Saturday, June 30, 2007

Brian De Palma is one of my favorite filmmakers, even though I don't like all of his films, there is something exciting in each one. When I was a kid I couldn't wait for the next film of his to come out! At one point I would say he was even a hero of mine, but now he seems so cranky. Still, I find him and his work very fascinating.

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Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Friday, June 29, 2007

Wow, people can be fussy! I'm getting complaints that I'm posting too many Youtube things and not talking about myself more...

Really?

Well, I guess that's kinda sweet.

Okay, I'll tell you a lil' bit before I post another set of Mark Cousins interviews, Today's being one of my absolute fav filmmakers, Martin Scorsese.

The internet is really amazing! In the last few weeks people I use to know have come out of the woodworks to contact me. Old friends. Coworkers from bygone days and corporations. Myspace has brought out the folks, too!

I'll tell you more about them all later as I've been bad and haven't responded yet to their emails. I'm really bad about that! Also bad about calling people back. Just plain bad about keeping friends...

Oh well...

Here's more of my new favorite show, "Scene by Scene."

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Thursday, June 28, 2007

I finally saw, "Inland Empire" and I'm here to tell you, that I loved it!

My favorite theatre the New Beverly is showing it and after watching a really washed out trailer for Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" David Lynch dropped me into a huge, dark, out of focus, noisy, dirty, sad and truly terrifying world I live in... Almost.

People probably have all sorts of ideas on what the film is about, but if you're like me and drive around Hollywood Blvd at 3am looking at scary people and old buildings for fun, then you'll understand the mood he's not just creating, but capturing.

The abandonment of film for Lynch, I fully embrace, I love what he did with DV! It really is like the quality of the stock in early cinema. I wonder if Guy Maddin is next to try DV?

Some things that come to my mind watching the film:

I think it's about Alice in Wonderland, Hollywoodland, Rabbit holes, Vaginas.


I think it's about Acting, Lying, Art, Whoring, the prostitution of the artist, memory, ghosts, getting screwed in Hollywood and screw-drivers, boobies real and fake, true and false memories, time, timezones, storytelling, dreaming, homes and dream homes, movies in your own head, what you can control and what controls you, how wishes and dreams can heal you or hurt you...

I think this film is one of the best films I've ever seen!

I think it's long, too long for the seats in the New Beverly, but when the DVD is out and with added minutes, I'll be fine with that, too. I've seen short films (On the Lot, anyone?) that seemed much much longer.

I'm not kidding there are a couple of scenes in the film where I felt I was experiencing a nightmare. I was lost in the film, forgot I was in a theatre, and Laura Dern seemed to walk/run out of the screen and scare the living shit out me! It was intense!

I was thinking as the credits were rolling about how Jean Luc Godard seemed to reinvented cinema and a revolution began, I hope this happens here. I don't know how much of "Inland Empire" Lynch owns, but I would love to see Artists own their works, distribute their works and get all the money!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Some friends of mine were just interviewed for a documentary about K. Gordon Murray a filmmaker known for importing bad Mexican Horror films, Fairy Tales and adults-only grindhouse, but growing up in Florida I used to hear great stories about him.

A radio show I use to listen to at night had a host who used to do voice work on these films. He talked about not having scripts translated into English so they would just make stuff up.

You might laugh, but you know this is kinda scary!

Hey! This is in Colorscope!

I love robots! And who doesn't like Aztec Mummies?

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Here's "Leonard Nimoy's STAR TREK Memories" it's from 1983 and man, does it look dated! Holy shit, I'm old!!!

I love "Star Trek" and I've never seen this till now. I hope you enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Monday, June 25, 2007

I swear I'll get over this obsession with Mark Cousins' work, but his interviews are so awesome, I just can't stop watching and sharing stuff like this Steve Martin episode!

Just recently I was visiting Disneyland and watched a documentary Steve Martin hosts about the history of the park and it includes his time there as a Cast Member working in the Magic Shop. I knew he had worked at Knott's Berry Farm, but the Disney thing was new to me.

I love his work and was just talking with a friend about getting that first comedy album of his when I was in school and thinking how amazing it was that a guy could be so goofy and still sell out huge stadiums. One man at a microphone alone onstage and thousands of people listening and laughing, that's some power!

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Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

He can be so serious about comedy... He's not going to be like Jerry Lewis when he's serious is he?

