Day: May 12, 2020

Pleasure Of Their Company

by

Some of the La Pizza regulars (myself included) got together on Zoom this evening to chat and swap Cannes Film Festival stories and, I guess, remind ourselves that journalistic bon ami is still a thing, even in these suffocating times. Thanks to Indiewire‘s Eric Kohn and Anne Thompson for inviting me to participate.

18 industry pallies in all — Eric, Anne, myself, Rajendra Roy, Jordan Hoffman, Eugene Hernandez, Brian Brooks, David Ehrlich, Ann Hornaday, Rebecca Keegan, Tomris Laffly, Svetlana Cvetko, David Scott Smith, Amy Nicholson, Charlie Olsky, Michael Lerman, Carl Spence, Sean Berney, David Nugent, Diana Drumm, Jacqueline Coley, Dusty Smith, Jeff Deutchman.

I made the mistake of asking early on if the 2020 Telluride Film Festival is going to happen or not. The gang wasn’t in the mood at first. They were more into hive humor — anecdotal, giggly, quippy. Then again the conversation at regular La Pizza gatherings over the years has mostly leaned in this direction so this was a good recapturing.

Okay, I felt a tad underwhelmed by all the goofing around. It was like chatting with friends in the high-school parking lot after classes have ended at 2:45 pm. I was once again a miserable 17 year-old who resented the in-crowd. Some were sipping wine and therefore “happy,” and I was doing my usual suppressed Klaus Kinski while trying to be a good sport, etc.

At the very end of the session Anne Thompson asked for predictions about Telluride. Some…okay, most seemed to say it’s not going to happen in the usual traditional sense, but on some kind of closed or private screening basis in Los Angeles and New York. Or something like that. Hoffman said he believes that of all the hot fall festivals Telluride is the least likely to happen.

Thanks again to Eric and Anne. It was nice to talk shit and share recollections. I chuckled a few times. No harm, no foul.

“That’s What I Want”

by

For years I dearly loved the ending of Killing Them Softly: “This guy wants to tell me we’re living in a community? Don’t make me laugh. I’m living in America, and in America you’re on your own. America’s not a country — it’s a business. Now fuckin’ pay me.”

But I began to feel differently when the feds and the state of California coughed up some dough to help me out. I’m sorry but I was affected by this, and almost moved.

Define “Irony”

by

“The oddity in all of this is the people Trump despises most, love him the most. The people who are voting for Trump for the most part…he wouldn’t even let them in a fucking hotel. He’d be disgusted by them. Go to Mar-a-Lago, see if there’s any people who look like you. I’m talking to you in the audience.” — Howard Stern earlier today, speaking to listeners of his Siris XM talk show and quoted by the N.Y. Daily News‘ Brian Niemietz.

Wait A Minute…

by

James Gray‘s next film will be some kind of autobiographical drama called Armageddon Time, about Gray coming of age in Queens in the mid ’80s, and with two of the characters being 30something Donald Trump as well as his dad, the Queens real estate tycoon Fred Trump.

Cate Blanchett will play a significant role in Armageddon Times, which will be produced by RT Features.

Born to Ukrainian-Jewish parents and raised in Flushing, Gray was in his early to late teens in the ’80s. Pic relates Gray’s history at Kew-Forest School, where Fred Trump served on the board and where young incorrigible Donald was a student in the ’60s. Collider’s Jeff Sneider reports that “the school’s principal will be a central character, though it’s unclear if Blanchett will tackle that role or a different one entirely, such as the young protagonist’s mother.”

Do I want to see a film that even peripherally observes the ne’er-do-well activities of Fred and Donald? What is there left to say about those assholes?

The New Bruce Lee

by

If I was the actual Jeff Goldblum as opposed to the doppelganger in this Richmond street fight, I would be on the phone to my agent right now.

“Whatever the next role is,” I would say, “the producers have to agree to include a scene in which my character gets into an argument with some bare-chested asshole and does exactly this when push comes to shove.

“I don’t care if it’s a Wes Anderson film or Jurassic Park VII or whatever…we have to build on the lore of this thing. It’s trending all over and I need to be this guy. Kids all over the world are going ‘whoo-whoo!’…this kind of thing happens very rarely.”

Agent to Goldblum: “Wait…you could be the next Liam ‘Paycheck’ Neeson!”

Local Weed

by

I don’t turn on but Tatyana does, and so a couple of days ago I brought home three store-bought joints. Three flavors, horn-shaped, about $15 bills each. Plus a tin of cannabis-infused gummies.

She began with the strawberry-flavored one, and the aroma was wonderful. It smelled so good I was almost tempted, but I can’t. But what a business, what a brand, what a profit margin. When I was spry and bushy-tailed an ounce would run $20, and if you were busted for dealing bricks you could do serious time.

Hawks Again

by

I watched Howard Hawks‘ Hatari! last night. I don’t know why but I did. Hugely incorrect from a conservationist perspective, of course. Colorful, occasionally diverting, irritating at times. John Wayne, 55, was too old for Elsa Martinelli, 27, who nonetheless did a decent job of filling the shoes of the proverbial “Hawks woman.”

I for one got off the Hawks boat after Hatari (’62), but his output between Scarface (’34) and Hatari is mostly unassailable. My favorites are the same as everyone else’s — Scarface, Twentieth Century, Bringing Up Baby, Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, Sergeant York, Ball of Fire, Air Force, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Red River, A Song Is Born, (NO to I Was a Male War Bride), The Thing from Another World, The Big Sky, (NO to Monkey Business), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Land of the Pharaohs, Rio Bravo. His greatest period was between ’32 and ’62 — a 30-year hot streak.

Read more