MAC at Random

Turner Classic Film Fest '011 (and, how to survive travel to LA)

2011-05-03T15:47:00.000-07:00

I'm doing this entry as a sort of traveler's companion, because, you know, everyone's doing that now. And because maybe I can offer advice to you East Coasters who may be needing to make a pilgrimage to LA for the first time - by learning from my painful ordeal.

But let's talk about the Festival. Cannot fault the movies at all. What is there to criticize about Citizen Kane and Taxi Driver restored on the classic Grauman's Chinese Theater? Not to mention La Dolce Vita in the cheesy Mann's multiplex with Grauman-esque "Chinese font" decor everywhere? Absolutely nothing. I was unable to attend Roger Corman's Q and A for Little Shop Of Horrors because I arrived late, e.g. less than four hours to get from LAX to my motel in Van Nuys and then Hollywood on a Friday afternoon. This scared me off of seeing Fantasia on Sunday, assuming it would run too late, and of course traffic isn't nearly that bad then. But I was told that it would be. Thanks a lot, cute girl from San Francisco! That would have been a special experience, no doubt.
The seminar by Kevin Brownlow would have been interesting, but admission required a $225 MINIMUM pass - these passes give you priority admission to all shows and to special speakers and seminars. And I did try to see Cabin In The Sky, but the disorganization of the festival was apparent at this point. The very simple act of selling tickets to a movie is apparently confusing to some of these volunteers (NOT all - the staff at the Citizen Kane screening were great). I particularly liked how we were ordered at one point to reverse the line we were standing in. You read that correctly. At least they were polite, with the exception of one guy in the multiplex - fine, must have been a long night. The opening night concert by Vince Giordano was cute, but better accompanied by a date equally schooled in swing dance...
Basically, I can't make a recommendation one way or the other. There's lots of good to this festival and a whole lotta bad. The Boulevard is a horrible gaudy money sucking tourist trap, like Times Square on crack (as were many of the people wandering around). But the show itself is delightful. I don't know, check your wallet and your sincere love for the movie greats, and try it!

Speaking of checking your wallets, here's where I offer my experiences of coast to coast travel:
First, you gotta get to the airport. This is sort of self-aggrandizing, but I work with a website called www.airportparkingreservations.com, where you can save a bundle on parking at any major airport. If you're suburban like me and you need to take the train to the city, be advised I am not aware of any discounts for commuter parking and it's a ripoff long term. Best to call a cab (but account for LOTS of time for them to arrive). As for packing, if you're bringing electronic devices, bring a charger, dummy. (Oh, I can't be the only one that's happened to.) And bring warm clothes for the night - no, I didn't know about that.
Make sure your case is big enough to carry on board! If you don't know, keep a satchel for your important papers, or you'll look like a loser carrying your stuff in your hands. Speaking of which, don't put your boarding pass in that bin they push through the scanner - that annoys the security guards. (Maybe recent developments will allow TSA to loosen up a little? Maybe?) If you have to fly coach, fly coach. Just not redeye. My Airtran midnight flight back was sheer torture - I mean, do they design those seats to be uncomfortable because they hate the "cheapskates" in the back rows? The bathroom was filthy and the attendants hung out in the back chatting LOUDLY as I was clearly rolled up trying to SLEEP, after ignoring my request for water and NOT pretzels. BUT, the Airtran connector out of Milwaukee was a "business coach" flight - the seating was comfortable and the staff seemed together enough. Could this have to do with when the flight was taking off? Some customers are more valued than others?
And when staying in LA, don't get the cheap room. (That would be $50 a night.) As I type this, I'm still getting over a hard cough I picked up from what must be a hot sheets hotel - the kind where they don't change your towels or discolored sheets until you check out. This was in Van Nuys - if you want to party in Hollywood and take a cab you'll get robbed. Point is, spend $75 and get a clean room with service on the same planet as where you're going to be. LA is HUGE, and you do need a rental car. Simple enough - I paid $30 for the entire weekend via Hotwire and got a beautiful Nissan with amazing gas mileage, which again, you need.
There's lots of great food in LA - a real foodie paradise. My favorite breakfast was at the Farmer's Market, where I managed to arouse my burned out spirits with fruit smoothies and a croissant. But if you like to eat it they got it (but get your parking validated!!!), including an outrageously cool hot sauce joint called Light My Fire. Friend them on Facebook! Last time I was in LA I ate at the Pantry downtown which is more of a traditional "greasy spoon" diner, but the French toast was heavenly. There's also a wonderful donut shop in Westwood. I didn't get a chance to try Roscoe's which I hear is good.
After breakfast there's Filipino and Mexican joints around Vermont and Sunset, Thai places everywhere, and the legendary In 'N Out. I've been accused of having an immature sense of humor, but come on - am I the only person giggling over the fact that a bunch of Christian conservatives opened a burger joint and called it In 'N Out? Anyway, they took the proselytizing and scripture off the burger wrappers and stuff, and their "double trouble" - er, sorry, Double-Double is a messy monstrosity and I loved it. And the service is shockingly good - a kid standing outside taking orders instead of a vast touchscreen? That is exemplary service. Maybe these kids when the they graduate should consider careers in the travel industry. Just a thought.
Westwood and Little Ethiopia are full of cute little snack shops, and Venice is the place to go for organic tea shops and pretentious snacks. Again, I couldn't find Two Boots on time (did I mention how big LA is?)
I'd like to provide a safety warning - my last meal there almost killed me. Literally. ETA This was four days ago - I STILL have cramping and am very sick (I don't want to draw a picture...let's see, "When you're sliding into third, and you gotta squeeze a - ") Plus I had a fever, which could be attributed to the hotel room or sleep deprivation too. This would be painful at home, but combined with the rigors of traveling for 17 hours? That is a nightmare, and if it happens to you call 213-240-7821 and file a complaint. We are trying to pinpoint the exact location of where it happened at this time.
Sorry about the downbeat ending - that's just what happened to me. LA is an extreme place - the richest power players, the most dangerous neighborhoods, the wildest night life and the most diverse low culture. Whatever your indulgence is, it will do more than feed it, it will jam it into your face until you yell "basta"! If you can handle it, have a good time!

If religion is an opiate...

