap is the screening at the Los Angeles Writer’s Guild Theater. Its our first “industry” screening. Very exciting as well.

Hit me up if you'll be in LA and want to attend.

Grumpy

Get Er Done - Top 25 Teen Movies Finally

FINISHING UP. 10.28.06

OK FINAL VOTE _ CHECK MY LAST COMMENT AND LETS FINISH IT UP. People stop the madness, this has gone on way too long. Relationships have begun and ended (and new ones started despite crushing emotional blows?) in the time that its take to finish this list.

TWO MORE (Unless we can remove St. Elmo's Fire).

NEVER DID FINISH THIS LIST- LETS NOT GET LAZY NOW PEOPLE, SIX MORE TO GO@@$#$%@%#
Writing late nite, well, not that late. But anyway, heres an idea for a post, something that will at least capture bitter’s imagination. Lets make a list of the top 25 teen movies of all time. I am gonna start with one, and then whoever posts next can just add a name. Then we can have a little discussion about whether the new additions get to stay on the list.

****
UPDATE: TEEN MOVIES ARE LIGHT FLUFFY FARE THAT ARE FUN TO WATCH, NOT HEAVY DRAMATIC STUFF LIKE RIVER'S EDGE OR THE GREAT MOVIE FROM THIS PAST YEAR, BRICK (WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE BE CLOSE TO THE TOP OF THIS LIST).
****





1. Cant Hardly Wait – The best karaoke scene of all time – a totally great cast, including cameos, and J.L.H.
2. The Sure Thing - About what most high school guys dream about through high school.
3. Fast Times At Ridgemont High - Awesome, totally awesome. Nice move Hamilton.

4. Grease

5. Porkys
6. Heathers
7. Breakfast Club

8. 16 Candles


9. As keeper of the Blog, I am putting up another genre - Revenge of the Nerds.
10. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Totally great kids movie.
11. Risky Businesss (come on, how could I have forgotten this, doesnt even need to be seconded)
12. House Party (with M. Lawrence stinkin up the big screen in his first role)
13. Dazed And Confused
14. Cant Buy Me Love - Standard formula teen movie, done oh so well.
15. American Pie - The rise of Eugene Levy ("We'll just tell your mother...we ate it."
16. Bring It On - Just cause we know how much Happy loves Eliza Dushku.
17. Mean Girls - By popular consent, and because we need a little modernism here.
18. Say Anything - Chicks dig the Cusack-man holding up the radio over his head outside her window. "Who do you think you are?" "With all due respect Sir, Im the guy going with your daughter to England."
19. Weird Science - Perhaps not the greatest piece of intellectualism, and I always found Anthony Michael Hall's sidekick (whats his name Happy) really annoying - but Hall, Downey Jr., Paxton, and the bald guy from the Wes Craven movies of the 70's, how bad could it be.
20. Clueless (despite Alicia Silverstone) - people get a clue
21. Last American Virgin - Cause every teen movie list needs an entrant guaranteed to make you want to chug a bottle of Drano, and this is ours
22. Valley Girl - Yet another classic entrant, with a spacey Hollywood boy Nick Cage with chest hair shaved in a V. and a classic blond haired bad guy (a 80's movies staple, see Some Kind Of Wonderful, Karate Kid, Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, etc).
23. St. Elmo's Fire - The Brat Pack goes wrong, and to me, easily the worst movie on the list. But what can I say, I merely keep this list for y'all. P.S. Does any male reader like this movie. And how much overacting can one movie have.
24. Footloose - How did we miss this one. The late, great Chris Penn dancing, SJP in a minor role, and Kevin Bacon in his first six degrees impacting role.
25. American Graffiti - The original, great teen movie from a director known world wide for Sci-Fi classics (and would-be classics), George Lucas. Supported by his mentor Francis Ford Coppola, every major other than Universal said "forget it kid, no one wants to see this." It was a sensation, needless to say, grossing 115 million dollars, and introduced to America movie audiences the Teen movie (as well as helping boost the careers of Harrison Ford, Ron Howard, Richard Dreyfuss, Charles Martin Smith, McKenzie Phillips, Cindi Williams, and Suzanne Somers as a hot blonde in a tight teeshirt.

Honorable mention to Three Oclock High, Empire Records, 10 Things I Hate About You and many others I am sure I am forgetting.

Movie Trailer - Pure Self Promotion

Posted By:My Brother The Movie

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Unfinished Biz BUMP- TOP 25 TEEN MOVIES OF ALL TIME

OK FINAL VOTE _ CHECK MY LAST COMMENT AND LETS FINISH IT UP. People stop the madness, this has gone on way too long. Relationships have begun and ended (and new ones started despite crushing emotional blows?) in the time that its take to finish this list.

TWO MORE (Unless we can remove St. Elmo's Fire).

NEVER DID FINISH THIS LIST- LETS NOT GET LAZY NOW PEOPLE, SIX MORE TO GO@@$#$%@%#
Writing late nite, well, not that late. But anyway, heres an idea for a post, something that will at least capture bitter’s imagination. Lets make a list of the top 25 teen movies of all time. I am gonna start with one, and then whoever posts next can just add a name. Then we can have a little discussion about whether the new additions get to stay on the list.

****
UPDATE: TEEN MOVIES ARE LIGHT FLUFFY FAIR THAT ARE FUN TO WATCH, NOT HEAVY DRAMATIC STUFF LIKE RIVER'S EDGE OR THE GREAT MOVIE FROM THIS PAST YEAR, BRICK (WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE BE CLOSE TO THE TOP OF THIS LIST).
****





1. Cant Hardly Wait – The best karaoke scene of all time – a totally great cast, including cameos, and J.L.H.
2. The Sure Thing - About what most high school guys dream about through high school.
3. Fast Times At Ridgemont High - Awesome, totally awesome. Nice move Hamilton.

4. Grease

5. Porkys
6. Heathers
7. Breakfast Club

8. 16 Candles


9. As keeper of the Blog, I am putting up another genre - Revenge of the Nerds.
10. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Totally great kids movie.
11. Risky Businesss (come on, how could I have forgotten this, doesnt even need to be seconded)
12. House Party (with M. Lawrence stinkin up the big screen in his first role)
13. Dazed And Confused
14. Cant Buy Me Love - Standard formula teen movie, done oh so well.
15. American Pie - The rise of Eugene Levy ("We'll just tell your mother...we ate it."
16. Bring It On - Just cause we know how much Happy loves Eliza Dushku.
17. Mean Girls - By popular consent, and because we need a little modernism here.
18. Say Anything - Chicks dig the Cusack-man holding up the radio over his head outside her window. "Who do you think you are?" "With all due respect Sir, Im the guy going with your daughter to England."
19. Weird Science - Perhaps not the greatest piece of intellectualism, and I always found Anthony Michael Hall's sidekick (whats his name Happy) really annoying - but Hall, Downey Jr., Paxton, and the bald guy from the Wes Craven movies of the 70's, how bad could it be.
20. Clueless (despite Alicia Silverstone) - people get a clue
21. Last American Virgin - Cause every teen movie list needs an entrant guaranteed to make you want to chug a bottle of Drano, and this is ours
22. Valley Girl - Yet another classic entrant, with a spacey Hollywood boy Nick Cage with chest hair shaved in a V. and a classic blond haired bad guy (a 80's movies staple, see Some Kind Of Wonderful, Karate Kid, Better Off Dead, One Crazy Summer, etc).
23. St. Elmo's Fire - The Brat Pack goes wrong, and to me, easily the worst movie on the list. But what can I say, I merely keep this list for y'all. P.S. Does any male reader like this movie. And how much overacting can one movie have.
24.
25.

