Trailers

Shark Tale looks pretty funny.  I'm seeing it just for Scorsese, to be honest.

Saw looks fucked up, but not as fucked up as I'd heard.  I'll skip it.

Ray looks like it boasts a fucking killer performance by Jamie Foxx.  But ten'll get you twenty that the movie is too long and tries to fit too much in.  Why do biopics always do this?  Can someone name me five really great biopics?  I don't think I can name even two or three.  The only one that comes to mind is The Pride of the Yankees, and I think that falls prey to exactly what I'm talking about here.

Criminal looks like it's an exact remake of the Fabián Belinsky film Nine Queens (Nueve Reinas).  WHY?  Nueve Reinas is an awesome con film.  One of the best ever.  And it's not even old... maybe four years.  Why remake this?  Sure, it boasts John C. Reilly and Diego Luna, but really.  This film seems so unnecessary.

Go rent Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens) if you haven't seen it.  It's great.

REVIEW: A Home at the End of the World

A Home at the End of the World is an amazing book.  I have recommended it to several people.  It helped me to understand my mother in new and amazing ways and it has some wonderful, beautiful stuff in it.  It's really wonderful.

The movie, however, is crap, quite honestly.  I don't know who this Michael Mayer is who they decided had the ability to direct this film, but it's an utter mess.  I have no idea what that movie was about.  Aside from playing fast and loose with the book in silly, unnecessary ways, the movie has no substance.  It doesn't say anything.  It doesn't have any money scenes.  It doesn't get under your skin in any way.  It's dumb.  It's basically a sort-of "best hits" of the novel.  It's so the opposite of how The Hours turned out.  Maybe it's because the novelist, Michael Cunningham, wrote the screenplay.  He's a phenomenal novelist, and I hope he doesn't write another screenplay for a long time.  I'd love to read another of his novels and I don't think I ever want to see another one of his films.  He just doesn't know how to write for the movies.  If they ever butcher the film version of Flesh & Blood, I might picket the studio that does it. 

I loved this book, and the movie is so bad.

Colin Farrell is great, though.  I should say that.  And Robin Wright Penn is perfection in this part.  If the movie were better, I'd say she had a shot at a Supporting Actress nom in January, but the movie is so bad, there is just no way.  A shame.

I did yoga this morning for the first time since, like, March.  It felt really good.  Why don't I do this more often?

Oh yeah, because I'm fucking lazy.

Baltimore!

Hairspray was fucking fantabulous.  And that isn't even a word.  Madison and I went.  I wore my new orange shirt, jeans, and my white Madden Rreplays (I swear that's what they're called).  The leads were both straight from the Broadway cast.  Bruce Vilanch was only passable as Mrs. Turnblad.  He's really funny, of course, as a comedian, and they let him do some schtick about the governor and Shaq, but the man can't really sing and you can forget about dancing.  He can't even lift his leg six inches off the ground. 

But the show is fucking amazing.  It's oh so cheesy and camp and ridiculous and (thankfully) it's very John Waters.  In fact, I rarely see audiences in Los Angeles respond to shows the way they responded to this one tonight.  The audience clapped at everything.  They were eating it up!  Standing ovation and dancing in the seats.  Seriously.  I was in shock, but I felt it too.  The show is a definite crowd-pleaser.  It's really wonderful. 

Morning morning in the air

I WANT A NEW JOB.

It's actually OK today.  Steve has decided to stay home and work on tax returns, so he prolly won't be in until 1:00p or so.

I called my mother this morning to ask her a question.  She small-talked me for a minute or so and then said she had to go.  "Really?" I asked.  "Yeah, the copier guy is here."  "OK, well, call me at work later, would you?"  I still had a question to ask her.  I did call for a reason.  "Probably not," she said.  "Fine."  I said and hung up.  My mom is so fricking weird.  Nowhere as weird as Matt Jones's dad, but pretty weird.

Tonight I'm going to Hairspray with Madison.  I hope it doesn't suck.

On NPR they're talking about Mars and craters and shit.  Snore.  I swear to god, KPCC has two daily shows.  Two hours en la mañana with Larry Mantle and one hour en la tarde with Kitty Felde, and both of them are boring as shit.  I listen to NPR the rest of the day: Day to Day at 9:00, Fresh Air at 1:00, Marketplace at 3:00, and All Things Considered at 3:30, but during the local programming I have to listen to music or I'll fall asleep.

HP4 News.