2011-03-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

...then literature is like cannabis. A novel (or for that matter, a great movie or play) is a thick spliff that sends you into the realm of imagination, totally and completely, for a couple hours at a time. It opens the portals, man, and it sends you back to reality just a little bit different. A great story is like a great joint.
An online game is like a crack pipe. Why do you think they call it "World of War-crack"? Would it's fans be "World of War-crackheads"? I'm not militantly against video games - some of them do stimulate the memory and teach online skills - but I've seen things in the online game world lately that has disturbed me a lot, things I can't talk about here. Video games and porn are mostly designed to make you a little bit dumber and less socially competent and able to think critically or question the world around you. It's designed to reduce you to a helpless consumer wanting only more stimulation and more product. It's not a coincidence video games and porn are being scrutinized by addiction treatment professionals in greater numbers and their users are forced to seek help because of the damage to their lives these activities cause. Just like crack.
There's no ulterior motive to this post, I just thought it needed be said.

What Iron Chef can teach us about writing

2011-02-14T20:19:00.001-08:00

(Disclaimer: I wrote the below before interest from LA started to manifest itself, so forgive the negative tone in some spots. It's how we all feel at some point, so I'm not editing it for now.)

I've been thinking about my own conflicts of writing daring artistic endeavors vs. writing silly popcorn ventures that will make me rich. It's something every artist fights over internally at one point in their life, despite how overconfident young writers are acting nowadays. Studying the craft is a key point, and some compare it to being a "doctor" in that you have to study the craft etc. etc., which is ridiculous. No one will die from reading your sorry excuse for a screenplay. They may wish they were dead, but I have a more accurate simile.
A gourmet chef.
Now, being a big fat lardass, I have a fascination with shows like Iron Chef, No Reservations, and the like (I draw the line at Gordon Ramsey, BTW). They're rule breakers and lovemakers, they're artists who defy the expectations of what you think a meal should be and they demand only the best in life as a result.
Well, before they get that far, they have to learn how to boil pasta or rice. They have to know how to bake bread. They have to either go to school for 4 years and study or get menial work in the kitchen. They have to wash dishes, cut potatoes and take out the garbage for years and years regardless until they get a lucky break and can claim a stove of their own. All to endure long hours, ALL nights and weekends, standing in a sweltering hot boiler room of brutish manly yelling and bullying in the name of "bonding" or "improving your craft". So that one day, they can make a business deal to get their own place cooking food their way, in a sweltering hot room with no windows until they're too old to cook anymore. Which is a decision to be made for them, of course, against their will.
At least as a writer, I get to sit down. But the choices are clear - either keep banging my head against the spec market wall until I fall down, because I've already crossed the "too old and fat to sell" line, or go broke filming the damn thing myself and showing it to pretentious dweebs at film festivals. There's also the reading option, dispensing useless advice to the young scribes who haven't learned how to prepare the proverbial sandwich, for money.
But like a dishwasher who has great ideas for how to reboot his favorite Cajun dishes, we are driven to keep trying whenever we imagine how much joy you're going to bring to the crowds who fill up your hole in the wall in NYC or LA one day. How they're going to remember your weird but enlightened spirit. How tasty your work is!

Grading The Movies, 2010 Edition

2010-12-26T14:53:00.001-08:00

Let's get down to grading these papers - everything I actually got to see on a big screen (some via a Blu-Ray projector, which will have to count from now on) in order of my preference, with scholastic grading applied. There's still a few days between Boxing Day and New Year's Day to see True Grit and a couple other movies that are playing so this stands a chance of getting revised over the course of the week. So this list will go up at DVDTalk and OKCupid when that happens, and I welcome any twitter followers as well!

MOVIE OF THE YEAR: Inception
HONORABLE MENTION: Nine (2009)
RUNNER UP(S): The Millenium Trilogy (Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Girl Who Played With Fire, Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest)

Machete
Shutter Island (2009)
Micmacs
Harry Brown
Black Swan
Red
Never Let Me Go
Ou Est La Main
Sherlock Holmes
Inside Job
Life During Wartime
The American
The Tempest
City Of Your Final Destination
The Agony And The Ecstasy Of Phil Spector
The Ghost Writer
The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus
L'empreinte De L'ange
Date Night
Catfish
Iron Man 2
Tron: Legacy
George A. Romero's Survival Of The Dead
Countdown To Zero
Avatar (2009)
Salt
City Island
The Expendables
The Lovely Bones
Freakonomics
Legion
Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland
The Room (an eternal Turkey)

BEST REVIVALS AND RESTORATIONS
Metropolis
Steve Shelley's Archives (Pink Floyd specifically)
The Third Man
Kid With The Golden Arm
Dirty Money
The Godfather
Dario Argento's Deep Red
Election
The Brood
Superfly
The Crazies (George Romero 1973 original)

What do you think?

The 2010 Short Oscars: Animated!

2010-02-22T21:19:00.000-08:00

I got to see the Animated nominees a little earlier than I thought I would. As usual, fantastic storytelling and a wide palette ranging from nasty humor to dark melodrama is here. The 3D thing has almost completely overtaken the program, and good old fashioned cell animation or even Flash is seeming almost a thing of nostalgia these days. The blazing exception, and hands down my favorite, is "Logorama", a dizzying nightmare in rotoscope told entirely in corporate logos and mascots. Yes, you read that right. An urban nightmare and apocalyptic specter is rendered using a homicidal Ronald McDonald, lecherous Pringles characters, and the fall of planet Pepsi. Of course this is France's entry, as an American animator would be hung up by his packaging for making a movie like this, and it's our loss. I haven't seen animation this nasty and subversive since the coke damaged 80s era of "Ren And Stimpy" or "Jack Mac and Rad Boy", which is saying something.
On a completely different tip is the latest from Wallace And Gromit representing Britain in "A Matter Of Loaf And Death", involving true love for Wallace and Gromit too amidst a murder spree affecting bakers like our heroes. Even funnier is Spain's "The Lady And The Reaper", which turns a little old lady's acceptance of death into a Tex Avery-esque battle between the Grim Reaper and a vain surgeon. There are many other entries in the current program scoring Noteworthy status - whatever that means - including Canada's "Runaway", about a runaway train and the nebbish assistant driver who tries desperately to save the day. It's the other 2D entry and it's a beaut, simply drawn and full of great sight gags.

So that's both programs. Watch them online right now!
BTW Anyone want to explain why shorts are not shown before movies anymore but commercials are?

Short Subject Oscars 2010

2010-02-21T15:30:00.000-08:00

This week is the Live Action subjects, and for those who saw last year's nominees, I can wholeheartedly say this year offers a vastly improved quintet of pieces. Hard to pick a winner out of this bunch, but for me it would be "The New Tenants". The one recognizable face is Vincent D'Onofrio, as a cuckolded husband and one of the many characters that pass through a gay couple's door in one fateful sequence of events. Sure it could be a one act play, but I'll take it on film too. I very much loved "Instead Of Abracadabra" as well, a hilarious story of a struggling magician trying to impress a girl, his conservative parents and local audiences at the same time. Very reminiscent of Wes Anderson in it's celebration of nerdy achievement and it's unremittingly cheerful outlook.
I'll be back soon with the Animated Program! ETA Watch all the shorts right now!