More of the Same

Been working like mad, taking four or five meetings in a day since I've been out in LA. Its really been busy and very productive, especially my meeting with Image today. Basically a mutual admiration society.

I will probably post a description of my travels all over LA, Malibu, and the Valley (well, a couple of Valleys - San Fernando and San Gabriel), but for now, I am heading out. I have really been out only one time, for the Black Film Awards (which were great and so was the afterparty, hung with Anthony Anderson, who did a nice job in The Departed), for quite a while. I went out very briefly last nite, and had dinner with my friend Jay and his roommate in Venice Sat nite (I've decided Venice would be top of my list should I ever live here). No really Hollywood type partying except for the BFA's.

So tonites the nite- my LA actress friend is coming down from the valley (maybe I should call her my Valley actress?) and we'll be going to a trendy Hollywood restaurant than my friend Paul B. Victor, who everyone knows recently as the boss on entourage, recommended. I stopped by yesterday to check it out and its a great scene.

Got a surprise call yesterday from someone I didnt expect to hear from. Havent decided if I am gonna write about it. We shall see.

Grumpy O. Selznick

NY vs. LA

Been in LA 24 hours. Due to my recent, ahem, popularity, I think Im going to move previous posts down the page. Onward and downward. Let the spiral begin.

I know everyone talks the talk about Los Angeles being such a terrible city, but lets face some facts about the city.

First, the weather. Yeah there is smog. But New York has smog too, and its friggin cold half of the year. Edge, LA. No doubt.

The women of both cities are beautiful. And smart, though I’d give the edge on smart to the east coast. But maybe that’s just the crowds Im running with, respectively. But I’d say NY on smarts, maybe LA on looks.

Not gonna go through some exhaustive list, but everyone I meet out here asks me if I either live out here (OK honest question) or if I am planning on moving out here. Talked with a friend today and she and I had the same discussion. She’s lived out here, and told me that she thought it was a terrible place to visit but a great place to live. I guess I could see that.

Moving on. Traffic is abysmal here. When it rains (and it did a bit today) people cannot drive for shit. They can’t really drive when its sunny. And you are constantly in your car, here. Doesn’t seem like there is any way to avoid it.

Edge NY.

I don’t really know many people out here. My former roommate is here. I have various biz contacts, and a few acquaintances. But that’s it. I have my whole network of friends in NYC, many of whom Ive known since high school or thereabouts. Hard to replace that.

I need to find some way to spend more time out here. Im looking at sharing a house or apt. with two other guys who live here. Throw in some money for a place to crash while I am here. The hotel thing is OK, but its not cheap and I need to get out here and not have to worry too much about the cost.

BTW- I love those sensitive neandrethal commercials. Like the neandrethal on the moving sidewalk who sees the ad and gets upset. Classic. That dude is great in the commercials. Total non sequitur, but the commercial just ran. I actually tevo’ed that commercial last week so I could rewatch the guy’s performance.

No plans for evenings other than Sunday at the black film awards. I guess I have to spend some time making evening plans, and not just day plans (meetings etc).

The beleaguered grumpy.

Done

I will no longer discuss Single Girl. Dont even ask.

Grumpy

Addendum
For the record, the only potential hateful email I sent was one of disappointment about D's reemergence within 15 hours or so of it ending. I guess I might have a right to have a feeling about that. It sounded like they'd been talking all along (since clarified) and that made me upset. How would you feel? I still think it was a really bad idea (she obviously did too, eventually, after reading her blog posts from before)).

Smoke Does Equal Fire

I have to be better about not listening to all these people in the peanut gallery about this and that with respect to my relationships. When I have a view on something, I should just go with it – I have a very good sense of people (if not always myself). When something seems off, it almost always is. I spent a lot of time learning about relationship dynamics. Why would I disregard that effort entirely - do I really need this advice. Bitter, Gus, sorry. Next time, I am on my own. No offense, but maybe my standards are different from yours. Or different from yours on my behalf.

I am not gonna go into specifics, but needless to say, I am a little grossed out. Against my better judgment, I did something and allowed it to continue, and now I see quite clearly that I should have gone with my instincts sooner rather than later. By taking so much longer, I invested myself and my emotions more than I should have, and now, I feel a little bit nauseous about the whole thing.

One time, with an old flame, is one thing. A second time, in four days, with an idiot, a confirmed idiot, is, sorry to say, same old story.

UPDATE
The foregoing is a description of how i feel. It isnt a bashing of SG. She doesnt deserve to be bashed. Shes a great girl, she just needs to make better choices.

"My Brother" Sweeps the Harlem Int'l Film Festival Awards

News Flash

At its second festival and New York premiere, my film My Brother has swept the awards at the Harlem International Film Festival. The Movie won the Best Picture Audience Award, Best Actor for Nashawn Kearse, and Best Actress for Vanessa Williams.

Because I cant resist, here is the press release, (and its easier than writing something clever - I drafted the release late last nite, so if its got errors, lemme know),

LIBERTY ARTISTS’ “MY BROTHER” SWEEPS HARLEM INT’L FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS, WINNING AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST PICTURE, BEST ACTOR (NASHAWN KEARSE) AND BEST ACTRESS (VANESSA WILLIAMS)

My Brother to be released in theatres Jan/Feb 2007!

(New York, New York- July 2006) – The Harlem International Film Festival has awarded Liberty Artists’ production of writer-director and Academy Award nominee Anthony Lover’s “My Brother,” the Audience Award for Best Picture, as well as the Best Actor Award for Nashawn Kearse and the Best Actress Award for Vanessa Williams. The Award marks the Picture’s second top award in its second festival screening.

“My Brother” was previously awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best Picture at the American Black Film Festival, its first festival screening. In addition, the ABFF also presented “My Brother” star Christoper Scott the Founder’s Award for his work in the film. Christopher is the first African American actor with a severe developmental disability (Christopher has Downs Syndrome) ever to win a major film award.

"My Brother" was produced by Gregory Segal, Gingi Rochelle and Leslie Ann Fouche. The director of photography is John Sawyer. Michael Malagiero executive produced.

The film, which will be marketed in conjunction with the Special Olympics (headed by Tim Shriver) and the National Institute for People With Disabilities (headed by Phil Levy), is expected to hit movie theaters in January 2007.

Liberty Artists has taken a new approach to filmmaking for the African American audience, creating films that touch on the African American experience in a meaningful and spiritual way. My Brother is a unique, compelling story about two underprivileged brothers from Brooklyn, New York, their quest to develop as young men, and retain their commitment to one another.

