Day: February 25, 2024

Gather Round & Celebrate “The Misfits”

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Greetings to HE fans and Oscar Poker loyalists (posted on Sunday, 2.26, 10:10 pm):

Podcast-wise longtime HE partner & soulmate Sasha Stone and I have decided to politely and graciously part company, at least for the time being.

HE’s “The Misfits” is the new deal — a Zoom video group discussion thing as opposed to the two-person audio chat that “Oscar Poker” was — it’s now three or four revolving participants per weekly episode, discussing the usual ebb and flow, twists and turns, industry razmatazz, etc.

HE founder and relentless, rat-a-tat-tat author Jeffrey Wells is, as you might expect, a locked-in, never-say-die fixture.

Today’s trio was comprised of Glenn Kenny, author of the forthcoming “The World Is Yours: The Story of Scarface”, “Exit Interview” author Kristi Coulter, and Manhattan & East Hampton movie hound, comedy writer and co-host of “Talking Pictures” co-host Bill McCuddy.

Others will join in as things evolve. We’re playing it by ear for the time being. Perhaps Jeff Sneider and Eddie Ginley will jump in next week or down the road. The door is open. I would love it if I could persuade Sasha to drop in from time to time, but that’s up to her, of course.

You have to visit HE’s Oscar Poker Substack page and join up and listen. McCuddy says 90 minutes is too long, but I’m too whipped to cut it into two segments. I’ll make sure next week’s episode is carved into two shorter segments. Again, the Substack link.

Sudden Sutton Detour

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These two video clips were recorded late Sunday morning (2.25.24, 10:40 AM) at Jett, Cait and Sutton’s home in West Orange, New Jersey. They’re not newsworthy or topical or even amusing — they simply represent the happiest and most serene interlude I experienced all day. I was saying to myself “this is perfect…life can’t get any better than this.”

I left soon after recording these two clips and arrived back in Wilton around 1:15 pm or so. Less than two hours hence HE’s video Zoom capture of the debut episode of “The Misfits” (myself, Glenn Kenny, Kristi Coulter and Bill McCuddy) began — roughly 3:30 pm and ending at 5 pm, give or take.

Discussion topics included (a) “Exit Interview,” Coulter’s well-reviewed book about her 12 years at Amazon; (b) Alcoholism and addiction, and how a person feeling really and truly delighted about his/her life can be an excellent reason to start drinking again; (c) Successfully suppressing an urge to blow off 12 years of sobriety in the tragic wake of The Holdovers‘ Paul Giamatti losing SAG’s Best Actor trophy to Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy, and especially KOTFM‘s Lily Gladstone elbowing aside Poor Things‘ Emma Stone to take SAG’s Best Actress award; (d) the straight-male intrigue factor (or lack thereof) in two new lesbian movies, Rose Glass‘s melodramatic and fleetingly surreal Love Lies Bleeding and Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke‘s Drive-Away Dolls, a mildly farcical sexual odyssey set in ’99 or thereabouts; (e) Kenny’s forthcoming Scarface book, “The World Is Yours,” and a casual reciting of several making-of anecdotes, etc.

I’m currently trying to figure out how to upload our lively “Misfits” discussion, which we were quite happy with. Okay, it ran a little bit long, which prompted me to think about editing it into two segments. I’m way too much of a douchenozzle to figure this stuff out quickly, but I might manage to upload something within an hour or two….who knows?

“Misfits” Preparation

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Today’s “Misfits” podcast records at 3:30 pm, and, as mentioned, will post sometime tonight or tomorrow morning.

Participants: Glenn Kenny (“The World Is Yours: The Story of Scarface‘), Kristi Coulter (“Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career“), Manhattan & East Hampton movie hound and “Talking Pictures” cohost Bill McCuddy.

I’m in West Orange, New Jersey as we speak. I need to hop on the NJ Turnpike, traverse the GW Bridge and be back to Wilton no later than 1 pm.

Fair weather, blue skies and a positive attitude despite what happened last night last the SAG awards.