Thirty Days to 50,000 Word Novel... Okay?

So now that I was proved to myself that I could write a 50k word novel in 30 days, I have to ask myself this:  WTF did I write?  Don't get me wrong, when I did the practice run during the 30 days of September (and passed the 1,667 word per day goal), I was making it up as I was going along.  I had an idea of a beginning, an ending, protagonists and antagonists,  a mind-blowing climax, some of the obstacles, etc.  But for that book, I fleshed it out to 20 chapters in 304 pages.  Plus I added the 31 days of October to complete it to call it actually being finished at over 100k words.

This time around I was able to complete a outline (that I only started 6 days before the November 1 kick-off).  And I had a clearer idea of how the story would flow.  I decided that I would be able to do this in 15 chapters.  Okay, I don't know if other writer's out there have this problem, but everything was moving along smoothly until the characters started to take over.  They started taking left turns all over the place no matter how much I was in control of the actual writing.  I know this sounds like I've completely lost it, but nobody ever told me that once your characters begin to invade your brain that they never stop talking to you!  I was beginning to feel like I may require stronger medications.

Even thought I am, according to the rules of the National Novel Writer's Month contest, a winner,  I'm still feeling a bit dazed and confused.  True, I will continue to write until, I feel like it's at least finished.  For now, I think I will be able to get a good night sleep now that I don't have the pressure of making the required word count per day quota.

But I will say this, not only has this experience been responsible for lighting a fire under me creatively, it's like now that I started writing, I don't ever want to stop.  Even if no ever purchases a book written by me (nom de plume: B. Mars Thompson), then at least I can say I did it.  Hence the resurrection of this blog that nobody ever reads.  As long as I have a forum, I guess it will make sense to someone, someday.

At least now I have something to keep me busy until STAR WARS; THE FORCE AWAKENS and AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON open up next year!

Catch Me If You Can: The Musical

I think this is turning out to be a great season for Broadway hits! Last night I the new musical "CATCH ME IF YOU CAN" at the Neil Simon Theatre! It has all the makings of what a Broadway musical should be: a great story, catchy songs, and an exceptionally dynamic cast!

If the title sounds familiar its because Steven Spielberg made a film version of the book by Frank W. Abagnale Jr. in 2002. If you don't know the story of Frank W. Abagnale Jr., its a fantastic true tale of a teenager who, by the age of 21, was a self-made millionaire. It was his way of making the money that makes the story all the more interesting: he forged millions of dollars of rubber checks. It was his illegal actions that led to the overhaul of how the banking industry now regulates the checking process. Along the way he successfully impersonates an airline pilot with PanAm, a doctor in an emergency room, and a legal processor. The FBI are hot on his trail when he evades capture by impersonating yet another government official! It isn't really that hard to believe that this is a true story! The story begins in 1964 when writing checks was a whole lot different than we do today. Doesn't anybody remember when it took 5 to 7 business days for an out-of-state check to clear?

Another reason why I LOVED this show was because the book (by Terrence McNally) totally flows cohesively with great tunes by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. I actually found myself singing along (to myself) to several of the songs while the performers sang them! It's a good feeling when you can walk out of a musical humming the tunes that you have just enjoyed on stage. They stay with you for a long time (and in a good way too)!

But what is a show without great performances? This one had TONS! Mostly broadway vets that, if you have seen Hairspray, Next to Normal or Wicked, are not hard to forget! The stand-out performance goes to Aaron Tveit as the very charismatic Frank Abagnale Jr.(played by Leonardo DiCaprio in the film) What a VOICE this kid has on him! I wished I had seen him in Next to Normal when he was in it! Added to the mix are Tony winner Norbert Leo Butz as Agent

Carl Hanratty (played by Tom Hanks in the film), the still hot after all these years - Tom Wopat as Frank Sr. (Christopher Walken in film), and the always talented Kerry Butler as Frank's girlfriend, Brenda Strong (played by Amy Adams in the film). Great direction by Jack O'Brien and fantastic choreography by Jerry Mitchell! Dude, I really LOVED this show!

With the exception of "Shindler's List", "The Color Purple", "Jaws" and the Indiana Jones films - I'm not a super big fan of Spielberg movies. His film version of "Catch Me If You Can" isn't even in my video library. I can honestly say that this new musical adaptation is exponentially better than the film! It takes you on a journey that you can never forget!

If you want to see a great old-fashion musical, treat yourself to CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!

Be warned however: the Neil Simon theatre is an old Broadway theatre. Old, as in, when they put the seats in there originally, theater-goers were are lot smaller than we are today! But if you are like me, it's a pleasurable pain being squeezed for 2 1/2 hours!

Don't Wanna be an AMERICAN IDIOT! Vote TEAM WENDY on DWTS 1-800-868-3402

I went to the theater on Friday to see another show on Broadway: AMERICAN IDIOT. If it sounds familiar its because it's also a Grammy winning album by the alternative rock band Green Day. If you haven't seen the show - then RUN down the "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" to the St. James Theatre to see it before it closes. Rumor has it that its closing at the end of April!

Don't expect to see a show like Phantom of the Opera or Wicked here. It's the closet thing to a musical without being all "musically". If you know what a mean. It's gritty, it's honest, and it totally rocks!

I wasn't a big fan of Green Day prior to seeing the show, but I am now. Some of the music I'd heard before but didn't know it was Green Day! I honestly have to say I liked this musical better than I thought I was going to like it! Granted, its not a musical for everyone. But teenagers will love it! The MTV generation and maybe the VH-1 generation will love it. However there were some seniors there who didn't seem to be enjoying it. They had that "turn-that-nois

e-down-I'm-trying-to-iron-in-here" look on their faces. So if you want to take the grandparents to a show, don't take them to this one (unless they went to Woodstock).

