Went to see SALT tonight by the venerable Australian director, Phillip Noyce, starring Angelina Jolie and Liev Schrieber. I highly recommend it – especially if you love thrillers and spy thrillers, in particular (as I do.) It’s a classic action-thriller centered on a female spy and delivers on all accounts. I was impressed by how it embraced its genre and charged ahead, delivering a story and experience that didn’t try to hide what it was – exciting and entertaining, a great Saturday night movie with friends. (Thanks Mike for treating with 3 yr old passes that still worked!) Too often, lately, I feel as if genre movies – especially more conventional genres like the spy-thriller, or the action-thriller, feel embarrassed by the act of entertaining, and therefore feel the need, often unnecessarily, subvert their conventions. Which, if done poorly (as so often is the case), or if their are too many cooks in the kitchen, ruins the entertainment factor in the story (Yes, I’m looking at you KNIGHT AND DAY.) So, check out SALT. Jason has a good, to the point post on some of the other cool aspects of SALT, namely that its another original story, instead of a knockoff or adaptation of a game, which is doing gangbusters at the box office.
Not much else going on. Just work, though today was a bit of an unplanned day off. I traveled down to Anaheim and the Disneyland Hotel to steal a few hours with my sister and brother-in-law, Caroline and Kent, who were in town with my nephews, Sam, Will, and Jack (everybody’s getting so big!) to tackle the Disney experience. We sat by the Neverland Pool while the boys swam and caught up a bit. It was wonderful to see them. I wish we’d had more time, but that just means I need to plan a trip to see them, once I get everything ironed out.
So much to gab about, so little time tonight to gab about it. So, without further ado, let’s hit it:
-I’m hesitant to say anything about the Cardinals at the moment. (Did you see tonight’s box score, Dad? Not bad. Not bad at all.) Let’s just simply say: YAY! And leave it at that.
- Mouth? Still sore. But, starting to settle in. Body? Still discombobulated. Though I think that’s more from the 48 hour write-a-thon I found myself in, before the final 434 on Thursday. BTW, that script is looking quite sharp. It was a rewrite of one of Jason’s – a spare, dark psychological thriller. Near my sweet spot, so to speak. He did a pass, after I wrapped up on Thursday and the script sparkles in my opinion. Truly sparkles. I want to see this movie. See what a director could do with it.
- The delightful Ms. Antone is in town for the weekend from Prescott, AZ. Always a major league treat! We hustled out to see a play at the Pasadena Playhouse. It’s called boom by Furious Theater Company. It was not the best thing we’ve seen. A little annoying. Tough to say if it was the direction, though, or just the play itself. Overall, I’d say the production was quite well done – acting and set design. But the story turned on a rather trivial and tired joke at the end, with far too much wackiness before that to really hinge on something so – plain. One notable to the evening is that this production featured Julia Duffy, mostly known for her work as a series regular on the funny and endearing sitcom, Newhart .
-Tonight, my niece, Ellen, had her high school graduation party. I wish I could’ve been there, or, more importantly, there on Sunday when she graduates. She’ll be off to Saint Mary’s of Notre Dame, in South Bend, next fall. Congrats, Ellen!
- I’m just glad Ellen made it home, safe and sound from her senior trip – a mission trip to Guatemala that some students do as their senior project. All the students do some sort of aid work as their senior project. This particular trip took place this past week. Which meant that they were trapped in Guatemala after the volcanic eruption and then tropical storm. You can read about it here.
-Always makes me a little melancholy when someone I love, who’s heart is still full of wonder and isn’t hardened to the roughness and inexplicably tragic in the world quite only to get a random glimpse of it before they should. I made choices that I’m not so proud of when I was quite young, lead an extremely reckless and self-destructive life when I was in high school, college, and my 20s. This life brought me out into that rough and inexplicably tragic world far sooner than I should’ve been. When I look back on some of those things, string them together in their proper context, and look at them again in clear eyes, I wouldn’t wish that for anyone’s teenage years. Not what I saw. Not what I did. Not what I learned – about myself, about others, and about the world.
-I have three days to rewrite the play. Should actually be a mellow experience. A nice victory lap on my MFA career.
