So what the fuck. I went online to see where Midnight Meat Train is playing near me. Wasn’t sure that I’d go see it tonight (especially b/c I haven’t even seen the fark knight yet).
Im sitting at home on Friday night watching the movie, Frontiers, by recommendation of Victor Garcia (same director as Them). And I went online b/c I wanted to see what was playing, and I remembered that Midnight Meat was out this weekend, even though there has been virtually no advertising for it.
And now I know why. Its not playing in any theaters in New York City. None. Zilch. Zippo. The closest theaters lists are in Rochester, NY (about five hours) and Pennsylvania (some town I never heard of). I mean, really, do they want to bury this movie that badly. Why even release it theatrically.
Here is the list of the ones closest to me (I don’t know how many screens its on total, this is a partial list).
* Cinemark Movies 10 (Rochester,NY)
* Carmike Maxi-Saver 12 (West Mifflin,PA)
* Millcreek Cinema 6 (Erie,PA)
* Cinemark Movies 8 (Youngstown,OH)
* Cinemark Movies 10 (Lynchburg,VA)
* Cinemark Movies 10 (North Canton,OH)
* Cinemark Willoughby Hills Movies 10 (Wickliffe,OH)
* Carmike Blue Ridge 14 (Raleigh,NC)
* Cinema 10 (Mansfield,OH)
* Carmike 8 (High Point,NC)
* Omni Cinemas 8 (Fayetteville,NC)
* Silver Cinemas - Macomb Mall (Roseville,MI)
* Cinemark Movie 12 (Columbus,OH)
* Cinemark Movies 16 Warren (Warren,MI)
* Cinemark Movies 10 (Matthews,NC)
* Danbarry Dollar Saver Huber Hgts. (Huber Heights,OH)
* Danbarry Dollar Saver S. Dayton (Dayton,OH)
* Danbarry Dollar Saver Cinemas W. Hills (Cincinnati,OH)
* Kerasotes Richmond Cinema 10 (Richmond,IN)
* Danbarry Cinemas Turfway (Florence,KY)
* Carmike 10 Lexington (Lexington,KY)
* Coventry 13 (Fort Wayne,IN)
* Washington Market Movies 8 (Indianapolis,IN)
* Cinemark University Park 6 (Mishawaka,IN)
* Carmike Movies 7 (Knoxville,TN)
There was a fanboy push after the trailer was released to get this movie more widely distributed. Apparently that didn’t work. There is also some discussion of a political intrigue which affected the release pattern of this film, the concern being that it could beat another film that a new executive produced and is having released, from before he was, um, a new executive? Yeah, I know, who cares. But it made sense when I heard it.
I guess I will watch Frontiers.
Grumps
Friday, August 01, 2008
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Roommate?
I am still roommateless as the month crawls to a close. No good.
That dude who said he'd do it backed out the next day, the skag. Waiting for some news tomorrow, and the current roomie is half out the door.
Hoping to find someone compatible in the next few days. Im trying to think positive thoughts. Of course, Im gonna have to live with this person.
Grumps.
That dude who said he'd do it backed out the next day, the skag. Waiting for some news tomorrow, and the current roomie is half out the door.
Hoping to find someone compatible in the next few days. Im trying to think positive thoughts. Of course, Im gonna have to live with this person.
Grumps.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Up and The Down
I have a headache, for hours. Not sure why. Accumulated dehydration, perhaps. Anyway, it hasnt gone away.
In other news, it seems I have found my next roommate for the new york apt. Seems like a great guy, laid back, will be a good fit.
Grumps.
In other news, it seems I have found my next roommate for the new york apt. Seems like a great guy, laid back, will be a good fit.
Grumps.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Tommy's Movie
I am fairly wasted after a three day marathon in the wilting heat of July. Tommy’s Boy (working title, likely to change) wrapped in Patterson, New York at 10:02PM Sunday night. Each of Friday, Saturday and Sunday were very hot, and we were outside much of the day each day (and sometimes in cars with no air conditioning).
I got back to New York very late last night, exhausted but somewhat elated. I think the film came out well. Got to get into the editing process now, so we can see exactly what we have.
Grumps
I got back to New York very late last night, exhausted but somewhat elated. I think the film came out well. Got to get into the editing process now, so we can see exactly what we have.
Grumps
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Tommy's Boy (working title).
One day away from shooting the short film I am producing, which is currently titled “Tommy’s Boy,” though given its similarity to the Chris Farley comedy, I am pretty sure we’re gonna change that. Just haven’t figured out what the new title is going to be.
We’re shooting all weekend, Friday through Sunday, and we’re all over New York, it feels like, from Astoria and Long Island City on Friday, then Poughkeepsie on Saturday at the Sheriff’s office (great locations) and then around Duchess and Putnam Counties on Sunday. We have a long schedule for each day, but we’ll get it done.
I’ll hopefully get some good pics that can be uploaded from the production by Monday AM. And in NY, its gonna be hot this weekend, so I hope craft service is bringing a slip’n’slide.
Grumps.
We’re shooting all weekend, Friday through Sunday, and we’re all over New York, it feels like, from Astoria and Long Island City on Friday, then Poughkeepsie on Saturday at the Sheriff’s office (great locations) and then around Duchess and Putnam Counties on Sunday. We have a long schedule for each day, but we’ll get it done.
I’ll hopefully get some good pics that can be uploaded from the production by Monday AM. And in NY, its gonna be hot this weekend, so I hope craft service is bringing a slip’n’slide.
Grumps.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Hellboy
I havent really been posting. OK. I havent been posting. Im in prep on a film. and when I haven't been prepping (its just a short film, hopefully a good one), I've been out of my apartment because they are removing all of the rebar from the outside of the building. With drills. All afternoon long. Every day. It sounds like they are drilling my skull.
Anyway, I've been hanging by the gym and the pool in my building to avoid the noise in the apt. Less computer and more blackberry time, and thats a lame excuse but I am going with it. Its also allowed me to get pretty tan (and somewhat reddish in my tax, as I usually am, at least at the end of a day of being in the sun).
Kinda like a less muscular and more sarcastic version of Hellboy.
Incidentally, go see Hellboy II. Its tons of fun, and visually fantastic. It even has a moral. Basically, its an example of a filmmaker at or near the top of his game.
Not Columbia's best move to let Uni take the sequal.
Grumps
Anyway, I've been hanging by the gym and the pool in my building to avoid the noise in the apt. Less computer and more blackberry time, and thats a lame excuse but I am going with it. Its also allowed me to get pretty tan (and somewhat reddish in my tax, as I usually am, at least at the end of a day of being in the sun).
Kinda like a less muscular and more sarcastic version of Hellboy.
Incidentally, go see Hellboy II. Its tons of fun, and visually fantastic. It even has a moral. Basically, its an example of a filmmaker at or near the top of his game.
Not Columbia's best move to let Uni take the sequal.
Grumps
Saturday, June 21, 2008
George Martin rocks
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Retired NFL great George Martin will conclude his historic cross-country “a Journey for 9/11” www.ajourneyfor911.info walk to benefit thousands of ailing Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers in a ceremony at 10:00 AM PT, Saturday, June 21, in San Diego, CA. When he crosses the finish line at Embarcadero Park North on the banks of the city’s downtown district, Mr. Martin will have trekked 3,003 miles on foot and raised several million dollars in cash, in-kind contributions and pledged medical services for seriously ill 9/11 workers from all 50 states.
The finish line ceremony, open to the public, will be attended by scores of police officers, firefighters, EMTs, 9/11 workers, NFL players and others. Mr. Martin has completed all but 4.5 miles of his Journey, which he will walk on Saturday morning.
Co-captain of the Super Bowl XXI NY Giants championship team and now an AXA Equitable executive, Mr. Martin started walking west from the George Washington Bridge in New York City on September 16, 2007. He is likely the first African-American professional athlete to walk coast-to-coast for charitable purposes. Over the past nine months, the humanitarian encountered rainstorms in the Northeast, the freezing temperatures and driving winds of the Great Plains and, more recently, the mountains and desert heat of the Southwest.
“I look forward to concluding this part of our Journey’s mission, and am grateful to have had the opportunity to take on this challenge,” said Mr. Martin. “While this has been a difficult undertaking, it has also been wonderful to see our nation on foot while raising awareness about the plight of these 9/11 workers. These heroes need our collective support. Many who answered our nation’s call for help now cannot even walk up the steps in their own homes due to severe respiratory and other ailments. Some are dying. They deserve our help.”
Although the walking portion of the Journey is concluding, Mr. Martin plans to continue his efforts to help Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers obtain adequate health care. “This is truly a national problem,” says Mr. Martin, who noted that more than 10,000 people who live outside of the New York metropolitan area are enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry, including people from all 50 states. “It’s simply unacceptable to me that these brave, selfless individuals from across the country are not getting all the medical assistance they need.”
The Medical Problems of Working at Ground Zero
Mr. Martin, on leave from his position as vice president of sports marketing at AXA Equitable in New York, is raising funds to provide medical monitoring and healthcare for 9/11 responders who are suffering from chronic bronchial disease, leukemia and other cancers, post traumatic stress disorder and other serious medical conditions stemming from their service at Ground Zero after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Three major medical institutions are matching in healthcare services all the money donated by the Journey.1
Medical studies indicate that working at Ground Zero led to serious, long-term medical problems for tens of thousands of 9/11 responders.
* A study by Mt. Sinai Medical Center found that nearly 70 percent of the 40,000+ 9/11 responders have suffered lung disease and other health problems.
* One in five has low lung capacity, five times the normal rate.
* One in eight developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Source: NYC Department of Mental Health and Hygiene).
* The rate of those developing asthmatic conditions after exposure to Ground Zero is 12 times the normal adult rate.
In October 2007, Mr. Martin walked through Washington, DC, where he met with several members of the U.S. Congress who are advocating legislation for additional funding for 9/11 healthcare programs. For more information, visit: http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=146 8&Itemid=61. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
For more information on the status of federal 9/11 healthcare legislation, visit: http://maloney.house.gov/documents/911recovery/backgroundmemo.pdf
About George Martin, the Route and the Journey Team
George Martin was a star defensive end and co-captain of the Super Bowl XXI Champion New York Giants (1986). During his 14 NFL seasons (1975-1988), the longtime Giant scored eight touchdowns -- seven of them as a defensive lineman, which set an NFL record that stood until 2007. Mr. Martin is a former president of the NFL Players Association.
On a Journey for 9/11, Mr. Martin has passed through portions of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Now 55 years old, the retired NFL great has lost more than 40 pounds since he began his trek. In addition to walking, he has visited schools, fire houses, police stations, government offices, and other places where he raises awareness about the plight of Ground Zero workers.
For his charitable efforts, Mr. Martin was named one of ABC News’ 2007 “Persons of the Year,” received the prestigious Heisman Humanitarian Award, and was recognized with an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey for his lifelong commitment to community service.
Donations
To make a tax deductible financial donation, mail a check to “a Journey for 9/11,” c/o Valley National Bank, P.O. Box 707, Wayne, NJ 07474-0707, or call 800-889-8038. Contributions can also be made online via www.ajourneyfor911.info.
Support from Business, Medical, Education, Sports and Charitable Community
Sponsors of the Journey include AXA Equitable; Fairleigh Dickinson University; Best Western International; MBT Physiological Footwear; Intelligent Design; United Parcel Service; Bear Stearns; Proskauer Rose LLP; Proforma Associates; Nike; Tana Seybert Printing; Hunter Douglas; the New York Giants; the National Football League; the National Football League Players Association; General Motors; Sprint; World Wrestling Entertainment; Big Blue Travel; CV Technologies; ESRI; KeySpan Energy; Lou Hammond Associates; MAN Etc., Inc; Nautilus; SJI Associates; S& L Services; Sunoco and Valley National Bank. Beau Dietl & Associates is providing security for the Journey. Philanthropists Joseph H. and Dr. Carol F. Reich have made a substantial donation as well.
1 Hackensack University Medical Center (NJ), North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health Systems (NY) and the Mt. Sinai Medical Center (NY) will match in medical services the total funds Mr. Martin’s Journey donates to the hospitals.
The finish line ceremony, open to the public, will be attended by scores of police officers, firefighters, EMTs, 9/11 workers, NFL players and others. Mr. Martin has completed all but 4.5 miles of his Journey, which he will walk on Saturday morning.
Co-captain of the Super Bowl XXI NY Giants championship team and now an AXA Equitable executive, Mr. Martin started walking west from the George Washington Bridge in New York City on September 16, 2007. He is likely the first African-American professional athlete to walk coast-to-coast for charitable purposes. Over the past nine months, the humanitarian encountered rainstorms in the Northeast, the freezing temperatures and driving winds of the Great Plains and, more recently, the mountains and desert heat of the Southwest.
“I look forward to concluding this part of our Journey’s mission, and am grateful to have had the opportunity to take on this challenge,” said Mr. Martin. “While this has been a difficult undertaking, it has also been wonderful to see our nation on foot while raising awareness about the plight of these 9/11 workers. These heroes need our collective support. Many who answered our nation’s call for help now cannot even walk up the steps in their own homes due to severe respiratory and other ailments. Some are dying. They deserve our help.”
Although the walking portion of the Journey is concluding, Mr. Martin plans to continue his efforts to help Ground Zero rescue and recovery workers obtain adequate health care. “This is truly a national problem,” says Mr. Martin, who noted that more than 10,000 people who live outside of the New York metropolitan area are enrolled in the World Trade Center Health Registry, including people from all 50 states. “It’s simply unacceptable to me that these brave, selfless individuals from across the country are not getting all the medical assistance they need.”
The Medical Problems of Working at Ground Zero
Mr. Martin, on leave from his position as vice president of sports marketing at AXA Equitable in New York, is raising funds to provide medical monitoring and healthcare for 9/11 responders who are suffering from chronic bronchial disease, leukemia and other cancers, post traumatic stress disorder and other serious medical conditions stemming from their service at Ground Zero after the attacks of September 11, 2001. Three major medical institutions are matching in healthcare services all the money donated by the Journey.1
Medical studies indicate that working at Ground Zero led to serious, long-term medical problems for tens of thousands of 9/11 responders.
