We just got to LA, actually Burbank, picked up our Electric Blue VW Beetle and went off to Sherman Oaks.

We found it really hard to fit all our luggage in the car, so I don’t think we’ll be buying one anytime soon, or at all.

After a lovely vegan meal at Kung Pao Bistro (in Sherman Oaks, on Ventura), I bought a couple copies of Spider Man with Barack Oabama on the cover, learned that Virgin Comics is no more, and we killed time at the Galleria. Laura bought new flip flops and saw Hotel For Dogs (cute story, some poor acting, but if you love dogs you gotta see it). The lead dog, Friday, acts just like the Brando so we’re a little puppy sick already.

Also saw SON OF RAMBOW, this awesome little British/French dramedy about a
kid with no dad and loads of artistic talent who lives in a very strict religious
community with three generations of female family members, while trying to
survive school. I won’t give much more away than that, but it is a must see
for anyone who loves good storytelling. So cute, so cool. Very bittersweet
with stellar performances by the two kid leads. 

I saw two movies, one awesome, one “nawesome” (aka not awesome). Went with Laura and few buddies to see Tropic Thunder, again. What an awesome movie. So funny. Tom Cruise should just do roles like that from now on. Seriously. Go see already.

The day prior the same friends had DVR’d Enter the
Ninja, a nawesome crapfest. Since we used to sit around and watch
Kung Fu and stuff all the time when we were all roommates, we sat down to
watch it amid the chaos of Brando and a tot running around being tired, cranky,
hungry, and totally disinterested in bad ninja movies from the ’80s. It’s
very much a scene out of Big Bang Theory.

Quite frankly,
this was one of the worst martial arts films ever. No discernible plot, main
character is the “great
white hope” (as
usual). The guy who played the lead was a low-rent Chuck Norris, replete
with giant stache, stilted acting, and don’t forget, bad dubbing. Ouch. Everyone
but me fell asleep, only cause I had had a giant Dr. Pepper.

Since the show I’m speccing is impossible to get, it was imperative that they
have a copy for me to check the formatting and structure. Luckily, they had
the pilot and four produced teleplays. So after reading through a couple really
fast, taking notes on the formatting, I got a call. Had to meet past guest
and friend, Michael McGahey over in Burbank. I’ll be BACK.

So I jetted off to
McCormick and Schmicks (NW Company, eh?) and had a lovely lunch with him and
Leah Hoyer (originally from Lake Forest Park), both are at Disney these days.
We talked about the state of affairs at Disney, Starbucks, driving in LA, the
development of the Guild, and enticed Leah to come up.

While waiting for the valet to bring my car, I had my one and only celeb sighting
on my trip—CESAR MILLAN, the DOG WHISPERER. Laura thought I should’ve brandished
my Brando tattoo (Brando the Maltese, not Marlon Brando), but I didn’t want
to scare the poor man. The last time I was in LA I saw Paris Hilton. I was
way more excited about this one.

I had some time to kill before coming home for a family dinner, so I went
over to Melrose (my favorite place to shop in LA), parked the car and WALKED,
yes, walked up and down the street. It’s almost like a pilgramage for me, since
I never find threads that I like in Seattle. I usually get all my clothes in
Vancouver BC. It was a hot day, so most of the women were half clothed, which
is very surprising compared to the covered up ladies of Seattle. Not that
I was looking. Laura doesn’t care anyway, as long as they’re cute. I got
two pairs of shoes, two shirts, a pair of pants, and a ridiculous gorilla toy

at Munky King, an anime store. Not bad for me. I usually go crazy after saving
up my money. After a few hours, mostly people watching and chatting with the
shopkeepers. Many of them were complaining about the high costs of things,
some are even closing down due to exorbitant rents. All in all, people are
very nice on Melrose.

Pineapple Express:

After a nice sit-down dinner at my uncle’s pad, my cousin and I saw Pineapple Express.
It starts out funny (great inside stoner comedy), with a scene-stealing James Franko.
Thin on plot and characterization, it devolves into the most ridiculous fight sequence I’ve ever seen. We prayed for it to end, and it kept going. Worth seeing, on DVD, at home, where you can smoke your ass off.

It’s Sunday, and I spent it with my friend (an agent at CAA), and her husband,
(a Film Editor) at the Sherman Oaks Galleria. I ate a giant belgian waffle
at the Cheescake Factory. Oh wait, in the menu it was listed as GIANT BELGIAN
WAFFLE. I’m glad they warned me. I ate the whole thing, drank a ton of coffee,
then we dorked around looking at furniture. Am I nesting? Why all the foreplay?
We were preparing for TROPIC THUNDER. The cool thing is we bought our tickets
online the day before and RESERVED OUR SEATS. I LOVE LA. The Greeter before
the film was very well-spoken. We had the most comfortable movie seats outside
The Grove.

The movie was so funny, from the fake opening credits onward. Do not
miss them. I don’t want to give too much away, but it is worth seeing in the
theatre, for it’s grandness, ridiculous stunts, over-the-top performances,
and of course, the collective response from the audience.

