Two nights ago a week-long Nastassja Kinski film series began under the auspices of the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Last night (11.28) they screened James Toback‘s Exposed (’83), in which Kinski costarred with Rudolf Nureyev and Harvey Keitel. (It also featured model Janice Dickinson, who recent came out as one of Bill Cosby‘s victims.) As a Paris-based terrorist named Rivas, Keitel delivers a memorable riff (in a scene with Kinski) about what he considers good-life essentials: “I’ll tell you what I want. Good food. Women. Good cigars. Good beds with fresh sheets Hot showers in Hilton hotels. New shoes. Poker. Blackjack. Dancing. Clint Eastwood westerns. And you. I knew from looking at your face.”


Rudolf Nureyev, Nastassja Kinski in James Toback’s Exposed.

Toback told me this morning that a major critic said at the time that “only Toback would have written dialogue as arcane as that for an international terrorist.” In fact the line was taken directly from an interview with the real Carlos, Toback said. Everything verbatim except Clint.

I’ll tell you what I want. I want to walk around New York City at a fairly vigorous clip. I want to love and support my sons every way I can. I want to sail into the mystic. I want to stay in touch with everyone and offer as much offer affection, trust, intellectual engagement and friendship as I reasonably can. I want to live forever. I want good health, and to me that also means good spiritual health. I want to keep most of my hair and never grow breasts or a pot belly. I want Japanese or South Korean-level wifi wherever I go. I want to read and know everything. I want to bask in love, family, friendship and the purring of my two cats until the end of time. I want several pairs of slim black cordouroys. I want to be clean shaven. I want well-made shoes, preferably John Varvatos but I’m open to whatever I find. I want to keep all my Blurays until the end. I want fresh gourmet food but in modest portions. I want lustre, color, aromas, travel. I want challenging hiking trails in high Swiss places. I want to always be in the company of slender women with beautiful eyes, honey-brown hair and perfect pedicures. I want slenderness in general. I want to zoom around on a scooter and never own another car. I want mobility, adaptability and the smell of great humming, rumbling cities. I want European-style subways, buses, trains, rental cars. I want my mental faculties to stay electric and crackling. I want a long Norman Lloyd-type life. I want a Mophie Juice Pack for my iPhone 6 Plus. I want occasional bowls of plain yogurt and a constant supply of fruit and vegetables. I want beautiful scenery. I want to hang with golden retrievers and other high-affection-giving dogs. I want to be up early and go to bed late every day of my life. And I must have at least a 60- or 65-inch plasma along with an Oppo Bluray player with region-2 capabilities plus Vudu and Warner Classics on a Roku player. And I always want those little packets of strong Italian Starbucks Instant somewhere nearby. And I want to re-visit Venice, Prague, Paris and Hanoi at least every other year or two or three. I don’t want to get my head chopped off but I want to visit the Middle East (Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Iran) as well as Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine before long, preferably on a motorcycle.