I hate to make comparisons to other shows but this show reminded me of "Rent" and "Hair" and "Tommy". And I LOVED all those shows! I think if you liked any of those shows, than you will love American Idiot! With the exception of the FABULOUS Rebecca Naomi Jones, all of the original cast has moved on. However the show is still as fresh as ever! Most of the ensemble cast has moved into lead roles. They are PHENOMENAL singers!!!! Ironically, in a show that pokes fun at American consumerism, the show now stars former American Idol runner-up, Justin Guarini. Justin, who was in the recently closed Broadway show Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (a show that had all the makings of a great show like Spider-Man but failed miserable) , plays Will. He sounds better than ever too!

Other news is that tonight I will be watching DANCING WITH THE STARS! As many of you know, I am a big fan of talk-show hostess, Wendy Williams. (I'm still waiting to get confirmation on tickets to see a taping next week) Wendy is one of the contestants on DWTS this evening. We wish her well! To vote for her call 1-800-868-3402! Support Wendy!

Also if you are a fan of Philip K. Dick's stories than you will love the new film THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU. I saw it last weekend and really was blown away with it. If you aren't familiar with PKD, then you should check out his work. It's sci-fi bordering on metaphysical. His stories have been turned in to films before: Blade Runner, Minority Report, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, etc. The Adjustment Bureau is based on Dick's short story The Adjustment Team. It's directed by George Nofli and stars Matt Damon, Anthony Mackey, Emily Blunt, John Slattery and the legendary Terence Stamp.

The Good and The Bad

Two Issues!

1) Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE to read. I always have a book on me. I just got a nook eReader from Barnes & Noble - but thats another story for another time. So I recently began collecting the leather-bound classic collections of authors that can be purchased from Barnes & Noble! They are great books for any collector. They are beautiful books with ribbon bookmarks and gold or silver binding. At last count I believe I have 19 volumes total. If they sell more than that, then I haven't found it yet. Some of the titles include, The complete works of William Shakespeare, Complete works of Edgar Allan Poe, C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, 7 novels by H. G. Wells (all in one volume), etc. They also have contemporary novelists like Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, Gregory Maguire's Wicked and Son of a Witch, and Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and The Lost World.

I sent a letter to Barnes & Noble to suggest other authors they may want to add in the future. Here is some of the letter that I sent snail mail and emailed to the corporate headquarters:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to express my appreciation for a your company releasing the Barnes & Noble Leather-bound Classics!

I've have ordered online or purchased in store the complete 19 volumes. I hope I did? Although I never would have thought of Gregory Maguire and Michael Crichton as classic authors, I guess some day future audiences, will view their work as classics.

My question to you is: do you anticipate releasing even more author collections in the near future? If so, can I suggest some authors that would be a great addition to my wonderful collection? How about considering these authors next time around:

• Mark Twain
• D. H. Lawrence
• Oscar Wilde
• E. M. Forster
• Geoffrey Chaucer
• L. Frank Baum
• Ernest Hemingway
• F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Zora Neale Hurston
• James Baldwin
• Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Truman Capote
• Maya Angelou
• John Steinbeck
• Willa Cather
• Joseph Conrad
• Toni Morrison
• William Faulkner
• Edith Wharton
• P. G. Wodehouse
• George Orwell
• Virginia Woolf
• Philip Roth
• Stephen King
• Raymond Carver
• John Irving
• Evelyn Waugh
• Annie Proulx
• Henry James
• Marcel Proust
• Raymond Chandler
• Ray Bradbury
• Walter Mosley
• Amy Tan
• Ian Fleming
• Patricia Highsmith
• Charles Bukowski
• James A. Michener

Leather-bound collections by these authors would be a great addition to anyone who wishes to cultivate a well-rounded library. You may want to forward this to the office that makes such decisions.

I'm sure that if you're like me, you can think of some more authors that should be on this list that you'd like to see in a leather-bound collection on your bookshelf. Suggestions? If you are like me and would like to see more of these books, drop them a letter like I did:

Barnes & Noble, Inc.

122 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10011

2) I also like to watch films. Good, bad, whatever! I have been a member of Netflix for many years now. Recently I had a problem with a DVD that I kept getting in the mail broken or cracked, thus rendering my visual experience: unwatchable!

Something should have told me that maybe this isn't meant to be. Now with Netflix, you can't just send them an email and if you call it's never a person picking up. So instead I wrote a review of the film. Here it is:

Review of YOU ONLY DIE ONCE: I have yet to see this film. That's not to say that I haven't ordered it. In fact I ordered it 3 times and EVERY SHIPMENT has been cracked or broken. I guess I should have read the reviews before I put this film on my queue, but I always like the underdog and wanted to judge for myself. After the 3rd broken DVD was delivered to me, I figured somebody was trying to tell me something! It must be bad when Netflix doesn't even bother to make this film available for streaming instantly. Oh, well maybe it's just isn't meant to be.

Okay, thats enough for now. Cheers!

Why Billy Can't Sleep?

Yesterday I finally came to the realization that what is meant when they say "you can pick your nose, you can pick you ass, but you can't pick the family your born into!" Because believe me if I could pick my own family, I would be an only child or maybe I'd like to have a brother. Either way I guess I'm stuck with what I got even if I never say another word to my mother's other child again, I can be a happy man! Let's put it this way, if my sister was on fire, I wouldn't piss on that bitch! I have had it!

We had a difference of opinions on certain thing and I have since washed my hands of all the ugliness that it entails. Some people are just so narcissistic that it just doesn't warrant continuing any relationship with them at all. But I digress....