Robert Downey Jr
was excellent as an Australian (method) actor who undergoes plastic surgery
to look black in order to get a part in the movie that the movie is about. Hard
to ‘splain, but as a person-of-color I was not offended, because they really
let the character have it.  Fun
stuff.  Ben
Stiller, Jack Black, Nick Nolte, and many others turned out great performances.
So awesome.

Spent the evening watching episodes of the next thing I’m going to spec.

The set-up was one of the best I’ve seen in a long time, the characters arc
from beginning to end, the B-story had a lot of heart, and the special effects
were quite good (not great). I really enjoyed this film. It really flipped
the whole superhero/comic genre on its side, which seems to be the fashion
these days (Iron Man, Wanted, Hulk, Dark Knight, etc.).

I just watched Girl 27, a documentary about Patricia Douglas, a girl who was
raped at a party in 1937 for a bunch scummy MGM sales dudes. Not only does
it make you feel bad for being a guy, but it also highlighted the deep and
pervasive level of corruption by MGM in Los Angeles at that time to use their
power to cover it up. Not only did this effect her life, but the lives of those
in her family behind her.  I’m glad the story has been told, because Patricia
deserves to be applauded for standing up against the system during a time in
which nobody would do that.

• The Brood: Cronenberg. Very dated, but cool. It has one of the most disturbing
  scenes of any movie in it–at the climax. Very f-ed up.
• Teeth: Vagina Dentata. Yep, that’s pretty much it.
• Hulk: Pretty cool. Live Tyler was wispy as usual. Graphics were killer, except
  I wanted to see a more bird’s eye view. A little close to the action for my
  taste. Questionable setting this ultra-violent scene on a college campus, where
  almost none of the students react to gunfire and bombs.
• Helvetica: My favorite font. Fun documentary for font dorks.
• Jumper: Good premise, cool-ass graphics. Plot falls apart and gets boring.
• Rambo: Quite possibly the most graphic violence I’ve seen in a long time. Just brutal.
• Heavy Meal in Baghdad: What happens when your practice space gets bombed? These guys show us.
• Cape Fear: Robert DeNiro scared the crap out of me, again.
• Being Julia: Annette Benning is stellar in this. She’s still h-o-t. I loved
  Jeremy Irons in this.
• The Kingdom: Peter Berg rocked this. A little shakey sometimes (handicam), but good performances, story, characters, etc. Nicely done!
• Waitress: Nice little film. My kind of movie. Firefly meets Felicity…not
  really. Sad to see Adrienne Shelly in it (she was murdered). She was such a
  promising writer, director, and actress. Everyone
  should see this.
• Sunshine: Mommy, where did the plot go? Pretty cool CG, but the whole thing
  falls apart around the midpoint. Still watchable due to the actors.
• Jurassic Park III: Craptastic. Who cares.  Dinosaurs are cool, but Tea
  Leoni and William H. Macy acting badly is not.
• Jersey Girl: Not as bad as everyone said. Worth rewatching. A sweet movie
  with good acting and George Carlin, Stephen Root, etc. Minimal interference
  by J-Lo.

1st: It is set in Portland and does a very good job of letting us know that
we’re in the NW. Originally this was supposed to be set in Maryland and shot
in Portland, so they shot it in Portland AS Portland. The city gets a lot
of props from the filmmakers.
2nd: Diane Lane, Bill Burke (born and raised in Bellingham),
and Colin Hanks (son of Tom)
3rd: It makes you think about
how we use the internet.
4th: The DVD extras are excellent.

In the chapter called "Tracking Untraceable," we see how the movie
went from concept to screen. It started with a couple of screenwriters (an
orthopedic surgeon and a lawyer), then it was immediately rewritten by a Hollywood
screenwriter (Allison Burnett), who added the backstory to both the Diane Lane’s
character and the villain.

I won’t spoil anything here, but suffice it to say, without these rich backstories
and their respective added supporting characters ad motivations, this movie
would not have kept me in the seat. I would have chalked it up to yet another
generic thriller with a broken detective. We also learn about all the research
they did with regard to PDX itself, the cybercrimes division of the FBI,
technology/internet issues, and much much more. Very thorough and believable.

Laura is back in town, so we were able to go see (or hear) Jack Black and
company in Kung Fu Panda. It had a couple different styles of animation (dream
sequences vs. the rest of the thing), great sound, and followed the Vogler/Campbell/Snyder
methods very closely. The beats just hit right on time. This movie is just
plain fun. I highly suggest seeing it with kids–it helps highlight how this
film works on 2-3 different levels, depending on if you’re an adult, a teenager,
or 10 and under. Very satisfying.

I want to make special mention of Dustin Hoffman, who is carrying the Mentor
baton. He just makes me smile in every role. It was amazing how
they made all the Furious Five reflect the actors behind the voices. Coolness.

SKA-DOUCHE.