Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

The windows are opened wide to a hazy, lazy, warm Christmas day in L.A.
I decided not to go back to Pennsylvania this year for a variety of reasons, upon none of which I will elaborate.  

Christmas in L.A. – warm, no snow. Some love it, some find it depressing, you can make as much or as little of it as you like. It has been unseasonably warm, even by Socal standards – meaning that we hit 83 odd degrees yesterday. It’s a pleasant 70 right now.

Last night, I celebrated Christmas Eve with friends and an incredible Victorian style dinner. I made the mincemeat pie, not having any idea of what it was before embarking on a recipe hunt. It came out quite well, if I may say so myself. A Jewish/Moslem couple recently ensconced in the hills of Sierra Madre hosted the evening. The party, a wonderful mix of French, Swiss, Turk, Cuban/German (that’s me) and miscellaneous American heritages, we sang carols, drank eggnog, and feasted till we could drink, eat and sing no more.  

How’s that for celebrating the birth of Christianity?

Anyway, here’s hoping that your feasts and friends are also good. Enjoy the holidays and try not to make religion or consumerism too big a part of them.

screenings - free is best

You’d think, from all the time that has gone by since my last blog that I’ve been in production on something.
Nope.  Tis the season to be doing other things. The screening season and the party season is under full sail.
Watched Memoirs of a Geisha a few nights ago. I think it opens next week. Good movie. Should do well. Glad Spielberg didn’t direct it. His fingerprints aren’t apparent so I guess he left well enough alone.

Went to a screening of A Year and a Day last night. Good. Depressing, but with enough of a “level off at the end with the potential of hope” ending to not be suicide inducing. Very good acting too. Best of luck, Bob.

Tonight – some Harry Potter thing, then Narnia. I wouldn’t waste the time except they’re tech screenings and presented Digitally – which, by the way, makes seeing a movie projected from film a PAINFUL experience. Anybody who is still questioning the superiority of digital projection simply hasn’t seen a movie presented properly.

But of all of them, I am waiting mostly for –

KING KONG

This is the movie I waited years to see when I was seven. I had a big King Kong comic book that I’d memorized long before I watched Cooper’s monster thumping his chest. I remember watching it at 12:30 on a Sunday afternoon. It was the inspiration for so many clay modeled stop action experiments.

I’ve been allowing myself to feel that giddiness that leaves with childhood. It’s good. It reminds me of the simple joy of seeing a movie. I’ve been feeling little tingles of excitement, waiting at lights, as a bus in traffic goes by – the huge Art Deco Letters on the bus proclaiming – KOOOONNGG  KINNGG (The traffic goes slowly past left to right in front of you when you wait at a light)

Anyway, it has been good. It reminds me – after all that damn education about story structure, and journeys of heros, and the three act, the five act, the seven act, the plot points and devices and every other damn blah, blah thing that must be learned…

Be that kid with the wide eyes, listening intently and asking – “then what happens?”


Hey, if you’re in Los Angeles – the original 1933 King Kong is screening at the Egyptian Satrday, Dec 17th.