I'm writing this post at 2:45am because I can't sleep. I recently found out, after participating in a sleep study, that I have sleep apnea. This is a disorder that cause me to stop breathing in my sleep. Needless to say, it can be deadly. My doctor prescribed a CPAP machine to help me with my sleep apnea. This contraption looks sorta like a elephant trunk connected to a small box. This will not only correct me from breathing interruptions during the night but it will guarantee that I will never have any romantic life in my bedroom. It's hideous and I wish there was some other way... oh well!

Haven't posted in a while. Saw "The Social Network", "True Grit", "Black Swan" (did anyone catch the sketch on SNL with Jim Carrey? - TOO FUNNY), and "The Kids Are Alright" recently! Excellent performances in all these films and I recommend them to anybody. Oh, I also saw "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow, Part 1". I quite enjoyed it even though there were some truly frightening scenes in it! By far, I think it's the best of the franchise. I eagerly await part 2!

I finally got around to reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Its my first eBook that I downloaded on my nook reader that Santa gave me for Christmas! Pretty good so far...

Okay, I'm going to sleep now. My sleeping pill is starting to kick in! Oh, one more thing: never take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night!

I LOVE GUS VAN SANT

This week I received the Gus Van Sant film "Milk" from Netflix! Last night I finally had the chance to see it! And I want to let the WORLD know how much I loved this film. For anyone who doesn't already know, it is the story of the first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk. He is to LGBT people, what Martin Luther King Jr. is to Black people. And I can say that because I am both! He fought for gay rights when it wasn't popular and he set the precedent by which we still fight today in the rights for equality. I am so glad that Gus Van Sant, an openly gay filmmaker himself, has finally brought this story to screen. It has to be said also that the writing, by Oscar winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black was very worthy of the Academy Award that it did receive! He also gave an amazing Academy Award acceptance speech when he won this year! Nice going Lance!

One of the reason's why I loved the DVD is because of all the extras on included with this disc. It contained several featurettes, however in particular was the "Remembering Harvey" short. This featured many of the people who were with Milk during his historic rise to fame in San Francisco during the 1970's. Many of these same people are portrayed by younger actors in the film itself. Cleve Jones, who many people know as the man who conceived of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, talks about Harvey with much affection and the impact that he had on him as well as the gay community then. In the film he is brilliantly played by Emile Hirsch.

Speaking of acting, I have to say that Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, James Franco as Scott Smith, and Josh Brolin as Dan White were excellent! It's always a treat when actors can so immerse themselves into a role that you forget that they are the actors themselves. The entire cast was great! Gus Van Sant has done a fine job once again!

Many of you may already know that I am a BIG fan on Mr. Van Sant's work as a director (with the exception of his remake of the Hitchcock classic "Psycho") Hitchcock should be emulated and paid homage to but NO DIRECTOR (myself included) should ever REMAKE an Alfred Hitchcock film (except Alfred Hitchcock himself like he did for "The Man Who Knew Too Much") but I digress. Ever since "My Own Private Idaho" I've been hooked on Van Sant! Of course I feel somewhat of a kinship with him being an openly gay filmmaker too! He, much like Harvey Milk, uses his artistry to send a message with the media of film. I hope to continue this same concept as I embark on my film career.

It's funny, but I saw similarities between Harvey Milk and myself. Like me, starting my film career in my 40's, he didn't start his gay activism until he turned 40. I never knew how much his actions in the 70's have contributed to me being the man I can be today! It's also very fitting that this film should be released in this particular time when California conservatives have passed Proposition 8 which prohibits same-sex marriage in that state. Coincidence? I don't think so! That being said I hope that Gus Van Sant continues to put out great works such as this. He is one of my many inspirations and I hope that one day I can win an award and thank him and Harvey Milk for all that they have done for our community!

Now, GO rent (or buy the DVD to add to you Gus Van Sant film collection like I am). You won't be disappointed!

Shrooming and Films that Don't Mix Well!

I've been watching a lot of films lately in my free time. Films that I'm either rediscovering or discovering for the first time. I especially like foreign films that are as far away from the American "Hollywood" film mold as possible. But there is something that I discovered that I wanted to share. There are certain films that have been released in the past that should NEVER, and I repeat NEVER be viewed while taking any "mind altering drugs" shall we say? So I've compiled this list that I like to called:

FILMS THAT SHOULD NEVER BE VIEWED WHILE DOING MUSHROOMS!
(These films are in no particular order as to strangeness)

1. Barbet Schroeder's "Maitresse" (1976) Okay I admit I thought Gérard Depardieu was in his bubble-butt goodness in this one, however the horse visceration scene ALONE, is enough to send ANYBODY over the edge. PETA should have been consulted!
2. Russ Meyer's "Beyond the Valley of The Dolls" (1970) Yes, this was the one that was co-written by critic Roger Ebert. What were they smoking (or dropping) when they made this?
3. Michelangelo Antonioni's "Blow Up" (1966) I will never look at a mime the same way again!
4. Pier Paolo Pasolini's "Teorema" (1968) Strange, indeed!
5. Donald Cammel & Nicolas Roeg's "Performance"(1970) Has to be seen to be believed. Mick Jagger first film!
6. Dario Argento's "Suspiria" (1977) As a matter of fact, although I enjoy his films, I would avoid ALL of his films while high!
7. Jean-Luc Godard's "Week End" (1967) I love French New Wave, but this one was truly a head trip!
8. Walt Disney's "Fantasia" (1940) A definite head trip if ever there was one!
9. Michael Heneke's "Funny Games" (1997) All I can say after viewing this one, was: WTF? The director made an American remake recently that I'm scared to see after watching the original
10. John Waters' "Pink Flamingos" (1972) See note for #5. Same holds true here. However don't get me wrong I LOVE his films (must say a lot about me, huh?)and I've seen this one over 30 times already!
11. Tim Burton's "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" (2005) See note for #9.
12. Hideo Nakata's "Ringu" (1998) This one kept me up for DAYS (and I wasn't on anything. I swear!)