Ranking the Movies of 2009

2010-01-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again. Well, last year the time never occurred for personal reasons, so this year I'm back with a vengeance. A big shout out to any visitors from dvdtalk.com, and also to my tweet and Facebook followers, and friends from sites like Absolute Write. Welcome to my hole in the virtual wall.
As always, this is only theatrical films, ranked as I feel they should be. 2008 movies get a * marking. Drum roll and raise your pints, folks...

MOVIE OF THE YEAR: Moon
HONORABLE MENTION: Gran Torino (from 2008, but certainly at the top of either year's list)
SILVER: The Men Who Stare At Goats
BRONZE: A Serious Man
The Brothers Bloom
The Road
Inglorious Basterds
Broken Embraces
Soul Power
* The Dark Knight IMAX Experience
Let The Right One In
Gomorrah
The Hurt Locker
The Fantastic Mr Fox
Cold Souls
Watchmen
In The Loop
Food, Inc.
Angels And Demons
Nine (Tim Burton produced animation, will see the musical in 2010)
Antichrist
* The Wrestler
Tetro
Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans
A Perfect Getaway
Star Trek
Zombieland
2012
TURKEY OF THE YEAR: The Informant! / The Girlfriend Experience (Special mention tie. Steven Soderbergh, get with the program!)
DISHONORABLE MENTION: Frank Miller's The Spirit (another 2008 entry, but deserving of special warning to the curious)

And here are special events and revivals deserving of special praise or infamy. Support your local movie theater!

Mishima (with Paul Schrader)
El Topo (remastered and original Spanish with subtitles)
Near Dark
Monty Python's Life Of Brian
The Oscar Shorts Live Action and Animated
Alien
Jaws
All That Jazz
Todd Haynes' Safe
The Big Lebowski (with costume contest)
Barbarella
From Beyond (with screenwriter Dennis Paoli)
Piranha

And don't forget the Brooklyn Film Festival and Focus on French Cinema in Westchester, just a couple of great festivals that are coming back this year. And the greatest website of them all, netflix.com (Best Video of Hamden is pretty good, too ;) )

Hope next year is just as good!

Burnin' Down The Country Club

2009-09-24T20:36:00.000-07:00

(Finally, a long essay! Something more than a tweet or bulletin board post can do justice to. Enjoy or endure as you will.)

Imagine climbing a mountain. Steep, cold, harsh, just you and the elements. One little mistake, one weakness in any part of your body or mind, and it's all over for you. But you climb the mountain because you need to, because you love to. And finally you reach the mountaintop, to find...
Another mountain.
Steeper, harsher, and now flanked by militia nuts who wish you harm.

Welcome to a professional artist's world.
In my main field, script writing, new writers are under fire. More so than normal, if such a thing is possible. Terry Rossio advises young artists to "Throw In The Towel"*. Josh Olson declares that "I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script", and Harlan Ellison eagerly echoes the sentiment in rhyme.
I think writers are in need of a little love right now.
I've been covering amateur scripts with my internship and reading and critiquing the same for over 6 years now. I'm up to about 100 a year, two or three a week. (A professional can cover two or more a DAY. But no one is paying me, and I have a life, kinda.) And I'll let you in on a little secret.
They're not all that bad.
There's a dozen or so in recent memory that made me want to hit the writers for making me look at that garbage. There's also three or so a year that overjoy me, that make me wish I was an agent and I could force someone into giving them a big bag of money to film the movie. Legalities prevent me from telling you all about them here, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
The rest are in the middle. The authors can spell and understand how humans talk. The story is energetic, has good flow, involves emotionally in some way. The script, in a word, is good. Good is worthless in Hollywood. Good won't get you a cab ride in LA, or anywhere else. There are simply too many good or really good scripts out there, which is why we have development executives and story analysts and paid readers to dig through them for treasure.
But what of the great, the fantastic, the inspiring? They've always had a tough ride to the top, but is the hate for the untried author turning into a lynch mob of sorts?
Don't misunderstand, the hunt for work is challenging. It builds emotional strength, and it proves one is willing to work hard in this profession. But has a good defense turned into an aggressive offense? Call me paranoid, but are the hard working and imaginative getting swept up in the witch hunt along with the drunks, posers and starstruck teens that have always comprised amateur hour? What a tragic thing that would be. A tragedy of epic proportions.
Or let's look at it a little more cynically: where will the fresh meat come from now? Hollywood has had one of the worst years since...ever. What can you say about a year when the #1 movie is about big toys? And it's getting worse. How badly do you want to see what's opening this weekend?
If there's something that does catch your eye, I bet it has to do with the idea. The poster, the trailer: these are the parades heralding that magic thing in Hollywood, the thing called The Good Idea. Accompanying it are snappy lines that make you laugh, or a riddle that makes you think, or a depraved threat that makes you lose sleep when you think about it. This is what we do. Everyone thinks they can do it, so everyone tries. And as any Hollywood reader, development exec or story analyst will tell you, everyone fails.
Well, almost everyone. The recording industry was only as good as the songs on the top 10, and the movie industry is only as good as the movies in octoplexes this weekend. And the blockbuster movies all start with one special ingredient.
They start with a great script.

Let's go back to the mountain - you've made it up the mountain beyond the other mountain, eluded the commandoes and not fallen to a painful death. Now there at the mountaintop, surrounded by nothing but sky, is a beautiful club house full of elegantly dressed people. They look up from their strong stylish drinks to look at you, and they point.
And laugh. They're laughing at you. And they point down, as if to say hope you enjoyed the climb, now go back to Idaho where you belong. Meet the new country club, same as the old country club.
Maybe burning down this club is a harsh idea. Better to build our own clubhouse. Or screw the clubhouses, just create a new Hollywood, as one kid on a internet BBS suggested. Our own studios without red tape and marketing firms, just artists with common sense and uncommon talent. It's how it all started. It can happen again.

*I cannot post a direct link because when links to same and credited quotes came up on a website bulletin board I frequent, the author threatened to have the admins sued and ARRESTED if all quotes and links were not immediately deleted. Gee, who'd a thunk promoting your publicly viewable website is a bad thing? What country is this again?

By popular demand

2009-05-25T13:56:00.001-07:00

Where I work.