In the starring role, Nashawn Kearse (as Isaiah) shines, handsome yet vulnerable, as a new face to audiences, but one who is on his way to become very familiar. Nashawn has been seen recently as Caleb Applewhite on Desperate Housewives.

Vanessa Williams, a star of stage, screen, and radio, can be seen on ABC’s hit Ugly Betty, opposite America Ferrara.

Tatum O’Neal (as love interest, Erica), the youngest Academy-Award-winning actress in history, will be seen upcoming in the lead role on “Art of Betrayal” from MyNetworkTV and Fox Television.

All Roads Lead to ....LA

I’ve been looking at so many different opportunities these days with respect to producing. Its made something occur to me, which is, that success in this business, even as a producer, has an awful lot to do with momentum.

For example, I am in the process of negotiating a deal with another company to do movies for a limited price. I won’t say what limited is, but its actually quite a decent budget, bigger than most of the movies I’ve produced to date.

Thing is, having this deal introduced me at the same time a new biz partner, a very large home entertainment player that is going to distribute most of the movies I make under this first situation. They are looking for product generally (product means content) and need to build their company. They have interesting tie-ins, as they have a huge music catalog and have interest in exploiting that too.

At the same time, I have been working on this project, with Jon D., one that has some hot young singers involved. Guys who every 14 year old girl follow on the internet. One of them, quite frankly, is like the next Usher. And its not that far away.

With this project, there are a couple of studios sniffing, more and more intently, with the package that has come together. But even without one of them on board (and one of them is supposed to give us an answer within the next few days), this other home entertainment company very well might want to fund the project themselves.

And still further, at the same time, I’ve been working on the Brooks deals with JG. We have an investment bank excited to be on board and the biz plan is almost done and they seem raring to take it out. We plan to do movies primarily oriented towards home entertainment. And where could we place these movies we make under the Brooks deal for home vid.

Which takes me to the next step, which is to go sit down with New Line and talk to them about doing co-productions on some of their old movies titles, as remakes, sequels, etc. We provide funding, they provide favorable distribution terms, we all make out. And then it occurs to me, that this project, the one with Jon D., could be a perfect fit for New Line (could also fit as Columbia, or Lionsgate, or a number of other places as well). But having the reason to sit down at New Line, and the credibility afforded by having all these things to offer, is a catalyst.

My job is to mix and match to get the projects going. And the thing I think I’m maybe best at is mixing and matching (maybe negotiating too, cuz Im kinda stone faced and that plays well).

At the same time, to me, it seems that this project I’ve been working on for two years, one of the first bigger movies I got involved in trying to produce, is going to die on the vine. There just doesn’t seem to be a whole lot left to try. It’s a good script, but its just not desirable commercially at this time, and though it’s a beautiful story (feature on Oprah not once but twice) and should be told, we’ve been unable to package it in a manner that gets anyone excited. And the person who’d been keeping it moving along, to the extent that is has been moving along, quite frankly has run out of ideas. I don’t blame him, he’s tried everything, orthodox and otherwise, and we’re down to what he senses is a last ditch financing option, and what I sense is a crock of nonsense. We shall see, if he’s right, maybe the movie gets made. If not, well, its basically done.

It’s a tough part of this business. There is a whole lot of stuff out there to choose from, and timing plays a huge role in getting things moving.

Sort of like relationships sometimes.

The Fearless Grumpy (hehe).

Single AGAIN.

Some of you may have been aware that, for the past month or so, I have been seeing someone new. Someone who reads this blog. Someone I actually met through this blog (and hers as well, and Bitter's).

This girl is great. There can be no denying she is a terrific person. She has it going on.

Yet, for some reason, we couldn’t make it work. Apart from any other issues that might have existed or developed, we just couldn’t get along, We argued perhaps more than half the time we spoke. From the beginning this seemed to be the case (once we’d met). And I can’t persist in that kind of environment. My work is plenty stressful, and I absolutely need my personal life to be placid. Fun, but peaceful.

This was not.

To compound that, she was talking to my sister, my sister was talking to her, Happy was emailing with her (Dunno why?, doesn’t matter), and everything was under the magnifying glass for me because she wrote about it quite often on her blog. When she was upset, happy, irritated, etc., there it was.

I had a hard time conceiving of the long term situation with her, because of the constant arguing. During law school I had a relationship that started similarly – it didn’t last and it ended badly. So I saw only a slim hope of success. I always felt this since we’d had these initial issues, but she was more optimistic. That was a problem for me, because I didn’t want her to be ALL IN, for me not to be, and for her to feel too hurt as a result.

So when it came down to it, I saw little reason to expect that we had a realistic shot. I told her I’d be willing to hang out, but I didn’t really see it going anywhere. And because I couldn’t see that, she decided she didn’t want to hang out at all anymore.

Was I wrong? At 36, is there a good reason for me to have continued. To perhaps shaded conversation more positively about this relationship than I perceived it? I don’t think so. Did I not have enough faith that things would get better- I don’t know why I should have. The history didn’t point to a better future. So I am single again, and while its OK with me, I hope she’s OK, and it isn’t the happiest of evenings.

Grumpy

BUMP - Top 25 Teen Movies of All Time

Writing late nite, well, not that late. But anyway, heres an idea for a post, something that will at least capture bitter’s imagination. Lets make a list of the top 25 teen movies of all time. I am gonna start with one, and then whoever posts next can just add a name. Then we can have a little discussion about whether the new additions get to stay on the list.

****
UPDATE: TEEN MOVIES ARE LIGHT FLUFFY FAIR THAT ARE FUN TO WATCH, NOT HEAVY DRAMATIC STUFF LIKE RIVER'S EDGE OR THE GREAT MOVIE FROM THIS PAST YEAR, BRICK (WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE BE CLOSE TO THE TOP OF THIS LIST).
****




1. Cant Hardly Wait – The best karaoke scene of all time – a totally great cast, including cameos, and J.L.H.
2. The Sure Thing - About what most high school guys dream about through high school.
3. Fast Times At Ridgemont High - Awesome, totally awesome. Nice move Hamilton.

4. Grease

5. Porkys
6. Heathers
7. Breakfast Club

8. 16 Candles


9. As keeper of the Blog, I am putting up another genre - Revenge of the Nerds.
10. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Totally great kids movie.
11. Risky Businesss (come on, how could I have forgotten this, doesnt even need to be seconded)
12. House Party (with M. Lawrence stinkin up the big screen in his first role)
13. Dazed And Confused
14. Cant Buy Me Love - Standard formula teen movie, done oh so well.
15. American Pie - The rise of Eugene Levy ("We'll just tell your mother...we ate it."
16. Bring It On - Just cause we know how much Happy loves Eliza Dushku.
17. Mean Girls - By popular consent, and because we need a little modernism here.
18. Say Anything - Chicks dig the Cusack-man holding up the radio over his head outside her window. "Who do you think you are?" "With all due respect Sir, Im the guy going with your daughter to England."
19. Weird Science - Perhaps not the greatest piece of intellectualism, and I always found Anthony Michael Hall's sidekick (whats his name Happy) really annoying - but Hall, Downey Jr., Paxton, and the bald guy from the Wes Craven movies of the 70's, how bad could it be.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

Go West Young(ish) Man!!!