Honorable Mention:

The Omega Man (1971) & the remake "I Am Legend" (2007). I was scared as a child watching this sober, you can imagine what the remake did to me with all the advances in computer effects!

Although it's not technically a theatrical release, but a episode from a popular guilty pleasure television series: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season 4, Episode 10) "Hush"-- I had nightmares after watching this particular episode and couldn't sleep for days after watching it. What were the creators on when they wrote this? This episode was NO JOKE! It worked me better than a laxative. In other words, it STSOOM ;-)

Now although I wouldn't advocate taking any hallucinate drugs (As Mr. Mackey from "South Park says,"um, because drugs are bad, m'kay?") while doing ANYTHING, sometimes prescription medication can mess with your brain just like any illegal or control substance. That being said, if you like films then these films SHOULD be viewed (sober or otherwise). So hope you enjoy these films but maybe put down the blunt before you put them in you DVD player.

Dark Knight & Wendy Williams (Pt. 3)

Of course, I was one of the million's who saw Heath Ledger's final film performance this weekend in the hit film in the Batman franchise, "The Dark Knight". Heath was BRILLIANT as the very dark and very scary "Joker." This isn't Caesar Romero's "Joker" either. Heath's portrayal of the Joker really gave me the heebee geebees. It was a truly moving and terrifying performance which only seems sadden by the fact that never more will we see what many other roles this young actor could have taken. Truly a lost to the film industry. As a filmmaker myself, I will never have the opportunity to work with Heath Ledger. But the film industry was bless with this great actor's performances that will live forever on film.

As for the story itself, it was the darkest Batman, EVER!!!!! I will say much accolades to Christopher Nolan for fine direction and a marvelously written screenplay, as well as to Wally Pfister for his breathtaking lighting. I also have to say that even though Katie Holmes didn't reprise the role of Rachel Dawes for this film, no one could do it better than Maggie Gyllenhaal. Where was she the first time around? Anyway, I think this is THE film to see this summer (Although I'm a big "X-Files" fan, and I can't wait to see Mulder and Skully back on the big screen together later this week.)

Moving on... I have never really gotten on the "celebrity" bandwagon when it came to doing this blog, but I have to put my 2¢ in about a "celebrity" (although anyone who can call themselves a "celebrity" from just being on a reality show- with the exception of American Idol- is beyond me). Okay, so this morning I was watching the first show of the second week of the "Wendy Williams Show" and I was really upset to see how her guest, who I won't even name because it only gives her more power, was such a royal witch to Wendy.

Now for those of you who aren't familiar with Wendy William's radio talk show, The Wendy Williams Experience, she has had some fiery but very real interviews with many REAL celebrities (I'm talking about people with actual TALENT besides being on a reality show, showing the world how much of witch one can be for ratings) that always get to the bottom of things. Besides being the "Queen of the Hot Topics", she has been beacon on the WBLS for many years dispensing advice and information in her own special way. If you don't like, her, then you have the choice of turning to another station. However today's guest on her television talk show, who for someone with such a pretty name, showed a VERY UGLY side of herself today when she started to "diss" Wendy on "The Wendy Williams Show". This evil witch, who I will only say, was the thorn in Donald Trump's side on the premiere season of "The Apprentice", was totally disrespectful to her hostess as she was trying to hock her upcoming book.

My Carrie Bradshaw question is, why do people have to be so "ugly" when someone is trying to help them?

I have to say that through it all, Wendy was the lady that she always is who only continued to treat "the guest" graciously and didn't get back into the woman's face. It really saddens me when I see women, especially black professional women try to live up to the stereotypes that society has labeled them with for so many years. That's why I was so happy to see that Wendy wasn't going to stoop to that witch's level when she insulted Wendy on live television this morning. It was an awkward situation, but Wendy maintained her cool and moved on like any professional journalist would do in her position. It was obvious that this woman came on the show with a big chip on her shoulder looking for a fight. She may have thought about checking out a mirror prior to walking out on that stage, because next to Wendy, she was looking pretty haggard with weave that looked like it was put in by a blind crack head!

Now some men may like to see two women claw at each other with no dignity whatsoever. I, for one, do not subscribe to this. Had this conversation happened out on the street, I'm sure it would have been a different show. However on live television, the hostess was charming and gracious, while the guest was the personification of the word "bitch." Next time that particular guest goes onto a talk show looking for a fight, might I suggest something like "Jerry Springer?" Since she preferred to act like ghetto trash, maybe she would feel more at home on that type of show!!

And yes, there is nothing wrong with your eyes: I did GO there!!!!

Wendy Williams: Part Deux

Okay everybody, today I watched the second day of the Wendy Williams show and it was equally as fabulous as it was yesterday if not better. Wendy looked exquisite in her little black outfit. Today she had on Al Roker from the "Today Show" and he is really a character. I really wish I could get tickets to see a taping of her show? I have a feeling that a taping must be a lot of fun for the audience as well as the guests. Much like the time I went to a taping of "Dave Chapelle Show". It was hilarious, but I digress....

Anyway, before I came here to the library to write (long story short: I was piggy-backing my wireless from somebody in my apartment building and they moved out so now I used the free wi-fi at the Brooklyn Public Library-the big one at Grand Army Plaza next to Prospect Park- I'm not cheap, just broke) I listened a little to the Wendy Williams Experience on WBLS. Her guest today was one of my very favorite authors: E. Lynn Harris. He was there to promote his new book that drops in stores today, Just Too Good To Be True. He also mentioned that he has another book coming out in January called Basketball Jones that deals with a guy living in the closet while playing in the NBA. Now anyone who knows me, knows that this is a subject that really interest me after reading the John Amaechi memoir Man In the Middle. I really can't wait to read that book.