My blog is back up

2009-02-27T11:37:00.000-08:00

I updated my main page with an improved CSS look and for some reason lost the current link. Sorry about that, if you noticed.
On a related note, I may have reached an impasse with any delusions of being a professional programmer I might have harbored. At least my script reading career is doing well, as far as an internship can be considered a career.

A Freakonomics fan on the upcoming Depression

2009-01-04T09:29:00.001-08:00

I've been hoping to come up with the perfect essay on what the impending economic crash really means for all of us, but for now this guy has pretty much summed it up. From a website you should visit every weekend.

And here's another thought provoking link, for those with more robust internet connections. Harvard Professor Elizabeth Warren on why we can save as much as we want, but the cost of essentials - mortgage, taxes, transportation - are what hold us back. Keep in mind this is a 2007 speech.

and While in LA

2008-11-17T21:55:00.000-08:00

I've posted about the beautiful art of this woman before. Well, she's sharing a space called thinkSpace at 4210 Santa Monica Blvd. in groovy Silverlake, CA. It's an excellent little gallery and a great show. Recommended!

Selling Out: Postlude

2008-11-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

It is now over, and I'm back in CT recuperating from jet lag. NEVER fly a redeye coach, for any reason.
The last hellish hours of my journey aside, I admit some pleasurable experiences this weekend: Saturday night at the Figueroa Hotel, by a turquoise lit jacuzzi and pool (no swimsuit, alas) under a bright open sky with cactuses and afrobeat music all around. This is a happy place indeed. (Just a look, above.)
(In the interest of fairness, I stayed at a lovely vintage hotel called the Mayfair on 7th Street. A very nice room and staff. I'm just emphasizing that the Figureoa is something special.)
Do I love LA? Kinda. Sure it's horribly polluted, and vastly indifferent. And everyone there is so annoyingly pretty. But there's lots to love too, and lots of opportunity for a visitor with a plan and some common sense. This is truly the Wild West: untamed, savage, stunningly beautiful and ugly at once. The meanest of mean streets, the trendiest of trendy, the sleaziest of sleazy. Like the little city within driving distance called Las Vegas, it's all about extremes.
I've learned a bit about travel, though. Going carless in LA is a very bad time. The Metro is ineffective and hard to navigate; the cabs are overpriced and clueless. Sad, but true. And did I mention never to fly coach?
Oh yeah, and I learned that selling me and my work is a good thing after all. I fully intend to do it a lot from now on, wherever I am, and wherever I go next.

Enough jet lagged ranting. Now here are photos:
(Blogger layout is idiotic. Just click the links for a closeup.)

View from my hotel, north:

And West

Lunch in Little Tokyo was Saturday. Look for this pagoda:

Found this Buddhist temple on a sidestreet:

And, dude! Palm trees downtown!

Selling Out: Interlude

2008-11-15T15:37:00.000-08:00

Oh man I'm tired. Day 2 and pitch sessions are heating up. It is now dusk in the crater of the LA Convention Center, and the air is a lovely shade of orange smoke.
There were classes yesterday from Syd Field, Dave Trottier and others, plus a reading by Richard Price from the upcoming "Lush Life" and his hilarious observations on the writer's life. I met some great people at the Millenium Biltmore reception, and experienced wild times on Hollywood & Vine after hours.
A fantasy camp after all? Maybe. But for those who want to taste the script writer's life, it's essential. Will I return next time? No way. Once in boot camp is enough.
But wait, there's more. Tune in Monday-ish (after all, it's California).

(EDIT: indeed, that was smoke and not smog. Condolences to all the residents of Orange County left homeless by the wildfires this week.)

Selling Out: Prelude

2008-11-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I attended the Final Draft Take a Meeting script pitch 'fest' in NYC. How it will fare as a networking event time will tell, but this novice author came away with vastly improved confidence in his ability to sell his screenplays.
Next stop: LA. I'm writing my first mobile post, at White Plains airport waiting for the call to board. My worry though, is that I have invested financially and my soul as well, in a Fantasy Camp for movie auteur wannabes. Baseball and rock music nerds have theirs, why not us?
I hope I'm wrong.

PS Photos will come up when I get home. Can't upload on a Sidekick. Yet...

Undecision Time!

2008-11-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it's now hours away, and I have to say my peace before the whole dreadful mess comes to a close.
It's been close, and I have been awed by the performance of both candidates - to the point where at certain times, I really was undecided. Undecided? Me?
Yeah, as a former Nader voter and disgruntled but proud American, it's obvious who I'm voting for tomorrow. But I still harbor some respect for McCain, and hope for a Congress and/or Senate that will carry out his fight against bureaucracy and bloat in government. That is their job, more so than the President.
As much as I dislike McCain's mentors, his racist fans and his anti-choice rhetoric, that's not why I've been asked to vote tomorrow.

Ah, voting - that time of year when people who can't balance a checkbook are asked to decide which total stranger is best qualified to oversee the finances of the world's most powerful nation. I can't afford a condo and I have to decide whose financial vision is more plausible? Are they kidding? This is worse than when I pulled jury duty.
Luckily Obama led the debate on China and Saudi Arabia, the two countries giving us the most unfriendly rivalry at this time. This is what the president does, not write checks for everyone. He (sorry, Hillary) maintains our security and our rights. First and foremost.
Are you more secure and more confident of your rights today than you were 8 years ago?
And having answered that, are you confident your candidate will improve your lot in these areas?
Go vote.

GEEKEND '08

2008-10-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

Did you attend the WFMU record fair? How about the Chiller Theater 2008 Expo? I hope you had a better time than I did...

Slamdance Semi-Finals

2008-10-09T19:58:00.000-07:00

Hi this blog is not dead. Well, I didn't make the Top 50 but I sure did make the top 350+ out of many thousands of entries, and that must mean I did something right.
Coming soon: The Horror Competition!!
In November: pitch fests in NYC and LA!

My Flash Portfolio v 3.01

2008-10-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Now with a more interactive and fun kind of face, although the two highlighted pieces - my casino game, and my personal wealth calculator (this may be more universally useful than I had imagined) - may still be buggy. I invite you to play, twiddle, break them and let me know how you did it.

Moondance 2008 Semi Finals

2008-07-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

I'm very happy that the Moondance '08 competition nominated The Propeller as a semi-finalist. It also got a Blue Star at Trigger Street - that's an old draft that bears little resemblance to the script as it is today.
I'm traveling to LA in November for the Screenwriters' Expo, with the intent to sell my scripts (and see the Wild West again), so if there are veterans of the Expo or Angelenos out there reading this, don't be shy!

