A few days ago I succumbed to an unwise impulse and tossed a few crackers to this guy. He’s been dropping by ever since, of course. I will always feed animals — birds, squirrels, dogs, feral cats. I have a generous nature (or at least I do when I’ve got enough to spread around), and because feeding these guys generates a special feeling — a bond with nature, the universe and God herself.

William Hurt‘s short speech last night in Santa Barbara on behalf of Isabelle Huppert was a quiet corker. His remarks were clearly directed at the horrific political climate being generated out of the White House these days; more than a few came up to Hurt later and said “great speech!” Hurt costarred with Huppert in Ned Benson‘s The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby (’12). Plus he’s fluent in French and owns (or at least owned the last time I checked) a residence not far from Paris. During the after-party we spoke about LSD, Altered States (i.e., Paddy Chayefsky vs. Ken Russell), Buddhism (a few years ago Hurt took a Columbia course in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism and computer science), Hank Paulson (whom Hurt played in 2011’s Too Big To Fail), etc.

Elle‘s Isabelle Huppert charmed the pants off Santa Barbara last night during an Arlington theatre tribute. Indiewire‘s Anne Thompson handled the interview with polish and aplomb, and the great William Hurt, who had just driven himself up from Los Angeles, presented Huppert’s trophy. During the after-party I asked Huppert about Happy End, the Michael Haneke film costarring herself and Jean-Louis Trintignant that will almost certainly debut in Cannes three months hence. I’ve read that the film, shot in northern France, deals with the European immigrant crisis, but Huppert said not really — the crisis is more of a backdrop element than anything else. Huppert’s green-and-coral gown was the subject of muted conversation during the after-event; the general opinion was that the Best Actress nominee should probably wear a darker, more conservative gown on Oscar night.

This Anti-Defamation League spot is four years old, but I hadn’t seen it until last Thursday night when it screened at the Santa Barbara Film Festival’s Arlington Theatre.

Last night’s SBIFF tribute focused on directors — La La Land‘s Damien Chazelle, Manchester By The Sea‘s Kenneth Lonergan, 13th‘s Ava Duvernay and Arrival‘s Denis Villenueve. Pete Hammond moderated. Ever the good soldier, I was sitting in the right-front second row, passively grinding it out, taking mental notes. You know who Roger Durling should have also booked? O.J.: Made in America‘s Ezra Edelman, a sharp, fascinating dude who hasn’t been interviewed to death.

In Don Siegel’s 1971 version of The Beguiled, Clint Eastwood‘s Corporal McBurney is desired by Geraldine Page‘s Martha, kisses Elizabeth Hartman‘s Edwina and has sex with Jo Ann Harris‘s Carol. In Sofia Coppola‘s upcoming, same-titled remake (Focus Features, 6.23), Nicole Kidman is Martha, Kirsten Dunst plays Edwina and Elle Fanning is Carol. Abstain, be chaste, respectful — you’ll never be sorry.

I’m a big Irish Spring or Old Spice body wash guy these days, and when I run out there’s always bar soap (Irish Spring, Dove, Dial). Every so often I’ll not only manage to run out of both, but forget about their absence until I’m in the shower with all the hot water and steam. And then I’m stuck. One substitute that isn’t too bad, I’ve noticed, is shaving cream. I’ve taken more than a few shaving-cream showers. When I’m really in a jam I’ll scamper out to the kitchen to grab a plastic-squeeze bottle of dishwashing liquid — not as good as shaving cream but at least it’s something. What happens when there’s no body wash, soap, shaving cream, dishwashing liquid, deodorant or Aqua Velva? I steam rinse, towel off and then spray myself with Febreze. I’ve honestly done that once or twice.

Hollywood Elsewhere has long been bothered by illogical elements in classic films. One is the whopping absurdity of 19th Century settlers living in the barren wilderness of John Ford‘s Monument Valley (no grass for cattle, no rich soil, no river, no nearby forest). Another is the natives of Skull Island having built a huge wall to prevent King Kong and the dinosaurs from invading their village, and yet having also constructed a super-sized gate that could only have been built to allow a beast invasion.

To these I’m adding a third head-scratcher: what the hell are the residents of Black Rock, California — the tiny hole-in-the-wall ghost town in John Sturges‘ Bad Day at Black Rock — doing there in the first place? No soil, no industry, no oil, no trees, no gold mine, not much groundwater except for the well that the late Kimoko discovered, no lake, no tourists — nothing but rocks and heat and nothing to do except sit around, play cards and scowl.

Ernest Borgnine and Lee Marvin are too dumb to realize what a blessing and godsend Spencer Tracy is because at least he’s given them something to do — i.e., prevent Tracy from learning what happened to poor Komoko. Without Tracy poking around their lives would revert to the usual paralyzing nothingness.

What are Robert Ryan, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Anne Francis, Walter Brennan and the rest doing there? Are they all…what, living on government relief checks? Why is there a hotel in Black Rock? Who the hell would ever visit?

Another issue: Are you telling me that in the middle of this parched desert moonscape that Francis’s Liz, the 20something sister of John Ericson‘s Pete, isn’t married or “seeing” anyone in town? In a town this dead you know that someone would have stepped up and wooed his way in, and yet Liz could have been played by Thelma Ritter or Mildred Dunnock for all the action she’s getting.

“And unfortunately, during her hearing, Betsy DeVos proved beyond a shadow of a doubt not only that her ideology is incompatible with the mission of the Department of Education, but that she is fundamentally incompetent to be its leader. Throughout [her] hearing, she was unable to answer basic questions about her views on important issues. She was unfamiliar with basic concepts of education policy. I can’t overstate how central growth vs. proficiency is to education…an extremely basic, important question, and [yet during Mrs. DeVos’ hearing] she had no idea what I was talking about.”

Sen. Al Franken‘s remarks become quietly hilarious around the 20-minute mark — the “how many yards does it take to get a first down?” football-question analogy is brilliant.

“When asked how he sees comedy changing in the Trump era, Oliver offered a thoughtful answer: ‘I think you’ve probably got to work harder. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s a lot of low-hanging fruit with administrations like this, and you kind of need to reach past that.'” — from 2.6.17 Hollywood Reporter interview with Hilary Lewis.