* A study by Mt. Sinai Medical Center found that nearly 70 percent of the 40,000+ 9/11 responders have suffered lung disease and other health problems.
* One in five has low lung capacity, five times the normal rate.
* One in eight developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Source: NYC Department of Mental Health and Hygiene).
* The rate of those developing asthmatic conditions after exposure to Ground Zero is 12 times the normal adult rate.
In October 2007, Mr. Martin walked through Washington, DC, where he met with several members of the U.S. Congress who are advocating legislation for additional funding for 9/11 healthcare programs. For more information, visit: http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=146 8&Itemid=61. (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
For more information on the status of federal 9/11 healthcare legislation, visit: http://maloney.house.gov/documents/911recovery/backgroundmemo.pdf
About George Martin, the Route and the Journey Team
George Martin was a star defensive end and co-captain of the Super Bowl XXI Champion New York Giants (1986). During his 14 NFL seasons (1975-1988), the longtime Giant scored eight touchdowns -- seven of them as a defensive lineman, which set an NFL record that stood until 2007. Mr. Martin is a former president of the NFL Players Association.
On a Journey for 9/11, Mr. Martin has passed through portions of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Now 55 years old, the retired NFL great has lost more than 40 pounds since he began his trek. In addition to walking, he has visited schools, fire houses, police stations, government offices, and other places where he raises awareness about the plight of Ground Zero workers.
For his charitable efforts, Mr. Martin was named one of ABC News’ 2007 “Persons of the Year,” received the prestigious Heisman Humanitarian Award, and was recognized with an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree from Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey for his lifelong commitment to community service.
Donations
To make a tax deductible financial donation, mail a check to “a Journey for 9/11,” c/o Valley National Bank, P.O. Box 707, Wayne, NJ 07474-0707, or call 800-889-8038. Contributions can also be made online via www.ajourneyfor911.info.
Support from Business, Medical, Education, Sports and Charitable Community
Sponsors of the Journey include AXA Equitable; Fairleigh Dickinson University; Best Western International; MBT Physiological Footwear; Intelligent Design; United Parcel Service; Bear Stearns; Proskauer Rose LLP; Proforma Associates; Nike; Tana Seybert Printing; Hunter Douglas; the New York Giants; the National Football League; the National Football League Players Association; General Motors; Sprint; World Wrestling Entertainment; Big Blue Travel; CV Technologies; ESRI; KeySpan Energy; Lou Hammond Associates; MAN Etc., Inc; Nautilus; SJI Associates; S& L Services; Sunoco and Valley National Bank. Beau Dietl & Associates is providing security for the Journey. Philanthropists Joseph H. and Dr. Carol F. Reich have made a substantial donation as well.
1 Hackensack University Medical Center (NJ), North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health Systems (NY) and the Mt. Sinai Medical Center (NY) will match in medical services the total funds Mr. Martin’s Journey donates to the hospitals.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Still Single
Yes, hard to believe, I know.
I think I am going to order a wife from overseas. Any thoughts on the best country from which to order. I think Argentina is having sales this week.
I think I am going to order a wife from overseas. Any thoughts on the best country from which to order. I think Argentina is having sales this week.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
NYC PictureStart Winners, June 08
12th NYC PictureStart Winners and Entries
WINNERS ARE IN:
WINNERS ARE IN:
Jury:
Best Film: Carissa, dir. David Sauvage
2nd Place – Cupcake, Dir. Sean McPhillips (Special Jury Prize)
3rd Place: La Combinaison, Dir. Serge Adam
Best Actor: Benoît Thévenoz, La Combinaison
2nd Place: Ezra Miller, Busted Walk
3rd Place: Mike Consolmagno, Cupcake
Best Actress: Sara Jaye, Leave You in Me
2nd Place: Kinna McInroe, Cupcake
3rd Place: Agnieszka Pekala, Alicja Wonderland
Best Cinematography: La Combinaison
Audience:
Best Film: Busted Walk, dir. Steven Tanenbaum
2nd Place: Carissa, dir. Sean McPhillips
3rd Place: The Maple Leaf, dir. Real Sprague
Best Actor: Ezra Miller, Busted Walk
2nd Place: Markie C., The Maple Leaf
3rd Place: Joe Lisi, Joe Mover
Best Actress: Christina Broccolini, And The Winner Is…
2nd Place: Kinna McInroe, Cupcake
3rd Place: Melissa Wolfklain, Saturday Night At Norms
Best Short Screenplay
Knocksville, Written by Josef Lemoine
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
The Puffy Chair
My expectations weren’t very high, to be sure. I have had spotty success with so-called festival movies like The Puffy Chair. But I was cruising the Sundance channel, and I saw it was on and recorded it.
Went back to watch it today, and I was very pleasantly surprised. Its easily as strong as most independent films, with good acting and camera work that definitely adds to the momentum of the movie. It has some painfully funny scenes, suspense (really!) and good dramatic tension. The writing (I didn’t get the feeling that it was improvised to any great extent, though I could be wrong – it happens once in a while) is terrific. The whole movie just works as a movie. The story is surprising (for a festival-type film) in that it is told in a very traditional three act structure, and despite the lack of stars and effects, that structure and the strength of the material.
Very strongly recommended, and if someone can explain to me what “mumblecore” is, I’ll be very appreciative.
The Puffy Chair
Grumps.
Sunday, June 01, 2008
12th NYC PictureStart Film Festival
WWW.PICTURESTARTFILMFESTIVAL.COM
FREE ADMISSION
You are cordially invited:
June 2 and 3, Retreat Lounge, 37 West 17th St. (between 5th and 6th Ave) New York, NY. 6:30PM each nite. Trains to Union Square (less than five minute walk).
FOUNDER, GREGORY SEGAL, AWARD WINNING PRODUCER HAROLD, MY BROTHER, TAKE THE BRIDGE, AND THE INSURGENTS
HOSTED BY ACTRESS ADI ORTNER
Judges:
JURY CHAIRMAN: GUY JACOBSON, Writer/Producer, HOLLY (st. Ron Livingston, Udo Kier); President, Priority Films
TERRY LEONARD, Producer, STEPHANIE DALEY (st. Amber Tamblyn); BACKSEAT; HOUNDDOG (st. Dakota Fanning, Robin Wright Penn)
JAYCE BARTOK, Actor/Writer/Producer, THE CAKE EATERS (dir. Mary Stuart Masterson, st. Kristen Stewart); THE STATION AGENT (actor); SPIDERMAN (actor); SUBURBIA (actor)
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS: (Screening times randomized for fairness in audience voting)
Day One
Night #1
Joe Mover, (16m), Drama, dir. Lev Gorn, Gabe Fazio
Murdering Mama's Boy (17m) Drama, dir. Katherine Cunningham-Eves
Whirleybird (12m) Experimental, dir. Danielle Corches
October 19, 2007 - October 22, 2007 (17m), Drama, dir. Sebastian Pardo
Cupcake (7m), Comedy, dir. Sean McPhillips
Leave You In Me (19m), Drama, dir. Dutch Doscher
27,000 Days (10m), Experimental, dir. Naveen Singh
Busted Walk (13m), Drama, dir. Steven Tanenbaum
Getting Out (5m), Animation/Horror, dir. Ian Topple
Night #2
And the Winner Is... (5m), Comedy, dir. John Andrew Gallagher
La Combinaison (12m), Thriller, dir. Serge Adam
Saturday Night At Norms (25m), Musical, Dir. Kellen Blair
The Maple Leaf (17m), Drama/Thriller, Dir. Real Sprague
Carissa (22m), Documentary, Dir. David Sauvage
Alicja Wonderland (20m), Thriller, Dir. Martin Gauvreau
And an encore showing of the Grand Jury Prize Winner, Best Short Film, from the 11th NYC PictureStart Film Festival
Son (17:30) drama, dir. Daniel Mulloy, drama
SCRIPT FINALISTS (Announcement of Winner Only):
The Invisible Detective in Pain Au Chocolat , Adam Wright
The Masked Man, Dan Smith
Knocksville, Josef Lemoine
Procession, Beth Spitalny
Stranger, Jennifer Razon
EVENT PRODUCER: JOHN SAWYER
EVENT CO-PRODUCERS: DAVID NEWMAN, EMILY TURNER AND NICK CHAKWIN
Monday, May 26, 2008
RIP Sydney Pollack
Acclaimed director, producer, and actor Sydney Pollack has died of cancer. He was 73.
According to the AP, quoting Pollack's agent Leslee Dart, Pollack died Monday afternoon (5/26/08) at his home in Pacific Palisades, surrounded by family and friends.
Though Sydney Pollack started out as an actor and acting coach and later ended his career doubling producer duties with cameo and supporting roles, it was as a director that Pollack will probably best be remembered. His films had the sheen of the Golden Era of Hollywood, even though most were made in the `70s and `80s. They also spanned genres and included The Way We Were (`73), Three Days of the Condor (`75), The Electric Horseman (`79), Tootsie (`82), culminating in what was arguably his greatest success, Out of Africa (`85).
Sydney Irwin Pollack was born on July 1, 1934, in Lafayette and raised in South Bend, Indiana. He developed a love of acting at South Bend High School and went straight to New York and the Neighborhood Playhouse School for Theater. There Sanford Meisner took him under his wing, first as a student and then as his assistant. Pollack received favorable marks from his students, which included Robert Duvall and Rip Torn, and Claire Griswold, a former pupil whom Pollack married and remained married to for 50 years.
His time at the Neighborhood Playhouse was destined not to last as long and, under the encouragement of director John Frankheimer and nudging from Burt Lancaster Pollack began directing. He started out small, in television shows such as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Ben Casey.
He soon branched out into feature filmmaking. His first was The Slender Thread starring Anne Bancroft and Sydney Poitier, about a desperate woman and the suicide hotline volunteer who attempts to keep her on the line while waiting for the police to find her.
The film fared poorly, both critically and financially, as, to a lesser extent, did Pollack's second feature, 1966's This Property Is Condemned, based upon a Tennessee Williams play (with a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola). It featured Natalie Wood as a girl desperate to break out of her small town who sets her sights and hopes on a travelling railroad official and company hatchet man, played by Robert Redford.
Property was the start of a lifelong association and friendship with Redford; Pollack would direct Redford in seven films in total, including some of his most famous.
First success came, however, from the depression-era The Shoot Horses, Don't They, about the characters involved in a grueling dance marathon. It starred Jane Fonda and it shattered her American image as a comely ingénue or a sex kitten and established her as a serious actress once and for all. She received her first Oscar nomination for the part.
Most actors benefited from appearing in a Pollack film. 12 actors received Oscar nominations after being in one of his movies including Barbra Streisand, Meryl Streep, Jessica Lange, and Dustin Hoffman. He was no stranger to the Academy himself. He was nominated three times for Best Director (Horses and Tootsie, winning for Out of Africa). Oddly enough, Redford never received a nomination for any of the multiply-lauded films he starred in for Pollack.
Industry recognition was just part of his success. His films were also profitable at the box office. Hits included Horses, The Way We Were, Three Days of the Condor, The Electric Horseman and The Firm.
But it was Out of Africa were everything gelled. It had an enormous canvas, an epic scope, a glorious score, luscious cinematography and two superstars (Redford and Streep) in the leads. The film was nominated for 11 awards, picking up seven including Best Picture and Director.
He had misses too. Havana, Random Hearts and Sabrina were the rare examples of critical and commercial failures.
Producing became a passion for him after this string of misfires. Along with the late Anthony Mingella, who died earlier this year while having his throat operated on, Pollacke created Mirage Enterprises. The shop produced The Fabulous Baker Boys Sense and Sensibility, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cold Mountain. But Mirage represented just a smattering of Pollack's producing duties, which also included Searching for Bobby Fischer, The Quiet American, Michael Clayton and the HBO film, Recount.
In recent years Pollack also specialized in the role of the powerful corporate or societal patriarch, one willing to lay down the law or to teach the hard truths of life to the protagonist. He played variations of it in Eyes Wide Shut, Changing Lanes and Michael Clayton and created what can only be described as avuncular malevolence, inspiring fear and awe while exuding a tinge of mercy.
It was the stature of Pollack in the industry itself and his commanding presence on and off the screen that lent the roles their gravitas. They sprang from the man himself
Pollack is survived by his wife, Claire; two daughters, Rebecca and Rachel; his brother Bernie; and six grandchildren He was preceded in death by his son, Steven, who died in 1993 in a plane crash in Santa Monica.
According to the AP, quoting Pollack's agent Leslee Dart, Pollack died Monday afternoon (5/26/08) at his home in Pacific Palisades, surrounded by family and friends.
Though Sydney Pollack started out as an actor and acting coach and later ended his career doubling producer duties with cameo and supporting roles, it was as a director that Pollack will probably best be remembered. His films had the sheen of the Golden Era of Hollywood, even though most were made in the `70s and `80s. They also spanned genres and included The Way We Were (`73), Three Days of the Condor (`75), The Electric Horseman (`79), Tootsie (`82), culminating in what was arguably his greatest success, Out of Africa (`85).
Sydney Irwin Pollack was born on July 1, 1934, in Lafayette and raised in South Bend, Indiana. He developed a love of acting at South Bend High School and went straight to New York and the Neighborhood Playhouse School for Theater. There Sanford Meisner took him under his wing, first as a student and then as his assistant. Pollack received favorable marks from his students, which included Robert Duvall and Rip Torn, and Claire Griswold, a former pupil whom Pollack married and remained married to for 50 years.
His time at the Neighborhood Playhouse was destined not to last as long and, under the encouragement of director John Frankheimer and nudging from Burt Lancaster Pollack began directing. He started out small, in television shows such as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Ben Casey.
He soon branched out into feature filmmaking. His first was The Slender Thread starring Anne Bancroft and Sydney Poitier, about a desperate woman and the suicide hotline volunteer who attempts to keep her on the line while waiting for the police to find her.
