Jumat, 14 Oktober 2005

Instant Films 19 - Halloween Scares

7 Writers
7 Directors
24 Actors
48 Hours
7 New Films

Last Sunday I was taken downtown to the LA Center Studios for some Instant Films screenings. The theme of the night for this, the 19th go-round, was naturally, it being October et al., scary movies.

What are Instant Films? Well, writers randomly select 2 words (e.g. gory and werewolf) and then have 12 hours to write a script. Directors then randomly pick a script and their actors and have less than 48 hours to deliver their finished short to the public screening at 8pm on Sunday evening (at the "deadline" only 4 films had been received, the others slowly trickled in during the evening).

Of the 7 films, all of which can be viewed on the Instant Films website, 5 were excellent, 1 was average, and the last was just plain disturbing. The production quality was consistently high, the scripts were intelligent and funny, and there was good gore and "make you jump" scares throughout. The only actor I recognised was Ahmed Best (Jar Jar Binks in The Phantom Menace), who's actually got quite a hot bod under all the CGI.

It was probably one of the most enjoyable evenings I've ever spent in a movie theatre. The crowd was full of creative industry types, who really got behind (and felt for) all those involved, and this made the viewing experience all the more intense.

If you live in LA and have never been, you really must go! I am seriously looking forward to the next go around!

Rabu, 12 Oktober 2005

CELEBFLASH: Bad Boyz!

Dr. Romano the egomanic, but brilliant, surgeon on ER slowly became a mockery of evil, got one arm sliced off by helicopter blades, then died when a second chopper fell on him. Paul McCrane seemed so nice however when he came in to get a muffin. Unfortuantly we were all out!

I thought I was going to get shanked in the belly when I found myself alone in the elevator with former OZ inmate Vern Shillinger. Luckily it was just J.K. Simmons and he'd gotten his muffin!


Playing crazy baby snatcher Ethan on Lost, and creepy seaman Gunneson on Threshold, William Mapother seems to like playing nutjobs. In addition to being Tom Cruise's cousin, he's also, apparently, into that crazy creepy scientology stuff.

Gary Cole has played his share of baddies including boss Bill in 1999's Office Space , dumbass VP Russell on The West Wing, and my favourite, Sheriff Lucas Buck in the short-lived yet classic TV noir American Gothic (which is finally out on DVD this month). But can we ever really be scared of Mike Brady?

Finally, Rebecca Gayheart, that chick from Beverly Hills 90210, Urban Legend and those Noxema commercials. So why have I lumped her with these other "Bad Boyz"? Well, she did kill a 9-year old, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge and only got 3 years probation, a 1-year suspended license and a heavy fine. The beauty of celebrity!!!

Selasa, 11 Oktober 2005

The Mailroom!

I had a surreal little experience today when I ended up in the mailroom of the William Morris Agency, the famed talent agency which represents the likes of Hillary Swank, Lucy Liu, Pete Sampras, Rachel Griffiths, and Jackie Chan.

For the uninformed, the mailroom is the breeding ground for future high-flying agents seeking to rep the next Macy Gray or Macaulay Culkin. These kids were dressed to the nines in designer suits and ties, with their hair just so. There they are, crammed into one of the smallest, nastiest mailrooms ever, stuck in the basement with not a window to be seen! And they all looked bored to bloody tears!

Recent woes has lead to the defection of stars like Sarah Michelle Gellar, Halle Berry and Reese Witherspoon. But when you have Macaulay and Macy, who needs these girls, right?

Kamis, 06 Oktober 2005

You Are Scheduled for Service...

Between 8:00am and 11:00am. Or so they make you think. And yet... you know they're not going to get to you then, though you think this time might just be different, and again you give them the benefit of the doubt. Oh, foolish, foolish man!

The Home Depot people were scheduled to come by today to fix the flooring that they had inadvertently installed incorrectly the first time.

10:45am: Call to say he'll be there in 15 minutes.