Sunday, June 24, 2007

I believe Sean Connery is on a short list of men a dude can say he loves without feeling too gay and other guy friends will nod knowingly in agreement!

The man is so much more than 007, yet he is James Bond. Every role he plays, he seems to be himself and I'm okay with that. Here's more of Mark Cousins on "Scene by Scene" this time, in a dress.

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Part 6

I barely remember seeing "Darby O'Gill and the Little People" but I do remember him in it. "Marnie" had that strange sorta rape scene and I had a weird feeling seeing it with a girl who wanted me to watch it with her as part of some class project. "Zardoz" is so friggin' trippy, but dammit, I dig it! I love him in, "Finding Forrester" "Entrapment" "The Rock" "Dragonheart" "First Knight" "The Hunt For Red October" "Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade" "The Untouchables" "The Name Of The Rose" "Outland" "Time Bandits" "Cuba" "The Great Train Robbery" "The Man Who Would Be King" and "The Wind And The Lion"... The man has a great body of work!

Even my favorite parts of "Trainspotting" are the Sean Connery references!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

I'm watching this film right now as I type this!

"Made In Sheffield" is a documentary about the early 80s post-punk music scene in Sheffield, like The Human League, Heaven 17, ABC, Cabaret Voltaire, Pulp, and John Peel's awesome radio show.

I met Peel on my second time in London and found him to be so sweet and kind, he even gave me tickets to see a show of bands I never heard of at a club I could never find in a part of town where the train didn't arrive to pick me up and I had to sleep on a bench at the station.









Friday, June 22, 2007

Okay, I can't get enough of Mark Cousins and his, "Scene By Scene" and here he is with one of my favorite filmmakers, Roman Polanski.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Let me see if I got this straight...

It's the 10th anniversary of a list of the top 100 movies of all time.

It's a celebration of the 100th year of movies.

The American Film Institute is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Okay, got it!

So where's "Fargo" or "Eraserhead" or "Bachelor Party" on this list?

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

My personal items have dwindled down to just a few boxes, I'd love to get everything I own and need into a backpack, or something like an iPhone.

I've become obsessed with Swiss Army knives, Leatherman Tools, and other multifunction things.

I fantasize so much about getting myself into a crate and shipping myself somewhere, but I know I'd be in the box that'd be lost, or in the cargo hold that would lose oxygen and decompress.

Watching Tom Hanks in yesterday's post talking about getting away from everything, alone on an island and how great it all is staring at the stars at night, but then reality sets in and you want someone to share it with or someone to bring you a ham sandwich... I suppose it's true.

I guess everyone need someone to use the crowbar to let you out of the crate every now and then.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

I feel bad now for making a silly comment that Mark Cousins might be a bit creepy... I just bought his book, "The Story of Film" and am enjoying it as we speak.

His show "Scene by Scene" is very very good!

Tim Lucas at Video Watchdog recently reviewed the new DVD of Tom Hanks, "That Thing You Do" and I had never seen it before, boy I'm glad I read that review, because I dig that movie!

Here's Mark Cousins doing that thing he does in a great Tom Hanks interview.

Part 1

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Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Monday, June 18, 2007

This film was a huge influence on me when I was a kid!

It just seemed to me the World was so mysterious and dangerous and the most frightening thing in it might be my own nightmares.

"Un Chien Andalou," is the very famous surrealistic movie by Salvador Dali and Luis Bunuel when they were just two young punks causing riots in theatres.

Here's some stuff I was watching and I just knew you too, would dig!









Sunday, June 17, 2007

I didn't add anything to the pot of dough "Fantastic Four" brought in this weekend.

I haven't seen "Fantastic One" or "Fantastic Three" so I imagine I'd be lost watching "Four."

Spent time doing that thing when you get older where you walk around a part of town you've lived for years and talk about what this store or that store used to be before it was a Starbucks, or whatever.

Have you noticed the demise of local record stores? How sad is that? Not that I've shopped for music lately, but I think if it all goes away, I'll miss flipping through the bins looking for something good.

Stopped into an old favorite record store and almost all the music is gone and they're selling clothes.

When will clothes be replaced by technology?

Saturday, June 16, 2007

I was in a bit of a Roger Corman mood today after talking with some friends that have shot projects at the old Corman Studio/Lumberyard in Venice.