The film fared poorly, both critically and financially, as, to a lesser extent, did Pollack's second feature, 1966's This Property Is Condemned, based upon a Tennessee Williams play (with a screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola). It featured Natalie Wood as a girl desperate to break out of her small town who sets her sights and hopes on a travelling railroad official and company hatchet man, played by Robert Redford.
Property was the start of a lifelong association and friendship with Redford; Pollack would direct Redford in seven films in total, including some of his most famous.
First success came, however, from the depression-era The Shoot Horses, Don't They, about the characters involved in a grueling dance marathon. It starred Jane Fonda and it shattered her American image as a comely ingénue or a sex kitten and established her as a serious actress once and for all. She received her first Oscar nomination for the part.
Most actors benefited from appearing in a Pollack film. 12 actors received Oscar nominations after being in one of his movies including Barbra Streisand, Meryl Streep, Jessica Lange, and Dustin Hoffman. He was no stranger to the Academy himself. He was nominated three times for Best Director (Horses and Tootsie, winning for Out of Africa). Oddly enough, Redford never received a nomination for any of the multiply-lauded films he starred in for Pollack.
Industry recognition was just part of his success. His films were also profitable at the box office. Hits included Horses, The Way We Were, Three Days of the Condor, The Electric Horseman and The Firm.
But it was Out of Africa were everything gelled. It had an enormous canvas, an epic scope, a glorious score, luscious cinematography and two superstars (Redford and Streep) in the leads. The film was nominated for 11 awards, picking up seven including Best Picture and Director.
He had misses too. Havana, Random Hearts and Sabrina were the rare examples of critical and commercial failures.
Producing became a passion for him after this string of misfires. Along with the late Anthony Mingella, who died earlier this year while having his throat operated on, Pollacke created Mirage Enterprises. The shop produced The Fabulous Baker Boys Sense and Sensibility, The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cold Mountain. But Mirage represented just a smattering of Pollack's producing duties, which also included Searching for Bobby Fischer, The Quiet American, Michael Clayton and the HBO film, Recount.
In recent years Pollack also specialized in the role of the powerful corporate or societal patriarch, one willing to lay down the law or to teach the hard truths of life to the protagonist. He played variations of it in Eyes Wide Shut, Changing Lanes and Michael Clayton and created what can only be described as avuncular malevolence, inspiring fear and awe while exuding a tinge of mercy.
It was the stature of Pollack in the industry itself and his commanding presence on and off the screen that lent the roles their gravitas. They sprang from the man himself
Pollack is survived by his wife, Claire; two daughters, Rebecca and Rachel; his brother Bernie; and six grandchildren He was preceded in death by his son, Steven, who died in 1993 in a plane crash in Santa Monica.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
da da dan ta, dun ta da. dun ta dun to, dun tun tun tun tun
So what am I gonna do. Wait for it. I can't. I'm nine years old, OK. Deal with it.
I am going to the first showing of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at 12:01 at the Battery Park Cinema near my house.
Yes, its gonna be packed. And yes, its raining (though not too badly).
When I was a kid, I used to cut school to go see these movies when they came out. Indiana Jones is the closest thing I have to an inspiration for why I am in the movie business now (of course, its never just one thing), the root cause of all this.
So yeah, I am going. I just wish it started a little earlier. Gonna do the popcorn and the whole schmear I think. Might as well go all out.
This is the first time I've gone to a theater on opening night in forever, I think. Maybe my ex, Jeanne dragged me to one when we were dating. She also liked to shop for Christmas presents on the Friday after Thanksgiving. She doesn't mind crowds so much, not like me.
But I'm going, and I have pretty high expectations, despite mostly good but slightly mixed reviews.
Grumps
I am going to the first showing of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at 12:01 at the Battery Park Cinema near my house.
Yes, its gonna be packed. And yes, its raining (though not too badly).
When I was a kid, I used to cut school to go see these movies when they came out. Indiana Jones is the closest thing I have to an inspiration for why I am in the movie business now (of course, its never just one thing), the root cause of all this.
So yeah, I am going. I just wish it started a little earlier. Gonna do the popcorn and the whole schmear I think. Might as well go all out.
This is the first time I've gone to a theater on opening night in forever, I think. Maybe my ex, Jeanne dragged me to one when we were dating. She also liked to shop for Christmas presents on the Friday after Thanksgiving. She doesn't mind crowds so much, not like me.
But I'm going, and I have pretty high expectations, despite mostly good but slightly mixed reviews.
Grumps
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Airplane Bloggin’: Saturday Morning Shuffle
Im on the Jet Blue flight, 1140 AM back to NYC, out of Burbank, and thank you very much. I wisely upgraded to the four more inches of space seat for an extra twenty bucks. My kneecaps have been thanking me since I sat down an hour and a half ago.
Heading back to the Apple for the final two weeks before this, the twelfth edition of NYC PictureStart. Bunch of work left to do before we’re ready to go, still picking last film entries, though the script finalists are done (yet to be posted), the venue, god willing, is locked in, and the dates are set (same as the venue, god willing).
Each go around seems like it should get easier, but to some degree, I feel like each time, to a certain degree I need to reinvent the wheel a bit. We’ll be returning to Retreat, thanks to the owner’s generosity but it first seemed like we weren’t heading back over cost issues. I still don’t have a third judge locked in, though I am sure I can find someone great quickly this week. Everything is just more complicated now, running a film festival in New York when I spend the vast majority of my time in California. It had seemed that I was going to spend all of May in NYC, but it ended up that I had to fly back to LA to interview for a production attorney gig for a movie shooting in LA. It’s a good project, and I got the gig, so it was worth the trip.
And now back to NY, to add the final icing to the cake that is the 12th NYC PictureStart Film Festival. Victor Garcia, director of the still-to-be-filmed Slaughter, is joining as a juror, as is Morris Levy, producer (shall I say co-conspirator) of The Ten. The third juror, well, I have my suspects in mind. A few calls and that will be set.
Over 160 movies this time around, for 15 spots. Its getting more and more competitive. I don’t know for sure, but I am guessing that we’ve grown into one of the bigger short film festivals, and we’re definitely among the more selective. The interest in filmmaking seems to grow exponentially, and the short format of a short film is well-attuned to the online, download, Youtubey internet promotion and distribution of much new media product. Yeah, so I am cutting edge. Can ya dig?
Details will be posted in full on the website in the next day or two. Come down one or both days and join us for some short film and some drinks and some networking, and get YOUR SHORT FILM SCENE (shameless plug, but it is my blog).
One thing about LA vs. NY.
The gym.
Let me draw some comparions. I’ve been working out five to six days a week for four or five months now to get back into shape. It had been too long, and I owed it to myself to get into better condition, and not to rely on pushups alone. It also helps me manage my stress, which was for various reasons, getting a workout all its own.
My gym in New York is the gym in my building. It has a view of the Hudson.
My gym in Los Angeles is on Hollywood Blvd. It has a view of the Hotties. Lots of em.
NY has a few cardio machines, one or two benches, and a few universal type machines. There is a pool and a hot tub as well.
LA has every machine you could possibly think of, cardio, weightlifting, cybex, life force, whichever. It also has a pool, hot tub, sauna, full court basketball, day care (not that I have kids), a tremendous free weight room, free parking on Hollywood Blvd., and a great grocery store with lots of healthy choices for after the gym. And a little juice bar with wonderful blended fruit drinks that I am sure taste better than they are truly healthy. It also has beautiful women using all of these things, providing that extra inspiration to proceed towards additional perspiration.
NY no such luck. Occasionally I get to use the gym alone in the afternoon, though, and they have free coffee. But it isn’t very good. Did I mention the view of the Hudson.
NY Price? 70 per month.
LA Price? 30 per month.
Are we noticing a trend here? A little more on that. My car insurance in LA is about the same as my motorcycle insurance in New York. Health insurance in CA is about 100 per month, maybe half of what it is in New York. And my place in LA, shitty as it may be, costs a fraction of what a similar place in New York would cost. Maybe 40 percent of what the NY cost of a small studio would cost, without the parking (included in LA) and the backyard (not available in NY, sorry, thanks for asking).
Did I mention the girls?
Anyway, for now I am still bicoastal, but the cash drain is well, a cash drain. Aalok, the NY roommate is supposed to be moving out shortly and hopefully whoever replaces him will be paying a far larger share of the rent, given how inexpensive the apartment is by current NY standards. That will make it easier to stomach paying for two places, even though I am in the one (far less nice one) like 75 percent of the time.
Still, I am looking forward to being back in NY for a bit. I had fun on my last stay, and people seem indeed very pleased to have me back when I am back. I think I must be very charming in small doses. Which means I should probably stop this entry. Now.
Ciao.
Grumps.
Heading back to the Apple for the final two weeks before this, the twelfth edition of NYC PictureStart. Bunch of work left to do before we’re ready to go, still picking last film entries, though the script finalists are done (yet to be posted), the venue, god willing, is locked in, and the dates are set (same as the venue, god willing).
Each go around seems like it should get easier, but to some degree, I feel like each time, to a certain degree I need to reinvent the wheel a bit. We’ll be returning to Retreat, thanks to the owner’s generosity but it first seemed like we weren’t heading back over cost issues. I still don’t have a third judge locked in, though I am sure I can find someone great quickly this week. Everything is just more complicated now, running a film festival in New York when I spend the vast majority of my time in California. It had seemed that I was going to spend all of May in NYC, but it ended up that I had to fly back to LA to interview for a production attorney gig for a movie shooting in LA. It’s a good project, and I got the gig, so it was worth the trip.
And now back to NY, to add the final icing to the cake that is the 12th NYC PictureStart Film Festival. Victor Garcia, director of the still-to-be-filmed Slaughter, is joining as a juror, as is Morris Levy, producer (shall I say co-conspirator) of The Ten. The third juror, well, I have my suspects in mind. A few calls and that will be set.
Over 160 movies this time around, for 15 spots. Its getting more and more competitive. I don’t know for sure, but I am guessing that we’ve grown into one of the bigger short film festivals, and we’re definitely among the more selective. The interest in filmmaking seems to grow exponentially, and the short format of a short film is well-attuned to the online, download, Youtubey internet promotion and distribution of much new media product. Yeah, so I am cutting edge. Can ya dig?
Details will be posted in full on the website in the next day or two. Come down one or both days and join us for some short film and some drinks and some networking, and get YOUR SHORT FILM SCENE (shameless plug, but it is my blog).
One thing about LA vs. NY.
The gym.
Let me draw some comparions. I’ve been working out five to six days a week for four or five months now to get back into shape. It had been too long, and I owed it to myself to get into better condition, and not to rely on pushups alone. It also helps me manage my stress, which was for various reasons, getting a workout all its own.
My gym in New York is the gym in my building. It has a view of the Hudson.
My gym in Los Angeles is on Hollywood Blvd. It has a view of the Hotties. Lots of em.
NY has a few cardio machines, one or two benches, and a few universal type machines. There is a pool and a hot tub as well.
LA has every machine you could possibly think of, cardio, weightlifting, cybex, life force, whichever. It also has a pool, hot tub, sauna, full court basketball, day care (not that I have kids), a tremendous free weight room, free parking on Hollywood Blvd., and a great grocery store with lots of healthy choices for after the gym. And a little juice bar with wonderful blended fruit drinks that I am sure taste better than they are truly healthy. It also has beautiful women using all of these things, providing that extra inspiration to proceed towards additional perspiration.
NY no such luck. Occasionally I get to use the gym alone in the afternoon, though, and they have free coffee. But it isn’t very good. Did I mention the view of the Hudson.
NY Price? 70 per month.
LA Price? 30 per month.
Are we noticing a trend here? A little more on that. My car insurance in LA is about the same as my motorcycle insurance in New York. Health insurance in CA is about 100 per month, maybe half of what it is in New York. And my place in LA, shitty as it may be, costs a fraction of what a similar place in New York would cost. Maybe 40 percent of what the NY cost of a small studio would cost, without the parking (included in LA) and the backyard (not available in NY, sorry, thanks for asking).
Did I mention the girls?
Anyway, for now I am still bicoastal, but the cash drain is well, a cash drain. Aalok, the NY roommate is supposed to be moving out shortly and hopefully whoever replaces him will be paying a far larger share of the rent, given how inexpensive the apartment is by current NY standards. That will make it easier to stomach paying for two places, even though I am in the one (far less nice one) like 75 percent of the time.
Still, I am looking forward to being back in NY for a bit. I had fun on my last stay, and people seem indeed very pleased to have me back when I am back. I think I must be very charming in small doses. Which means I should probably stop this entry. Now.
Ciao.
Grumps.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
S Bar
On Hollywood Blvd., right next to Katsuya on the corner of Vine. S Bar is one of the coolest looking places I've been in LA. Its really just a high ceilinged box, with some couches and chairs. However, bringing in Philippe Starck to design the place, where the "S" stands for Satan (no, not mike ovitz), was worthwhile.
Ended up there after a spot at dominicks by the beverly center, which was unusually quiet. I was with a friend from NYC, Inna, and we stopped by the Stone Rose, and I was incredulously turned away. I've been there Wednesday after Wednesday, but I didn't call ahead and Bret Gursky, who runs the party, was nowhere near the door. I didn't feel like waiting for him to show up, so i just moved on.
We met Katie, Ki-Moon, Hill and some other folks at this S Bar place, which I'd heard about but never been to. Dave Navarro was partying at the next table with a bevy of babes, presumably getting over Carmen. Each wall had a concept - over the bar was an Omen-ish four horsemen of the apocalypes photo, four white horses looking frothy and angry. The south wall had a Hotel California motif, endless hotel doors opening one after another, into infinity. All the lamps in the place hang from the ceiling, upside down. Its a very unnerving thing when you first realize it.
I liked it, what can i say. Doesn't make me a devil worshipper. Unfortunately, the cel phone camera doesn't have a very good flash, so the better pics of the murals are ripped offline. anyway, have a looksie.
HOTEL CALIFORNIA MURAL
KI MOON AND INNA
THE INDEFATIGABLE KATIE MATTHEWS
Ended up there after a spot at dominicks by the beverly center, which was unusually quiet. I was with a friend from NYC, Inna, and we stopped by the Stone Rose, and I was incredulously turned away. I've been there Wednesday after Wednesday, but I didn't call ahead and Bret Gursky, who runs the party, was nowhere near the door. I didn't feel like waiting for him to show up, so i just moved on.