11:36am: Arrival time, only then do we discover he was supposed to bring the wood with him. Off he goes to fetch them.

12:25pm: Back from the store. How long the job will take? Just a half hour he thinks, no problem.

2:38pm: The job is finished.

I got up early and walked the pup (stopping for one of Coffee Bean's delicious Dulce de Leche Lattes) so I could be at home ready for these guys. I thought I'd make it to the gym (for a heavy arm day), run some other errands, maybe even tan before going into work at 4:00pm. Unfortunately, my whole day was pretty much wasted waiting around. All I did was clear 4 hours of shows from the TiVo. And since I took my shot this morning, I've been super jacked up all day (which going to the gym usually alleviates).

Great! Great day!!!

(Someone else having a heavy arm day... certainly not me!!! BTW, if that guy above was my handyman, do you really think I'd be bothered about all this?)

Rabu, 05 Oktober 2005

Diarrhea of the Mind

I got a little food poisoning this weekend. Nothing too serious, just stomach cramps, continual bouts of diarrhea and general lethargy. It lasted a little more than 24 hours and I know exactly where I got it from... a dodgy burger with jack and gruyere cheeses, and a small side salad of mixed greens with some (nasty) ranch dressing, that I had Friday evening.

This inconvenience affected, or effected (whichever) my whole weekend. I was particularly off at dinner Saturday evening. We met at Joe's on Abbot Kinney Blvd. in Venice. Four hungry lads, a Saturday night, no reservation... Great! After an hour or so wait the Californian/French cuisine (small portions; fresh, eclectic ingredients) didn't exactly hit the spot. And then... The nut allergy experience... Time to go!

At work on Sunday I kept having to go to the bathroom. Anyone who knows me knows I don't do public restrooms unless extremely necessary (I once almost passed out, back in my Insignia days, from putting off the inevitable. I hated using the gents, the way the guys talked to each other through the stalls, being seen through the slits in the modular walls, newspapers strewn all over the place, and of course, having to place your ass where someone else has just rested theirs... UGH!). Ultimately, I felt like crap all day, bathroom usage or not, so I didn't make it over to WeHo Mark's for his boy's birthday. Sorry guys!

CELEBFLASH: I didn't know Sydney Bristow's dad was a big 'mo! He always plays those strong stoic sorts! However, after looking over his IMDB profile, Victor Garber once played Liberace... Oops!

My favorite bodybuilder, Branch Warren, just won his 2nd professional contest this past weekend, the 2005 Charlotte Pro, Bulk Nutrition Show.

At approximately 5'7" and 250lbs he is one BIG BOY!!! No neck, veins popping, legs like treetrunks... Cue pic... Crazy, but really sorta hot!

Kamis, 29 September 2005

MisMatched Antics... Better Late Than Never

I've been so very busy meeting Buffy and consulting my horoscope, that I've been somewhat lax on getting the "what's been going on in WeHo" news out there.

Remember Dennis (pictured left)? And his suggestion that we go to The MisMatch Game. Well, we went! It was actually the same night that we went to iCandy and saw Rusty Joiner (And I blogged about that first??? That shows where my priorities lay doesn't it?).

Managing to get a Friday night off of work (a triumph in itself), off we went in the Mini to the Gay and Lesbian Center's Renberg Theatre somewhere in Hollywood (this is just the kind of space they are hoping to develop back in DC, but you know with all the politicking and egos involved there they'll just "f" it up).

The night was a blast, though I should have blogged it earlier, I've forgotten all of the good punchlines, and never did by a souvenir response card to jog my memory.

My one big disappointment, where was original Match Game stalwart Brett Somers? Thankfully pipe-smoking Charles Nelson Reilly (played by Kathy Griffin's other "Main Gay", Tony Tripoli, who's always at the gym with Trainer Bobby), along with Miss Piggy and Nancy Kulp (Ms. Hathaway from The Beverly Hillbillies ... yeah, that took me a while as well) soon made me forgive Brett's absence. Evie Harris (who she?) was sufficiently cheap and dirty, and while Ricardo Montalban tried hard (but still failed), Shelley Winters really had no right being there (Oscars or not).