There was a time when I was younger I really wanted to work for Roger. I had read everything I could about him. I had interviewed people that worked for him on the radio and for magazines. Everyone seemed to have a fairly cool opinion of him, but when I came out to try and get a gig there, it never happened for me. There was always some assistant keeping me away from being hired. I tried and tried, but I guess I missed the glory years.

I had friends that had directed for Corman and had great stories about the "Talk" you'd get about directing the film. They all said great things about the talk. They said things like, how in 20 minutes they realized they had wasted Dad's money on film school, because Corman gave them everything they needed in that 20 minute talk.

Asking them to tell me what the talk was, they all refused. It was like some secret society oath. I still don't know what was said in these "Talks."

This is Roger Corman from the French series "Cinema Cinemas" with sound out of sync. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

The Trip!

The Viking Women and the Sea Serpent!

The Raven!

The Fall of the House of Usher!

Teenage Caveman!

And just for fun, Roger Corman's "Fantastic Four"

Here's an interview/podcast I did with Beverly Gray who worked at Corman's New World Pictures, where she edited scripts, wrote publicity material, cast voice actors, supervised a looping session, played bit parts, and tried her hand at production. She collaborated with such soon-to-be-famous directors as Joe Dante, Jonathan Demme, and Paul Bartel, and was deeply involved with the writing of the cult classic, "Death Race 2000."

She spent three years as an assistant professor of English at USC, where she enjoyed teaching "Fiction into Film" courses. Following the birth of her children, she turned to journalism, covering theatre and the entertainment industry for Performing Arts Magazine, Theatre Crafts, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.

Then Roger Corman beckoned once again. Beverly spent the next eight years at Concorde-New Horizons Pictures as Corman's story editor and development executive, making some 170 low-budget features. Along the way, she found herself with six screenwriting credits including, "Beyond the Call of Duty" "Immortal Sins" Sandra Bullock's "Fire on the Amazon" and "Hellfire."

Beverly's first book, "Roger Corman: An Unauthorized Biography of the Godfather of Indie Filmmaking," was hailed by critics from coast to coast. She also wrote, "Ron Howard: From Mayberry to the Moon and Beyond."

Here is that Hollywood Buzz podcast!

 Subscribe free to my podcast in a reader!

Friday, June 15, 2007

Well, okay...

The Kubrick documentary yesterday was pretty good after all. I'd have done things differently, but who cares?

Today I am posting another show about another of my favorite filmmakers, Woody Allen. This BBC special is good and the host is kinda scary. It's as if Woody Allen is being interviewed by Boris Karloff or something. Sorry, Mark Cousins, I mean that in the sweetest sense. "Scene by Scene" is an awesome show!

You might hate Woody Allen, his films, and his life, but there's something here in this interview, in his own words, that seems inspiring to me. His body of work is just amazing! I think, no matter what line of work you're in, his work ethic is something that could be learned from and modeled.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Did you dig it?

Doesn't that make you want to write a play, make a movie, or fall in love with a young Asian girl?

Does me!

I think Woody Allen's work has been very important in my life and I don't know where I'd be if I hadn't seen any of it.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

I've been waiting to see this Stanley Kubrick documentary since I first heard about it!

I'm so excited about it, I'm posting the segments here, now without having watched them yet. I hope we both enjoy it!

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Did you like it? Learn anything new? I'm going to watch it now, if I don't fall asleep first...

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Knowing me as you do, You might be thinking I'm about to jump off the Santa Monica Pier...

Actually, I have a lot going on in my noggin' and this picture, secretly taken perfectly captures how the ocean, waves and the alcohol in my system eases my worries and thoughts.

I believe there is a unified field! Sometimes I feel I'm almost floating on it in my meditations. The ocean represents to me the unified field. It's what I imagine just moments before I drift off.

The stars above the water can be perfectly reflected without loss of brightness or sharpness when the waves are smoothed by moving to the space between thoughts. As I reach singularity it is impossible for me to tell where the Universe ends and the Black ocean begins.

The perfect mirror.

Sometimes pale bodies aglow like some phosphorous glide like whales just under the waters surface. I begin wondering what it might be and my imagination tries to fill in the blanks. Then these thoughts pelt the water like drops of rain disturbing the reflected stars. The rings of waves are wakes of thoughts that shoot out into the Universe like radio signals seeking a receiver.