Going to LA for the Black Film Awards next week. The awards are on Sunday, and I’ve been invited to attend by the people who run the BFAs. Hopefully, My Brother will be in contention next year. Maybe we’ll even take home some Lucite. Or metal. Hell, I don’t know what the awards are made of.

Makes me think though. In a very strange way, the most unappreciated job, come awards time, is the Producer. Except for the granddaddy of awards, the Oscar (although the Nat’l Board is actually older than the Oscars), the Producer often gets left out in the cold. The Oscar gives the Best Picture Award to the Producer, but almost all other awards events give that award to the Director (Like, what did he have to do with the movie being good).

And then there are awards for actors, supporting actors, music, editing, visual effects, sound design, catering, whatever. And the producer, the guy (or gal) with all the grey hair, the one who just got done with eating shit for a year, with dealing with all the egos on the Picture, with the agents, the lawyers, the managers, the distributors, the marketing people, the young, nubile actresses in short skirts who just stop by the office in the early evening after everyone left just to drop off a script and say “Hi” – oh, wait, I am not quite at that point of being a producer yet.

Aside- I heard from a moderately reputable source that a certain producer in LA, with the initials JB, yeah, him, has legions of young men approaching the most comely (did I use that word on purpose?), attractive young women in LA’s clubs, and giving out cards with his phone number on them. For personal reasons even. Guy has it down to a science. Just a rumor though.

The LA meeting thing though is a very interesting process. Linse, lather, reschedule repeat. Which means that getting the meeting in LA is very easy. People meet out there, that’s what they do. But keeping the meeting, well, that’s the key. Sounds like a Seinfeld episode.

Hopefully, I’ll leave early to mid-next week. I’d like to find a place to stay, and may stay with a friend of a friend in West Hollywood, but that hasn’t been worked out yet. If Im paying for hotel, I am definitely staying for less time than otherwise, just cause I can’t run up the bills right now. I’ll def. be renting a car, making the rounds, finding out what else is going on, because Im only working about 75 hours per week right now, so I should definitely look to take on some new projects.

GRUMPS

Top 25 Teen Movies Of All Time

Writing late nite, well, not that late. But anyway, heres an idea for a post, something that will at least capture bitter’s imagination. Lets make a list of the top 25 teen movies of all time. I am gonna start with one, and then whoever posts next can just add a name. Then we can have a little discussion about whether the new additions get to stay on the list.

****
UPDATE: TEEN MOVIES ARE LIGHT FLUFFY FAIR THAT ARE FUN TO WATCH, NOT HEAVY DRAMATIC STUFF LIKE RIVER'S EDGE OR THE GREAT MOVIE FROM THIS PAST YEAR, BRICK (WHICH WOULD OTHERWISE BE CLOSE TO THE TOP OF THIS LIST).
****




1. Cant Hardly Wait – The best karaoke scene of all time – a totally great cast, including cameos, and J.L.H.
2. The Sure Thing - About what most high school guys dream about through high school.
3. Fast Times At Ridgemont High - Awesome, totally awesome. Nice move Hamilton.

4. Grease

5. Porkys
6. Heathers
7. Breakfast Club

8. 16 Candles


9. As keeper of the Blog, I am putting up another genre - Revenge of the Nerds.
10. Ferris Bueller's Day Off - Totally great kids movie.
11. Risky Businesss (come on, how could I have forgotten this, doesnt even need to be seconded)
12. House Party (with M. Lawrence stinkin up the big screen in his first role)
13. Dazed And Confused
14. Cant Buy Me Love - Standard formula teen movie, done oh so well.
15. American Pie - The rise of Eugene Levy ("We'll just tell your mother...we ate it."
16. Bring It On - Just cause we know how much Happy loves Eliza Dushku.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.

The Secret is Out.

So the chick who I’ve been dating (and I use the word chick because its what I instinctively typed, for whatever that means) has let her blogging public (she has a much more popular blog than mine) that she may stop blogging entirely cause she cannot blog without talking about me.

So I’ve outed myself on her blog, And Im outing myself on mine, whatever that means. I won’t be outing her though, I ‘ll leave that up to her.

UPDATE TUESDAY MORNING
Wake up little Suzy. Or not. Chick-I-date has taken down her post (and my corresponding reply, which I thought was quite funny), so now we're back in the blog closet, so to speak. I dont really know why, but its her blog and certainly her prerogative.

I wonder how unique this situation is. Not only do we both have blogs (I haven't really posted about her at all since we started seeing each other, because its not that hard for me not to - I find other things to write about - but her blog is about dating, and thats what her readers go there to read), but we actually met through the blogs, kinda, and kinda through my sister Bitter. So we were aware of each other's proclivities before we ever hung out. It was like having the scout team in weeks before the big game, right Gus. Or should I say, Muffin boy.

Anyway, since I don't link back to her blog, I guess this will buy her some time to figure out what she wants to do about her blog, and the fact that I read it. I think asking me not to read it will be asking a bunch - not that she doesnt have the right, but with it so available and having become a habit, well, it would be tough. I guess I'd just delete the link, and hopefully no drunken evening would I try to figure out how to spell the blog title.

Running Myself Down?

Ive really been feeling run down. I don’t know if its stress, too much work, or the spinach flu.

I have been working long hours, to the detriment of what I call a social life. I also have been kinda stressed on getting My Brother ready for distribution.

Went to work out last weekend, and lifted weights last Saturday. I normally just swim or do cardio, and I think I am also feeling effects from this, still, five days later.

So what do I do, I pick up another project for my company with John Gallagher. This one is about the four young men, on their way to basketball camp in North Carolina, who got pulled over in New Jersey in a case of racial profiling. The state troopers shot them thirteen times, ending their careers and bringing on one of the most famous lawsuits (with Johnny Cochrane prosecuting the case) in the history of race relations. (spelling to follow screwy on purpose). David Anspagh (Hoosiers, Rudy) is supposed to direct, and Laurence Fishburn, Bill Zane and Danny Ayiello, among others, are aboard.



But I am still so exhausted. Ive had a lot of fatigue, even some chest pain (though I cant tell whether it is pectoral pain from the weight-lifting, and that’s my suspicion). I have been eating healthy, getting plenty of sleep, not drinking too much, so I don’t know why Im not feeling well.

I think I need a vacation, I just don’t think I have time to take one right now, with everything that’s going on and with the NYC Home Film Festival looming. Oops, the NYC PictureStart Film Festival, formerly the NYC Home Film Festival. That’s coming up in late November.

Also supposed to head out to California. I’ve been invited to attend the Black Film Awards October 15th, which I would like to do. Also just have so much else going on, most of which is pending so I can’t really mention it.

Good news is that I have taken on one assistant (unpaid) and a second I am meeting with tomorrow. The first, Rene, is really efficient and she’ll be a producer in no time. She is smart and connected – met her when she interned on Hot Baby, and immediately promoted her to Asst. Production Office Coordinator.

Anyway, Im hanging in there. Anyone have any pointers for pick-me-ups. Maybe dietary changes? I definitely need a massage or three, but I hate going places for massages. They kinda skeeve me out, and who wants to have to jump in a taxi or on the subway after a massage. Kinda kills the relaxation.