My Flash Portfolio

2008-05-15T19:14:00.001-07:00

I've completely overhauled my Flash website. It has five clips nested in an interface which took about 12 and 1/2 hours to create in MX. (Not all at once, as Steven Wright observed.)
UPDATE July 08: I've added a new SWF, a calculator designed to show off my OOP programming. What I would like is for this to load the final page into your spreadsheet, so a user can do a week to week budget of what they save. (Ideally this would be available to Paypal donors ;) but we'll have to see the reaction first.) I also want to add more options for week to week budgeting. This is just a work in progress, as it always is. As for the main menu, I fixed some of the weirdness on the different layers. I don't want to overhaul the whole thing again but I do want the page to have a more active look.
I hope you enjoy my hand-drawn style of animation, because this is just the beginning.

Beverly Hills Film Festival 2008

2008-04-13T08:47:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned that I'm a finalist!? The fest has been running all week, and tonight is the awards ceremony, including honors for writers. I entered on a very old draft of The Bloody Duchess, which has no chance in hell of winning and plus I can't afford the outrageous airfare to LA right now.
If any other entrants followed this link from the online exchange, firstly, welcome to my blog! And congratulations to us for placing, and especially to whoever gets the grand prize. Options and nice weather is what I wish for everyone!
UPDATE: Congratulations to the top 3 winners! The director estimated over 500 scripts were entered, and 69 were chosen as finalists. The top 14th percentile isn't too bad, is it?

Almost An Evening, by Ethan Coen

2008-04-06T19:44:00.001-07:00

Hot off winning an Oscar (finally!) along with directing brother Joel for "No Country For Old Men", Ethan Coen hits the mean floorboards of Greenwich Village with a trilogy of plays, now running at the Bleecker Street Theater. And his Beckett influence jumps to the forefront here, although there's still room for his signature slapstick and jaundiced eye.
F. Murray Abraham, who's got an Oscar himself, is the most recognized name in the cast, and (with Lebowski-esque hair, natch) plays God, literally - and then plays playing God. He also delivers a f-bomb laced monologue that had me and the whole theater rolling. Carlin himself would be proud. The whole cast, eight actors playing over twenty roles, is aces. The other leads are Tim Hopper as a shady Briton who has a crisis of character, and Joey Slotnick as a man who can't get out of his doctor's waiting room. Enjoy!
Tickets are readily available, or you can make a reservation and get a cool personalized ticket package at www.broadwayoffers.com. And the requisite link: www.almostanevening.com Maybe one day we'll see that fourth play?

Remembering The Wire

2008-03-29T22:52:00.000-07:00

Five seasons, 60 episodes, and at least a dozen distinct storylines later, the grungy, truthful, uncannily real series is retired from HBO. It just gave me a reason to pay for cable, and I hope carved a path for more shows that will redefine their genres the way The Wire redefined the police drama.
One interesting aspect is the way it not only illuminated the world the detectives and their quarry, the druglords, create and inhabit, but it also illuminates other professions: dockworker, teacher, newspaper writer and editor, coach, priest. Compare this with the insulting two dimensional portrayal created by a lesser TV writer for, say, CSI. They may have read a little about someone like Cutty the boxing coach, or the Sobotka family of the Baltimore Stevedores union, or Gus the overly ambitious cub reporter. They may have read about a Detective Jim McNulty too, or Omar The Terrible (the only openly gay gangster I've ever seen, and a character for whom the word 'sissy' is quite inappropriate), or Stringer Bell. This show, however, is written by people who were these people, or neighbors or best friends or even family of these people. And David Simon and Ed Burns, leading a crew of superb writers (including star novelists like Dennis Lehane and Richard Price) were in a rare position to not have anything held back in telling their stories.
Not to mention the cast. Clarke Peters as The black Sherlock Holmes, Lester Freamon. John Doman as the cruel and conniving Major, then Deputy Commissioner Rawls. Wendell Pierce as the dapper Bunk. There's a whole lot of characters here, a guide to which can be found here: http://www.hbo.com/thewire/orgchart And lots of changes are made in the finale "30", which may feel disappointing but is entirely appropriate to what the show means. The Wire is about the world, and specifically urban America, the way it really is: good guys don't triumph, underdogs don't win, and power doesn't ever fail. It's not pretty or heartwarming, but it's true.

2007 Schoolin' at the Movies

2007-12-28T18:43:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlepeoples, lock up your scotch and talk to your daughters-it's the 2007 year at the movies, through my entirely opinionated view. Away we go:
MOVIE OF THE YEAR: No Country for Old Men
RUNNER UP(S-a tie!): Eastern Promises, Inland Empire
A: Black Gold
A: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
A-: The Lives of Others
A-: Grindhouse (Theatrical Presentation)
A-: The Darjeeling Limited
B+: Michael Clayton
B: Planet Terror (Grindhouse Feature)
B-: A Sidewalk Astronomer
B-: Plagues and Pleasures of the Salton Sea
B-: Rescue Dawn
B-: Hot Fuzz

C+: Paris, Je T'Aime
C+: The Simpsons: Movie
C+: Sicko
C: Sunshine
C: 28 Weeks Later
C-: Evan Almighty
C-: Death Proof (Grindhouse Feature)
DUNCE CAP: Pan's Labyrinth
COOL REVIVALS: The Big Lebowski, Planet of the Apes, Duck Soup, Jaws, Psycho, Mafioso, The Birds

Links going up at DVDTalk.com and highlighted at TriggersTreet.com, right away! A year where even the stinker of the year, wasn't horrible, is a good year.
Maybe my standards, and need to compete, are waning in my middle age.

Screenplay Updates

2007-12-22T18:36:00.000-08:00

I've posted about my script The Prodigal Son before. The current draft will only be up on TriggerStreet a few more weeks, at which point an entirely new draft with a better title (and logline) will replace it. Even better, my 3rd fully drafted feature, The Propeller, is doing considerably better in the review department on TrigSt. Maybe I should just stick to heist comedies and leave the horror stuff to more capable hands?

Next week is the last week of the year, and you know what that means. Also, next guy who comes up to me singing about Chestnuts Roasting and magical snowmen gets a poke in the eye. Friends, you've been warned.

The Theft Of Imagination

2007-11-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

The leader of the Meetup group I participate in, David Negrin has written and produced a wonderful play about the soul of negotiation and the possibilities of peace. There's still time to catch it's run in NYC -- well off-Broadway and not subject to the strike -- on the historic MacDougal St. Players Theater. Go here for info about the troupe and a link to buy tickets.
In related news, Trigger Street now posts plays - awesome!

