MONSTER SQUAD - One night in San Jose....

Brothers and sisters, posting this, because it's really very cool what they're doing up in San Jose on 6/10 at Camera Cinemas. And yes, if anyone wants to go, I'd very likely join you. - Eric

SAN JOSE, CA – On Saturday, June 10th, Camera Cinemas will bring a 35mm print of the cult classic kids' film, THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987) to San Jose for two special screenings, along with the director and three of the principal cast members for a memorable reunion and Q&A.
It’s been nearly 20 years since THE MONSTER SQUAD has been seen locally on the big screen, and legal DVD copies are nowhere to be found. Andre Gower (“Sean” the leader of the Squad), Ryan Lambert (“Rudy” the “Cool Kid”), Ashley Bank (“Phoebe the Feeb”) and director Fred Dekker are scheduled to make appearances after each of the two screenings at 7:00pm and 9:30pm, answering audience questions and signing autographs. This event is the first of its kind on the West Coast.

THE MONSTER SQUAD special screening and cast/crew Q&A
Saturday, June 10, 2006 --- 7:00pm & 9:30pm

Camera 12 Cinemas
201 S. Second St.
San Jose, CA 95113
408. 998.3300

Cost: $15.00
Tickets available at Camera 12 box office, or online at cameracinemas.com.

blue corduroy jacket. madras shirt. why the frown?

i don't think i can leave work early today. too busy. - eric

p.s. okay, now i'm smiling. just found out, i get to use a pernice brothers song for the dance sequence in my short film, "paralegal". cool, eh? i've applied to 14 festivals thus far. here's hoping....

before it enters the pupil stage....

note: this post is 100% sincere. no irony. no cynicism. i mean every word of it.

i'm very very excited to go to the "It's Alive!" exhibit at AMPAS in Beverly Hills.

They have an honest to goodness Mogwai on display in this exhibit detailing the history of animatronics in film. So yes: Gizmo's there! Harry (from Harry and the Hendersons) is there! Oh yeah, that little green elderly Jedi, voiced by Frank Oz.
Plus more! (I think that's Aughra from the Dark Crystal in one of those pics!)

I plan on going, perhaps this Saturday. Who wants to join this dork for brunch and a movie creature exhibit? Yes, obviously if Falcor from The Neverending Story was there, I'd go every day the exhibit existed....

I'm not joking. Seeing Gizmo and Yoda in person is gonna be so awesome....

Feeling like the Comic Book guy on The Simpsons, Eric

P.S. Apparently, there's some stuff from "Short Circuit" in the exhibit. It can only mean one thing... JOHNNY FIVE!

IT'S OFFICIAL

A couple of days ago, the rains came and cleared the skies of the gray fog that blanketed the city most of May. The skies are blue and the clouds distinct. And it is warm in this mof*ing joint. Summer's here and I'm planning on making the most of it for next summer, I will be back in the real world. So in preparation for the real world, I've been waking up late, staying in, and spending my afternoons at the Hollywood Tan @ the Arclight. Well, truthfully, I haven't been waking up late at all.
Yesterday, K, E, and I dropped by the set of ARoss' new music video shoot in East LA. Driving that far east was disorienting as all get-out. Good to see that guy dressed to the 9s in Paul Smith and Ozwald Boateng and Thom Browne and Vivienne Westwood. I'm just joking. I have no clue where he and his band friends got their costumes. Seeing your friends do well is a pretty great feeling. Seeing your friends not do well, well, well, Leibniz might have something to say about that.

LOVE
ALEX

An Inconvenient Truth - now open in New York & Los Angeles

An Inconvenient Truth, a terrific film that I'm working on (on the distribution side) is now open in New York and Los Angeles.

In New York, it's playing at Lincoln Square and the Sunshine.

In Los Angeles, it's playing at the Arclight and the Monica.

The NY Times review is glowing, and really conveys what's so important and pressing that makes this film a must-see.

If you can, whatever your politics are, please see it. This isn't a film with a political agenda; the only goal is to make as many people possible aware of the worsening climate crisis, and the future that we inevitably face, if we don't start opening our eyes, and finding the will to change.