-I’ve made the decision to search for a 2bd/2ba apartment with my buddy Jacob Bursten-Stern, a fine playwright, former HS basketball star, and good guy. I’ve known Jacob for the full three years of school. We both worked together, as well, at the UCLA Film Archive during our first year. We go to lunch every few weeks, talk shop, etc.. He’s also a very good friend of Tiffany’s, a playwrights who plays poker, has good taste in TV shows and – with Tiffany – kept me in it to win it with playwriting this year. We’ve been discussing this, after Tiffany suggested it, for a couple of weeks. Kind of amiably considering it. Bottom line came down for both of us, at different times, this week and the fact of the matter is that we can find a place in Culver City that’s big and will go for $1300 to $1500. Split that in two, plus split the bills and all of a sudden, I cut my monthly by a third, which is nothing to sneeze at. So, for July 1st as the target date. I hate to give up living alone. But, I’ll have plenty of time for that later. Need to stay in the hunt and this will help that – tremendously.
-Been a frustrating week on the business side of things. That’s all I’ll say for now. It is what it is. Suffice to say, this business is not a very above board, say what you mean style of business. Deciphering the different layers of “I said this, but really meant this.” Or, “I agree to this, but what I really wanted was this.” Is a major pain, most all the time. But, it’s also par for the course, unfortunately, and you just have to grin and bear it. Best advice? Keep writing.
- YAY REDBIRDS!
-Coach John Wooden, The Wizard Of Westwood, passed today. He was considered not only one of, if not the, greatest basketball coach/es. More than that, though, he was a teacher, a mentor, a molder of men. As Vin Scully said: “He is a genius in his ability to inspire There are a few giants who walk among us. He was truly one of them.” Coach Wooden’s spirit pervades all of Westwood. Not just in a basketball sense, but in an inspirational success. One of my favorite Wooden quotes:
“Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.”
Below is an brief video from UCLA’s tribute page for Coach Wooden. In it he talks further about failure:
“In life there will be peaks and valleys. The strength of a person’s character depends on their ability to accept both success and failure. Gonna have both.”
That is a lesson former Sony Pictures Head and famed Producer, Peter Guber, who will speak at graduation on Friday, taught quite eloquently in his opening lecture for his class ‘Navigating A Narrative World.” I believe he mentioned that he had learned it from Coach Wooden, but I’m not sure. It is, I feel, the core lesson that UCLA teaches and a resounding truth to life that is all too often overlooked. In all things and in all lives there will be peaks and valleys, you must reconcile that in your heart, have faith and learn to grow from both.
At the end of the tribute, Coach Wooden intones a beautiful poem on letting go of the fear of dying.
Of course it’s common sense, but repeating it never hurts – Mom, thanks for putting up with me. From those first nine months until now, I’m sure you could’ve never imagined that it would go quite like it has, which has been an adventure to say the least! I wouldn’t be here without you, in so many ways, so thank you for me. I hope you know just how much I love you. I can’t wait to show you L.A. when you come for graduation.
I also think it merits a mention – thank you to my two sisters, Caroline and Claire, who are fantastic moms themselves and probably got more practice than they anticipated when I showed up on April 1oth, 1971. (Yes, I know. It opening day and everyone was headed to Busch Stadium. Until I interrupted it all.)
Then there is Grandma Pedrolie, a.k.a Nanna, who is no longer with us sadly, who was my greatest pen pal ever. Especially in San Francisco, when I was truly on my own for the first time in my life. I still carry those letter with me and can hear her voice every time I read them. I always cherished our correspondence, so very much. And of course, my mother’s mother, Mimi, who also had a profound hand in shaping who I am. Some of the best parts of me come from that woman, who I think is a saint. I wish I could still head to “summer camp” for a couple of weeks, play rummy tile, see a show at the Muny, and go to the swimming hole.
Then lastly to my wonderful Aunt Ginger, who besides being the best Aunt in the world, has also been like my west coast Mom and dear, dear friend, since I’ve been hear in school, going through so many changes and striving to reach such a difficult dream. I’ve been beyond fortunate to be able to escape to Scottsdale so I can spend time recuperating and relaxing with Aunt Ginger and Big Daddy. Of course, I couldn’t close without mentioning my cousins, Aunt Ginger’s daughters, Paige, Polly, and Megan – all married now with their own families, all wonderful Moms as well, who have watched over me in San Francisco and now here in L.A., cheering me on, and making sure, even in Chicago when Polly was there, that I didn’t completely lose my way.
You see, that’s one of the wonderful things about being the youngest. Especially when it’s by so many years. Your whole family watches you grow up. It can be a little overwhelming when your in the thick of it, but when your an adult you finally gain some perspective and you can gaze back over the years and see how they’ve all had a hand in raising you, supporting you, and loving you into who you are today. That’s an incredible gift. Not everyone gets that kind of treatment. It just so happens, in our family, there are a lot more women than men. So, the list is deep for “mothers” that I’d like to say HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to and let them know I love them for all they’ve given me.