We met Katie, Ki-Moon, Hill and some other folks at this S Bar place, which I'd heard about but never been to. Dave Navarro was partying at the next table with a bevy of babes, presumably getting over Carmen. Each wall had a concept - over the bar was an Omen-ish four horsemen of the apocalypes photo, four white horses looking frothy and angry. The south wall had a Hotel California motif, endless hotel doors opening one after another, into infinity. All the lamps in the place hang from the ceiling, upside down. Its a very unnerving thing when you first realize it.
I liked it, what can i say. Doesn't make me a devil worshipper. Unfortunately, the cel phone camera doesn't have a very good flash, so the better pics of the murals are ripped offline. anyway, have a looksie.
HOTEL CALIFORNIA MURAL
KI MOON AND INNA 
THE INDEFATIGABLE KATIE MATTHEWS
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Plans
Just got back from the gym, spot of dinner. A little work, and a little West Wing (upto season six on DVD now, almost through it, and onto the final season, seven).
I am flying back to New York Saturday morning, which means I get to NY saturday evening, around eight or so.
I've been working as production counsel on a movie, and its a good script and I like the director. The people who got me hired on the movie, unfortunately, are no longer with the project, so thats a little weird. I can't really say any more about it. It is, as I like to say, what it is.
California's been getting hot, Friday's supposed to top out at 100 or so. I don't have A/C in the hovel, but it's only a day or so in that heat, and supposedly, its a dry heat, like a blow torch or a dog humping your leg. Well, maybe not so much like a dog humping your leg.
Be good to be back in NY. NYC PictureStart Film Festival is coming up at the beginning of June, the team is almost done with prep, and final selections are forthcoming this week.
See y'all back in NY. Unless I do some Airplane Bloggin', a distinct possibility.
Oh, and dont forget, Indiana Jones returns on my birthday.
Grumps.
I am flying back to New York Saturday morning, which means I get to NY saturday evening, around eight or so.
I've been working as production counsel on a movie, and its a good script and I like the director. The people who got me hired on the movie, unfortunately, are no longer with the project, so thats a little weird. I can't really say any more about it. It is, as I like to say, what it is.
California's been getting hot, Friday's supposed to top out at 100 or so. I don't have A/C in the hovel, but it's only a day or so in that heat, and supposedly, its a dry heat, like a blow torch or a dog humping your leg. Well, maybe not so much like a dog humping your leg.
Be good to be back in NY. NYC PictureStart Film Festival is coming up at the beginning of June, the team is almost done with prep, and final selections are forthcoming this week.
See y'all back in NY. Unless I do some Airplane Bloggin', a distinct possibility.
Oh, and dont forget, Indiana Jones returns on my birthday.
Grumps.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
PicPost
Dodger Stadium, a first for me, Monday night, from the front row in the "All you can eat - but not that you'd want to" bleachers. 
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Dark Knight
High def version of the dope trailer for "Dark Knight" which makes it clear what an artist the cinema lost in Heath Ledger
here
grumps
here
grumps
Just Along for the Ride.
Went out last night with some friends, Chase and Marie and Sha-hid. We were at the rapily declining Les Deux, it was very young and high school, maybe college aged. We had fun unto ourselves, but the place seems done.
Anyway, a friend, Ari was outside, trying to get in, so Chase went out to try to get him in. Things got confused and we thought Chase and Ari had rolled to Winstons. Chase’s phone was dead so we couldn’t reach him. Turns out that Ari had rolled to Winstons and that Chase ended up being left behind. I thought Ari told me that they were together but the club was loud and I must have misheard. So upon getting to Winston’s and seeing no Chase, we immediately left back to Les Deux to go look for him.
Now, Chase and crew had been out since 2PM (I joined them at 1030 or so) so they were, shall we say, well on their way. Chase went back in the club, couldn’t find us, got pissed off that we bounced on him and left him before we got back to Les Deux, perhaps forty minutes after we left. He had already gotten a cab home, was cranky, etc. I was the only sober one in the bunch, so I drove the others back to Chase’s place. We got there, squared stories, dealt with Chase’s crankiness with some herbicological assistance (is that a word) and then I want to go home. By this time, it was 4AM. I had no cash, but called a cab and requested one that could accept a credit card.
While I was in the cab, I found a purse of a young lady. A phone. A digital camera. Thirty dollars wadded in a corner. Nothing else. I called her entry “Home”, spoke to her mom, who much have tracked her down. The girl called me forty minutes later. Her name is Candice.
Candice thanked me for finding her purse and offering to return it. She then told me where she was and asked me to meet her at the Roosevelt hotel, where its clear she is drunk, again. In fact, on the phone of a friend, Ahmed, whose name she had to ask (so maybe they just met), I heard her say to a girlfriend, I cannot believe I am drunk again. It was perhaps 1:30PM.
I don’t know whether I was more taken aback by the fact that this girl was drunk again, with a strange dude, or that she was presumptuous enough to ask me to deliver her purse to her instead of coming to get it on her own. She did confide that none of her group was sober, which was why she asked me to deliver it to her. Fair enough, at least she is being responsible enough not to ask Ahmed to drive drunk.
Anyway, this is just a little slice of life, and while I like LA, this is so typically Los Angeles (the girl is from a suburb called Gardenia, her mother told me when we talked). Its one of the things that does annoy me about this town, and perhaps something that scares me about the generation that follows mine.
Of course, my generation was the one that had these folks drinking from 2PM on a Saturday through the nite, and they drove to the club. I was a sober participant, just along for the ride.
Grumps
UPDATE:
Went to drop off the wallet at the Roosevelt hotel, and Candice came out to meet me. She was in all respects very gracious and appreciative. Perhaps we're not all doomed to anything worse than being frequently inebriated.
Anyway, a friend, Ari was outside, trying to get in, so Chase went out to try to get him in. Things got confused and we thought Chase and Ari had rolled to Winstons. Chase’s phone was dead so we couldn’t reach him. Turns out that Ari had rolled to Winstons and that Chase ended up being left behind. I thought Ari told me that they were together but the club was loud and I must have misheard. So upon getting to Winston’s and seeing no Chase, we immediately left back to Les Deux to go look for him.
Now, Chase and crew had been out since 2PM (I joined them at 1030 or so) so they were, shall we say, well on their way. Chase went back in the club, couldn’t find us, got pissed off that we bounced on him and left him before we got back to Les Deux, perhaps forty minutes after we left. He had already gotten a cab home, was cranky, etc. I was the only sober one in the bunch, so I drove the others back to Chase’s place. We got there, squared stories, dealt with Chase’s crankiness with some herbicological assistance (is that a word) and then I want to go home. By this time, it was 4AM. I had no cash, but called a cab and requested one that could accept a credit card.
While I was in the cab, I found a purse of a young lady. A phone. A digital camera. Thirty dollars wadded in a corner. Nothing else. I called her entry “Home”, spoke to her mom, who much have tracked her down. The girl called me forty minutes later. Her name is Candice.
Candice thanked me for finding her purse and offering to return it. She then told me where she was and asked me to meet her at the Roosevelt hotel, where its clear she is drunk, again. In fact, on the phone of a friend, Ahmed, whose name she had to ask (so maybe they just met), I heard her say to a girlfriend, I cannot believe I am drunk again. It was perhaps 1:30PM.
I don’t know whether I was more taken aback by the fact that this girl was drunk again, with a strange dude, or that she was presumptuous enough to ask me to deliver her purse to her instead of coming to get it on her own. She did confide that none of her group was sober, which was why she asked me to deliver it to her. Fair enough, at least she is being responsible enough not to ask Ahmed to drive drunk.
Anyway, this is just a little slice of life, and while I like LA, this is so typically Los Angeles (the girl is from a suburb called Gardenia, her mother told me when we talked). Its one of the things that does annoy me about this town, and perhaps something that scares me about the generation that follows mine.
Of course, my generation was the one that had these folks drinking from 2PM on a Saturday through the nite, and they drove to the club. I was a sober participant, just along for the ride.
Grumps
UPDATE:
Went to drop off the wallet at the Roosevelt hotel, and Candice came out to meet me. She was in all respects very gracious and appreciative. Perhaps we're not all doomed to anything worse than being frequently inebriated.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Fango-Con in Los Angeles
I headed to the Los Angeles Convention Center with Victor Garcia on Sunday to hit Fango-Con. I was actually just at a brunch meeting when I spoke to VG, and he told me he was meeting his manager Will at Fango for the event. Not having much planned for the Sunday, and given my well-known predilection for horror, I decided to join him.
The Los Angeles area Fango was held in Burbank last year, and I think the move from the Valley to the City didn’t serve the event well. The kind of suburban dwellers, the folks who fill up the multiplexes on the weekend, that love what Fango serves up, are much more plentiful in the Valley, and I think on a warm Sunday, the extra distance of a trip to downtown LA was really not on the menu. In addition, the spread out feeling of the convention center made the crowds seem even sparser, and the lack of electricity that it created definitely had its affect on the audience, and how long they stuck around. Walking from table to table, it seemed like there were more people selling something than buying something.
The event did have its charms though. While walking around, had a nice chat with William Forsythe, a terrific actor who’s work I’ve admired since Raising Arizona. Younger Grumpophytes may know him better from The Devil’s Rejects and from the Rob Zombie Halloween. He lamented the location and staffing of the event himself, as well as the turnout. He was sitting next to Andrew Divoff, lately of Robert Kurtzman’s The Rage, and Lost, but perhaps best known for the Wishmaster movies. He was extremely friendly, and knew Victor from some work that they’d done together when Victor was working on FX crews for movies. Andrew, who was born in Venezuela, and Victor were going on in Spanish, so unfortunately I didn’t get the whole scoop. That was OK though, as it gave me more time to talk to Bill Forsythe.
The undisputed highlight of attending Fango was meeting one of the legends of Horror. We’d seen George Romero signing autographs, and he walked around a bit, with that long gait of his, and I knew that Victor wanted to meet him even more than I did, but didn’t want to just wander up. At one point, when he stepped outside for a smoke, I told Victor to grab his cigarettes. We went outside and I introduced myself and Victor to Mr. Romero, who was super cool and friendly and asked about what we were working on. We chatted for a bit, and then escaped with our dignity still intact.
We only stayed a bit longer after that. Victor bought an Body Snatchers t-shirt with a picture of Donald Sutherland on it. In the auditorium, was a Feast 2 and 3 panel going on, with the cast and director and writers, and we said hello to the Feast writers, Patrick and Marcus, who are best known for their Project greenlight appearances and for writing the next two Saw installments. Will is their manager as well, this small world of Horror in which we live.
Anyway, a fun way to pass a few hours on a Sunday, and then we were off. I hope, for everyone’s sake, though, that they move the event back to Burbank next year.
The Los Angeles area Fango was held in Burbank last year, and I think the move from the Valley to the City didn’t serve the event well. The kind of suburban dwellers, the folks who fill up the multiplexes on the weekend, that love what Fango serves up, are much more plentiful in the Valley, and I think on a warm Sunday, the extra distance of a trip to downtown LA was really not on the menu. In addition, the spread out feeling of the convention center made the crowds seem even sparser, and the lack of electricity that it created definitely had its affect on the audience, and how long they stuck around. Walking from table to table, it seemed like there were more people selling something than buying something.
The event did have its charms though. While walking around, had a nice chat with William Forsythe, a terrific actor who’s work I’ve admired since Raising Arizona. Younger Grumpophytes may know him better from The Devil’s Rejects and from the Rob Zombie Halloween. He lamented the location and staffing of the event himself, as well as the turnout. He was sitting next to Andrew Divoff, lately of Robert Kurtzman’s The Rage, and Lost, but perhaps best known for the Wishmaster movies. He was extremely friendly, and knew Victor from some work that they’d done together when Victor was working on FX crews for movies. Andrew, who was born in Venezuela, and Victor were going on in Spanish, so unfortunately I didn’t get the whole scoop. That was OK though, as it gave me more time to talk to Bill Forsythe.
The undisputed highlight of attending Fango was meeting one of the legends of Horror. We’d seen George Romero signing autographs, and he walked around a bit, with that long gait of his, and I knew that Victor wanted to meet him even more than I did, but didn’t want to just wander up. At one point, when he stepped outside for a smoke, I told Victor to grab his cigarettes. We went outside and I introduced myself and Victor to Mr. Romero, who was super cool and friendly and asked about what we were working on. We chatted for a bit, and then escaped with our dignity still intact.
We only stayed a bit longer after that. Victor bought an Body Snatchers t-shirt with a picture of Donald Sutherland on it. In the auditorium, was a Feast 2 and 3 panel going on, with the cast and director and writers, and we said hello to the Feast writers, Patrick and Marcus, who are best known for their Project greenlight appearances and for writing the next two Saw installments. Will is their manager as well, this small world of Horror in which we live.
Anyway, a fun way to pass a few hours on a Sunday, and then we were off. I hope, for everyone’s sake, though, that they move the event back to Burbank next year.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Airplane Bloggin’- End of April Edition
Headed back to LA on a fine Saturday morning, I haven’t really had my fill of New York since returning maybe three weeks ago. Seems like such a short period of time to spend in my New York home before returning to my LA home (aka the “hovel”), where I spent two months after Sundance.
Im headed out for a number of reasons. I have an interview for a production attorney position on a movie, and the producers on this particular movie insisted on a face-to-face meeting. I am not sure why, as its definitely not typical for lawyers to be interviewed in person, and even more so, at the prospective client’s office. But as money has been tight and this job pays decently, its certainly worth the trip. I am told I have the inside track because the line producer recommended me. I hope so.
Scott (The Insurgents) Dacko has been in LA for most of the week, staying in the hovel in my absence. But he’s just rented an apartment a few blocks from my place, and he’ll be vacating my place and taking up his new digs. He’d been spending money on hotels etc with his trips to LA, which were quite frequent, and so for the same economic reasons as me, he’s now a semi-resident of Los Angeles.