As full of double entendres as the original Match Game and Blankty Blank (the British version which I grew up with) were, this MisMatch game was certainly not suitable for family viewing. It started a little slow (the first contestants didn't realise their answers were supposed to be peppered with topical, gay, sexually graphic innuendos), but picked up quickly, and then there was no stopping the celebrity panelists as the smut came thick and fast (especially from the pig).

Hilarity ensued and a friend of WeHo Mark’s got picked as a contestant, and even got into the finals. The boys told me they’d put my name into the mix to get me up there, so I could meet Dennis. (Un)fortunately I wasn’t picked, but I would have given some damn good answers I can tell you!

So, I didn't get to meet Dennis. When they were selling the response cards after the show there was such a glut of gay boyz, it was just too much and I thought I'd just look like a ninny introducing myself as "I'm Matt in LA and I write the Misadventures blog."

Oh well, so much for getting invited to Kathy's Toy for Tots holiday party this year!

Rabu, 28 September 2005

Not So Crabby

Ying and Yangs. Feng Shui masters. Kabbalahan strings. They have it all here in the City of Angels. But none more so than the tried and true, found in every local paper, astrological guides, or simply put, the daily horoscope.

On numerous occasions since moving here people have asked (even in an interview), "So, what's your star sign?" or "You're a Cancer aren't you?" and when I nod in agreement, their response goes something along the lines of, "I thought so!", "Yes! I could tell!" or a simple "Oh!" followed by a sigh!

Being a little perturbed by these responses, I thought it best to do some research, to find out what being a Cancerian meant to these people. Here is what I found:

"Cancerians are not easy to understand, for their moods often fluctuates from sweet to cranky. They can be untidy, sulky, devious, moody, and inclined to self-pity because of an inferiority complex. A typical Cancerian broods on insults. They also tend to change their opinions and, indeed, their occupations, and lack stability. Cancer people are apt to do the opposite from what they are advised to do."

"[Cancerians] are rather close-minded and opinionated. They have a retentive memory, and rarely forgive slights and hurts. With a tendency toward chronic complaining, a Cancerian will never let you forget an error… They are over-imaginative and prone to be a victim of fantasy. They have a flair for the dramatic… By nature, very giving and selfless, they need to be aware of falling into the role of martyr in certain situations."

Cancerians, "the most perplexing of the signs," but basically perceived to be unstable over-emotional basketcases, who cling to their mum's apron strings, rarely leave the house and have something of a martyr complex!!!

OK, so I'll admit to being a tad sensitive (I sobbed when Casper became a real boy and danced with Christina Ricci at the end of the movie), I'm obviously intuitive (see Day 113), paternal (I do love my puppy), untidy (I like to refer to it as "organized piles"), a bit of a homebody (when you have TiVo why leave the house), even somewhat of a whiner (ask Brian)...

But the rest of it... Phooey!

Opinionated and always right? I don't think so!

An emotional basketcase? Certainly not!

A brooding drama queen? Not on your life!

I do occasionally glance at my own horoscope, and I can see some correlation in what I'm supposed to be and what I actually am. But this whole notion that the positioning of the stars has made be what I am just doesn't ring true.

So, LA people, I know you all get caught up in these fads (be it diet, exercise, spirituality or wotnot), but remember, "moderation is the key." It's a bit of fun to see if you're going to win some money or fall into or out of love, not a defining lifestyle choice!

FYI other notable (manly man) crabs include Vin Diesel, Sylvester Stallone, Harrison Ford, Kris Kristofferson and David Hasselhoff!

(And for those wondering just how the pictures relate to this post... the pose these three boys are doing is known as "the crab shot")