I always feel like somebody's watching me

So I went out last nite. Went to Michael Mosley’s birthday party at Bar Nine. He starred in the film I did, The Insurgents, in the lead role. He also has a TV show on right now, Kidnapped (which I haven’t seen yet but want to catch up on – already missed the first one).

Anyway, Michael and I were talking about my blog and I mentioned that I was getting hits from people finding me from within the industry. Now, my blog is completely public. In fact, if you look me up on Myspace you can find it. Its right there. So anyone who looks for me on MySpace has access. Also, because I mention movies I produce on the blog, by name, and some actors as well (I misspell occasionally but not all the time) anyone involved with the films googling the film to see where it pops up may pop onto this blog.

In fact, this did just happen recently in a way that came back to me. An actor called me for some personal advice on something he’s dealing with and in doing so, mentioned to me that he saw that I mentioned a film on the blog. And he didn’t like the way that I listed him. His BLOG Billing. And he wasn’t all hot an bothered about it, in fact he may have been half kidding. But the other half was serious, I think, and I guess in some way, he’s not completely wrong. I don’t think the way I described his participation was particularly different than the way the film will be marketed, and I don’t want him to be upset about it. But he does raise a question.

So I am at this party with Michael Mosley for his birthday, and we’re talking about the blog. And he mentions that he thinks its kinda tricky the way I write, because I have to flirt with self-censorship and there is always a question about how much I should give away when I am writing about specific people or projects.

It is tricky, but I guess its no more tricky than trying to communicate in the entertainment business, which is not a very straight-forward type of communication in a not very straight-forward business. So I am used to communicating, as necessary (I don’t try to be sly), in this way, and now, because the blog is public, I am doing the same thing with anyone who reads this. Its aimed at a common denominator, the most influential common denominator, and contains only that level of information that wouldn’t be a disclosure problem with the people at that level. Those who wouldn’t look at it as transgression. Which is why I declined ultimately the idea of doing weekly Entourage reviews and probably wont do reviews on this blog of anything contemporary here.

To all the rest of you? Who has a public blog and who doesn’t? And what do you disclose? Is someone reading your blog with whom you aren’t able to be completely candid?

Tops from TV

Top 25 TV characters, from Steph
There are some rules to this.

* Does not have to be a show currently airing
* No puppets or cartoons
* No reality show people
* All characters must be regulars on the show
* No mini-series

And so, here they are, my top 25 television characters...not really in order except the top two...

25. Hot Lips Houlihan (MASH) - Invented the term HateFuck
24. Ed Norton (Honeymooners) - The most quoted dumbass of all time, pre-Homer.
23. Janice (Sopranos) - Finally an accurate portrayal of women?
22 Shane Vendrell (The Shield) - Great foil for Vic Mackey on the best 1HR show on TV.
21 Doug Ross (ER) - Training for millions of men on how women want to be treated by handsome doctors.
20 Winnie Cooper (Wonder Years) - not just cuz I know her (or want to hit it), a gasp for all teenage boys whenever she appeared
19 Ralphie (Sopranos) - A great, if short lived turn. Best season when he was on.
18 Scottie/Spock (Pick your fave) (Star Trek) - Someone from Star Trek had to make it.
17 Norm (Cheers) - One liners to live by, every episode.
16 Harvey Korman - Various Characters (Carol Burnett Show) - Watching him watching Dorf and trying not to laugh was comic genius.
15 Newman (Seinfeld) - NEWMAN
14. Alex P. Keaton (Family Ties) - Tough to be this annoying and charismatic at the same time, no?
13. Laverne (Laverne and Shirley) - Not just for pepsi and milk
12 Andy Sipowicz (NYPD Blue) - Ugly becomes hip
11 Sonny Crockett (Miami Vice) - the best character on the best show from the early eighties
10 Oscar Madison (Odd Couple) - Taught men how to live on their own
9,8 Chrissy and Jack, Threes Company - Cause you know they were getting it on
7 Mork from Ork (Mork and Mindy) - Robin Williams on TV
6 Vic Mackey (The Shield) - the best character on current TV, machiavellian, engaging, cant get enough.
5. Pauley Walnuts (Sopranos) - Fugghediboudit. Comic relief on monster hit.
4. Al Swearingen (Deadwood)) - Acting shouldnt be this good on TV
3 Donnie Most/Schneider (Happy Days/One Day At A Time) - Choose your own comic supporting character.
2. Archie Bunker (All in the Family) - How could a fat old bigot, from Queens, be this likeable.
1. Hawkeye Pierce (MASH) - The Standard Wiseass, by which all other wiseasses are measured, setting the stage for Seinfeld, Chandler Bing and so many others.

honorable mention- Woody Boyd (Cheers), Fish (Barney Miller), Chandler Bing (Friends), Vinnie Barbarino (Welcome Back Kotter, Fred Sanford (Sanford and Son), and of course, Niles Crane (Frasier)

Kiss and Tell

What Kind of Kiss Do you Like?

I’ve kissed some girls. I don’t know how many. I couldn’t even guess.

I don’t remember all the girls I’ve kissed. I don’t think, at this point, at the ripening age of 36, I’d be able to remember half of them. A quarter? Maybe not. A tenth. Yeah, if you showed me their pictures and you didn’t count Mardi Gras kissing.

There really is nothing like a good kiss. And there is nothing like a bad kiss.

A good kiss stands on its own. It doesn’t really require a physical progression beyond the kiss, because the kissing is so good, its great just on its own At the same time, there is an implicit irony because the kiss, being so good, makes it desirable that you more on. Down the line. That whole denim/cotton/woolen waterfall of clothing.

Now a bad kisser can be like running into a brick wall. Or at least like running around one. I am a kissing snob, and if the kiss isn’t good, it is a real problem for me. Not only does it take away a very enjoyable part of the interaction between me and you, it also makes me wonder whether you won’t be quite so facile in some other related endeavours. And that’s a bad thing.

What’s a bad kiss? That whats on your mind now?

Well, I don’t like…

The Hard mouth, like women whose lips feel like rigor mortis. Ease up, why doncha.
The Baby Eagle, this is not sustenance, do not try to reach your tongue and lips into my throat, I am not regurgitating animal flesh for your consumption.
Bad breath. Enough said.
The Eyes open. Like kissing a mannequin. Think Im going somewhere. Wanna make sure? Keep your eyes open.
The Distracted peck. Come back later when your mind is on it.
Hard Biters. Please, get a life.
The Saint Bernanrd. You wanna slobber, get a dog.


Why am I talking about all this? Maybe I am just trying to increase my female readership. Maybe Isabella Snow inspired me.

What about you?

Somethings Gotta Give

Every week seems so busy these days (or weeks) I guess.

One week flies into another, one month to the next. Always working on the next deal, trying to put together the next opportunity. Trying to make the next picture happen.

In the short minutes in between this crazy work schedule, which has just seemed to get more crazy recently, with the advent of the new WB deal and with the Brooks company to do moderately budgeted movies.

I had four back to back things to do yesterday, and even though one of them was cancelled and rescheduled for Monday, it was an incredibly full day.