I guess the reason why I brought up sports today is because, as I'm sure you know today is MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. Of course I'm all about anything that has to do with any Yankees. Derek Jeter (will be playing for the ninth time), ARod, and Mariano Rivera will be playing for the American League. I really wish I could be there to watch this package. I mean the teams, not the player's packages. Duh... Okay I wouldn't mind watching the player's packages (I'm a freak like that). Anyway. I wish them well.

How did I get from Wendy Williams to talking about baseball? Oh yeah right, now I remember: I was wishing that I had a ticket (and a date) to go with to the game tonight since it will be the very last All-Star Game to ever be played in the current Yankee Stadium.

Anyway, oh, I wanted to talk a little about the mini film festivals I had all by myself in my apartment this weekend. Since I've been coming over to the public library, I've discovered the "World Cinema" section of DVDs. Over the past few months I've rediscovered and discovered some works by filmmakers who I greatly admire. This past weekend I watched the Three Colors trilogy by Krzysztof Kieslowski. I've seen it before but not on DVD and not with the commentary. As a filmmaker it's an added bonus to be able to hear what the thought process was for legendary filmmakers such as Kieslowski. It also gave me insight into why European films vastly differ from American-made "Hollywood" films. If you haven't the trilogy yet, it's a must for any serious film maker or lover of films. Three Colors: Blue (Trois colours: Bleu) (1993), Three Colors: White (Trois colours: Blanc) (1994), Three Colors: Red (Trois colours: Rouge) (1994) where the crowning achievement to a brilliant career that sadly ended way too soon in 1996 when he died from heart failure.

My other favorite filmmaker that I had the opportunity to study his films is Michelangelo Antonioni. Antonioni passed away last year but was quite a prolific filmmaker leaving behind what is now considered masterpieces of cinema. I watched Il Grido (The Cry) (1957), L'Avventura (The Adventure) (1960), La Notte (The Night) (1961), L'Eclisse (The Eclipse) (1962) and Blow Up (1966) and you know what I learned from watching these film classics? How to speak Italian! Just kidding, I think that the central thing that I discovered was that much like a novel that has plenty of exposition, so is an Italian film. I understand now why such directors as Ang Lee may have been inspired by the shear genius and artistry of his cinematography as every frame of an Antonioni film tends too look like a rare piece of artwork that should hang in a museum. Like Antonioni, I find that Ang Lee's films are slow moving yet visually a feast for the eyes.

Of course, don't get me started on all the Hitchcock films that I've had the chance to study lately, most notably his earlier works (prior to moving to the US from the UK) such as The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938); and some of his early American films like Shadow of a Doubt (1943); and some of his later work like Torn Curtain (1966) - in this particular film Paul Newman was soooooooo hot!!!!

I could go on and on about films as many of you all know but it's getting cold here in the library and I'm wearing shorts and a light cotton shirt. I think they turn the AC up to keep the people from sitting in here all day.

As always, I welcome your comments. Until next time!

Sex And The City (Across the Bridge)

It's taken me the entire month of May to recuperate from my surgery but slow-but-surely, I'm getting back up on my feet again. I'm just bored to death. I'm still trying to get my thesis film shot, but I haven't been doing too much since the pain from surgery still gets me now and then. The one thing that I can say is that I've been watching a lot of Netflix stuff. Mostly the continuing stories of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel" (the hunky vampire with a soul). The few times that I've gotten out of bed, I've found myself at the Brooklyn Pubic Library located right near Grand Army Plaza in my beautiful Brooklyn neighborhood of Prospect Heights. I think I'm really lucky to live within walking distance to this great institution that is located beside the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, The Brooklyn Museum and Prospect Park. I feel surrounded in culture whenever I walk out of my apartment and venture near these great landmarks of Brooklyn. The best thing that I've discovered about the library, besides biggest branch in the borough, is that it also loan out DVDs. For a film student as myself (and you never stop being a student even though I've since gotten my A.A.S. in Filmmaking -that's me getting my degree from the President of Gibbs School NY on May 2nd [3 days before my surgery]) having access to a free film library is somewhat of a coup to me.

Besides all the literature that I've been reading lately, I've been watching a lot of films also. Recently I saw the 1967 classic film "Truman Capote's In Cold Blood" starring Robert Blake and Scott Wilson. It was directed by Richard Brooks. I guess you could say I was fascinated by the extraordinary performance of Toby Jones as Truman Capote in the Douglas McGrath indie feature "Infamous." Yes I know that Philip Seymour Hoffman won the Oscar playing the same character in another film of the about the very same subject, and I think Mr. Hoffman is a FANTASTIC actor, but Toby Jones' portrayal is the one that will stick with you long after your return the video to Netflix or your local library. Daniel Craig as the killer Perry Smith was also a phenomenal performance. Although I'm somewhat of a Daniel Craig fan now since having seen him in "The Golden Compass", "Road to Perdition", "Casino Royal", "Layer Cake" and of course "Infamous".

While I'm on the subject of films, I have to give a shout out to to the ladies and gents of the new film "Sex and The City." Of course, I was on line on opening night to watch the film in an East Village theater. First of all I have to say that it really is somewhat of a phenomenon because about 85% of the audience in this NYC crowd that I went to see it with were mostly very fashionable women in the latest designer fashion and accessories. Hermes and Prada bags, the "infamous" Carrie Bradshaw silk flower on the lapel, and Manolo Blahnik's EVERYWHERE!!! Paul and I may have been two of the few men in the audience besides the various guys who were clearly dragged there by their female companions (Steve's, Mr. Big's, Harry's and Smith's). But there were gay men there as well (what would Sex and the City be without any of us?) It seems that the show is somewhat like the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" in that the audience seemed to replicate the characters on from the film (I guess Paul and I were "Stanford" and "Anthony" that night).