Back in Business

2007-11-05T11:50:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted for awhile, but I have two things to mention. It must be the icy weather that motivates me.
On the music tip, my new solo guitar demo for 2008 is ready for pressing. Well, you know, burning in iTunes and handing out at cafes and restaurants, but still...request it and see if I've got the stuff to liven up a weeknight at your cafe (or dress up your movie/video/etc.) I still have rock demos here.
On the writing tip, my first feature screenplay, The Prodigal Son is a semi-finalist at the Script Shark Insider contest. Wish me luck! My second screenplay is No Prince Charming, and I've finished a full length draft. Like it matters now that the Writers Union is striking, but the point is I finished it. BTW let's all show our support for a better residual and a quick end to the strike!
And here are some sites where I post in lieu of a blog post here:
The Dilbert Guy
My screenplays
I know this site says not to, but sometimes being an asshole is the only way to be noticed in this crazy world.

does life begin at 90?

2007-08-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

Maybe you've heard the story of the world's toughest 95 Year Old. Well, meet the world's smartest living 91 Year Old. The movie is "The Sidewalk Astronomer" and his spirit for science and the infinite was made manifest at a screening and Q 'n A in Stamford's Avon Theatre tonight. Still brimming with wit and streams of intense consciousness, Mr John Dobson discussed evolution, Mars, the power of curiosity and the future of man with equal energy and fire. If he comes to your town, do check it out.
Will we get to be that old and wise? My preconceptions of why anyone would want to live that long are a little shaken now.
The medical industry may or may not be on our side on this one. It's not like we don't want to stay young forever-more likely, we want to stay hot and attractive forever, but really living the life we have while we're here? As opposed to a life where religion and big business take turns controlling you and everything you do or think, like yours.
I don't know, but I'm going for some of that magic Raisin Bran from Trader Joe's soon....

1 Sheets, Polish Style

2007-07-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

What an incredible gallery! I particularly like the Spielberg (his "big hair 80s" fluff films) series-the rough hand-drawn, surreal and vexing images lend absolutely no credence to the silly comedies they are advertising. Learn more and buy here.
More art links to be added later since it's too hot to blog today.

Ingmar Bergman remembered

2007-07-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

I can't tell the stories about how I discovered Bergman's work because I can't make this about me. We've lost a one of a kind mind of theater, film and storytelling in general. He is missed already.

A day at my job

2007-07-26T20:24:00.000-07:00

These would be funny if they weren't all true. Plus, Inquiring minds want to know: am I an asshole?
A real post will be up as soon as I can write one.

3 year reform for schools

2007-06-17T08:55:00.000-07:00

Here's an article from the Fairfield Weekly, who's been on a roll lately with the good articles! What happened? I guess navel-gazing and Socialist rants only sells so much advertising. Anyway-
It's been a catalyst for one of my favorite stupid theories. As a graduate of 4 year and 2 year schools, I'd say the more useful classes were at the 2 year. Of course the 4 year school was film school, which it hurts to say is a waste of money and youthful energy. But as the economy gradually worsens, does it make sense that colleges will eventually embrace the 2 year plan? I think 2 year degrees will become more common and gain needed status to start young careers, simply out of common usage. Parents of the right now working class, simply will not be able to afford 4 years of a name brand college in 10 to 20 years. What will be left?

1. Children of the very rich. Imagine the Olsen twins operating on your brain tumor, or Paris Hilton devising an economic strategy to create American jobs. As if they would even bother attending college. This is proliferated by "legacy admissions": Just because you're a doctor, doesn't automatically mean your son is smart enough to be one.
2. Scholarship kids who struggle to get that next A so they can stay in school.

For the latter set but for all geniuses, the last year of high school and the first year of college will be interchangeable to the point where both will take about 3 years average. Across the board, we'll realize that kids aren't learning in schools, so get 'em out and into the workforce that much faster because the economy needs all the help it can get.
If you're a student, wouldn't you like to be a grad at age 19? Face it, you'll be washed up in the job sector by 50, so that's two years on your track record. Of course, med school and other very difficult scientific trades would still be 4 years. And grad school will always remain for the societally challenged.
And to sweeten the deal, we should lower the drinking age to 18. Enough pretending it does anything but spur the "kegger" mentality and breed the alcoholics of tomorrow. An 18 year old can enlist, fight and kill and die for this country, make babies and work to support babies and children, but s/he can't have a beer in public? Let's face it, one thing about entering the workforce teaches you: after a hard day's work, I need a drink.
This man became a lawyer in two weeks.
Read this blog for related brilliance!

Summer Fest Pics, Part 1

2007-06-12T17:56:00.000-07:00

Here's some shots from the beautiful campus of St. Anthony's in Bridgeport Upper West Side, outside La Mama, where a gala Italian fest went down this weekend. I admit, as a fallen Catholic, I have to take pride in our sculpture (and our cappuccino!)

I left out the debris which indicates that this arcane maze is quite the place to party after hours, or something :) I'll have my usual sniping about religion in another post, but let us simply enjoy what is good that has come of it.

BTW what is that on the left?

Awesome Animated Clips

2007-05-29T22:26:00.000-07:00

back to Pink Tentacle for these clips. Animators happen to be from Japan, proving the scene there is more than generic metal robots and vague-to-overt sexism. Reminiscent of Todd McFarland's amazing video for Pearl Jam's "Do The Evolution" with a hip-hop beat and sketchpad raw flow.

The College Smoke and Mirrors

2007-05-05T23:15:00.000-07:00

I've been off for awhile, now I'm back.
This is irony and hilarity at it's most sublime, as reported by one of journalism's finest. Read her column every week, please.
I can attest to this; I've graduated twice from college and I can't afford my own home. Bill Gates didn't bother to graduate (from Harvard, but the point remains). Your skills at cultivating wealth is like charisma or common sense: no school can or will teach it. You got it or you don't, and the only way to learn it is on these mean streets.

PS Anyone else go to Tribeca Film Fest this year? Helloooo?

three artists

2007-04-08T22:50:00.000-07:00

Is it not too late to catch this show? I am lame for not hawking it earlier.
In a similar vein, this wood artist has a gigantic online portfolio that is stunning, on all conceivable levels. I particularly like the blurbs, reprinted where else? where she recounts being pressured away from her unique voice by who else-her art school professors.
And finally, these rides won't get you laid in America - hell I think they could get you arrested in some areas, or savagely beaten in others. But what wouldn't anymore? I think they're beautiful and I don't really love cars. From a cool Japanophile website I'll be visiting a lot. Referred by who else?!

Slowpoke stands up for the Script Writers!