As a producer, you try to follow all good leads. The goal is to get movies made. Good movies, hopefully, movies that make money, of course. Get em made. So when an opportunity presents itself, you have to do your diligence. You take the meeting (and this business is all about meetings, face to faces) and you see if there are synergies, opportunities. And by my estimate, I am full on pursuing bunches of seemingly viable opportunities through this process on a weekly basis, plus reading scripts, doing a bit of legal work here and there, the film festival I run, and trying to have a social life. Did I mention a vacation? (If you recall, I was in florida for the American Black Film Festival – most certainly not a vacation, rather a collection of 18 hour days in the hot sun).

Oh, BTW, I went to see the new Scorcese movie, starring Jack Nicholson, Leo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon, and its really good. It seemed like it might be formula, but its incredibly complicated plotwise but one of our best directors keeps it totally straight. DiCaprio is great in the movie. He and Damon and Vera Farmigia (and Graham King, Scorcese’s producer from IEG on his last three Pics) were at the screening and were very gracious. Damon is a bit of a wise-mouth, but in a charming way.

Anyway, I always preach (me, preach?) balance. And now I have none. Zero, Zilch. Nunca. Nyet. You know what I mean.

And I don’t see how its gonna happen. I get calls and emails all week long for people looking for my time. I schedule them in. I pur them in my calendar. I probably reschedule 20 percent of them, because I just can’t keep up. And with respect to this constant rescheduling, I am becoming one of those Hollywood types that keeps pushing back meetings.

I could get up earlier in the morning than I do, but that means I would just be working longer days, because I know that my days aren’t going to end any earlier. So is that really an answer, or is that insult for injury.

I am truly at a loss. I like what I do, I just need to find a way to do it a little less. Maybe 10 percent; And cuz I cannot afford a paid assistant without an ongoing project, well, you get it. Dont you?

How I Got Here, Five Years Later.

I used to work in law, in finance. These are jobs that may be exciting for some, a thrill for some. Others may fancy that they do these jobs for the good of the economy, of the world, in some way.

I did my jobs for the money, and for the freedom that the money would eventually, supposedly, purchase for me.

I was working for Deloitte & Touche, which is one of the largest consulting firms in the world. I sold and developed tax product for companies. Basically, I used my knowledge as a tax lawyer to design and implement tax strategies whose primary aim was to lower the world tax burden of some of the world’s richest companies and families. I’d previously done similar jobs at Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft, a white-shoe firm that is the oldest in the U.S.A, and at Ernst and Young, another monster-sized multinational consulting firm. I’d also worked a year in banking for Barclay’s Capital, the investment banking arm of one of Europe’s most venerable banks. Working for Barclay’s, I had made almost 400,000 dollars in one year. That year was perhaps the least happy year of my life.

My rise since graduation from law school at Albany Law School and Union (for an MBA) had been nothing short of meteoric. I spent two years in Boston at EY, before moving to New York. I was doubling my income every two years of so. I was following a path towards what I had originally set out to do.

A few years before, when I was attending Wesleyan University in Connecticut, I had an epiphany. I was following a course of only liberal arts: history, film, language, etc. I had no real career path, I was studying liberal arts. And my realization was that I should, at the age of 19, follow a path that would allow me to use what talents I had to make as much money as possible in as short a period of time as possible, which would allow me to do whatever I wanted to do with the rest of my life, on my own terms.

And what I wanted to do with the rest of my life was make movies. What I had wanted to do, from childhood, was make movies.

I left Wesleyan without even having applied to another school. I saw no point in wasting my parents money continuing to study things that wouldn’t pay off when I graduated (I thought – whether that assumption is right I don’t know, but I met an awful lot of people who went to liberal arts schools on Wall Street). I had to sit out a semester but transferred to SUNY Albany and began to pursue a path towards becoming a lawyer. I skipped through college, law school and business school and had completed the first step towards my eventual freedom.

Now, years later, working for D&T, a job I absolutely hated, a worthless job in my opinion, one that made no mark in the world, I was collecting money for my freedom. Of course, I was so bored with my existence that I often spent almost as fast as I earned. But that was just part of making my existence livable until I was free, could go and make movies.

On September 11th, 2001, I had an early conference call with London. Some project we were doing with a law firm over in London, and because of the time difference, the call was scheduled for 8AM. I normally got to my office right about nine AM more or less, which put me on the train from my then Chelsea apt. at 8:30 or so, and in the basement of the WTC (on the 2/3 train) at about 8:50 AM. I’d go up the escalators, and walk across the platform, and cross the walking bridge to 2 World Financial Center. It was a trip I made every weekday (unless I was on the road, which I was maybe a quarter of the time).

If I had done this at this time, on this particular morning, I would be dead right now, crushed by falling debris like the others who made the commute at the time that I always did.

But that morning I grudgingly made the trip an hour early, got to WTC around 7:50AM, up the escalators, and across the bridge to my office in time for the 8AM conference call.

The call was rather short, and was finished by eight thirty. I was probably hitting baseball scores on the Net when my phone rang. A friend from work, Elizabeth, was calling, which I thought was funny cuz she was always late for work and since she was calling me after 9AM, I thought she was just late again.

She asked me – Whats going on down there?

Me: What do you mean?

Her: A plane just crashed into the WTC?

Me: (incredulous) – What?

As I spoke to her, the second plane crashed into the WTC. It just looked like an explosion on the television I was watching, nothing but a fireball. You didn’t see the plane at all (until they replayed it later at low speed).

We left en masse from the building, and were basically herded out to the harbor that sits behind the World Financial Center. Huge crowds of people were standing, looking up at the burning towers, watching, stunned. Talking in disbelief.

I looked up and saw a piece of lumber falling from near the tops of one of the towers. It tumbled, thousands of feet. I asked someone about it. They told me that it was the tenth person they’d seen jump from the top of the tower.

Not eager to see anymore, to have these images recorded in my memory, I headed north. My best friend Drew lived on Chambers then and I thought I would try to get to his building, give my parents a call from his place to let them know I was OK. I’d spoken to them very briefly as I walked out of the building, but now my cel wasn’t working because the networks were overcrowded.

I got to Chambers St. and Drew wasn’t home. A neigjhbor of his let me into his apartment but the phone lines were busy and I couldn’t get my parents. A bunch of people were milling around in his lobby, including a young woman and her child. She was looking for her husband. He was in Midtown, she thought, but had been trying to get down to find her in the chaos. As we were talking, swapping rumors about more airplanes, we hear the first tower go down. But because we couldn’t see the towers from where we stood, we could only hear what sounded exactly like another airplane flying low in the sky. The sonic boom of the tower coming down exactly, cruelly, mimicked the sound of an airplane overhead. And because of the rumors of more unaccounted-for jets in the air, that’s exactly what we thought it was.

This young woman, I don’t even remember her name, grabbed her son from his stroller and we all took off north up the bike path which fronts the west side highway. The sound of the tower stopped and my heart stopped beating like it had been, in a way that I thought was going to give me a heart attack.