The other reason why its good I am making the flight involves Scott. Scott’s new screenplay (newish, I’d read a draft perhaps five months ago when we were in hard prep on Slaughter) has been optioned, with him attached to direct and me attached to produced, by a heavy hitter exec producer. They are putting up some decent money for Scott to do a script polish and for the option itself, and they’ve invited us to lunch to discuss moving forward, I suppose. I might not have been able to have made the trip just for the lunch, but I am glad I’ll happen to be in town for it, and get to meet another big time producer. This guy has had his name of lots of genre hits, and he’s exec producing a Will Smith movie at the moment – no small thing these days.
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum though, Jet Blue, old faithful, changed their website. Not only was it two pains in the neck to book reward travel because the interface to do so was almost hidden, but also, I wasn’t able to choose my seat online. The function wouldn’t work on either of two browsers. So I didn’t have a seat assignment until I checked in this morning at the airport and of course, ninety minutes before flighttime there were only middle seats. I’ve been crunched between two large guys for the past five hours-not so much my idea of fun, and its been tough to sleep, even though I had both Valium and Tylenol PM before I got on the flight. I probably got two to three hours of fitful sleep in, mostly at the beginning of the flight. I didn’t take my normal 6AM flight, as I thought, hey, its Saturday, what’s the hurry, I will take the 9AM instead. In retrospect, however, when taking a flight where you cannot chose the seat, take the flight most likely to be half empty (the 6AM).
Had a great time with my brother Scott and friends (Dave, Mari, Adi, Lali) doing karaoke on Thursday night, which made it even a little more painful leaving New York early. But fun is fun and work is work, so here I am, crunched in coach.
Anyway, we’re beginning descent, so gonna wrap this up. Talk to you from the City of Angels (or, um, Dodgers).
Grumps.
Im headed out for a number of reasons. I have an interview for a production attorney position on a movie, and the producers on this particular movie insisted on a face-to-face meeting. I am not sure why, as its definitely not typical for lawyers to be interviewed in person, and even more so, at the prospective client’s office. But as money has been tight and this job pays decently, its certainly worth the trip. I am told I have the inside track because the line producer recommended me. I hope so.
Scott (The Insurgents) Dacko has been in LA for most of the week, staying in the hovel in my absence. But he’s just rented an apartment a few blocks from my place, and he’ll be vacating my place and taking up his new digs. He’d been spending money on hotels etc with his trips to LA, which were quite frequent, and so for the same economic reasons as me, he’s now a semi-resident of Los Angeles.
The other reason why its good I am making the flight involves Scott. Scott’s new screenplay (newish, I’d read a draft perhaps five months ago when we were in hard prep on Slaughter) has been optioned, with him attached to direct and me attached to produced, by a heavy hitter exec producer. They are putting up some decent money for Scott to do a script polish and for the option itself, and they’ve invited us to lunch to discuss moving forward, I suppose. I might not have been able to have made the trip just for the lunch, but I am glad I’ll happen to be in town for it, and get to meet another big time producer. This guy has had his name of lots of genre hits, and he’s exec producing a Will Smith movie at the moment – no small thing these days.
A funny thing happened on the way to the forum though, Jet Blue, old faithful, changed their website. Not only was it two pains in the neck to book reward travel because the interface to do so was almost hidden, but also, I wasn’t able to choose my seat online. The function wouldn’t work on either of two browsers. So I didn’t have a seat assignment until I checked in this morning at the airport and of course, ninety minutes before flighttime there were only middle seats. I’ve been crunched between two large guys for the past five hours-not so much my idea of fun, and its been tough to sleep, even though I had both Valium and Tylenol PM before I got on the flight. I probably got two to three hours of fitful sleep in, mostly at the beginning of the flight. I didn’t take my normal 6AM flight, as I thought, hey, its Saturday, what’s the hurry, I will take the 9AM instead. In retrospect, however, when taking a flight where you cannot chose the seat, take the flight most likely to be half empty (the 6AM).
Had a great time with my brother Scott and friends (Dave, Mari, Adi, Lali) doing karaoke on Thursday night, which made it even a little more painful leaving New York early. But fun is fun and work is work, so here I am, crunched in coach.
Anyway, we’re beginning descent, so gonna wrap this up. Talk to you from the City of Angels (or, um, Dodgers).
Grumps.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Request (Updated)
My sister is having thyroid surgery tomorrow. Drop by her blog and give her your best, I am sure she'll appreciate it. And since I typically get readers from her and not the other way, I am sure she'd appreciate the additional traffic.
UPDATE
Steph is home resting comfortably. Everything went smoothly and she was vigorous enough to debate with me on the phone today.
UPDATE
Steph is home resting comfortably. Everything went smoothly and she was vigorous enough to debate with me on the phone today.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Life's great mystery
One of those weird things. It happens from time to time, without explanation.
I met this woman, D, last week. We were both drinking when we met, at Sway, a nightspot close to my place. We flirted, and yes, then we “made out” a bit in the bar. She gave me her number before leaving.
I called her this week, on Tuesday, and we talked briefly and she told me to call her back a bit later. I did so, and we chatted pretty pleasantly for twenty minutes or so. She had a gallery opening or something on Thursday, and we discussed getting together after that, if it wrapped up early enough. She’d call me if it did. She didn’t call Thursday.
Our alternative plan was to get together this weekend. I called her early this evening, and the evening passed, and I haven’t heard back.
This of course doesn’t mean I wont. She very well may call me tomorrow. Then again, perhaps she won’t. If that’s the case, it will be pretty much a surprise given our meeting and our conversation and our plans, however tentative. Its not something that hasn’t happened before, and its something that’s likely to happen again. Its confusing because there seems to be some kind of disconnect, and I know that there are a million reasons why I might not hear from D again (I won’t call again, I think). I am also pretty sure that I have probably, myself, at some time, been the source of this confusion when not following up with someone who expected me to call.
Any number of reasons, right? Boyfriend, multiple dating, personal google issues (who knows). It is just one of life’s great mysteries. And it annoys the hell out of me, more than if she’d never given me her number, or never took my call when I called her.
Probably should have gotten married when I was 29.
Thoughts?
I met this woman, D, last week. We were both drinking when we met, at Sway, a nightspot close to my place. We flirted, and yes, then we “made out” a bit in the bar. She gave me her number before leaving.
I called her this week, on Tuesday, and we talked briefly and she told me to call her back a bit later. I did so, and we chatted pretty pleasantly for twenty minutes or so. She had a gallery opening or something on Thursday, and we discussed getting together after that, if it wrapped up early enough. She’d call me if it did. She didn’t call Thursday.
Our alternative plan was to get together this weekend. I called her early this evening, and the evening passed, and I haven’t heard back.
This of course doesn’t mean I wont. She very well may call me tomorrow. Then again, perhaps she won’t. If that’s the case, it will be pretty much a surprise given our meeting and our conversation and our plans, however tentative. Its not something that hasn’t happened before, and its something that’s likely to happen again. Its confusing because there seems to be some kind of disconnect, and I know that there are a million reasons why I might not hear from D again (I won’t call again, I think). I am also pretty sure that I have probably, myself, at some time, been the source of this confusion when not following up with someone who expected me to call.
Any number of reasons, right? Boyfriend, multiple dating, personal google issues (who knows). It is just one of life’s great mysteries. And it annoys the hell out of me, more than if she’d never given me her number, or never took my call when I called her.
Probably should have gotten married when I was 29.
Thoughts?
Free Drinks
A lazy Saturday afternoon. I am watching the Lord of the Rings for the umpteenth time. Its background noise, except for the annoying commercials. I cancelled all the premium cable channels yesterday, and so I am watching network stuff and basic cable.
Went out again last night. I hadn’t expected to go out, but then there I was, getting dressed and tromping down to the subway to meet some friends in the 20s. We met at a strip club, but stayed only momentarily whilst the group assembled. One of the guys in the group owns the club, Tens, and so we got together there to meet.
I was connected to the group through my friend Yuson, who is town because he’s a talent manager for Columbus Short, who I’ve spent some evenings out with in LA. Columbus was the lead in the movie “Stomp The Yard,” and has a bunch more coming out. He came out, with his co-star Jeffrey Wright, the amazing actor who is in tons of movies, like Syriana and recently, Casino Royale as Felix Leiter. They are both working on the same movie. Jeffrey lives here though. We’d never met, but he seems to be a good guy as well. Certainly no airs about him.
Assembled, I had made arrangements because of our celebrity companions to have comped table and bottle service at Marquee, which is a New York nightspot. We first headed over to Kiss and Fly, making the second time this week I’d been there. Jeffrey knew one of the managers, Randy, who is an icon on the New York club scene. I’d met Randy through my friend Ryan, who is my oft club companion, and who had arranged our table for us at Marquee.
Kiss and Fly was OK, though and they kept bringing bottles of champagne. Now I always think about New York being expensive and Los Angeles being cheap, on a relative basis. But actually, I always forget to factor in how rarely I pay for drinks in New York. Since I am currently on a pretty tight budget, I think about these things. But it occurred to me last night that I’ve been out, pretty hardcore, twice this week, and haven’t spent a cent on drinks. Which is nice, no?
Anyway, we lasted at Kiss and Fly for a few hours, I chatted with some ladies (a Charlotte from Norway, and a Flavia from Brazil, by way of Miami, cha cha cha). Got a message from Ryan that Marquee wasn’t worth the trip, but that he would meet us at The Box instead if we wanted to. But Jeffrey and Columbus wanted to go to Bungalow 8, so we headed north out of the Meatpacking district upto 27th street. They knew these folks at the door, so despite being very guy heavy, it wasn’t a problem (being with movie stars helps I guess).
More free drinks would be forthcoming at Bungalow, but frankly, I wasn’t into it. I’d had enough, and drinking at four AM pretty much makes me think that I would just be adding to my potential hangover. So I made my stay brief, said my goodbyes, and made my way home after an evening’s free entertainment.
If only I could get the cabs for free now. Hmmm.
Went out again last night. I hadn’t expected to go out, but then there I was, getting dressed and tromping down to the subway to meet some friends in the 20s. We met at a strip club, but stayed only momentarily whilst the group assembled. One of the guys in the group owns the club, Tens, and so we got together there to meet.
I was connected to the group through my friend Yuson, who is town because he’s a talent manager for Columbus Short, who I’ve spent some evenings out with in LA. Columbus was the lead in the movie “Stomp The Yard,” and has a bunch more coming out. He came out, with his co-star Jeffrey Wright, the amazing actor who is in tons of movies, like Syriana and recently, Casino Royale as Felix Leiter. They are both working on the same movie. Jeffrey lives here though. We’d never met, but he seems to be a good guy as well. Certainly no airs about him.
Assembled, I had made arrangements because of our celebrity companions to have comped table and bottle service at Marquee, which is a New York nightspot. We first headed over to Kiss and Fly, making the second time this week I’d been there. Jeffrey knew one of the managers, Randy, who is an icon on the New York club scene. I’d met Randy through my friend Ryan, who is my oft club companion, and who had arranged our table for us at Marquee.
Kiss and Fly was OK, though and they kept bringing bottles of champagne. Now I always think about New York being expensive and Los Angeles being cheap, on a relative basis. But actually, I always forget to factor in how rarely I pay for drinks in New York. Since I am currently on a pretty tight budget, I think about these things. But it occurred to me last night that I’ve been out, pretty hardcore, twice this week, and haven’t spent a cent on drinks. Which is nice, no?
Anyway, we lasted at Kiss and Fly for a few hours, I chatted with some ladies (a Charlotte from Norway, and a Flavia from Brazil, by way of Miami, cha cha cha). Got a message from Ryan that Marquee wasn’t worth the trip, but that he would meet us at The Box instead if we wanted to. But Jeffrey and Columbus wanted to go to Bungalow 8, so we headed north out of the Meatpacking district upto 27th street. They knew these folks at the door, so despite being very guy heavy, it wasn’t a problem (being with movie stars helps I guess).
More free drinks would be forthcoming at Bungalow, but frankly, I wasn’t into it. I’d had enough, and drinking at four AM pretty much makes me think that I would just be adding to my potential hangover. So I made my stay brief, said my goodbyes, and made my way home after an evening’s free entertainment.
If only I could get the cabs for free now. Hmmm.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Club
I’ve been going to clubs for over twenty years in New York. When I was young, I would head into Manhattan with high school friends from Queens, and we’d go to the Tunnel, to the Palladium, to MK and to the Underground, among others. I had this Willi Wear suit that my brother had given me, I’d slick my hair back and don a tie, and tell everyone that I was 23. I was 16. I never needed ID, because one of my friends was a promoter and everyone thought he was 25 (he was 16 too).
Last night, I went to the newest incarnation of the New York club scene, the very exclusive 1Oak, which is a pseudo-acronym for One of a Kind. It’s a kind of a super-club, having been created in partnership by some of NY’s biggest club promoters, the guys who own Butter among them.
We were out for my friend Ryan’s birthday. Going out with Ryan typically is a good time, because (1) he is always in a group of a few guys and a dozen or more beautiful women, and (2) because of his relationships at these clubs, like 1Oak (which is supposed to be the hardest door in NYC), we rarely if ever pay for a drink. I’d met him a bit earlier at Bagatelle, in the Meatpacking district for a dinner for his birthday with perhaps ten or twelve friends. After some drinks (I didn’t eat but it looked tasty), we stopped by Kiss and Fly (which occupies the old Aer space) next door, having been escorted through the Bagatelle kitchen (Goodfellas Henry Hill style) and through a door that led into the club from the restaurant (next door) to the KNF VIP area. We guzzled some Veuve Clicquot for half an hour, and then were out the door and over to 1OAK. In tow at this point, jammed in a few cabs, were perhaps five guys, maybe ten or fifteen girls, and a huge mammoth of a fellow that turned out to be Michael Olowakandi, former NBA center and number one draft pick. I didn’t let him know that he’d been a bust pick for me in a fantasy league years back. Doubt he would have been interested. Nice guy though.