2007-03-24T23:32:00.000-07:00

My Current Wallpaper out where the Wind Blows - sorry, I'm born to Geek! Follow the link to a great political cartoon website!
To be fair, regarding the corresponding blog jibes : the script geniuses behind the blockbusters / network shows lampooned in this one command millions-well, hundreds of thousands at least, for their work. And even writers at the arthouse or direct to DVD levels, i.e. the bottom make-well, more than I saw all of '06, according to my 1040EZ forms. Still, it does appear mediocre to horrible work pays better than good or great work, which is wrong, people.

Alternative Emblems for your Ride

2007-03-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

Every ride should have one. Buy one before the RedShirts ban them.
(RedNeck + Brownshirt = RedShirt)

Drunk Irishmen on Crack

2007-03-18T11:21:00.000-07:00

We're overdue for a funny post here. When you're in Stamford, CT and you feel 'blagh', the place to go is Tigin's downtown. It's got cold pints, nonstop European rock and the best bangers & mash! And it's conveniently across the street from the Avon Theatre.
They also have the funniest placemats I've seen - currently a dissection of what is apparently a real Gaelic word, 'craic'-a coverall phrase for life and enjoyment thereof, e.g. joie de vivre, dolce vita, l'chaim, mahalo etc. What's funny about that is 'craic' is pronounced with a hard k-'CRACK'. Mixing this Gaelic pronunciation with the English examples is, well, interesting. The quoted passages are honestly and truly as they appear on the mat, as snapshot memory serves-
"Tigin's - get CRAIC here!" Like it's the only place in Stamford to get good Crack-er sorry, CRAIC.
"Avoid the embarrassment of improperly using your CRAIC when out with your friends." I wonder if the "Manners" lady from the "Bullshit" show, starring Penn & Teller covers that in her class.
"Use CRAIC liberally." WTF? Hey kids, it's fun!
"And when they ask you the next morning if you had a good time at Tigin's last night, let 'em guess and just say, "It was good CRAIC"." Yeah, that'll wake 'em up at the next team building seminar.

PS Happy Birthday to my sister, Stephanie on St Pat's Day!

UPDATES: My web, My writer's groups

2007-03-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

The eMail info for my website has been updated. If you have tried to use my old eMail info, I know - I'm the worlds worst admin. It's OK now.
The Alien From Avenue C is on the internets HERE. I've been working with other writers for a very long time now, in a kind of support group thing as we all go for the gold and try to make work that is meaningful and moving to other people. You must be a member to view. I'm also a member here, NYC group.
UPDATE: And my horror feature, The Prodigal Son, is up on Meetup! Again, you MUST be a member and it is recommended you be a screenwriter or relevant industry person/artist to join. Other links will be available soon for everyone to see.

Another essay about Your Favorite Celebrity

2007-03-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, my blog is falling on hard times when I'm posting about this stuff. First Anna Nicole, and now... but I admit this weirded me out. This follows stories of Britney Spears wandering Miami, asking total strangers to "be her friend" - indicating a near-lethal blending of Ecstasy and tequila shots - and then trying to check into a hotel with only a half-scrawled credit card number to pay. Proving it matters not, having all the money in the world when you CAN'T FIND IT. Maybe Prince Ngembe of Nigeria can help her in securing an American bank account to funnel her money from - er, nevermind.
And now THIS. It reminded me of the underground horror fave "My Sweet Satan", where the protagonist enacts just this sort of horror. (It's out of print on DVD but you can contact the filmmaker here.) HOW? HOW does this happen? How does one transform from Britney Spears to THAT GUY?
And why do we care? What is so creepy about this? I guess it has a personal dimension as I've known and even been good friends with women who've been as bad off mentally (and without the deep pockets for only the best rehab centers that Ms Spears has), and it's hard to watch. Is it the Satanic aspects? Frankly, I know Satanists and they're good kids, with jobs and families and stuff. As much as your rational brain understands it's all lies and superstition, the fear is imbedded in your heart and these sounds and images conjure a chill that weakens you. As a movie writer and fan, I know Fear is not something you can control! Is it the blogging jackals from the industry, online now trying to convince us the story was just made up? Like when Kurt Cobain was just suffering from narcolepsy. How many thousands do the entertainment industry protect from prison and mental institutions every year? I always wonder.
I guess the only upside of this story is, Britney's next album is gonna be AMAZING. It will truly rock, If there is one. Seriously! Could this be her drop-acid-on-the-Love-Train-to-India moment? Her Sandbox in the living room? Yes, I'm referring to revered artists who were called bubblegum, and teenybopper, and "children's records" and worse in their salad days. You can huff self-righteously all you want, but get ready for Britney 2.0. Produced by Rick Rubin.
"For those of you who seek the reality behind Hollywood's most cherished characters...You probably shouldn't." - Berke Breathed

Wanna Buy a Screenplay?

2007-03-04T22:52:00.000-08:00

My receipt for Copyrights and for the WGA registry safely in hand, I proudly offer you my pitches for The complete first drafts (first two of many, many) of my two feature screenplays, No Prince Charming and The Prodigal Son.

No Prince Charming (breakup / midlife crisis drama)
LOGLINE: What would you do if you were attracted to an executive at your company? You would assume she doesn't need someone like you in your life. Are you sure?
Our hero is an aging bachelor with a high pressure, if outwardly dull, job. His fascination is a dotcom multimillionaire who owns the company he works for-together with her husband, with whom she appears to have a wonderful life and family. But he's deep in a merger that's about to go sour, and she's cheating on him with the gardener. When a bitter divorce eventually breaks out, she finds herself alone, downtown-and about to become good friends with the last person she'd spend a dinner date with....

The Prodigal Son (romantic horror)
LOGLINE: A vampire sets her sights on a unlikely prey: a streetwise prison parolee and addict.
Link is back on the street after 25 years in prison for dealing drugs, working a parole-enforced job in a convenience store, trying to stay straight and failing miserably. Lurking behind him is a British girl in the city, attending private school where she hides an evil secret appetite. Late at night, he gives in to his base desires, where she makes her presence known. She even visits him at his crap job, avoiding the vampire hunter in town looking for the legendary Bloody Lolita, and inviting him into her nocturnal world with the promise of salvation from his hopeless existence.

I also have a half hour sci-fi comedy called The Alien From Avenue C. This would be great for sci-fi TV, preferably cable due to adult language and themes, as they say:
LOGLINE: A UFO lands on a low-income apartment in NYC, and wreaks havoc and enlightenment on the residents.
When a UFO lands on a low income apartment in NYC, a trio of young girls take him in-to the delighted surprise of their father, an alien lore aficionado who's from another world-Africa-himself. It also attracts the attention of some local drug dealers, known as the Spritual Specialists, as well as a lady downstairs who is about to murder her husband.