We walked north along the highway. We had nothing else to do. I carried the little boy, as he was too big for his mother to carry too far. We walked for ten minutes, until the first miracle I witnessed that day occurred. Walking perhaps a hundred yards away, in the opposite direction, on the other side of the highway, was this woman’s husband. And somehow, out of thousands of people, they spotted each other and were reunited. Everyone in our group stopped and stared. Seeing these people reunite under these circumstances was simply an event I will never forget for the rest of my life. I don’t remember her name, her face. But I will never, ever forget that moment. Its clear in my mind, five years later.

I got home perhaps an hour later. I lived on 29th street. I think I put the film Animal House on video. I needed something light, I thought, but I couldn’t really watch it.

I never really went back to work in the same way. My heart was never really in it after that. I worked from home, with disinterest. My firm relocated to a hotel in Times Square, but I hated going there, working in a hotel room. I hated most of my bosses, most of the unhappy people for whom I worked. I started looking for something else to do- a friend had opened a restaurant, and that was a business I had always found interesting. As I lost interest in D&T, I spent more and more time at the restaurant, until I began to manage the restaurant. It was merely a temporary thing, but in some very important ways it represented a huge step for me. It was a step away from living for tomorrow, a tomorrow that 9/11 made me realize might never come, and towards living for today.

While I was running the restaurant, a few things significant to my life’s journey happened. My relationship with my then-girlfriend, someone I thought I would spend my life with, fell apart. We were going in different directions, and the relationship shattered into pieces under the strain of these changes. It isn’t about fault, it just happened.

Another thing that happened that day was that I started a film festival. It was my first step into anything film related. The first festival was three films, none very good. About twenty people or so showed up. It has developed into a festival that receives perhaps six hundred entrants a year now.

But what really happened, what really started from the events of 9/11 in my life, was that I decided that all the things that I had put off for later in life, I began to do. I started looking for work in the film business. I started the festival. I got a motorcyle. I CHANGED MY LIFE. Because I realized that you can’t always count on tomorrow and, because of that, today is very, very precious.

I was very fortunate to survive that day. I've been fortunate to have a little bit of wisdom in following the path I probably should have followed from the beginning, one that isnt about financial gain, but about gaining everything else for myself. And I've been fortunate for the support of my true friends and family in making the transition in my life.

Thanks for your time.

Insurgents Takes Audience Award at Oldenburg Film Festival

News Flash

At its first festival and international premiere, The Insurgents has captured the Audience Award at the Oldenburg Film Festival. The Insurgents stars Mike Mosley, Johnny Shea, Henry Simmons, Juliette Marquis and Mary Stuart Masterson.

Its obviously great news for this little movie to start the festival circuit with a top prize, especially beating out much more high profile films with much larger budgets. Also, apparently, the Q&A sessions for the film went on for an hour or so after each screening and people were very captivated by the issues raised by the film.

I am disappointed that I wasn't there to share in the excitement, but John G. and Juliette both made the trip with Scott. I feel like I have as much to do with the win as anyone (other than Scott, the director, who wrote the script) so its a little bittersweet not taking the stage with the gang to take the award.

Hopefully, I'll be doing some other festivals with The Insurgents. Slamdance is the biggest target in our sites.

Grumpy

Dinner With A Legend

What a tumultuous day. Started early.

9AM Still sleeping, you crazy.

930 AM Ok, now I am kinda waking up. Hit the shower, put on my best pair of sneakers (skateboards sneaks, ultra-comfy) and I am out the door with my helmet.

10:30 Sitting at work (only takes 10 minutes or so to get there,even on my slow ass cruiser of a motorcycle) drinking coffee. Prepping for a call with Jess Jackson’s people about his participation in the movie marketing for My Brother.

12:00 Working with a director producer (both complete novices) team working on a documentary about domestic violence and using hip hop music to educate people against it. Nice idea, two total novices. They are in a throw-down argument over rights and nonsense, and most likely, the project wont be profitable, so they are fighting over nothing. I step in to mediate. I was asked to direct (yeah, my debut, I think I’ll pass).

2PM Talk to this young director about his project. Oh, by the way, those people he mentioned, those are just people he would like in the project not people who actually have read the script, but he can get them. OK.

Go get em, buddy.

5PM Jump up to a Company I’ve been working with a bunch. On the way up, I call my parents, to say hi. Hi.

Get to this company’s office, and we pitch a slate of projects which they agree to finance half of, and distribute under their WB deal. Fuckin huge, that’s a career right there. And I think the deal is going to go. Very good news. Plus, may be able to put some titles through the output deal as well, titles like the Insurgents and Hot Baby.

8PM Get back to Liberty in time for a conference call with the distributor of My Brother. They tell me, due to MPAA requirements, that the movie probably cannot be tested on the agreed upon date. They want to test in January before the release, again a change of plans. I tell Tony this, and we have the argument I predicted we’d have. Except for I am just the messenger, We argue.

10PM I go to French Roast. I meet the legend, Ml Brooks for dinner with his son and our banker. Ml tells me that he is all on board for the slate we’re discussing with Nick and he’ll help however he can. Zowee. More great news, after bad news after good news. Look out for me in Variety. BTW, Ml loves the Mother May I concept (a project we’re developing with Nick)

1230. God I am tired, and tomorrow is more of the same. But its an entertaining rollercoaster ride.

Candidate Number Four?

Not really.

Someone sent me this pic. The reason Im posting it, well, I dont have any good reason for posting it. I find it bizarre, unsightly, but oddly compelling. Not.

We (me and this "friend") were exchanging disgusting pics by email, and this somewhat gross one came back. Actually, Curly started it, because she had linked some dude's link on her site to perhaps the most disgusting picture I'd ever seen (Curly, it was the ass-waterfall, I dont know what else to call it, and I dont want to know how you found it).



Anyway, it is a strange picture, but the question is, what is this person doing? What activity was she going about when this photo was snapped?

In other news, I got my credit on the 10 today. Production executive (whatever the hell that means, I def do not look like a production executive). Not great, but better than associate producer. Dont think anything better could be done, but hell, i got paid and its a credit on a movie with a huge cast, jess alba, p. rudd, famke janson, greetchen mol, winona, etc (all mispelled on purpose).

Ya may not know it, but producer credits are a matter of a good deal of negotiation. They are a display of wealth, of power, and of knowing people who are wealthy and powerful. And sometimes, but just sometimes, actually relate to the people who are actually responsible for putting a movie together, for making it happen. Which is what I am most of the time (Hot Baby, My Brother, Insurgents, etc) but which I was not on the 10. So I guess I can't complain.

Franky, if you want her number, send me an email. I think she's single.

ciao.

Layer Cake

Stolen from IsabellaSnow


Layer one:


• Name: Grumpy O. Selznick

• Birth date: May 1970

• Birthplace: New York City (Queens if that counts)

• Current location: Battery Park

• Eyes: Blue

• Hair colour: Brown. (Spot of gray now)

• Height: 6’1 (yes really)

• Righty

• Gemini and it fits.

Layer two

• Heritage: Danish Romanian Jew

• Shoes: Tennis, Skateboard, Motorcycle Boots, in no particular order

• Weakness: Brunettes who could care less.

