FINGERS

Last night, Eric and I popped in FINGERS, written & directed by James Toback, starring Harvey Keitel. I remember catching this a long time ago on IFC and liking it all right back then. I like it even more now. Keitel's performance is pretty outrageous and frightening. The story is so over the top---a concert pianist who's also a collector/thug---, but having seen nearly all of Toback's films in the past year, it is pretty tame by comparison. Toback is a terrific filmmaker: he might not have the greatest visual chops, but in terms of sheer intelligence, bravado, and weirdness, he is a class all his own. This past summer, a bunch of us caught the French remake, THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED. That too is a very good film and is pretty faithful to the original though in considering the use of location, New York City in the 70s serves the story far better Paris in the 00s. Rent it on Netflix. It's only 90 minutes long.

In other news, it's no suprise that Rove wasn't indicted and that Libby was. He's been charged with a few serious felonies, but surprise surprise, not charged with the biggie of revealing the identity of a covert CIA agent which is what this investigation was originally about, but of course, this being politics, is no longer the case.

LOVE
ALEX

Tough week to be president...

Dear Brothers and Sisters:
GWB and the rest of his gang are having a tough time as of late. I couldn't be happier. Who's with me? - Eric

P.S. Last night, Alex and I watched R Kelly videos (the R in R&B collection), had dinner with a friend 11 days into his jury duty, and then watched Harvey Keitel go over the edge in Toback's "Fingers". Good stuff... I let out a lot of nervous laughter throughout... Looking forward to catching the french remake (the beat that my heart skipped) when the dvd comes out...

P.P.S. Halloween... I've narrowed it down. The runners up:
3. Johnny Cash
2. Mario Incandenza
And the winner of the 1st Annual "What is Eric going to be for Halloween" Competition is:
1. Ignatius Reilly

MIERS

Too bad for Ms. Miers. Republicans sure like witch hunts but then again, the whole Fitzgerald-Libby-Rove thing is one as well so I guess Democrats are dicks too. It's pretty clear that Rove and Libby didn't commit the crime of disclosing the identity of a covert intelligence agent (seems like her covert status went up in smoke in the early 90s when Aldrich Ames sold her name to the Ruskies), but they did commit crimes of perjury and obstruction of justice. They should be punished but if Fitzgerald wants to drag them through the mud and punish them for the Iraq War, then it's Starr-Lewinsky-Clinton all over again and we all don't need that.
And it's pretty clear why Miers had to withdraw: her face makes Republicans cringe.

No New York No!!!!! Baaaadd

LOVE
ALEX

SHOP GIRL

Caught a bunch of movies the past week and here's a recap:
GARCON STUPIDE: a pretty impressive Swiss bildungsroman of a feature about a naive manwhore named Loic. Shot on DV. It's essentially a film about getting yourself edumacated in the ways of culture and sex. And the sex is pretty graphic man-on-man action. I caught a 12:45 screening of it. Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of gay men there. Old gay men. Wearing Miami Dolphins jams. Their moustaches were very UNIRONIC.

SHOPGIRL: caught this w/ KVondy on a dreary Saturday afternoon. Wow. People have likened this to LOST IN TRANSLATION and BROKEN FLOWERS but it's far superior to those two doggieshits. Why? Because it's suffused with an indelibly grown-up/adult sensibility whereas LIT and BF are for kids. Claire Danes is perfect, the best she's been since I guess MY SO CALLED LIFE, though I don't remember that show very well. (poor grammar I know whatever) Steve Martin has so much more depth of feeling and humor than Bill Murray in either of those doggieshits. And Jason Schwartzman is actually very charming despite his ugly mug. LA is beautifully evoked (pretty neat to see Silverlake!) and the pacing is just right. I was on the verge of losing it at the end. I would've were there not a girl I knew well (as in dating) sitting next to me. Boys don't cry fuckers boys don't cry. Go see it now.

NORTH FOLK: p-uke. Eric's right: it's beautifully shot. And that's about it. Biggest problem is of course the casting. Charlize Theron is too much of a star and I couldn't believe for one moment that she knew what the fuck she was supposed to be doing in the mines. Ridiculous. Victims are boring too.