Please eMail me with any questions or if you'd like to read. I'll be in a writing contest near you and on triggerstreet.com, moviebytes.com or sites like it, as well as working with other writing peers before I start shopping for a production deal. I'm very happy about this, and I'm looking forward to busting into the writing and film business once and for all.

my Values is bigger than Your Values

2007-03-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

Oh Theistic Deity I can't take it anymore. A full year and a half to the elections and the viciousness seems to be peaking. Blogger won't let me post the full essay because it's too LONG, so I'm linking to my webpage here.

What I'm doing tonight in NYC

2007-02-26T22:33:00.000-08:00

NuYorican Poets Cafe
The Zinc Bar
The Stone, NYC
I guess this place will have to wait until next year, or until I'm well off enough to do downtown more than once a year.

Vermont in Winter - some observations

2007-02-09T07:45:00.000-08:00

Another pit stop to make is in Brattleboro, a hippie radical/bomb throwing anarchist enclave which sports according to Fox News, the most dangerous newspaper in America. Read it online. Gee, you get good coupons in the inserts there....and commentary is pretty broad and balanced. Hey I almost like Bill O'Reilly, but does he define dangerous as anyone who specifically disagrees with him?
Sadly it was where I learned the passing of one of his rivals, a funny and spiritedly honest commentator from Texas named Molly Ivins. She sadly wasn't the famous chick from Texas who died this week, but for some of us, her style and humor will be missed.
On that related note - oh admit it guys, this makes you sad. It even makes this guy sad.

Vermont in Winter - my photos

2007-02-08T23:22:00.000-08:00

Dont worry, it's only six shots:
1. Both coming and going, the greatest pit stop in New England is Northampton, MA. This shot you can kinda make out the Haymarket Cafe, who used to be a radical bookstore but still make pseudo-Oriental dishes, juices and lattes that are ungodly.

2 and 3. Now at Sugarbush - some slalom racers testing their mettle on the fast Hotshot slope, these dudes are too fast for my camera.

4 and 5. Some shots of the slopes and birch forests. Be advised the forest is FOR SKIING! They call it the Deeper Sleeper, and to those who have braved it well....what can I say except ARE YOU ^&%$in CRAZY?!

Yes folks this is the trail. Wow.
6. And when you need a break from the deadly silence of rural wintery Vermont, you'll need Burlington. Here's the main strip in downtown, a beautiful view up (too bad none of these shots capture the SIX degree cold, which explains the lack of traffic on the street) This is where the first Ben and Jerry's still stands dudes and dudettes, and hippie radicalism of the type which Fox News can't stop raging against runs rampant. I'll write more about that tomorrow.

A mild foot injury sadly curtailed my plans for Mad River Glen this year, and pre-condo purchase poverty is limiting my local travels among other things. But I'll be back soon, maybe not next year but I will ski it IF I CAN. Yah!

Esquire Dubious Acheivements for 06

2007-01-30T19:12:00.000-08:00

If you're at a newsstand (or reading at your local Borders) you need this. I'm no regular Esquire reader, though its obviuos to those who know me that I really should be. But every year the White Man's Guide to Pimpin' puts out the funniest year end recap of all, the Dubious Acheivements issue. This year, "reality" comes clean, the State of the Union's Racism, and an odorless poison insert (no, not the perfume ads-good guess though). Oh, and the "how to get laid" articles are good too. Enjoy!
Next week - a long vacation post.
PS Now made on a Mac - can'tcha tell?

Oscar blahg time

2007-01-28T10:42:00.000-08:00

My weird Oscar theory: it has to do with the old saw about "selling your soul", assuming such a thing exists, to get what you want in life-like an Oscar. Is it just a coincidence Oscar is shaped like a little person? Maybe it's how these people get their souls back. Shrunken, embalmed in pure gold, but a soul nonetheless. That would explain all the crying. Now how Jack Nicholson got three of them I don't know, but hey, it's only a theory.
Ribbing aside, it's looking to be a good contest this year. The good: go Forrest and Penelope! And Scorsese too! The bad: why do people like "Pan's Labyrinth"? Special FX prize, fine, but Best Foreign Film? Personally, it gets my prize for Fastest I ever walked out on a film I paid for. Full price - well, it's Norwalk's only art house, so...
And for ugly, this years Screwed by Oscar list: Darwin's Nightmare for best Doc, and Who Killed the Electric Car? or Street Fight for fifth Nominee (you know, the one with no chance of winning that we love anyway). V for Vendetta, not one tech award? Thank You For Smoking, starting with Sam Elliott or Lee Tergesen for supporting acting. And how about A Scanner Darkly for Animated Feature? Consider that. And enjoy.

Winter is on!

2007-01-20T22:25:00.000-08:00

Just a quick one commemorating January 18th, the first snowfall of winter. In SOUTH CONNECTICUT. I know we all hate winter, although some of us see some value in it - and the frozen midwest has had winter enough the last few weeks.
Of course, global warming is just a ploy for a political party to garner support. Mmm hmm. Nothing to worry about, folks. Just ask those people in that island off of India, who are riding rafts out their front doors, as some islands in the Pacific may be doing in the future. The links off of Yahoo! are gone at this time. I didn't know American voters lived in places like that....

Is it January 7th yet?

2007-01-02T21:53:00.000-08:00

PRELUDE: First of all, welcome to the new Blog, created as a necessary searchable blog per blogger.com. New visitors can click here for my old, busted, HTML stitched blog I will miss quite a lot.

So anyway, I hope everyone was successful in avoiding Christmas as I did (a nice safe topic to start my new blog on, LOL). With the exception of my family's visit and some year end parties, I found it necessary to avoid it all as much as possible this year. No Christmas songs, no shopping spree (no credit cards to spree with), no Santa worship. I didn't even watch "It's a Wonderful Life", being old enough to remember those seasons when basic cable was young and IAWL was still public domain-and the movie would be on as many as five channels at any time of the day or night. Actually, with expanded premium cable they do that with "Scarface" now. Or whatever movie Stacy Keach was in last week.

My point, I think, is I'm sick of it. Much has been made of this feeling by the media, particularly by dogmatic religious talking heads who sound a little desperate to stuff pews. I don't believe in God, but if Jesus in fact had some magic ability to not have been dead for the last 2000 years-and if he were to look at the annual nonsense we perpetrate in his name, would he be thrilled? Would he be proud? Or would he start to have the same queasy feeling about birthdays that I do (a topic to be visited next fall, ykwim)?

So I just revel in the annual family reunion, the appreciation of being cared about and caring about someone unconditionally, and of course-feasting! What's a little heartburn among friends?