Oscar-nominated Ralph Fiennes has won the highly sought-after role as Harry Potter's nemesis Lord Voldemort in the fourth film in the blockbuster series. The Schindler's List actor will play the evil wizard - who has never been seen before, but whose spirit is visible in the first three movies - in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The film, directed by Four Weddings and a Funeral's Mike Newell, sees the return of Daniel Radcliffe as Potter, alongside mainstays Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is set to be released in November 2005

I'm not the blueprint for all of your B-films

I wanna sock someone. I once told Wahima I never got the urge to hit anyone.  Today I have it.  I have no idea what that's about.  But seeing The Manchurian Candidate has done nothing to curb this weird free-fall feeling I have today.  I want to hurt someone.  The life I am living right now is sometimes not the one I want to live.  I feel so unhappy with myself sometimes.  The way I live.  Why do I have to be so lazy?  Why must I put so many things off?  Why do I still do things I don't want to do? 

So much has been expected of me for so long.  There were so many dreams that other people had... and there was my dream... of living a life out of a magazine: hardwood floors, metal coffee tables, occasionally shallow take-charge friends, lemon drops.  Well that's only one of my dreams.

Dry was a literary Requiem for a Dream.

The Manchurian Candidate was a fairly good movie.  But it was a remake.  The original is still better.  Meryl Streep was fabulous.  Her work felt new and original and masterful.  But it was a remake.  The original had brilliant, witty dialogue.  Not this movie.  This movie was chilling and gross and got under my skin like an implant, like Demme's Silence of the Lambs, and it made me squirm like Marathon Man did.  But I felt like I'd seen it before... and I had.  There's nothing new in this movie except Meryl Streep and some good direction.

I'm gonna wake up and do yoga.  I've got to do something.  I'm going stir-crazy.  Too bad I'm not gonna be able to sleep.

$60

Sometimes I can be such a goddamn fucking drama queen.  I finished Dry by Augusten Burroughs today and it seriously fucked me up.

My boss is a fucking asshole.  "I meant to ask you if you wanted more hours since Nancy is on vacation to pick up the slack [but now there is only one more day left in the week so the chance has come and gone.  Oops.]"  Am I supposed to think he's generous because he thought of giving me more hours but then didn't?  Anyway, more hours mean nothing: well, no, that's not true: they could mean an extra fifty to sixty bucks.  Who cares about fifty to sixty bucks extra.  It's not going to change what I want to change, which is my state of mind.  I wanna quit feeling like I can't afford anything.  Sixty bucks won't fix that: only a new job will.

 

Because it has a fucking H in it.

Tonight: The Manchurian Candidate.

I hate when I call someone and they don't call me back: oh never mind who it is.

Work has been quiet today.  After I was a complete bitch to Steve yesterday things seem fine today.  Whatever.  I still hate him.

Today Ruth from next door brought me the most fragrant bouquet of basil.  It's making the office smell so lovely!

Play Ball!

I went to a softball game last night... in Chino Hills. Zack was playing and Lisa was going to watch. Julie promised to go so Lisa wouldn't have to go by herself, and when I talked to Julie and we were planning to hang out, she suggested that Jaime and I come along to the game and then we could go to get coffee afterwards. First off, Chino Hills is far away, and I got to thinking about how Julie never wants to come toward me to hang out, but I have to let that go or I'll just be bitter. So I let it go. I got to this baseball field (Big League Dreams, it's called) in 35 minutes.

It was kinda cool. There are four games going on at once, and each softball game lasts one hour: they time that shit. It's VERY relaxed. They are all smoking and most of them are drinking beer. It was (frankly) really white trash, but kind of fun. I mean, all we did was root for Zack and the other players. Some of them take it seriously and buy cleats and batting gloves and stuff, others of them don't give a fuck and are out there in cons. I wonder how much the umps get paid.
Jaime asked me a random question about Designated Hitters and I launched into this whole explanation of baseball leagues and rules and nonsense. She knew nothing at all about baseball, and that surprised me, but then we were both surprised that I knew so much about it. I do know a lot about baseball. It's weird. I used to play, but it's kind of surprising that I amassed that much knowledge about it.

After the game (which lasted 1 hour: good times), Julie was ready to go to Starbucks... in Diamond Bar (on the way back to her house.) I said goodnight and Jaime said goodnight and we went to one on the way back to our houses. I drove all the way to Chino Hills; I wasn't prepared to drive from there to Diamond Bar and then all the way home. Too much carting my ass around for Julie's pleasure, really.

Jaime and I had a nice time all by ourselves in Montclair.