Okay, you were right, I was thinking of jumping in...

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

See who's your Secret Love! This is AWESOME!!!

I don't know how they figure it out?

Are they psychic?

Love is so magical! It really is like magic!

Magic like Criss Angel, David Blain, Penn and Teller...



You know, fake.

Monday, June 11, 2007

I love this idea!

Not far from where I'm living is Vineland and there are dozens of campers, RVs, and vans filled with actors coming into town for "Pilot Season" or something, who have parked under overpasses and bridges to save money.

I guess it could be an eyesore to some. Real Estate is just so expensive here, apartments, hotels and motels aren't cheap, so what are you going to do?

Park these car cover looking tents and chill out inside!

I want one so bad, just to screw with parking enforcement!

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Giant Squid Attack Ventura!

I'm heading to the beach this week, so I'll get some pictures!

This is gonna be so cool! They're all over the News! Scientists, Water-Scientists(?) Marine Biologists? Whatever...

These people say there hasn't been anything like it in a hundred years!

Reports of bikinis being ripped off the bodies of young girls swimming has people flying in from all over the world! If this is part of Global Warming... It's at least a groovy part!

Saturday, June 09, 2007

In Heaven I'm thinner...

In Heaven everything is fine!

When I first saw "Wings of Desire" I wanted so badly to be an Angel. They get to follow people around Berlin and take note of their lives.

They were like cool bloggers for God in awesome Black coats!

These wings I'm wearing are the actual wings Matt Damon wore in "Dogma" ain't that neat?

I caught myself praying today. Really. I know.

It was weird, I was desperate and worried about something, distracted and then suddenly some movement from my reflection in a mirror next to the bed made me look and I saw I was on my knees, fingers entwined...

My ass looked way too big when I was on my knees. Not a good look, that praying pose.

Thinking about it now, I was trying to remember what I was praying about. I know it had something to do with making more money, looking better and Paris Hilton, but I was picturing Jesus walking with me along the beach. The beach was probably in Ventura, cause I like the beach there. He had the whole Jesus look, but not too Al Qaeda and the robe he wore had a GAP, or Old Navy quality to it. So he didn't look all homeless or too much like a stoner.

He just seemed sweet and cool!

He listened to what I was saying and hardly ever rolled his eyes, or said, "Nigga, Please!"

In an odd way, the Jesus I was talking to was a little like Spock on "Star Trek" but he smiled way more, just not a retarded kinda smile where you think somethings wrong with the dude.

Jesus seemed real smart.

Spock-smart!

Friday, June 08, 2007

My One Man Show is and continues to be...

SOLD OUT!

People who get to see my daily performance seem to be very lucky.

I should be making lots of money, but so many of my shows are "Comps" which in the Biz stands for...

Free, I think...

Still, I live for my Art. Art is, in which I live.

Folks ask me if I read my reviews, and to be honest, I don't. I Google my name to see if there are any reviews and if one pops up in the search, I close the window quickly!

Sometimes the reviews come up to me face to face when critics just walk up and comment on my life, how I look, or what I'm wearing.

These "critics" are EVERYWHERE!

Thursday, June 07, 2007

I'm not a gun guy...

Not against them, unless they're being used against me!

Seems several friends of mine carry guns, possibly concealed. I found this out when I was going on as I do of late about camping. A friend listed off a whole bunch of things I needed to take with me and buried between compass, Q-Tips and pocket mirror was, handgun!

I think I gasped a bit!

Then telling another friend about this, he pointed out that he carries a gun!

Another guy showed me where he hides his gun in a compartment in his car door just under the electric window button. He has his little kids in this car all the time, too!

I know I want to protect myself, but thinking more about it, takes all the fun out of sleeping in the dark, in an unknown territory, miles from any help...

This is why it's so hard for me to leave the house!

I just know if I were to have a gun, something bad would happen to me!

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Looked at a couple of VW vans today, cause I've been thinking of finding something to go camping in, or if homelessness strikes me, I'd have an option...

And here it is!!!

I can put this ontop of my Honda and live like a King.

If you don't want the hassle of finding or paying for accommodation whilst you're traveling, then do like New Zealand backpackers do.

A camper car enables you to drive, stop and then sleep on top of the car. Your 'car tent' takes just seconds to put up and take down, offers a good night's sleep on a comfortable mattress and you choose where you wake up!