While we waited for the film to come on everyone was talking about their favorite episode. (My favorite of all time is "The Real Me" episode where Stanford declares Carrie to be "Fashion roadkill" when she falls on the runway at a fashion show and Heidi Klum walks over her.) Had alcohol been allowed to been served, I'm sure someone would have ordered a round of "Cosmos" for all.

As far as the film goes, whether you are a fan of the show or not, it definitely has it's moments that people will be talking about all summer long. Michael Patrick King has outdone himself bringing this fairytale to the big screen. It really is a homage to everything that is New York City. I was especially surprised to see the scene that I watch being filmed in front of my school on 40th St, Katharine Gibbs School. Not to give away too much of a plot, it involved 2 limos, the girls, Mr. Big, and a whole mess of discarded white roses! If you look close in the back ground, you can see the Gibbs awning next to the Bryant Park Hotel. I only wish I didn't have to sell my complete series of the show (money was tight) because I always like laughing at the things that makes living in this city so great. Oh, I also like the "Easy Come, Easy Go" episode where Bobby Cannavale played Samantha's sex partner, Adam Ball with the "funky spunk." Gee, I miss Sex and the City!

And I mean that both figuratively and LITERALLY!!

Film School at 44

I've done it!! With hard work and determination I can honestly say that as of today, March 28, 2008 I am a COLLEGE GRADUATE. As of today I have my Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S) Degree in Digital Filmmaking and Multimedia! I am very happy and proud that I have been able to achieve this accomplishment at the tender age of 44 given all the drama that I've lived through in the past couple of years. I will get my degree in a ceremony on May 2. Even though I dropped out of my Bachelor program at Pace University over 25 years ago to pursue my calling to be a thespian on the stage, I guess there was something in me that was determine to prove that it's never too late to finish college. The next step will be to get my Bachelor and then my Master's degree. But for the time being I'm going to pursue the workforce in a freelance capacity until I decide on what school I'd like to further my education at.

I should mention that I passed my only class, Literature and Composition by the skin of my teeth. I got a A minus. I thought that I would probably get a C or a B+ because I was late handing in my term paper (a comparison of short stories that I titled "Cowboys and Indians:The Dynamics of Male Bonding in Modern Western Literature") I compared the literature of Annie Proulx's "Brokeback Mountian" with Sherman Alexie's "This is What It Means to Say Phoenix, Arizona" from his collection of short stories The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. I say I passed by the skin of my teeth because I had so much trouble writing this paper. The first time I did it I forgot to save it on my thumb drive the day that it was due. When I went back to copy on my drive to take to from home to school, my stupid Dell laptop crashed and I lost the file entirely. So when I finally went into class on the last day ready to take what I had coming to me, my professor refused to take no for an answer and made me write "something" during the class. Well 2 hours later, I came up with almost an identical paper that I had written before (with a full bibliography included) of what I could remember. I guess in the end, when push comes to shove and my butt is on the line, I can write like it's nobody's business! In the end I got an "A" on this final paper of this chapter of my academic career.

I had a weird dream the other night where I had the opportunity to meet one of my Film idols, John Waters. It wasn't as crazy as one of his films (or mine for that matter) but it was nice. Someone had passed him a copy of my thesis film (which is still in the works once I get through with my minor medical issues) Poppin' In and one night I get this phone call from someone claiming to be John Waters. So at first I'm thinking it's a friend playing a joke on me until I ask him some questions that only he could answer (you can learn a lot from listening to the Director's commentary tracks on DVDs) and sure enough, it really was John Waters! I was flabbergasted and he invites me to lunch to discuss my short thesis film (That he thought was "a riot") and then I woke up. But it was a nice dream. I guess since I have been meeting famous directors (Mira Nair, Cynthia Wade) maybe this dream was telling me something. Hmmm....

Anyway this week at the Center we put up the March 2008 episode of "Out at the Center" and I have to say that I'm very proud of it especially since I had the opportunity to shot footage for several segments on this program. I even helped with the editing on the closing credits (a fashion show) and I hope that I've made all of my film professors at KGS (Katharine Gibbs School) proud of my film shooting and editing skills. Most importantly I hope I made my boss proud on the show. This week I also worked on filming an upcoming segment with author Michael Luongo who recently released Gay Travels in the Muslim World. I haven't had an opportunity to read the book yet, but from the discussion he gave, it fascinates me. Especially since once my brother-in-law told me that there were no gay people in Pakistan. I made sure he saw "My Beautiful Launderette" after he told me this bit of information. Okay, the guy lived in London, but he was born in Pakistan in the film. Plus it was the very first time I saw Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis and was smitten!

Anyhoo, until next time my darlings....

The (Crazy) Week That Was!

Right now I'm home because the subways are not running out of Brooklyn due to the heavy rain that we had overnight. I walked to 4 train stations this morning to be turned away by MTA workers and told that the trains were our of service or MAJOR DELAY. One woman I spoke with in the street said that she was sitting on the 2 train for 30mins and it wasn't moving, so she said "screw it" and got off. (Well, she actually used another expletive, but I was cleaning it up here). Anyway, I'm watching that GORGEOUS Mike Woods on FOX-5 News talking about the miserable weather and the region-wide flooding. But enough about the weather, it' too miserable to talk about (although the sun has just come out)

So much happened since my last post, but good and bad:

• We lost 2 film giants: Ingmar Bergman and Michaelanglo Antonioni. Both directors passed away on the same day, July 30. They legacy of film genius will live forever
• Barry Bonds passed Hank Aaron record yesterday and hit his 756th homerun
• On this end of the country, ARod hit his 500 career homerun (GO YANKEES!!!!!)
• I finished writing a new script. It's a comedy short that I will film for my final thesis and I'm really, excited about filming it because everybody who has read it thinks it's really funny
  