Talking Shop

I was thinking about actors this morning.  It's so strange.  Last night, at a party for a good friend, the rooms were filled with actors.  They were popping out of every corner.  But no one talks about theatre or acting.  We barely, in fact, talked about movies.  This is fine, and would be kind of refreshing, I suppose, but I realized that when I'm with this group (2 or 3 groups, really) we never talk about acting.  When I'm with Kristen, it always comes up.  With Andrew, it was pretty much the only topic that ever came up.  Allan and I always talk about theatre, too.  I remember I was so shocked when Kevin started talking about acting at the cast party on Friday.  I didn't know he even thought about acting.  And yet, the only reason it came up was because Mike Steger was there and he always wants to talk about it too.

It's not that I'm completely obsessed by theatre, but if I spend my day with people who don't know about theatre at all (at work, I mean), sometimes I like to discuss my art and work with people who have similar goals.

I guess this is probably asking a lot, and I didn't think about it too much last night, but this morning it occured to me.

Theatre

I haven't done a full inspection of various theatres' seasons around town, but a few have been released and I am getting really excited.  The Taper's came out weeks ago, but I only got my subscription last week.  They are putting on Edward Albee's The Goat!!!  I haven't been this excited about a play in a long time... not since last year, I suppose, when they announced Topdog/Underdog (which was fucking awesome times ten) and Homebody/Kabul (which turned out to be a kind of a stinker, but who's counting?).

In addition to the Taper putting on Albee's brilliant play, the Geffen, which announced its season this week is going to be doing Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg!!!! AND the one person show I Am My Own Wife, which recently won a Pulitzer.  I am so freaking excited!

I have no one to go with me to these events, so if you want to go, let me know.  I'll be going even if I go by myself, so if you want to see great theatre, hit me up.

News Items

1. John Kerry made the statement today that Bush is fueling the terrorists and encouraging recruitment of new terrorists because of his policies overseas.  Bush responded with "It is a ridiculous notion to assert that because the United States is on the offense people want to hurt us.  We are on the offense because people do want to hurt us."  This is exactly what I think president Bush just doesn't get.  And I don't understand why.  He doesn't understand that there are legions of people out there who think the U.S. is a big bully.  He doesn't see that we've been on the offense for decades!  We are not on the defense now.  We are still on the offense!  Of course people want to attack us for this reason.  Is he a moron?
2. The Alabama judge who was removed from his position because he refused to remove a monument to the Ten Commandments is taking his case to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Does he think he's gonna win?  I don't get it.  Why doesn't this guy realize that he did something wrong?  Religion has no place in the law.  Period.  So shut up, man.  You aren't discriminated against because you're religious, but your religion (whatever that may be) has no place in our courts.  Keep it to yourself.  You are supposed to be serving the people of this country, not some god that less than half of Americans believe in!  I don't get this guy!

REVIEW: The Village

The Village doesn't suck at all.  It raises, in fact, a lot of provocative questions, some of which I am still pondering.  But it's not a scary movie.  It's not built to be a scary movie like we think of scary movies, and they shouldn't have sold it as one because it isn't one.  I can't really talk about the movie without giving anything away, but it's definitely worth seeing as a genre piece and for some really good acting.

I haven't been crazy about Joaquin Phoenix since 2000 (when he made The Yards, Gladiator and Quills), but he's really great in The Village.  The discovery of the film is the hugely talented Bryce Dallas Howard, though.  She's great, and I predict an Oscar nomination come February.  It may be to early for this, but there is definitely buzz for her on this front.  She's going to be the lead in Lars Von Trier's next movie, Manderlay, too, and we all know what that means: Pain & Suffering.  So we'll see about her.  Adrien Brody is the other lead in the cast, and he is great, too, although it's an odd part for a guy with a Best Actor Oscar.  Anyway.  The rest of the cast reads great: William Hurt (who's terribly boring in this), Cherry Jones (love her), Sigourney Weaver, Celia Weston and Brendan Gleeson.  While watching the movie I realized that I hate Michael Pitt.  I can't judge him without prejudice.  And it's because I loathe and despise Tommy Gnossis.  I almost can't bear to look at his pig face.  Grrr.

Like the Counting Crows Song...

It felt like I wasted the day today, but it wasn't really wasted.  The thing is I woke up at noon and then kind of didn't leave my house until 9:00p and then only to go to the grocery for some chocolate cookie dough ice cream.