• Fears: Flops. Loud airplane sounding noises in NYC (thought it was gone, still here)

• Perfect Pizza: Pepperoni

• Goal: Winning


Layer 3


• Most overused phrase on IM: "Just leaving, I’ll call you....I will"

• First waking thought: Shut the fuck up (about whatever woke me).

• Best physical feature: Eyes and hands, my girl, eyes and hands.


Layer 4


• Pepsi or Coke: Diet Coke.

• McDonald's or Burger king: Pass.

• Single or group dates: Single

• Adidas or Nike: Adidas

• Chocolate or Vanilla: Vanilla

• Cappucino or Coffee: Coffee


Layer 5


• Smoke? Only Camel No-Filters, for a month during law school. Never since.

• Cuss? Either all the time or never, totally schizophrenic.

• Sing: Absolutely a karaoke whore.

• Do you think you've been in love? I have been, yes.

• Want to go to college? A little late.

• Liked high school? Not so much

• Believe in yourself? Absof*ckinglutely (perfect answer adopted)

• Get motion sickness? Not even a little bit.

• Think you're attractive? I can get it done.

• Health freak? As if.

• Get along with parents? Very well.

• Like thunderstorms? Love em.

• Play an instrument? You could call it that.


Layer 6

In the past month:


• Drank alcohol? Hahaha.

• Smoked? Not cigs

• Done a drug? Yes

• Made out? No

• Eaten sushi? Sushi ho.

• Been dumped? No

• Gone skating No

• Gone skinny dipping? No

• Dyed your hair? No

• Stolen anything? Im a hardworking producer, whaddya think?


Layer 7

..ever?


• Played a game that required removal of clothing? Uh huh..

• Been intoxicated and can't remember? I can’t remember.

• Been caught doing something? Y’all are reading this, aren’t you.

• Been called a tease? Yes.

• Got beaten up? Why not.

• Changed who you are to fit in? I don’t believe anyone can say 100 percent no. I change the branches, never the roots. .


Layer 8


• Describe your dream wedding? Having enough trouble with dream dates

• How do you want to die? I don’t want to die. Duh?

• What do you want to do when you grow up? I think I’ve found it.

• What country would you like to visit? Elisha Dushku


Layer 9


• Number of people I trust with my life: Over five

• Number of CD's I own: too many to count.

• Number of piercings: Two, closed up now

• Number of tattoos: Nope

• Number of times name has been in newspaper: No clue.

• Number of scars: Only two of any consequence, on the outside, plenty on the inside.

• Number of regrets: Many, but I don’t remember them.

Some Enchanted Evening

Gowodoweee (say it out loud, you’ll understand). Here it goes.



I take the bus up to Jill’s place. Because she’s a successful litigator and I am a lowly independent movie producer (used to be a successful lawyer), I live in Battery Park, and she lives in a tony new building in Murray Hill. Its just the right distance to her office so that she can jazzer-cize to a workout tape all the way to work.

So I get off the M-90 a few blocks from her place, so I can stop by the Duane Reade on the corner of 37th and 3rd Avenue. They have a great selection of Fanny Farmer individually wrapped chocolate candies (the kind with stuff in the middle) and more greeting cards for a romantic good start than you can shake a stick at. And trust me, I’ve shaken some sticks.

Before I go any further, let me tell you how I’ve dressed for this very special occasion. I cleaned and polished up my sneakers to make sure that I look my best, and I have my best sweater tucked neatly into a pair of acid washed jeans (people say that I don’t know style, but I know the eighties are BACK).

As you all can tell, I am feeling pretty jazzy myself and I am pretty excited. I picked up some tums and a side of Gas-X in the drug store to deal with that excitement – I always try to be a gentleman.

I get to Jill’s house fifteen minutes early, because women don’t like guys who are tardy. And besides, I am so excited to be there, I have to use her bathroom as soon as I get there, and I can’t wait any longer.

After using the restroom, we’re on our way (yes, I washed my hands, and by the way, what an interesting collection of pharmaceuticals in her medicine cabinet).

She’s in heels and a skirt, and looks quite comely, and my palms begin to sweat a bit. I guess we wont be holding hands. I haven’t really had much of an idea of what we’ll do after I pick her up. I thought the card (inscribed with the message, “Glad you decided to come after all” and with a picture of a woman smiling) and the chocolates would buy me some time after picking her up, but it didn’t work out that way. She laughed at the card, though, maybe it meant something I didn’t think of.

On a spur of the moment, I think that it would be great to head out to Shea Stadium to see the Mets play. It is raining, and maybe the game wont be totally sold out.

Now, I know Jill isn’t the biggest sports fan, and I know that we aren’t going to get the greatest seats, but I figure, it would be worth the trip for the hot dogs alone. Jill doesn’t seem to disagree, so we hoof it up to Grand Central Station. It’ll be faster than taking a taxi to Shea, and save at least eight or nine dollars against a metro card swipe for two people. And her heels don’t seem too high to walk in.

We walk by a few construction sites in her neighborhood on the way up town. I cannot believe how many construction workers that Jill seems to know. They all seem to call out to her to say “Hi.” She’s really popular, and if I had known, I probably would have been more nervous about taking her out. I am glad I didn’t know.

We get to Shea, and the game is almost a sell-out, despite a light drizzle. Even so, we’re able to get two seats, pretty close to each other. And when we get in, we actually are able to arrange to sit one in front of the other. As a gentleman, of course I let Jill sit in front for the first four and a half innings. And this lets me smell her hair every once in a while when she isn’t paying attention. It smells like some kind of shampoo.

The game quickly turns into a blowout by the visiting team and Jill doesn’t see the point in staying. However, I’ve been to enough baseball games to know that fortunes can change, and one of the reasons to bring a non-sports fan to a sporting event is because you want to inform them about something they might not know about (like dramatic comebacks). And while the Mets didn’t come back, not even close, that’s besides the point.

Jill didn’t seem too miffed about the Mets not making the comeback, and she sure did seem to enjoy the Italian Sausages they sell at the Stadium. You’d think that it was her favorite part of the game.

She seemed to really lose steam after the seventh inning stretch. I’d had a six pack of beer in my backpack that I bought at a package store across the street from the stadium, and we were able to get away with drinking it by pouring it into cups that we got from buying a couple of Pepsis from the vendor. But beer makes me tired, too, and Jill’s not much of a beer drinker, and I think the climb to the upper deck, in heels, and the beer and the sausage made her cranky. She was very popular, though, with the bleacher bums in the upper deck. I don’t think they get her type in Flushing’s cheap seats too often.

Anyway, we didn’t talk much on the ride back to the city. The train was really crowded and we were bunched up together for most of the ride, which was exciting. But because of the noise, or her being tired, we didn’t do much talking. We just hung on.

I walked her back to her place, even though she said I didn’t have to. Again, I always try to be a gentleman. And when she kissed me goodnite outside her building and thanked me for the game, it was a good thing it was on the cheek, because my breath probably smelled like beer and hot dogs, Then she was gone.

I was tired so I took a cab home, and I called her on the way home to ask her out for next Wednesday. There is a comic book show at Madison Square Garden.

I hope she says yes.