Up In The Air
I accrued 49,000 AAdvantage miles this year. Not Ryan Bingham numbers, to be sure. But enough to get myself to Puerto Rico and back (if I could only find available departure dates).
His is a familiar world: the poetic geometry of the Midwest from 30,000 feet, the satisfaction of finding one's name on the Hertz Gold board, the comforting uniformity of Starwood hotel rooms Admirals Clubs everywhere.
Sure, I loathe take-offs (though I get by with a little help from my friend, Xanax), but I love flying. I love the anonymity, the ...
The Wild Rumpus
For me, Maurice Sendak's "Where The Wild Things Are" is mixed up with the wild rumpus of my parent's divorce.
I don't remember when Sendak's creatures first appeared in my life; his fifteen-page book was always present.
I do remember wandering the wide, book-strewn aisles of the Oak Park Mall's Kracht & Brentano's with my family (when we were one), pawing at books like "Scruffy" and "Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing." And I remember spotting a Wild Thing there, high on an off-white, corrugated-steel shelf. And I remember that I ...
“Mister Rogers & Me” Needs Your Help
I often wonder whether Chris and I should have had a business plan or, heck, any plan before diving into the making of our independent documentary, "Mister Rogers & Me," back in June 2006. Especially now, day one of a month-long fundraising campaign to finish the film.
We've been making slow but steady progress for a few months now, enlisting the advice and editing expertise of "American Hardcore" director, Slamdance Film Festival co-founder and pal Paul Rachman who cut our 2:30:00 run time to 1:15:00. It's far more compelling and ...
It Might Get Loud
Director Davis Guggenheim's new documentary love letter to the electric guitar, "It Might Get Loud," is loaded with unbelievable moments.
First, he manages to shoot Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page's visit to Headley Grange, the East Hampshire, England, home studio where the band recorded "Led Zeppelin IV." Page is regal in his puffy, white shirt and black duster, gliding over the grounds, strumming his mandolin in the garden, and recounting tales of recording John Bonham's legendary, massive backbeat on "When The Levee Breaks." He ...
The Hurt Locker
A few months after September 11th, the Department of Homeland Security launched a website called ready.gov.
The site's initial incarnation was ostensibly a series of updated '50s brochures: what to do in the event of nuclear blast (duck and run), what to do in the event of building collapse (duck), etc. (It's since been significantly neutered.)
I found the site (and the entire Department of Homeland Security, for that matter) comical, but also frightening close to home; just two days after watching the towers fall with my own eyes, I ...
Broken Glass
Sunday afternoon, long after the hangover recovery run, the ham, egg and cheese sandwich, the last cup of coffee and final page of The Sunday New York Times, Abbi and I sat on the couch channel surfing.
In my experience, asking my wife if she wants to watch a documentary tends towards a gentle "No thanks." When I happened upon
Hollywood Forever
The afternoon before I left for Los Angeles, I walked into my boss' offices for our weekly meeting. He was turned away from the door, staring at his laptop, captivated by a music video.
"Do you know these guys?" he asked.
Quick cuts and violent camera movement showed a masked group of lean, totooed, scrappy men angrily tearing what appeared to be a filthy, poorly-lit hotel room to bit with all of the cliche's intendant tropes: shattered mirrors, shredded sheets and exploded televisions.
"They're called Hollywood Undead."
From ...
Live From 2009 Oscar Red Carpet!
There was something oddly normal about standing there in the shadow of The Kodak Theater tonight as Hollywood's most-celebrated walked Oscar red carpet.
Maybe it was the light; the typically sun-dappled, Technicolor California sky was choked with clouds. Maybe it was that I've done a few of these before (see also Grammys, VMAs, etc). Or maybe it was optical fatigue; I mean, we've all seen a few million red carpets on E!, right?
Either way, I was wound pretty tightly as Josh Horowitz and I pulled into the press parking lot on Sunset & ...
Who Watches The Watchmen?
I'm popping Excedrin like they're M&Ms. Worse, I'm washing down my beloved acetaminophen, aspirin and caffeine concoction with a thirteen dollar beer.
Aaaaaaaaah, Los Angeles.
I landed thirty-two hours ago, and drove straight to the Pacific Design Center where we were taping our movie show, "Spoilers." Episode two features the cast of "Watchmen," including Billy Crudup ("Almost Famous"), Jackie Earle Haley ("The Bad News Bears"), and Patrick Wilson ("Beautiful Children"), plus director Zack Snyder ("300"). My Chemical Romance also ...
Twenty-four Hours Of “Twilight”
The red eye may be as close as we get to time travel. Without it, there's far less of a chance that I would have volunteered to fly to Los Angeles for twenty-four hours (well, 12 in the air, and 12 in L.A., anyway).
What would motivate such a trip at the end of a week that included my ninth New York City Marathon and twenty straight hours of election coverage? Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight."
At one point this summer, all four novels in Meyer's "Twilight" series topped USA Today's top seller's list. She's sold more than 17 million copies ...
