If I’d been allowed to interview Nebraska‘s Bruce Dern (which isn’t going to happen), I would have mentioned the following opinions and asked him for a response.

Richard Stayton, editor of Written By — the magazine of the Writers Guild — has written an editorial lamenting the trashing of The Counselor. In so doing he chastises those who reported (i.e., passed along) the belief that The Counselor is Cormac McCarthy‘s first screenplay. It isn’t. In their mostly negative reviews, critics “changed an all-too-frequent reaction — ignore the script — into a game of Get The Screenwriter,” Stayton writes. “Never before in the history of American film have critics mauled a screenwriter with such extremes of fear and loathing.” He acknowledges the supportive words written by N.Y. Times critic Manohla Dargis, Variety‘s Scott Foundas and myself, among others.

The issues also contains a piece by Counselor supporter F.X. Feeney about The Black & The White, the Herblock documentary directed by Michael Stevens.

I arrived at Hanoi’s Noi Ba airport last night around 9:45 pm. Customs, visa fee ($45 U.S.), mild weather, roughly 25 miles from downtown, a 45-minute drive. No freeways, and I like it like that. My Vidotour guide is a young married woman named Hang Nguyen, who lives south of town and gets around (like almost everyone else here except the elite) on a scooter. The Vietnamese have this wonderful idea about nighttime — they actually leave it alone and don’t try to obscure it with obnoxious floodings of electric light on every street corner. The half-Mexico, half-south of France atmosphere that I first commented upon last year is, of course, unchanged. I checked into room #909 inside the Hilton Garden Inn (20 Phan Chu Trinh, Hoan Kiem District). These were taken around 7:30 this morning.

I was fiddling with a blue in-camera tint when I shot these — mistake.

I already feel all-commented-out by Noah. I’m waiting for the next thought (anything) to surface but it hasn’t come. I’m sure it will. I just need a breather.

Like all Wes Anderson films, I both love and feel hemmed in by Castello Cavalcanti. On one hand I love (as always) the Andersonian style…that feeling of dry but immaculate control of each and every element. And of wry humor. Every time you watch any kind of Wessy flick (commercial, short, feature) this element sinks right the fuck in. That’s a very cool and extremely valuable thing, but you can’t let the old “stamp and imprimatur” concept run the whole show. Or is this inevitable once you’ve found them and vice versa? And yet I love the tiny Italian village vibe (I’ve hung in places like this and there’s nothing better when you’re in the mood for quiet soul-soothings), and I like the race-car metaphor and Anderson’s benevolent notion that life can sometimes nudge you away from that vaguely unsettled or anguished element. It’s all good, all serene.

I might have been a teeny bit harsh on Seoul in my earlier post. Starting around 1 pm I walked around Bukchon Hanok Village and realized that if nothing else, Seoul is a foodie paradise (I ate at a vegetarian restaurant that couldn’t be beat) and some of the clothiers know from display windows. For all of Seoul’s architectural ugliness and enveloping smog, it’s a fairly hip town if you know where to hang. (Like any other city where particular people congregate, right?) My plane to Hanoi leaves in 20 minutes…later.

God, The Hollywood Reporter guys are really slow at posting these roundtable video chats. American Hustle‘s David O. Russell mentioned having participated in this discussion with Steve McQueen, Paul Greengrass, Ben Stiller, Alfonso Cuaron and Lee Daniels during his American Cinematheque appearqnce last Friday (11.8). I love all these guys except for Daniels — no offense but he’s never impressed me as a director, a personality or a conversationalist. In my book Russell and Cuaron are the kind of Orson Welles-ian shoot-from-the-hippers who are incapable of anything but direct, illuminating, midnight-lightning-flash commentary about absolutely any topic, including which insect repellent is best.

I landed at Seoul’s Incheon Int’l Airport just after 6 am this morning (or around 1:02 pm L.A. time), and I’m on the plane to Hanoi tonight at 6:40 pm.

Seoul is all about traffic and ugly buildings and smog for the most part. At first the milky stuff in the air seems like drizzly, standard-issue morning smog but by noon it looks and feels like the radioactive fallout in Stanley Kramer’s On The Beach.

My first impression of Seoul is mainly one of grimness, to be honest. It’s a combination of Newark, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh and the soulless parts of Tokyo (another city that I’m not enamored of). When they built Seoul they forgot to think about trying to make it attractive.

The first thing I saw when I got out of customs was a big Paradise casino poster featuring the smiling faces of Robert “anything for a buck” De Niro. I’m trying to post this as quickly as possibly so I can wander around for two or three hours and take some more photos.

I even had a bad experience trying to get free wifi in a Starbucks here. The software asked for personal info which I quickly provided, and then it turned right around and said “sorry, fuck you, no wifi.”

Seoul is not my idea of an urban turn-on. I’ll probably never return here.

An honest, un-manipulated, straight-from-the-shoulder shot of Seoul Tower, taken at 11:40 am.

It’s distressing to think that a good portion of the women I’ve “known” have been faking it. But I guess I can suck it in and live with it. I just don’t want to be flat-out told that they were. That would hurt. I’m going to be optimistic and believe in my heart that 80% of the time the noises were genuine. And resolve to do better next time…howzat?

This would be perfect for reading on the 13-hour flight to Seoul, which leaves tonight at midnight. If anyone can slip me a PDF….eternal gratitude.

Is 12 Years A Slave this year’s The Social Network or Brokeback Mountain? Will Wolf of Wall Street be this year’s Goodfellas or this year’s Casino or The Aviator? Will American Hustle be this year’s…I don’t know what American Hustle is or will be or might be. Nobody does. Let’s leave it alone for now.

I can’t find the link but a couple of days ago some guy tweeted…this isn’t a direct quote but it represents the basic gist…that the Likeliest Oscar Winner In Any Category Corresponds to the Level of Surprise, Shock or Feigned Outrage if Said Contender Doesn’t Win. Imagine any nominee in any category and then try to imagine what the reaction will be if he/she doesn’t win. If you can’t honestly imagine people having a shit fit because he/she has lost, he/she probably won’t win. Something to kick around.