We met a bunch more people inside 1OAK, and went to a table next to the DJ booth. There was more champagne, more women and some very good spinning going on. It was one thirty when we got these, we didn’t leave til perhaps four fifteen, and after some drama, I didn’t get home til five forty five AM or so. Outside of the enormous Michael O. and a little end of the night fisticuffs (which I helped break-up), the night was pretty standard. The place is nicer looking that many clubs, more interesting design-wise, but like I said, I've pretty much seen it all over the last twenty years or so. But its really all about the crowd, and beautiful russian models sitting on my lap and asking me if I mind. This place did fine with both, so I was OK.
I have to admit I am a little worn out today, and depending on her schedule, I may be meeting a photographer, D, who I’d met last weekend out at Sway, tonight for a drink (she has an opening so it’s a play it by ear thing for tonight). I like her fine, but I think I’d be just peachy to meet up over the weekend instead.
Nice to be back in NY, at least for a bit.
Last night, I went to the newest incarnation of the New York club scene, the very exclusive 1Oak, which is a pseudo-acronym for One of a Kind. It’s a kind of a super-club, having been created in partnership by some of NY’s biggest club promoters, the guys who own Butter among them.
We were out for my friend Ryan’s birthday. Going out with Ryan typically is a good time, because (1) he is always in a group of a few guys and a dozen or more beautiful women, and (2) because of his relationships at these clubs, like 1Oak (which is supposed to be the hardest door in NYC), we rarely if ever pay for a drink. I’d met him a bit earlier at Bagatelle, in the Meatpacking district for a dinner for his birthday with perhaps ten or twelve friends. After some drinks (I didn’t eat but it looked tasty), we stopped by Kiss and Fly (which occupies the old Aer space) next door, having been escorted through the Bagatelle kitchen (Goodfellas Henry Hill style) and through a door that led into the club from the restaurant (next door) to the KNF VIP area. We guzzled some Veuve Clicquot for half an hour, and then were out the door and over to 1OAK. In tow at this point, jammed in a few cabs, were perhaps five guys, maybe ten or fifteen girls, and a huge mammoth of a fellow that turned out to be Michael Olowakandi, former NBA center and number one draft pick. I didn’t let him know that he’d been a bust pick for me in a fantasy league years back. Doubt he would have been interested. Nice guy though.
We met a bunch more people inside 1OAK, and went to a table next to the DJ booth. There was more champagne, more women and some very good spinning going on. It was one thirty when we got these, we didn’t leave til perhaps four fifteen, and after some drama, I didn’t get home til five forty five AM or so. Outside of the enormous Michael O. and a little end of the night fisticuffs (which I helped break-up), the night was pretty standard. The place is nicer looking that many clubs, more interesting design-wise, but like I said, I've pretty much seen it all over the last twenty years or so. But its really all about the crowd, and beautiful russian models sitting on my lap and asking me if I mind. This place did fine with both, so I was OK.
I have to admit I am a little worn out today, and depending on her schedule, I may be meeting a photographer, D, who I’d met last weekend out at Sway, tonight for a drink (she has an opening so it’s a play it by ear thing for tonight). I like her fine, but I think I’d be just peachy to meet up over the weekend instead.
Nice to be back in NY, at least for a bit.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Bare Faced
Been thinking about it for a while, and just did it. Lost the goatee. I've had it for years (either that or a beard). Had a mustache only for a week or so when I'd played a country cop in "Hot Baby" but other than that, its been pretty hairy (sorry).
Feels weird to be bare-faced, but I think I definitely look younger without the mostly-pepper with some salt goatee. For whatever thats worth.
BTW, I am not stoned in this picture. Not a dear in the headlights either.
That Personal Connection
OK. So I am so over Tony Parker.
I realized over the weekend that over the past six months of agony or so, agony which I cannot really write about directly, professional agony which has crept into most every aspect of my life, personal, financial (especially financial), that I’d become boring. A boring blogger. (More boring?)
A blogger friend, Rachel, who likely always has been more entertaining than me in print (is online print?, I digress), because she is a better writer, had posted recently about dating someone who read her blog. When I’d read this, it sent me back to look at my blog, to a period of blogging in Sept-Oct. 2006 when I was dating, briefly, someone who was reading my blog. (You can search "Curly" in this blog and find the string of posts if you're curious - they go from hilarious to awful, especially the comments). I was also reading hers, and it got messy.
But when I was sending Rachel specific details about the perils of this situation, and went back into my own blog to determine the dates of the posts relating to these dangers, I discovered specifically something that I knew unconsciously. I used to be funnier. I used to be more entertaining (Again, online, I won’t say that this fits my in-person persona).
I did some reading, going through past posts. From a year ago, from longer ago. It was more interesting back in the day. I think part of the reason is that I took a little more care with the posts. I also think that to some degree, the posts had a continuity, a storyline that flowed through posts over time. Not every post, but touchstone ideas to which to return as a reader. It was more a story of my life, and less a collection of unconnected crap.
But in that last thought, though, is perhaps the biggest difference, I think. I post movie reviews and obits and other entertainment related tidbits and oddities, but I’d lost more of the personal side of my blogging. It wasn’t about me (not that I am so wonderful and everyone wants to know about me). And I imagine a decent portion of the folks who wander by here wander by because of the contents’ relationship to the movies and the business of which they are a part. That’s fine.
But perhaps why people read blogs like mine, the biggest reason, is it’s a connection. Its not the closest connection, to be sure, but it is one, to people who you can learn something about at a distance. And it’s the personal stuff that draws us. Proof? I’ve always had more regular readers when I blogged about my personal life. Actually, I’ve gotten the very most readers when I’ve blogged about bad things happening in my personal life (I think misery definitely attracts attention).
So, with my previous entry as proof of my intent, I am going to do my best to include more of myself in my blog. And maybe, if I can, to blog a little bit more. We shall see how it works out.
I realized over the weekend that over the past six months of agony or so, agony which I cannot really write about directly, professional agony which has crept into most every aspect of my life, personal, financial (especially financial), that I’d become boring. A boring blogger. (More boring?)
A blogger friend, Rachel, who likely always has been more entertaining than me in print (is online print?, I digress), because she is a better writer, had posted recently about dating someone who read her blog. When I’d read this, it sent me back to look at my blog, to a period of blogging in Sept-Oct. 2006 when I was dating, briefly, someone who was reading my blog. (You can search "Curly" in this blog and find the string of posts if you're curious - they go from hilarious to awful, especially the comments). I was also reading hers, and it got messy.
But when I was sending Rachel specific details about the perils of this situation, and went back into my own blog to determine the dates of the posts relating to these dangers, I discovered specifically something that I knew unconsciously. I used to be funnier. I used to be more entertaining (Again, online, I won’t say that this fits my in-person persona).
I did some reading, going through past posts. From a year ago, from longer ago. It was more interesting back in the day. I think part of the reason is that I took a little more care with the posts. I also think that to some degree, the posts had a continuity, a storyline that flowed through posts over time. Not every post, but touchstone ideas to which to return as a reader. It was more a story of my life, and less a collection of unconnected crap.
But in that last thought, though, is perhaps the biggest difference, I think. I post movie reviews and obits and other entertainment related tidbits and oddities, but I’d lost more of the personal side of my blogging. It wasn’t about me (not that I am so wonderful and everyone wants to know about me). And I imagine a decent portion of the folks who wander by here wander by because of the contents’ relationship to the movies and the business of which they are a part. That’s fine.
But perhaps why people read blogs like mine, the biggest reason, is it’s a connection. Its not the closest connection, to be sure, but it is one, to people who you can learn something about at a distance. And it’s the personal stuff that draws us. Proof? I’ve always had more regular readers when I blogged about my personal life. Actually, I’ve gotten the very most readers when I’ve blogged about bad things happening in my personal life (I think misery definitely attracts attention).
So, with my previous entry as proof of my intent, I am going to do my best to include more of myself in my blog. And maybe, if I can, to blog a little bit more. We shall see how it works out.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
I hate Tony Parker.
I hate Tony Parker.
Unbelievable. I am in a fantasy basketball league (that’s the dorky, perhaps, yet not unbelievable part). I make it all the way to the finals for the first time (I’ve been to the finals multiple times in baseball and football leagues, which are equally dorky- although like ten million Americans play fantasy sports so I am not alone in my dorkiness). And then, I’m beset by unexpected injuries. One player sits out the whole week. And another misses a game, and yet, halfway through this afternoon, Sunday, I am in a great position to win.
And then, Tony Parker. Yes, Eva Longoria’s husband, has an impossibly bad game (at least according to the rules of our league). If he had even had a game halfway decent, half his scoring average, I cement a win first place, bragging rights and an additional four hundred dollars.
On top of that, even so, my opponent is having a somewhat dreadful Sunday himself, and so it comes down to Allen Iverson. I am clinging to a small lead. Iverson is facing one of the worst teams in the NBA, a team his should blow out. Instead, he plays the whole game and as regulation winds up, I still have my lead. But the Nuggets cannot put away the Sonics, and the game ends regulation in a tie. And sports fans, you know what that means? Overtime.
They go to overtime, of course he scores some more, and I’m in second place. No extra 400 (I did win 850 or something like that) – no passing go.
But wait (Live bloggin here), the punishment continues. The first overtime has just ended in a tie, sending the game into double overtime. Now I should point out, a player can actually lose points by missing shots, so that he could end up with less points after second overtime then he had after the first. Right now I am still in second. He’d have to miss a few shots in 2OT and then I’d have a chance. Basically, what wounded me when they tied after the regulation has just wounded my opponent when they were tied after the first OT>
He just missed another one. It’s a virtual tie now. But I know this. I know how its gonna end. Its just a tease. If the game ended right now, its my win, by .25 points. Now realize that this is a two week playoff. And it we’ve both scored 2000 points or so (each). And its down to the end, and a quarter of a single point. In the 24th week of the season. So its that kind of tease.
He’s just missed again. I cannot believe I’d have a chance. This is a loss. It’s a loss until its game over. And now, he’s just missed two free throws. That’s another minus two.
I cannot believe that this could possibly go my way. Down to 1:19 left (unless they end in a tie for the third time). I’m still ahead. Barely. One basket by AI and I’m behind again.
As a good friend of mine says, “Sucks balls.” She means it too. Its gonna suck balls for one of us. Probably me.
Down to 16 seconds now. And it’s a five point game so it looks like this is gonna be it.
Down to 10 seconds now. A missed shot by Denver, Seattle going to the line. And Iverson just scores a layup. See – always fucks you in the end. That last two pointer, unbelievable. I am now behind by .25. Gonna lose on the shitty meaningless two pointer with five seconds left.
This is the worst loss – so much worse having witnessed the whole thing. I should have just turned it off. This was like watching someone taking your fingernails off.
Looks like that’s it. Unless the box scores are revised – Im losing by a fucking quarter of a point.
Like I said, I hate Tony Parker.
Unbelievable. I am in a fantasy basketball league (that’s the dorky, perhaps, yet not unbelievable part). I make it all the way to the finals for the first time (I’ve been to the finals multiple times in baseball and football leagues, which are equally dorky- although like ten million Americans play fantasy sports so I am not alone in my dorkiness). And then, I’m beset by unexpected injuries. One player sits out the whole week. And another misses a game, and yet, halfway through this afternoon, Sunday, I am in a great position to win.
And then, Tony Parker. Yes, Eva Longoria’s husband, has an impossibly bad game (at least according to the rules of our league). If he had even had a game halfway decent, half his scoring average, I cement a win first place, bragging rights and an additional four hundred dollars.
On top of that, even so, my opponent is having a somewhat dreadful Sunday himself, and so it comes down to Allen Iverson. I am clinging to a small lead. Iverson is facing one of the worst teams in the NBA, a team his should blow out. Instead, he plays the whole game and as regulation winds up, I still have my lead. But the Nuggets cannot put away the Sonics, and the game ends regulation in a tie. And sports fans, you know what that means? Overtime.
They go to overtime, of course he scores some more, and I’m in second place. No extra 400 (I did win 850 or something like that) – no passing go.
But wait (Live bloggin here), the punishment continues. The first overtime has just ended in a tie, sending the game into double overtime. Now I should point out, a player can actually lose points by missing shots, so that he could end up with less points after second overtime then he had after the first. Right now I am still in second. He’d have to miss a few shots in 2OT and then I’d have a chance. Basically, what wounded me when they tied after the regulation has just wounded my opponent when they were tied after the first OT>
He just missed another one. It’s a virtual tie now. But I know this. I know how its gonna end. Its just a tease. If the game ended right now, its my win, by .25 points. Now realize that this is a two week playoff. And it we’ve both scored 2000 points or so (each). And its down to the end, and a quarter of a single point. In the 24th week of the season. So its that kind of tease.
He’s just missed again. I cannot believe I’d have a chance. This is a loss. It’s a loss until its game over. And now, he’s just missed two free throws. That’s another minus two.
I cannot believe that this could possibly go my way. Down to 1:19 left (unless they end in a tie for the third time). I’m still ahead. Barely. One basket by AI and I’m behind again.
As a good friend of mine says, “Sucks balls.” She means it too. Its gonna suck balls for one of us. Probably me.
Down to 16 seconds now. And it’s a five point game so it looks like this is gonna be it.
Down to 10 seconds now. A missed shot by Denver, Seattle going to the line. And Iverson just scores a layup. See – always fucks you in the end. That last two pointer, unbelievable. I am now behind by .25. Gonna lose on the shitty meaningless two pointer with five seconds left.
This is the worst loss – so much worse having witnessed the whole thing. I should have just turned it off. This was like watching someone taking your fingernails off.
Looks like that’s it. Unless the box scores are revised – Im losing by a fucking quarter of a point.
Like I said, I hate Tony Parker.