I woke up and made a Sausage Stew that I've made before.  I also made polenta.  They tell us polenta is this impossible thing to make.  I've been scared of it ever since I'd heard of it, but I made it today for the first time and I don't know why cooks are scared of it.  It was easy.  Really easy.  I didn't have any fresh herbs lying around, so it was kind of bland, but still good.

After I cooked I watched The Towering Inferno, one of the many disaster movies from the 1970's (The Poseidon Adventure, The Hindenburg, Airport, Earthquake, et al).  As is typical of these movies, there were too many plots and the film was too long and poorly directed.  It was okay, though, and Paul Newman and Steve McQueen star (their famous eyes sparkling at one another, I guess).  My girl Faye Dunaway was in it too, looking absolutely fucking gorgeous.  One of the many, too numerous subplots involved Jennifer Jones and Fred Astaire, way past their primes, falling in love.  It was kinda sweet, except Jennifer Jones bites it.  She should've lived.  I would've liked it better.  O.J. Simpson and Robert Wagner are also in it, and William Holden and Richard Chamberlain (so gay). 

I started reading Dry today.  Good times.  It's better than Running so far.  Dry possesses a plot, but hasn't lost any of the biting wit of Augusten Burrough's first book.  I have already burst out loud laughing once, and I've just finished Chapter Three: a good sign.

I have dinner with my folks something like four times a month.  They always take me to chain restaurants.  It's fine: the meals are free, and the food isn't always horrible.  This week when my dad called to invite me to dinner he asked me what I'd like to do.  I said that what I'd prefer is to not go to Chili's or the Outback or any of "those kinds of places."  My dad offers "Marie Callendar's"?  "No, Dad," I say, "something that's not a chain restaurant, if we can do that."  They have this little mom & pop Italian restaurant that they love called Mama Petrillo's that I think is fine.  My dad then suggested a new Mexican place they haven't tried, one that we have tried called Casa de Salsa, and the new Japanese restaurant in La Verne: Shôgun Sushi.  He told me he would give these options to my mother and sister and see what we came up with when I got there on Saturday.  When I arrived I was told we were headed to Islands.  [WTF?]

My heart did a whizz-bang-flip-flop; Heaven for a minute.

The Taming of the Shrew closed this evening and I attended the after-party at Nick's flat in Long Beach.  It was nice.  The show ended up being successful (it even made money!).  I got paid, as well, which was nice.  Thanks for the check, boys.  Too bad I've already spent all of the money.  Broke-ass motherfucker that I am.

So coax me; implore me. I promise you won't bore me.  Jimmy I might say yes.

The after-party was nice.  I hugged pretty much everyone.  Katie hugged me begrudgingly.  Whatevah.  Maria and Barbara thanked me very much for putting them in the show.  Sachi was very grateful as well.  I will miss some of the people, but then as the director, I never get to be truly social with the actors.  There is always that barrier.  I kind of hate it, because I'm excluded, but I suppose it's important.  It's funny: having Ashley read this blog every day wasn't the least bit of a problem.  It's just an example of having nothing to hide from an actor, and being able to have a socially easy relationship with an actor with whom I was working.  So cool.  I mean, imagine, being able to share everything every step of the way with a company of actors: not having to keep anything secret and quiet.  This won't be possible with too many people, but with her it definitely was.

Why am I such a fucking cruel jerk sometimes?!  I said some things to Kevin that I shouldn't have today.  I feel like shit about it too.  I'll probably call him tomorrow and talk to him about it: maybe have a longer conversation about what I really meant.  We did have a great conversation about Sanford Meisner, and it was awesome.  I don't think I've had that long of a conversation with Kevin about acting.  It was so cool.  I never knew he was so much like me in this way.  I totally insulted him, though, and I feel like a jackass.  Wow, I've been a dick lately at large gatherings.  Keep me away from the keg!

Life is a holiday / I'm talking June through May / A nightly sell-out show / And baby I'm front row

The World's a sugar bowl / It's sevens every roll / Sneak peak at paradise / The view is mighty is nice.

I watched Scorsese's Cape Fear today.  I loved Jessica Lange, mainly.  The movie has a lot of problems but is fair.  Jessica Lange is incredible, though, and there is one scene with De Niro and Juliette Lewis that is totally cool and hot and creepy and all about child molestation.  Ew.  This movie is the reason Nick Nolte should have won the fucking Oscar in '92 for The Prince of Tides.  He did Cape Fear and Prince of Tides in the same year and they didn't hand him a fucking Oscar?  What the Hell?  Oh yeah, it went to Anthony Hopkins for Silence of the Lambs.