I’m dumbfounded and in a state of disbelieving denial (not to mention pain) over today’s Paul Schrader headlines.

As emails were allegedly involved…I don’t want to think about it.

It just doesn’t calculate that a person as obviously wise, seasoned and street-savvy as Schrader could have possibly put his neck into this kind of noose.

“No Compliments For The Waitress,” posted on 7.25.01:

Bill Murray, 54, was sitting on a couch during a Broken Flowers after-party at Manhattan’s Maritime Hotel. The date was Wednesday, 7.27.05. Jett and I were standing nearby. The Focus Features publicist had explicitly said “no photography” and yet some guy snapped Murray regardless. Murray immediately leapt up and over a coffee table to confront the renegade shutterbug with an outraged “what are you doing, man?”, etc.

I was quickly told I couldn’t write about the incident and I didn’t, but hey, it was 20 years ago.

Murray still isn’t taking shit from photographers.

The below snap was taken at Chelsea Cinemas on 7.27.05 by Hollywood Elsewhere.

Repeating: Indications are that Paul Feig‘s The Housemaid (Lionsgate, 12.25), based onFreida McFadden’s three-year-old novel, a feminist potboiler that has since grown into a multi-book franchise, is going to be a bit of a groaner…perhaps even a forehead-slapper.

All feminist airport fiction is based upon a single premise, which is that the principal male character is a toxic piece of shit who has made his own bed and deserves all the bad karma that’s sure to come his way.

It certainly seems unlikely that Feig’s film will deliver the intrigue and complexity of <strong>Im Sang-soo</strong>’s <em>The Housemaid</em> (’10), which I recall as being half-decent. Both versions have vaguely similar plots with the husband banging (or at least looking to bang) the housemaid, and the wife freaking out and the usual blowback kicking in.

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White Lotus creator/showruner Mike White “hallucinated the entire storyline” of season 3….born of a fever dream.

For the behavior of Jason Isaacs‘ Tim Ratliff character alone, I already hate White. And I didn’t start season 3 feeling this way. I began with feelings of hope and intrigue. I’d been fairly happy with the Sicily season.

Jon Gries (“Gary” or Greg): “Whatever you think you know [is coming in the finale], you’re probably wrong.”

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I’ve lost my limo job and need to pass the hat again. Just a little more. There…I’ve said it. Humiliating but true.

Undisciplined or loose-shoe as this may sound, I realized last night that despite HE’s recent GoFundMe campaign having raised enough dough to cover travel and lodging at both the 2025 Cannes and Venice Film Festivals*, I’m still short of a steady footing given two “uh-ohs” that recently happened: (a) pressing, unforeseen expenses related to a Santa Barbara Film Festival rental-car scraper (no one’s business but my own) that occured in February and (b) losing the limo-driving job two weeks ago, which I didn’t want to mention because whining about misfortune is a very un-Lee Marvin-ish thing to do.

And yet I couldn’t sleep last night (I had to pop an Ambien) so I guess I have to mention it. A bear is growling outside my door. When your regular work income evaporates, it doesn’t feel right or safe to be galavanting around Europe twice within a four-month period. If I could cancel my Cannes air fare for a refund, I would do so but I didn’t purchase that kind of ticket. Plus I don’t want to leave Jordan Ruimy in the lurch.

I’m searching for a fresh gig as we speak, but as I tossed and turned last night I imagined that it couldn’t hurt to jettison what’s left of my pride and try to reinvigorate the GoFund Me.

Those who may wish to donate anonymously are requested to do so via my Venmo account — @gruver56

So, yes, this is it…HE is asking for a follow-up GoFundMe booster. Just a bit more to steady the ship. My sense of shame went out the window a long time ago when my advertising vaporized. Perhaps a few regular readers who didn’t contribute before could pitch in? Perhaps those whom I had wished cancer upon (two or three guys at the most) but are completely healthy and tumor-free as we speak…?

I’m not looking for a windfall. Just a few hundred more. Okay, a grand or two.

The truth is that enough was raised to cover both festivals but not much more, and after I was cut loose by the limo company two weeks ago** the cautious, practical-minded guy who lives in my chest was saying “cool your jets…it’s wiser right now to spend less by forgetting about Cannes and just do Venice and focus on finding a new job.” But I’d accepted donations with the understanding that Cannes was part of the package, and it’s bad faith and bad for the brand, obviously, to say “help me with Cannes” and then blow it off out of monetary anxiety.

An especially gracious friend-of-HE has donated twice to help with Cannes. I’m honor-bound to fly to the Cote d’Azur for the sake of this guy’s generosity alone.

Whatever you think a trip might cost, always double your projection and nine times out of ten it’ll cost even more.

* I’ve bought the RT plane tickets (JFK-to-Nice and back, JFK to Milan and back). And I’ve paid for the Venice pad ($2100), and I’ll be splitting the Cannes rent ($2500) with Ruimy.

** I could explain why the limo job went south, but on another occasion.