Charlton Heston, 84
Charlton Heston, the square-jawed movie star who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Ben-Hur and was famed for a number of other epic films, died Saturday night at the age of 84. Though an official cause of death was not initially released, the actor had announced in 2002 that he was battling Alzheimer's disease, and had withdrawn from professional appearances after the diagnosis. An actor at first well-known for his portrayal of historical figures -- in addition to his role as Ben-Hur, he also played Michelangelo, El Cid, Moses, and John the Baptist -- Heston's fame later in life was highlighted by his polarizing views on gun control, as the actor was elected president of the National Rifle Association in 1998 and vigorously defended the rights of gun owners throughout the country. Indeed the role of political activist, which he embraced throughout his life, almost overshadowed his impressive acting career, which started in theater and television before graduating to the silver screen.
Born in Evanston, IL, Heston was the son of a mill owner who found his life's ambition in acting and found his first big breaks on the Broadway stage and in the nascent medium of television. He made his debut in the 1950 film noir thriller Dark City, and within two years headlined (alongside established stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde) the 1952 Best Picture Oscar winner, The Greatest Show on Earth, directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Though he continued to work in a number of lower-profile films, including Ruby Gentry and The Naked Jungle, it was DeMille who in 1956 gave the actor one of his most iconic roles, that of Moses in the Biblical epic The Ten Commandments, a sweeping, captivating, over-the-top film that pioneered cinematic special effects with its parting of the Red Sea, and in its depiction of the turbulent political lives and love lives of its stars -- Heston, Yul Brynner as the Pharoah and Anne Baxter as the woman torn between them -- became the quintessential studio epic of its time, favored as much for its close-to-camp emotional broadness as well as its impressive scale. Heston did a 180-degree turnaround from that statuesque role with 1958's Touch of Evil, the Orson Welles thriller that remains a classic to this day in which he played a Mexican narcotics officer drawn into a lurid drug ring. Heston won his Best Actor Oscar in 1959 for another lavish, larger-than-life historical epic, Ben-Hur, which with its famed chariot race and story set against the backdrop of ancient Rome won a record 11 Academy Awards, a feat not equalled until Titanic's similar win in 1997.
After Ben-Hur, Heston's status as a star was firmly cemented, and throughout the 1960s roles in such films as El Cid, 55 Days at Peking, The Greatest Story Ever Told (where he played John the Baptist), The Agony and the Ecstasy (his Michelangelo going up against Rex Harrison's Pope Julius II), and Khartoum followed. He found another legendary screen character in 1968's Planet of the Apes, as an astronaut who finds himself on a futuristic Earth now populated by evolved simians who have enslaved the human race. As with his other roles, Heston perfectly balanced the camp aspects of the story with a gravitas that helped ground the sci-fi thriller with a modern-day resonance that helped audiences identify with the hero's plight. (Heston briefly reprised his role in the sequel Beneath the Planet of the Apes). The 1970s saw the actor again in futuristic roles in The Omega Man (based on the same story as last year's I Am Legend) and Soylent Green, as well as the disaster epics Airport 1975 and Earthquake. Heston's later film career was made up primarily of thrillers (Gray Lady Down, Two-Minute Warning, The Awakening), television appearances (most notably in Dynasty and its spinoff, The Colbys), and cameos in a variety of high-profile films (Wayne's World 2, Tombstone, True Lies, Hamlet, Any Given Sunday, and the remake of Planet of the Apes, among others). By 1978, Heston had received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild; on the down side, he also regrettably won a Razzie award in 2002 for his supporting performances in Cats & Dogs and Town and Country.
Heston's film career often became overshadowed by his political activities. In the 1960s he was an early, vocal and visible participant in the Civil Rights movement; joining Martin Luther King's march on Washington. In the 1980s and onward, as the former president of the Screen Actors Guild and onetime chairman of the American Film Institute he championed conservative causes and campaigned aggressively against gun control, becoming president of the National Rifle Association in 1998 and speaking out against then-President Bill Clinton on the subject. Becoming yet another icon, Heston found himself revered and reviled by supporters on both sides of the issue and became the surprising center of a highly emotional culture war, using his fame to speak out in favor of a number of conservative issues (he changed his political stance from Democrat to Republican in the late 1980s). Using his position as a Time-Warner stock holder he castigated the company for profiting from the sales of an Ice-T album which included the song "Cop Killer," reading the lyrics to the song aloud at a stockholder meeting. His career as gun-control opponent reached an apotheosis with his appearance in 2000 when he vowed that they could take his guns when they pried the weapons "from my cold, dead hands." Later, in Michael Moore's 2002 Oscar-winning Bowling for Columbine, a visibly diminished Heston refused to answer Moore's barrage of questions regarding gun deaths, particularly for the callousness of Heston attending an NRA meeting in Denver shortly after the nearby Columbine school massacres. A year later, Heston received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and he officially disclosed that he was battling Alzheimer's; he consequently withdrew from public life.
Heston is survived by his wife Lydia Clarke, to whom he was married 64 years, and their two children, Fraser Clarke Heston and Holly Heston Rochell.
Born in Evanston, IL, Heston was the son of a mill owner who found his life's ambition in acting and found his first big breaks on the Broadway stage and in the nascent medium of television. He made his debut in the 1950 film noir thriller Dark City, and within two years headlined (alongside established stars Betty Hutton and Cornel Wilde) the 1952 Best Picture Oscar winner, The Greatest Show on Earth, directed by Cecil B. DeMille. Though he continued to work in a number of lower-profile films, including Ruby Gentry and The Naked Jungle, it was DeMille who in 1956 gave the actor one of his most iconic roles, that of Moses in the Biblical epic The Ten Commandments, a sweeping, captivating, over-the-top film that pioneered cinematic special effects with its parting of the Red Sea, and in its depiction of the turbulent political lives and love lives of its stars -- Heston, Yul Brynner as the Pharoah and Anne Baxter as the woman torn between them -- became the quintessential studio epic of its time, favored as much for its close-to-camp emotional broadness as well as its impressive scale. Heston did a 180-degree turnaround from that statuesque role with 1958's Touch of Evil, the Orson Welles thriller that remains a classic to this day in which he played a Mexican narcotics officer drawn into a lurid drug ring. Heston won his Best Actor Oscar in 1959 for another lavish, larger-than-life historical epic, Ben-Hur, which with its famed chariot race and story set against the backdrop of ancient Rome won a record 11 Academy Awards, a feat not equalled until Titanic's similar win in 1997.
After Ben-Hur, Heston's status as a star was firmly cemented, and throughout the 1960s roles in such films as El Cid, 55 Days at Peking, The Greatest Story Ever Told (where he played John the Baptist), The Agony and the Ecstasy (his Michelangelo going up against Rex Harrison's Pope Julius II), and Khartoum followed. He found another legendary screen character in 1968's Planet of the Apes, as an astronaut who finds himself on a futuristic Earth now populated by evolved simians who have enslaved the human race. As with his other roles, Heston perfectly balanced the camp aspects of the story with a gravitas that helped ground the sci-fi thriller with a modern-day resonance that helped audiences identify with the hero's plight. (Heston briefly reprised his role in the sequel Beneath the Planet of the Apes). The 1970s saw the actor again in futuristic roles in The Omega Man (based on the same story as last year's I Am Legend) and Soylent Green, as well as the disaster epics Airport 1975 and Earthquake. Heston's later film career was made up primarily of thrillers (Gray Lady Down, Two-Minute Warning, The Awakening), television appearances (most notably in Dynasty and its spinoff, The Colbys), and cameos in a variety of high-profile films (Wayne's World 2, Tombstone, True Lies, Hamlet, Any Given Sunday, and the remake of Planet of the Apes, among others). By 1978, Heston had received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild; on the down side, he also regrettably won a Razzie award in 2002 for his supporting performances in Cats & Dogs and Town and Country.
Heston's film career often became overshadowed by his political activities. In the 1960s he was an early, vocal and visible participant in the Civil Rights movement; joining Martin Luther King's march on Washington. In the 1980s and onward, as the former president of the Screen Actors Guild and onetime chairman of the American Film Institute he championed conservative causes and campaigned aggressively against gun control, becoming president of the National Rifle Association in 1998 and speaking out against then-President Bill Clinton on the subject. Becoming yet another icon, Heston found himself revered and reviled by supporters on both sides of the issue and became the surprising center of a highly emotional culture war, using his fame to speak out in favor of a number of conservative issues (he changed his political stance from Democrat to Republican in the late 1980s). Using his position as a Time-Warner stock holder he castigated the company for profiting from the sales of an Ice-T album which included the song "Cop Killer," reading the lyrics to the song aloud at a stockholder meeting. His career as gun-control opponent reached an apotheosis with his appearance in 2000 when he vowed that they could take his guns when they pried the weapons "from my cold, dead hands." Later, in Michael Moore's 2002 Oscar-winning Bowling for Columbine, a visibly diminished Heston refused to answer Moore's barrage of questions regarding gun deaths, particularly for the callousness of Heston attending an NRA meeting in Denver shortly after the nearby Columbine school massacres. A year later, Heston received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and he officially disclosed that he was battling Alzheimer's; he consequently withdrew from public life.
Heston is survived by his wife Lydia Clarke, to whom he was married 64 years, and their two children, Fraser Clarke Heston and Holly Heston Rochell.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
I Am Legend
Just a few words.
Many of you have already seen this (584 million worldwide) so I may be preaching to the choir. But I am not writing for those of you who obviously would have been attracted to something like a Will Smith action apocalypse zombie movie. You know who you are.
I am writing to those of you who would never consider seeing a movie like this based on the seven to ten word blurb that is used to market a movie like this in 110 countries around the world.
THIS MOVIE IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS.
What it is, is an intriguing character study of a man's reaction to isolation. What it also is - an amazing performance by a leading man who just seems to get better with age, and like Pursuit of Happyness, one that is not a simple extension of his prior, enjoyable but less impressive work. Will Smith is amazing in this movie, playing a role that you've never seen him play. There are two moments of emotional performance that are just classic (legend?) - I wont mention them so as not to spoil them, and you'll know them when you see them.
There isn't a lot of blood (very little actually), but there is a lot of story telling, and a lot of surprises, and pathos, and emotion.
See it. It really has something for everyone, and is one of few recent blockbusters (Ratatouille, being another) that really deserves that big an audience.
Many of you have already seen this (584 million worldwide) so I may be preaching to the choir. But I am not writing for those of you who obviously would have been attracted to something like a Will Smith action apocalypse zombie movie. You know who you are.
I am writing to those of you who would never consider seeing a movie like this based on the seven to ten word blurb that is used to market a movie like this in 110 countries around the world.
THIS MOVIE IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK IT IS.
What it is, is an intriguing character study of a man's reaction to isolation. What it also is - an amazing performance by a leading man who just seems to get better with age, and like Pursuit of Happyness, one that is not a simple extension of his prior, enjoyable but less impressive work. Will Smith is amazing in this movie, playing a role that you've never seen him play. There are two moments of emotional performance that are just classic (legend?) - I wont mention them so as not to spoil them, and you'll know them when you see them.
There isn't a lot of blood (very little actually), but there is a lot of story telling, and a lot of surprises, and pathos, and emotion.
See it. It really has something for everyone, and is one of few recent blockbusters (Ratatouille, being another) that really deserves that big an audience.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Out For Blood.
No, its not the title of a new movie on which I am working.
Someone stole my wallet at the gym today. I am not in New York, I am in Los Angeles.
I am now an illegal immigrant. I have no wallet. I have no ID. No credit cards. And no cash. Thankfully, I still have my phone and my keys. Otherwise, it would be even worse.
Ive cancelled all my cards. While canceling my AMEX, the operator told me my card had just been used at a gas station. Fucker took it right to the pump to gas up.
I am literally furious. I cannot replace anything I’ve lost from L.A., except my AMEX (which they will send anywhere) and my license (Dave is sending me a duplicate license I had in my apartment in New York). I’ll have to convince someone I know to cash a check for me – for tomorrow, to get through, that’s what is going to have to happen.
Fun stuff, I know.
Grumps.
Someone stole my wallet at the gym today. I am not in New York, I am in Los Angeles.
I am now an illegal immigrant. I have no wallet. I have no ID. No credit cards. And no cash. Thankfully, I still have my phone and my keys. Otherwise, it would be even worse.
Ive cancelled all my cards. While canceling my AMEX, the operator told me my card had just been used at a gas station. Fucker took it right to the pump to gas up.
I am literally furious. I cannot replace anything I’ve lost from L.A., except my AMEX (which they will send anywhere) and my license (Dave is sending me a duplicate license I had in my apartment in New York). I’ll have to convince someone I know to cash a check for me – for tomorrow, to get through, that’s what is going to have to happen.
Fun stuff, I know.
Grumps.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Car
I may have slightly mortgaged my manhood to do this, but at least it wasn't monetarily expensive. Yes, I know its kind of a girly car for a strapping youngish fellow like me, but I am a sucker for convertibles and this thing was a great deal and is in nice condition and looks decent for going to meetings where people judge you by this kind of thing. And it gets 33 miles to the gallon supposedly, which doesn’t’ suck for the environment or for my depleted wallet. And did I mention it was cheap. So if it isn’t the most macho of cars, forgive me. Maybe I am getting in touch with my feminine side. Anyway, when you come to LA I’ll pick you up from the airport in it, we’ll ride around with the top down and you’ll get it.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Where’s he been?
My hard drive died out of nowhere two weeks ago. It took them a week to figure out that the data was totally unrecoverable (ugh) and then it took another week for me to get my computer back with a new hard drive. I have it back, and its somewhat glitchy. I am paranoid now about losing more data, and I am even more paranoid about not having the computer for any further length of time.
Life has been pretty normal the last few weeks, despite the lack of computer. Well, its been normal for not having a computer, which is agony. Agony, I tell you. Agony. Enough (ok).
I am back now. I don’t have much to say right at the moment, but here’s a few snippets.
• Met George Clooney again the other night at the Stone Rose. He and I were both head bobblingly buzzed, and he kept telling me to get home saft. I hope he wasn’t telling me to leave. He was pleasant as he always is. I think he should run for governor.
• I had a weird LA club experience last weekend, which involved me being repeated kissed on the mouth by a young, comely lass whose acquaintance I’d never met. She was going to kiss me on the cheek after I took a picture for her and her friends, and I demurred. After four kisses over a ten minute period, she vanished.