• I finally saw the new film version of HAIRSPRAY. All I can say is I LOVED IT, LOVED IT, LOVED IT!!!! Seeing John Travolta as Edna Turnblad was worth the ticket price alone
• I gave a speech in my Verbal Communications class yesterday, titled "How to Get on Television Without Having to Eat a Cockroach". It went over well. I just spoke about what I knew and spoke from my heart, although I don't think I'm going to be a political speech writer anytime soon
  

Speaking of Hairspray, everyone who reads this knows how big of a John Water's fan I am, but I must confess: I liked this musical version better than the Divine/Rikki Lake original. But I think Divine would be proud to see that John Travolta played the role that he originated with such dignity and class. Also, and this is nothing against Harvey Fierstein (who was GREAT as Edna on Broadway), but John Travolta has a nicer singing voice and we all know that the man can shake his ass! As far as the rest of the cast: Michelle Pfeiffer (as Velma Von Tussel), Queen Latifah (as Motor mouth Mabel) and Christopher Walken (as Wilbur Turnbald) were simply great. But I think Allison Janney (as Purdy Pingleton) and Nikki Blonsky (as Tracy Turnblad) STOLE THE SHOW!!!!

Okay, enough for now.

John Amaechi and Amaury Nolasco: Why do I feel having like a sandwich now?

Right now I've had a couple of Vicodin and I'm currently feeling no pain. I had the Vicodin because I'm recovering from a minor surgical procedure that I had a on Wednesday of this week. So now I'm just on my laptop about to post an entry wondering if anybody is out there reading my blog about my exploits as a film student being a black gay man of 40 plus...

Speaking of being Black and Gay, I finished John Amaechi's book, "Man In the Middle" a few weeks ago and I want to put down some of my thoughts about what I thought. First of all I have to say that I find John Amaechi incredibly HOT! and I hope that I get the chance to meet him in person one day. He is OH SO MY TYPE! Reading his memoir it read like I was reading about my life in many ways growing up feeling "different." Like him, I was was a overweight kid who had issues with my size growing up and was constantly picked on by other children. I resorted to reading and buried myself in books too. I felt that I related to a lot of what he was saying as a gay man too. I would love to have a family even though society may feel indifferent to a gay man raising children. He is now a psychologist living in the U.K. and he has proved that not all athletes are big and stupid. He is a very bright man and, in my book, what I would call "husband material." He's funny and has a good head on his shoulder and is very comfortable in his skin. Just like me. Maybe I should move to Manchester, England? I'm sure if he is single, he won't be for long. Besides what would he want with a 43 year old unemployed college student with a 3.94 GPA? Okay, it's the Vicodin talking now. Moving on....

I saw the film "Transformers" on the 4th of July with my friend Donald. No, Donald wasn't in the movie, I just went to the theater with him to see the movie. Am I making any sense? Anyway I was happy to see that another HOTTIE was in it: Amaury Nolasco. Of course he was a totally hottie as well in the film. Oh the film itself was pretty silly plot wise, but technically it was GENIUS! The whole time I'm sitting there watching it, I'm thinking to myself, "how'd they do that?". The mix of CGI and SFX with the live action was seamless. I had no clue whatsoever as to what was going on story wise, but I was so taken away with the techniques incorporated to make these "Transformers" transform before my eyes on screen. I was never a fan of the original cartoon that the film was based on but I am a fan on great SFX. I smell an Oscar nod.

I picked up my books for the next quarter yesterday. I'm excited because it looks like my 5th quarter will be very exciting too. Oh I also wanted to mention that if you get a chance to get to the New York International Latino Film Festival later this month, don't forget to check out "Lola". It's a short film written and directed by one of my favorite professors, Betty Garcia. I remember back in March around my birthday Betty had asked me to assist her with her shoot but because of a scheduling conflict I wasn't able to do it and she shot this short. In just that short amount of time she wrote, shot and directed and now it's premiering later this month at this film festival. I'm so happy for her I know that it will be a success.

Step Aside Hype Williams*, There's a New Director in Town (well, sort of)

I haven't had much time post in the past few days because I was busy with school. In particular, doing all my pre-production work for the music video that I working on. Its exhausting but at the same time its really a rush of excitement knowing that I'm in the process of making a visual record of a song that hopefully many people will talk about for years to come. (Or at least will say, "wasn't that directed by Billy Marshall Thompson?")

One of the things that we are required to do by our professors whenever we are in this stage is to create a "Director's Book". This basically has all the paper work: Scripts, Shot lists, shooting schedule, floor plans, budgets, prop lists, storyboards, etc. I never knew going into film school that so much pre-production work had to be done. But in the end it's best because when it's well planned out, the production will go smoother and hopefully under budget and on time. In this case, since it's a student production budget really isn't an issue. It's more like no-budget. Except for finding some money to feed the cast and crew, that's the extend of the budget. In my case those funds will be courtesy of my food stamps. That's another story for another time.

Anyway I'm really looking forward to working on this project. I'm a little nervous because we (the production companies - this time it's my production company "Group Hug Films" and the Daphne's company "Sultry Siren Productions" are doing it as a joint venture) are waiting for approval of a club to film a dance sequence. Cross your fingers that that doesn't fall through. Also this time I'm looking for some new crew people. Everybody is my class is so busy with their own projects. Come to think of it, none of them even asked me to work on their projects. Hmm...

Anyway, the only one who I am working with again is my colleague and fellow classmate, Kidane Yimer. He will be my DP (Director of Photography) . He has a great eye for lighting and his camera work is probably some of the best in my class. This will be the second time we will be working together on a project. He even suggested that we use multiple cameras for some of the filming. Something that I hadn't really given much thought to before. But I have to say I also have been listening to a lot of director commentaries on DVDs lately (why else buy a DVD?) and a lot of modern directors use the multi-camera format for capturing scenes that really can't be recreated numerous times (i.e. stunts, jumping in water, etc.)