Thanks, Eric

THE ANTS

You know summer's here when you find ants crawling along the shower tiles, stalking through your clothes, and scrambling across your belly as you lounge on your sofa reading the paper. Suh.Weet.

LOVE
ALEX

180 dollars spent at jcrew.com (spring sale)

here's what i got:
Pinwale corduroy sportcoat - DUTCH BLUE
Summer-weight regular fit chinos - RED PEPPER
Five-pocket straight-leg cords - TIGER LILY
Broken-in chino jacket - BRITISH KHAKI
Corduroy Dempsey sportcoat - TIGER LILY

Yes, you've got it right. I now have tiger lily (red) corduroy jacket and pants. I'm most excited about the Dutch Blue corduroy sportcoat.

Note to self: don't buy things you don't need.

It's alright. I really needed these. To look awesome this summer.

Dressing well is important. I'm migrating slowly from an all-plaid wardrobe to all solid-colors. Emphasis on slowly. But nothing plaid in today's purchase.

- Eric

P.S. I'd write more, but other than some really exciting bouts of farts, nothing to note this week. Work is busy. But good.

BRICK

After a perfect moviegoing weekend where Eric and I caught two double features, K & I finally caught up with BRICK last night at the Arclight. It was of special interest as it premiered at Sundance when I was there, was directed by a USC grad, and stars Joseph Gordon Levitt who attended my alma mater and was so moving in MYSTERIOUS SKIN. Also, the story behind BRICK is that it took 6 years or something for the director to raise funds and assemble the cast and crew to make his picture: a real indie labor of love. Pretty inspiring stuff for me and others in the proverbial boat.
Unfortunately, I don't think there will be a worse film this year. From start to finish, I couldn't identify a single human being in the film. The central conceit---Dashiell Hammett meets THE O.C.---is striking at first but then quickly devolves into parody (by like minute 3). Where's the respect? For THE MALTESE FALCON? THE THIN MAN? The director misunderstands style for tradition. BRICK has all the aesthetic tropes of film noir but they're rendered effete: the director doesn't have the cajones to marry style with authentic human experience. Nothing matters in BRICK because there's literally no life in it. No real people. No real behavior. No real anything. Sad sad sad.

LOVE
ALEX

I wish I had a camera...

Brothers and Sisters,
I wish I had a camera. A digital camera which I could plug into my computer.
So I could post photos on the blog. Photos of me.
So you could admire my sexiness as the background of your computer.

It's Saturday afternoon. A lazy day, thus far.
About to work out.
This blog post is a distraction, a dawdle.
But as soon as I'm done, I'll be on the elliptical trainer,
make-believing that I'm cross country skiing across a palatial Eskimo estate, igloos dotting the landscape. As far as the eye can see, that frozen tundra is mine. Again, only make-believe.

I just had a great phone call with my Dad, telling him all about my creative side-projects. Some exciting opportunities may have opened up for me (for which I wouldn't need to leave my job), and he sounded excited, which made me excited.

I put my annual review from work on the fridge. Alex and Kat both seemed very proud of me.

I love attention. Who doesn't?

On Thursday night, I made the correct choice, and escaped a work obligation, so I could go to the George Saunders reading. He read his "Nostalgia" piece from the April 10th New Yorker; and also a story from his new collection, "In Persuasion Nation". I had my copy signed after the reading, and got to speak with George Saunders briefly about my favorite story of his, "The 400-pound CEO". which I first heard on "This American Life". Anyway, a HUGELY INSPIRING evening. Afterwards, dinner with J-Innes, R-Marsh, and some other USC'ers at Fred 62, where we all told embarassing stories. Had the storytelling segment of the meal been a contest, Derrick would've taken home the gold for the most entertaining and beautiful story I've heard in a long long time.

Alright, enough of this post. Goodbye blog! Hello elliptical trainer in the middle of my bedroom!