• I’ve joined a gym in LA, and been very good about going. My roommate is a workout fanatic and I’ve been ten days out of twelve or thereabouts since I’ve joined. I’m feeling pretty healthy and mostly sore as a result.
• The hovel improvement works continue to mount, but more is still necessary. I am eagerly awaiting a new bathroom floor to take us out of the nineteenth century (seriously).
• I am also shopping for a car. For those who don’t know, LA is the used car capital of America. What I mean by that (and since I am the one who decided it’s the capital, this meaning is quite important) LA is the best place in the United States to buy a used car. Why? Good question. Because (1) everyone in LA has a car, (2) everyone wants a new car every two years, (3) so there are tons of cars for sale, making it a buyer’s market, and (4) the dry weather means that cars don’t rust, or have many of the other problems associated with wet and cold weather. I am thinking, convertible.
That’s about all for now.
Grumps
Life has been pretty normal the last few weeks, despite the lack of computer. Well, its been normal for not having a computer, which is agony. Agony, I tell you. Agony. Enough (ok).
I am back now. I don’t have much to say right at the moment, but here’s a few snippets.
• Met George Clooney again the other night at the Stone Rose. He and I were both head bobblingly buzzed, and he kept telling me to get home saft. I hope he wasn’t telling me to leave. He was pleasant as he always is. I think he should run for governor.
• I had a weird LA club experience last weekend, which involved me being repeated kissed on the mouth by a young, comely lass whose acquaintance I’d never met. She was going to kiss me on the cheek after I took a picture for her and her friends, and I demurred. After four kisses over a ten minute period, she vanished.
• I’ve joined a gym in LA, and been very good about going. My roommate is a workout fanatic and I’ve been ten days out of twelve or thereabouts since I’ve joined. I’m feeling pretty healthy and mostly sore as a result.
• The hovel improvement works continue to mount, but more is still necessary. I am eagerly awaiting a new bathroom floor to take us out of the nineteenth century (seriously).
• I am also shopping for a car. For those who don’t know, LA is the used car capital of America. What I mean by that (and since I am the one who decided it’s the capital, this meaning is quite important) LA is the best place in the United States to buy a used car. Why? Good question. Because (1) everyone in LA has a car, (2) everyone wants a new car every two years, (3) so there are tons of cars for sale, making it a buyer’s market, and (4) the dry weather means that cars don’t rust, or have many of the other problems associated with wet and cold weather. I am thinking, convertible.
That’s about all for now.
Grumps
Friday, February 22, 2008
Now I Know Why Italians Have Big Kitchens
Trying my best to make lasagna in the hovel. Its not easy. Few pans, no counterspace, no cutting board (um, yeah), no pot covers. Multitasking like hell on every piece of cutlery and pottery. Its in the oven now, we shall see.
Grumps
Grumps
Sex In The City Trailer
At risk of losing my status of card-carrying member of the He Man Woman Hater's Club, I watched the trailer for the Sex and the City movie. And it looks pretty funny. Decent. I'm not holding my breath waiting or anything, so don't get carried away.
And don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean I am going to go see it when it comes out. Its almost definitely a cabler for me. But having had, shall we say, an aversion to the concept when I heard about it being made, I have to reverse field a little bit. I tend not to like TV to Movie movies, and this one sounded a bit like squeezing the last drop out of the lemon. It may be, but I suppose that doesn't by itself make it a bad movie.
Grumps.
And don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean I am going to go see it when it comes out. Its almost definitely a cabler for me. But having had, shall we say, an aversion to the concept when I heard about it being made, I have to reverse field a little bit. I tend not to like TV to Movie movies, and this one sounded a bit like squeezing the last drop out of the lemon. It may be, but I suppose that doesn't by itself make it a bad movie.
Grumps.
Friday, February 15, 2008
"My Brother" at the 2008 Image Awards
We won.
No we didn’t. But hey, at least we were nominated. John Sayles’ Honeydripper, which I haven’t seen, won the Best Indie Film Award. I am totally cool with losing to John Sayles.
The Awards were fun, and long. We did the red carpet (myself, and the four main cast members other than Vanessa). Did a few interviews, like Extra. Don’t know if they’ll be anywhere online.
Night before, at the party, got to hang with Vanessa for a while and catch up. She stayed for a while, usually she makes an appearance and she’s gone.
At the Awards themselves, the crowd was pretty stacked : Denzel (won twice), Vanessa (won), America Ferrara (won), Tyler Perry, bunches of famous folks. And the honorees were Stevie Wonder, who performed, Aretha Franklin and Ruby Dee. Quite cool.
But by the afterparty, I was a little tired of being in the Tux. I stayed for an hour or two at the Beverly Hills Hilton (which was quite a drive from the Shrine Auditorium which is way south and east of Beverly Hills).
Anyway, I am parablogging, which means that this is perfunctory and not a great post. Sorry bout that. Here's a pic of Christopher Scott and I from the afterparty.
No we didn’t. But hey, at least we were nominated. John Sayles’ Honeydripper, which I haven’t seen, won the Best Indie Film Award. I am totally cool with losing to John Sayles.
The Awards were fun, and long. We did the red carpet (myself, and the four main cast members other than Vanessa). Did a few interviews, like Extra. Don’t know if they’ll be anywhere online.
Night before, at the party, got to hang with Vanessa for a while and catch up. She stayed for a while, usually she makes an appearance and she’s gone.
At the Awards themselves, the crowd was pretty stacked : Denzel (won twice), Vanessa (won), America Ferrara (won), Tyler Perry, bunches of famous folks. And the honorees were Stevie Wonder, who performed, Aretha Franklin and Ruby Dee. Quite cool.
But by the afterparty, I was a little tired of being in the Tux. I stayed for an hour or two at the Beverly Hills Hilton (which was quite a drive from the Shrine Auditorium which is way south and east of Beverly Hills).
Anyway, I am parablogging, which means that this is perfunctory and not a great post. Sorry bout that. Here's a pic of Christopher Scott and I from the afterparty.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
It comes out on my birthday!
I spent much of my youth watching Indiana Jones movies, or waiting for Indiana Jones movies to come out. From the first of the movies, my closest childhood friend, David Brandewiede and I would ditch school when these movies came out (also for some others, like Gremlins, I remember ditching). We'd gather whatever money we had to buy tickets and head to Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City to see the opening day matinee. It was tradition, and there was very little discussion about which movies deserved us to ditch. We were very much on the same page (or, er, frame...of mind) on that, and there was no doubt, the Indiana Jones movies were at the top of the list. Raiders was 1981, and Temple of Doom was 1984. These years were primely influential in my wanting to be a storyteller, a filmmaker.
Watching this trailer, I got a euphoric excitement that felt like childhood again. Glee, I'd call it. The Last Crusade came out in 1989. Its been almost 20 years, but it looks like they've still got it.
Watching this trailer, I got a euphoric excitement that felt like childhood again. Glee, I'd call it. The Last Crusade came out in 1989. Its been almost 20 years, but it looks like they've still got it.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
The Great (and Grumpy Fave) Roy Scheider, RIP 11/10/32-2/10/08
They dont come any cooler. From Jaws to TFC to Fosse to Marathon Man. He will certainly be missed. And remembered.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Image Awards Brunch
Heading to the NAACP Image Awards Nominee’s Brunch to accept the nomination on behalf of “My Brother.” Seems weird that Tony Lover isn’t here, but I guess that I’ll be an acceptable subsitute.
This sets off a whole week of Image Awards stuff, the pre-gala, the Awards show, and the gala itself. Should be fun. I have my suit on today, got a tux for the Awards show (even though our category’s awards, Best Indie Film, isn’t part of the televised show on Fox, grump grump.)
Smell ya later.
Greg
This sets off a whole week of Image Awards stuff, the pre-gala, the Awards show, and the gala itself. Should be fun. I have my suit on today, got a tux for the Awards show (even though our category’s awards, Best Indie Film, isn’t part of the televised show on Fox, grump grump.)
Smell ya later.
Greg
Friday, February 08, 2008
Back in LA
Yes, I’ve left New York again on a one way ticket. I came yesterday morning, took some god-awful 6AM flight. The flight was super-bumpy, but I had some valium or something similar, so I was entirely freaking out despite the fact that it felt like the plane was literally skidding sideways across the sky at moments (mostly over Colorado). Scott D. and I grabbed the same flight. Got to my place in Hollywood, and then took a nap for a few hours, woke up, ran to the grocery store to stock up a bit on essentials. I took a few calls on various projects on which I am working, dealt with some work drama (since I have no personal life, I have little, if any, personal drama), and got to bed early.
Still jet-lagged, I woke at about 6:45, with the clear feeling that I would be sleeping no later (I am a late sleeper, and 9:30 is not out of the question on a regular night). Still, waking up in the chilly bungalow in LA early in the quiet AM wasn’t so bad. I finished two long neglected screenplays, did some other catchup, and its not quite ten AM. Had a little breakfast, and I’ll be jumping into the shower shortly to get ready for a meeting with Jonathan Shestack’s company (Airforce One, Dan In Real Life) about yet another project we’ve been putting together with those folks.
While the hovel has improved with some nice wine-colored paint since I went to NY in early January, courtesy of bungalow-mate Mike, it still needs more work. The paint job definitely helps though, and I got upgraded with a fancy car rental even though I paid for a compact. So things are OK. I am more pleased with being back than I thought I would be.
Lets see where the day takes me – gonna be a busy one.
Grumps.
Still jet-lagged, I woke at about 6:45, with the clear feeling that I would be sleeping no later (I am a late sleeper, and 9:30 is not out of the question on a regular night). Still, waking up in the chilly bungalow in LA early in the quiet AM wasn’t so bad. I finished two long neglected screenplays, did some other catchup, and its not quite ten AM. Had a little breakfast, and I’ll be jumping into the shower shortly to get ready for a meeting with Jonathan Shestack’s company (Airforce One, Dan In Real Life) about yet another project we’ve been putting together with those folks.
While the hovel has improved with some nice wine-colored paint since I went to NY in early January, courtesy of bungalow-mate Mike, it still needs more work. The paint job definitely helps though, and I got upgraded with a fancy car rental even though I paid for a compact. So things are OK. I am more pleased with being back than I thought I would be.
Lets see where the day takes me – gonna be a busy one.
Grumps.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Tellmehowitends
Gotta love it. How can you not. Rachel, ok, maybe you didnt love it, cambridge dweller that you are.
The streets are full of revellers. They are loud and happy and less rowdy than you might expect.
Woo hoo. Its over, the NY GIANTS are SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS.
Not at all grumpy.
The streets are full of revellers. They are loud and happy and less rowdy than you might expect.
Woo hoo. Its over, the NY GIANTS are SUPERBOWL CHAMPIONS.
Not at all grumpy.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Role Models
First, can I start by saying, this being sick stuff is really more boring than anything else. Thankfully, I’ve found a role model, one I can study while on the recline.
OK, so he isn’t a real role model. He’s a character on television. Hank Moody, played by David Duchovny. Yes, so he isn’t a real person.
The show is Californication. Its about a New York writer who moved to Venice California. He is a confirmed bachelor with some intimacy issues. He hasn’t quite figured out the whole L.A. thing, or the whole relationship thing. But he’s got an artist inside, and he’s got love in his heart.
Maybe he’s not so much a role model. Maybe he’s an imaginary twin – he might just be a step or two up the ladder. Maybe, actually, down the ladder. I don’t know, on the ladder. Its close.
And its very entertaining.
OK, so he isn’t a real role model. He’s a character on television. Hank Moody, played by David Duchovny. Yes, so he isn’t a real person.
The show is Californication. Its about a New York writer who moved to Venice California. He is a confirmed bachelor with some intimacy issues. He hasn’t quite figured out the whole L.A. thing, or the whole relationship thing. But he’s got an artist inside, and he’s got love in his heart.
Maybe he’s not so much a role model. Maybe he’s an imaginary twin – he might just be a step or two up the ladder. Maybe, actually, down the ladder. I don’t know, on the ladder. Its close.
And its very entertaining.
Sickly Grumpy
Im sthcick. Yes, with the fever. The flu. Its going around
Two nights ago, I thought I’d avoided it entirely. I was chipper. I even cleaned, ugh, the bathroom. I had a lot of energy. I was positively spritely.
But yesterday was a different story. Achy, then dizzy, then achy and dizzy. I stayed in bed for much of the day, little appetite. My appetite returned by late evening, which I hope was a sign that I was feeling better.
In addition, the last two nights, bad dreams. Some nasty 9/11 dreams mixed in with dreams where I think I’ve woken up and I am seeing things that I don’t expect to see. Then I really wake up and realize that my roommate wasn’t fucking some random girl on my couch in the common area of our apartment. It wasn’t much like him to do that, anyway.
I woke this morning feeling a little bit better. The cough, the congestion, is a little bit better, but the dizziness and weakness and general malaise is gone. I feel better overall and I’d gladly trade a dizziness for a cough anytime.
Hopefully by tonight I’ll be back in the saddle and off the wagon. I’m heading back to LA next week, and I’d like to make the most of New York. It would help to be ambulatory.
Grumps
Two nights ago, I thought I’d avoided it entirely. I was chipper. I even cleaned, ugh, the bathroom. I had a lot of energy. I was positively spritely.
But yesterday was a different story. Achy, then dizzy, then achy and dizzy. I stayed in bed for much of the day, little appetite. My appetite returned by late evening, which I hope was a sign that I was feeling better.
In addition, the last two nights, bad dreams. Some nasty 9/11 dreams mixed in with dreams where I think I’ve woken up and I am seeing things that I don’t expect to see. Then I really wake up and realize that my roommate wasn’t fucking some random girl on my couch in the common area of our apartment. It wasn’t much like him to do that, anyway.
I woke this morning feeling a little bit better. The cough, the congestion, is a little bit better, but the dizziness and weakness and general malaise is gone. I feel better overall and I’d gladly trade a dizziness for a cough anytime.
Hopefully by tonight I’ll be back in the saddle and off the wagon. I’m heading back to LA next week, and I’d like to make the most of New York. It would help to be ambulatory.
Grumps
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