We also shot a bunch of new stuff over the weekend for the doc. Interview w/ Dr. Drew from Loveline the other night. He is mighty articulate. Adam Carolla is one wicked funny Gilber Gottfried impersonator.

LOVE
ALEX

busy bee...

brothers and sisters,
greetings from my cubicle! things are good... work is busy as is non-work stuff... still coughing off and on... when will i be healthy?

So the other night, I saw "North Country". The reviews coming out today are understandably mixed. While I get why they're saying this, it's not a bad movie. I liked it quite a bit. Yes, some clumsy storytelling at points... Nontheless, it was visually awesome. Chris Menges and his camera crew, aside from some funnily lit night sequences, captured great landscapes (Nice work, 2nd unit!). Acting is across the board very good, even when the character arcs/motivations are clunky and/or implausible. It might not be a masterpiece, but I found a lot to enjoy in it. Charlize Theron showed up after the screening for a q&a gone awry due to technical difficulties/radio interference. Whoa, I don't know if anyone else has ever noticed that aside from being a good actress, Charlize Theron is, when you actually think about it, kinda pretty.

Pauli-G was in L.A. for work. I saw him a couple of times. Last night, PG, A-Scards, Alex and I went to Mori Sushi for dinner. Mom and Dad, I miss you. Please come out to L.A. and visit. And when you do, please take us to restaurants as good as Mori Sushi. We ordered a lot, I thought and expected the bill to be huge, but it was pretty reasonable for exquisite fish (yes, last night, I ate barracuda for the first time; barracudas are a lot less intimidating when they're cut into little pieces and served atop a li'l brick o' rice). I heart sushi. It's such a clean food. I always feel like it turns me (here comes a Nintendo metaphor) from little mario into BIG MARIO.

After sushi, we went to your typical L.A. lounge bar. The bouncers were total deutschmarks. (Alex arrived a little late and they weren't letting people in, so the bouncer was like, "you should give the doorman some money". So I did. And you know what, I'm never drinking or setting foot in that place again, not even if Charlize calls me up (who knows? maybe she's amused by whimsical wordplay) and she wants to meet there for our 1st date...) In any case, a lot of 20's - early 30's industry folk to talk with... A lot of them were miserable. But the ones that were happy to be working in the movies were fun to talk to... I have to get business cards made so networking can be easier (i.e. not "here's my number written on the back of a receipt. p.s. please don't look at what i bought at rite aid, it's a little embarassing. p.p.s. but if you do look, don't worry, the situation's cleared up nicely and i'm no longer contaigous...) In any case, I had a great time. PG and A-Scards are always great to hang out with... I'm also a big fan of Sony Johannes, A-Scards's cubicle sparring partner... Went back to PG's hotel, watched tv, and then drove back to my termiteless house in the los feliz hills. i went to sleep and dreamt vague dreams about warehouses with many doors...

So much work to do today. I wish I had a clone who was like me, but not as lazy. Don't we all? Come on diet coke, raise my sails, so I can head out on the journey that takes me to that magical place when sun sets, the work whistle blows and we all leave the movie factory behind for a couple of days....

I'm seeing Okkervil River in concert tonight. Yip Yip Yooray! - Eric

FREE

No termites!
Probably the most exciting news this week is that the Saturday I'm back in New York, my brother, mother, and I ---dad's still in KO-rea--- are having lunch at Perry Street. Boo-yah. LA has better Asian food than NYC and...that's about it. In addition to Perry Street, gonna go to Cafe Gray, al di la, Balthazar (of course), Lombardi's, and maybe a wild card or two.

If I can make one movie recommendation, check out CAPOTE. It's HILARIOUS.