If I have to poop in the middle of the night? No problemo! I just slide open the sunroof and aim for the kitty litter box I placed over the center drink holders!

Those damn Kiwis are so smart!

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

This is "The Hearts of Age" the first film made by Orson Welles!

The film is an eight-minute short, which he co-directed with his college friend William Vance. The film stars Welles' first wife, Virginia Nicholson, as well as Welles himself. He made the film at the Todd School for Boys, in Woodstock, Illinois, at the age of 19.

I think it's his spoof of Bunuel, Cocteau and Dr. Caligari which he must have seen only at some local film club. You know Welles must have been a lil' Emo Goth kid.

Been swimming in Welles well here lately, but I'm glad I found this.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Got that lovely familiar ping to let me know someone loves me and has sent me an email!

I look and see I now have 666 Messages in my Inbox!

Opening the email cautiously, I discover the message is from an old friend who is a former Wiccan, former Temple of Set member, former member of The Process, former member of the Church of Unlimited Devotion and now follows the teaching of Maitreya while working as a children's face painter for parties and fairs.

It's been something like 20 years since I've seen her. We used to lay on the floor of her room for hours in a huge old house she shared with what must have been 30 other bohemians, listening to scratchy records she found at flea markets and yard sales.

She may have been the first health food eating person I ever met. She carried around eye droppers filled with odd fluids that she'd squirt into her mouth for nourishment. She made me dinner one night, that I swear was absolutely the worst thing I ever tasted in my life and that includes the time when I was a kid and my neighbor thought it would be funny to take a firecracker and put it in a pile of dog poop and blow it up... Yes, a nice donut sized piece of fresh dogshit shot straight into my open mouth!

Anyway, she was a bad cook. Well, actually she didn't cook it. It was raw. The dogshit was hotter and tastier.

Funny what 666 brings up.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

These trees are so pretty with their blooms that fall like Purple/Blue snowflakes.

This was over by one of my favorite stores, Wacko/Soap Plant/La Luz de Jesus. It was a beautiful day!

Later, I was reading one of Simon Callow's Orson Welles book and when I searched a fact online, discovered a fantastic collection of mp3s featuring Welles work.

It was like hitting the muthalode!

This site is AWESOME!

Just the audio from Peter Bogdanovich and Orson Welles while interviewing him for his book, "This is Orson Welles" is worth the time downloading. I have the tapes and had wanted to transfer them to mp3, but here there are!

Did you know Orson Welles' final role was the voice of the planet eating robot Unicron in "Transformers: The Movie," from back in 1986? I wonder if Michael Bay knew that? It would be kinda cool if they put it in the new one.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Had so much fun at Disneyland the other day, I went again, but this time I spend most of my time wishing!

This is me rubbing Aladdin's Lamp!

I rubbed it like rubbing had just been outlawed and my life depended on it!

One of my favorite parts of the bestselling SciFi novel, "The Secret" is how the Aladdin's Lamp story is broken down to explain the djinni is the Universe granting our wish. The lamp lights our way to the truth.

I'd like to be able to tell you about the wishes I made, but I won't, suffice to say, The wish did involve you.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Thanks to someone that brought it up, I could have gone by this date not remembering that this is the anniversary of my wedding, however the marriage ended in divorce.

Memory not good.

Which date should I celebrate? The wedding, or the divorce?

Just glad we didn't have kids. As far as I remember anyway. If I had kids, I'd sadly be the dad that would forget it's name and have to come up with nicknames to cover.

It wasn't a bad marriage. It might have even been pretty good. I think as time goes by, I forget most of the bad things and look back fondly and nostalgically.

Today, saw, "Knocked Up" and laughed a few times. It's pretty good.

Watched "Most Haunted Live" on the Travel Channel. I think "Knocked Up" was scarier.

Read most of "Digital Filmmaking," by Mike Figgis while standing in Borders and really dug it, but not enough buy it. Maybe later. I like him a lot!

I've been thinking of going camping or doing another big roadtrip. I wish I had a pickup truck, cause I'd just sleep in the bed of the truck. Maybe just set up the tent in the back of the truck. Don't want to sleep on the ground because of my fear of bugs.

That inhibits my camping experience.

Bugs, monsters and serial killing hitchhikers.