- Eric

P.S. This week, Alex and I start working out the plans for the sister site to this blog, which will be made up of fewer written words, but many many images. If you are a psychic and can see into the future, you already know what's coming up in the weeks ahead... I'll just say this: they may need to change the name of June to something more appropriate, like ROCKTOBER. It's gonna be that great! I may even try to grow a moustache for the new website. I may even join JDate for the new website. Plus more! Details to follow...

COLLEGE REUNION

Our 5 year is coming up in a month. I will be in NYC for that. I look forward to seeing some old friends I haven't kept in touch with since moving out to LA almost two years ago. I thought the reunion events would be free, but they're not. Since I don't feel like going to casino night or whatever other pricey events the planners have up their sleeves (except for the kickoff cocktails get-together), I sorta wanna propose an alternate, cover-less, night out over reunion weekend. For those who read this bloggy blog and are CU grads, I'd love to hear who'd be down for a reckless, Bacchanalian chow/booze fest @ my favorite chow/booze spot east of the Mississips: SPOTTED PIG?

LOVE
ALEX

p.s. very very excited for POSEIDON.

George Saunders reading/signing @ Sky Light Books on Vermont tomorrow @ 7:30

Shit. You know those times you need to be in 2 places at once, and you wish you had a twin (i.e Tia/Tamara) or a clone (Arnold Schwarzenegger/his clone in the Sixth Day) so you could do the one you want to do, and the doppelganger could do what you don't want to do. The lesson I've learned in this blog posting: I'm likely not seeing George Saunders tomorrow night because of a work obligation.

But don't thing this post is me kicking it like Eeyore. I had my annual review at work yesterday. Pretty much straight A-'s.... That made me feel nice. And tonight, Gina of Via Gina fame has invited me along to dinner at The Dakota Restaurant.

The sound mix for "Paralegal" progresses well. Spoke with Eytan last night. We're planning on doing some four track crackly acoustic magic for the film. Barry recorded the ADR the other night and I think it went welll....

The new car continues to smell new.

- Eric

CHOCOLATE MEN

My cousin Carol mailed me a box of Jacques Torres chocolates for my birthday. They arrived yesterday. An assortment of square truffles. Whoa 2 Cocoa. Next time I'm in NYC, I will take the train over to Dumbo and visit his store, the interior of which I'd seen in a photograph for a Julianne Moore profile some magazine I think it was the NYTimes Magazine did a few years ago, and purchase every varietal offered. Though I think the idea of a chocolate sommelier is very ridiculous, I do like hearing and find amusing when wine sommeliers ooze on and on about the notes and hints and textures of a glass of red, calling out attributes that I couldn't discern for the life of me and am skeptical about in the first place. I have never tasted cigar wrapper in a glass of wine. So maybe a chocolate taste expert might be fun to listen to. Regardless, his chocolates are delectable and potentially addictive for I did discern a hint of crack in one of them. I can now say that I love two chocolate makers: Jacques Torres and R.Kelly.
Oh yeah, about R.Kelly. I haven't been to a concert since I think it was an OKGO show but this Sunday night, Eric, Jinnes, and I will be going to see Mr. Showbiz, The Pied Piper of R&B, Black Zorro, Kels, The Rrrrr, R. Kelly perform @ the Universal Ampitheater. Tears will shed. Jaws will drop. Belts will unbuckle.

LOVE
ALEX

100 DOLLARS

Bill Frist's 100 dollar gas rebate proposal is clearly the belly-laugh highlight this year. In the nearly 2 years I've lived in LA, gas prices have gone up at least 50%. What else in the world does that? I haven't started taking public transporation but I have looked online. Yeah, I'm not going to take public transportation anytime soon.
The semester winds down this week thank the Lord! I've put my writing on hold the past few weeks. Need a break from thinking about storytelling. I usually write every morning but the past two weeks, I've used my mornings to either read, go to the gym, or watch NetFlix DVDs. This morning, I'm feeling Vincent Minnelli's MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS. In a week or so, I should be fully recharged and ready to dive back into rewrites.
Also, for those who think LA is all fun and sun, a downy fog has blanketed the city for over a week now. It is seriously weird.

LOVE
ALEX