LOVE
ALEX

dear termites, it was fun while it lasted. thanks for the sand, alex and eric

brothers and sisters,
this morning, i looked at the pre-sprayed house. the bugmen come to our house today and kill the termites good.

tonight: alex and i are staying at the standard hotel in downtown los angeles. we'll be at the rooftop bar. come drink with us. i'm the super handsome guy in the plaid shirt.

tomorrow night: alex and i are staying at a hotel in las vegas. (i mean, we have to be out of our house, why not embark on an adventure to the 2nd most un-glamorous city in america. Trenton, NJ: you're first at something!) as per usual arrangement, i'll be the super handsome guy in a plaid shirt (a different than friday night's plaid shirt). we'll be throwing money onto green felt and seeing what happens. (actually, as i'm gonna be paying a super pricey car rental bill in a couple of weeks... yes, i'm still renting a car as they continue to "fix" my car... i'm probably gonna be keeping the gambling to under 150. will i be able to keep my word on this? maybe i should just take scissors to the ATM card now...) i found the hotel deal online through american express. a westin hotel. 139 a night. it'll be fine, right? if not, we'll let you know...

sunday night: alex and i split off and find whatever shelter we can in los angeles.

monday: i go to work and come home to the house in los feliz. by then, all termites will be dead or gone. we'll have a small memorial service on the porch at dusk. please join us in our farewell to infestation.

anyway, i'm at work, sitting in my cubicle, trying to find the energy to get through friday- eric

p.s. as a non-sequitur: what if our country was called united states of vespucci? i vote we change it ASAP!

p.p.s. broke the fast at BJ's last night. thanks for the invite Beej. i'm not gonna lie. Sister Schwartz makes a great kugel. i'm going to try and get some leftovers, add some cinnamon & sugar. after a day of fasting, the wine hit hard. alex and i ran out at 9pm with a quick goodbye and caught "40 shades of blue". every scene with rip torn was some of the best filmic stuff i've seen in awhile. the stuff without him 'though was too slow for me at parts.

p.p.p.s. i have a flu that comes and goes. i think i should see a doctor if i don't get better soon, 'cause it's annoying to feel congested on and off, week after week. so have been taking it relatively easy, as of late.

TERMINIX

We are all set to go for the weekend long fumigation of Hotel Los Feliz. Eric and I will most likely spend Friday night at some hotel in LA and then possibly be in Vegas for a night...as for Sunday evening, don't know where we'll stay. The gas they use is toxic. I asked Terminix Ted what would happen if we accidently caught a huge whiff of gas: "instantaneous brain damage." SWEET.

have a great weekend and we'll see you later...maybe.

LOVE
ALEX

Dungen...

In an IM to my sister, I tried to describe Dungen and their music.
I wrote: "Swedish Phish".

LOL in La-La Land, Eric

P.S. Sorry for the lack of posts. I've been a little sick. Life is good, despite the cough, the cold, and feeling blah sometimes...

P.P.S. I found someone to buy most of the Beck records. Proceeds will be going to a few charities that are helping people affected by some of the recent natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquake, mudslides, etc.).

CRED

My buddy and I had tix to see Clap Hands on Friday night but he lost the tix so instead we went to see the 2 Gallants at El Cid, a bar/restaurant down the street from where I live. My broham is a huge 2 Gallants fan. The last show of theirs he went to, he dropped his cellphone into the shitter. Club shitters are gross but that didn't stop him from scooping his cellphone out of the shitter. Way to go broham!
In any case, my buddy and I were not in the best mood when we got to El Cid. What made it worse was that we had to sit through two shitty opening acts: Wires on Fire---4 poorly dressed Jewish kids playing M.F.A.-style heavy metal---and The Holy Ghost Revival---a Page/Plant joke of a band. When 2 Gallants finally got on stage, I was tired and my buddy just not feeling it. But, they were really good. I'd heard some of their stuff before and didn't take to it all that much, but seeing them live was something else. Maybe what was most memorable about that evening was seeing all these indie rock dudes with keychains hanging off their belt loops. I mean, every dude had that dangling fob accessory!!!
WHAT IS UP WITH THAT DANGLING FOB ACCESSORY!!!!!


LOVE
ALEX

TENT

So three pest control companies have checked out the insides of the Hotel and all have concluded it'd be best to tent the Hotel for three days and two nights. The inspectors have shown me the damage and it isn't pretty. What I thought was sand leaking from the ceiling turns out to be termite shit and all those tiny holes in the wood beams are in fact exits for those little buggers. So next week, there is a good chance that Eric and I will be staying at either the Chateau Marmont or the Bellagio for a few nights, coking it up, while the termites in the house get terminixed.
In another news, I think I've officially become an LA cliche. Been going to the local library to revise my screenplay like...everyone else my age.

LOVE
ALEX