I have been very comfortable with the 3 and 4 camera set up from years of working on the daytime dramas. But since we have been in school most of the work we have been doing has been single camera work. But in the end, it's all about the editing. I'm getting a lot more comfortable with AVID Xpress Pro and can't wait to get my footage done so I can begin the editing and motion graphics part of it (otherwise known as "post-production").

Anyway today I also did something that I never done before. I read one of my poems at a school sponsored Poetry Reading. I was kind of nervous at first, because it was very personal and here I was opening myself up to group of strangers. It came out pretty nice.

While I'm writing this, I have "Oprah" on and she has the cast of the new film version of the Broadway musical, "Hairspray". She has John Travolta, Michelle Pheiffer and Queen Latifah on who star in this movie. I saw the original show on Broadway for my 40th birthday a few years ago. I treated myself, because I didn't have anyone to go with. None of my friends had any interest in seeing it. I wasn't going to wait for someone to go and see it. Besides I got the chance to see it with Harvey Fierstein (as Edna Turnblad) in it before he left the show. I even got him to autograph my original cast CD. He has no idea how he MADE my 40th so special. I loved the original John Water's film and I LOVED the musical and I can't wait until July 20th to go and see the new film version. They just showed a scene and I have to say John Travolta is BACK in his game! Nothing against Harvey, but John has a way better singing voice and we all know the man can dance. I think a lot of people will be surprised. I also think this summer's Jennifer Hudson may be young Nikki Blonsky who plays the role that Ricki Lake originated in the original film of Tracy Turnblad.

Anyway I posted a casting notice on craigslist.com for models and dancers. We have scheduled a audition for the models for this Sunday. Hmmm...me in a room full of tall, dark and handsome male models... It's a dirty job but somebody has to do it. :-)

*Seriously, Hype Williams has nothing to worry about. I'm doing my 3rd music video. But the first one since I started film school.

To be continued...

Spider-Man is Back in Town!

Over the weekend I had the pleasure to see the highly anticipated film "Spider-Man 3". Was it worth the wait? You bet! I'm a big sucker for any film that has great character development and a dynamic story. Director Sam Raimi has not only include all of this but spectacular SFX that I haven't seen since The Wachowski Brothers introduced the world to "The Matrix" in 1999.

I have to admit, I have always been a fan of Spider-Man since he is one of the few "local area" superheros. In the original comic strip, Peter Parker (a/k/a Spider-Man) hails from Queens, NY. When the first film came out I was amazed at the marriage of live action with computer generated effects. The second film blew me away as well. This third installment took it to another level! Even the few minor plot "coincidences" could be overlooked because it really gave me my $11 worth!

I've been a big Sam Raimi fan ever since "The Evil Dead" films. I admire his work because he started out making low-budget films that eventually make millions. I had read somewhere that he made "The Evil Dead" for $350,000 and it grossed over 10 times that. He always has a way of mixing the very dark side with humor. He didn't disappoint this time either with Spider-Man 3. He often likes to work with the same people which says a lot about a filmmaker. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! It's been reported that "Spider-Man 3" is the most expensive film EVER made at over $400 million. I'm sure that the investors won't have any problem getting their money back. The theater was packed when I saw it and ever screening at the multiplex where I saw it was sold out.

At first I was skeptical when I heard that this installment would include 3 villains instead of dealing with only one foe as the previous films had done. But after having seen this film, it totally worked. This time, Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) battles The Sandman (played by Thomas Haden Church - who was brilliant in Alexander Payne's "Sideways"), Venom (played by former "That 70's Show" alum, Topher Grace) and the new Goblin (James Franco). All the other characters are back as well including Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), and J. Jonah Jameson (J. K. Simmons) to mention a few. But why did they wait until this third chapter to introduce one of the original comic book characters, Gwen Stacy (played by Ron Howard's daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard)? For whatever the reason for this late introduction, it still works well in the plot.

As a film student I tend to look at films with a different eye than the average movie goer. I tend to break up a film and over analyze the plot, characters, and all the technical flaws. That's not to say that I didn't do that with this film this time, but for what it was worth, I thoroughly was entertained by it and I would go see it again if I had the money and free time. My only disappointment with my theater going experience on Saturday night didn't have anything to do with the film itself, but the previews. It's funny how you can remember what previews you view when you see some films. Years ago I remember going to the theater to see "Jurassic Park 3" and the first preview of "Spider-Man 1" was shown. I remember it because it depicted a bank robbery by helicopter that was foiled by being caught in a web created by Spider-Man as they tried to elude capture. As the camera pulls out to reveal the helicopter caught in a web that was spun between the two towers of the World Trade Center. I remember people cheering in the theater at the end of this trailer. This trailer was pulled shortly thereafter due to the tragic events of 9/11. But I digress...

The trailer that I was shocked to see wasn't so much the film itself but, as to whom was in it. It was a trailer for the third installment of "Rush Hour 3". Was really it necessary to go and make yet another one? One of my favorite filmmakers was in it: Roman Polanski. Up until now I have always respected Mr. Polanski as a great filmmaker. Although he is only acting in this and not directed it, it makes me wonder how bad he needed the money? Did the man who gave us such classics as "Rosemary's Baby", "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" really have to take a role in a "buddy movie" that has been considered by some members of both the African-American and Asian-American communities to be the "Amos and Andy" of the new millennium?

Despite seeing this trailer, I still didn’t let it spoil my viewing of “Spider-Man 3”! I can't wait until Spider-Man 4 comes out!