Well, what a lovely few days I have had!
It's almost like going off on holiday, which, come to think of it, was appropriate, as this was Labor Day weekend, the last splurge of summer for working folk.
For me, it was just a series of Saturdays that had two Sundays in it.
That is, two days with no mail, as opposed to just one - LOL!
My stepdad always said being retired meant every day was Saturday - he was almost right!
(smile!)
Anywho... as I mentioned earlier, I discovered Showtime On Demand was offering all of its movies (and other stuff, like tv series) for free from Friday until midnight yesterday.
That means this was the SHO Me The Free Movies Film Festival - and, yes, I took my inspiration from the line in "Jerry Maguire"!
I had considered the title "SHO Me The Free Movies About Writers", but that seemed needlessly verbose and cumbersome.
(smile!)
I'd like to say I saw a bunch of movies on Friday, but I did not.
I was unaware of the 'mercial-free bounty until almost 7 PM, then I spent about two hours perusing the list of films (more than 500!), trying to decide on a theme.
You know, something to tie the films together and make it more interesting as a festival.
(smile!)
It was a toss-up for a while between those with writers and those with dancers...
but, as writing is kinda sorta what I do in the ether world, I went with that.
I narrowed the list to a sweet sixteen - perfect!
Then, time to begin - but with which one?
And which would follow and what order would be best?
That first was "Croupier", with a very blond Clive Owen as a budding novelist with writer's block and no money.
In stepped his dad, setting up his gambling addict son with a job at The Golden Lion.
What could possibly go wrong, right?
(smile!)
Very entertaining, served with a tasty twist!
Plus, I got to have him as a blond and then as his usual handsome brunette self - RAWR!
Now, in my mind, a code writer is still a writer, right?
(Yes, we can thank "Free Guy" for muddying that water.)
Perhaps in the broadest sense of the word, it's true.
However, this 1998 thriller with Jennifer Jason Leigh as a virtual game designer and Jude Law as a realist opposed to that immersion lifestyle had hardly anything about writing.
Sure, it was entertaining, a la "GATTACA" or "Tron", but out of place in the SHO M T F M FF.
One misstep, early on, easily rectified!
The next morning, I was ready to take on the list!
Well, why not the 2015 one based on the actual Rolling Stones interview between the two Davids?
Yes, "The End Of The Tour" it was, with journalist David Lipsky riding around with his girlfriend's favorite novelist, David Foster Wallace, with both played exceedingly well by Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Segel, respectively.
Most of the movie rested on their shoulders as they talked, talked, talked, in cars, in diners, and in Wallace's home, about the effect on the shy literature teacher of being thrust into the limelight by Infinite Jest", the book that had taken several years to write as
Wallace subreferenced (a la Dennis Miller) again and again throughout
its thousand-plus pages.
The public didn't understand that he had not just dashed it off, wanting to know how soon before his next bestseller would hit bookstores.
The two thirty-somethings formed a friendship, both being intelligent men who appreciated intelligent conversation, as well as guy talk.
I really liked this one, even though it made me cry.
(smile)
"Top Five" was definitely a good call!
The journalist was a woman and also did double duty at the Times as their movie critic, someone who had bashed his work for years.
Of course, that was under a "male" pseudonym for her!
One of the things I loved about this movie, besides all the familiar comedians in the house, was her predilection for "Cinderella" and her theory that the lass had loved the prince and so she had deliberately left her shoe behind so they would meet again.
Yes, very nice, and funny and cheery and romantic!
(smile!)
Yes, please, as always!
Especially with this 1997 piece, when he was in his mid-fifties!
He's here signing copies of his bestseller, "Bone Daddy", loosely based on a killer from his days as a medical examiner.
Now retired, he's been mining his memories for novels, being careful to not use real case files or real people.
But, someone is blurring the line and causing a nasty scene, first with his agent and now with his son's family.
He tries to get the book pulled from the shelves, but, no luck.
Quite a nice thriller as a change of pace!
(smile!)
"The Vanishing Of Sidney Hall" was a tricky one, as it kept flashing between three periods of the author's life: 1) when he was in high school and enthralled with the work of David Foster Wallace (nice!); 2) when he is a married man with the woman of his heart; 3) when he is a scruffy 30 year old traveling with his dog, and May 25th is nearing, with a promise to be kept.
And to where is he going?
Various bookstores, burning all copies of his books as he goes.
A young man he met at a book-signing has committed suicide and the book is blamed for his death.
So, to prevent others from doing the same, arson is his answer.
It's a beautiful movie, and beautifully done, and definitely made me cry.
(smile)
How else, but with Charlie Sheen, one of the two men I end my weeknights with for my still-pandemic groove!
"A Glimpse Inside The Mind Of Charlie Swan III" even featured him as the same charming rogue I know and love, but as a graphic designer instead of a jingle writer.
I adored his longer hair, 'almost' sideburns, and nouveau Johnny Cash style...
and how nice to have Bill Murray and Nathan Lane along for this imaginative caper!
(smile!)
The first was "How To Build A Girl", a delightfully naughty romp about a bookish girl that discovers all manner of vices when she gets a job as a music journalist.
Oh... did I mention she's only 16 years old?
And... her name was Johanna, which made for a nice segue from the movie I'd been watching with Christina - "The News Of The World" - before I left for home.
No, I hadn't known that when I chose this movie.
Coincidences... right place, right time!
(smile!)
That meant it was in spoken French, with English subtitles.
I watched anyway, as it starred Catherine Deneuve as Fabienne, an aging star who has just written her memoirs, not as her life truly was, but how she imagines her fans would want.
Juliette Binoche is fabulous as her daughter, trying to straighten out the hurt feelings of people left out of the book.
Although I liked Ethan Hawke in this piece, my favorite parts were the scenes from a movie the mother was in, a movie about a mom who didn't age (played by a young actress) and a daughter that did (played by a series of women, ending with the old Fabienne).
Why did I like it so?
It reminded me of "The Age of Adaline", one of my favorite science fiction films!
(smile!)
The perfect starter was one I had originally ignored: "15 Things You Didn't Know About Bigfoot (Number 1 Will Bow Your Mind)".
Seriously, the click bait of the tv journalist, in which he interviews a tracker in north Georgia with his own YouTube channel show, and they're accosted by a drug ring that also has a show on YouTube, well, it sucked me right in!
As it turns out, this isn't the first rodeo that Brian, Zach, and Jeff have been part of, and most likely won't be their last.
It really was entertaining!
Will I watch their next show?
Of course not... but it was fine for what it was: click bait.
(smile!)
Something like "The Escort" perhaps, a story of a sex addict, who has promised to write a story about a high-end call girl, in hopes of acquiring a job at a good magazine?
Sure, why not, though that sure sounds like another dose of click bait, doesn't it?
Actually, it had a really good story that was somewhat "Pretty Woman" in character, but with a smart woman who truly loved sex and had found a way to cash in on that as a career...
yes, pun intended!
(smile!)
First, it featured a lesbian writer, Alice.
Second, it was set in England during World War II, during the bombings of London.
The writer's solitary life of cataloguing plants for future reference is disrupted with the arrival on her doorstep of a pre-teen boy, Frank, a boy she is suddenly tasked with taking care of for the foreseeable future.
Yeah, it reminded me of my life with the twins, but that had been of my own accord, right?
Not so for her, but she and the boy manage to work it out, mostly.
Good thing, as she found out later; the boy was the son of her former lover, who had signed Alice up as a potential guardian.
Really good movie, lovely scenery, and a nice time capsule!
(smile!)
After that, I thought a jump forward, sideways, was needed.
Hence, "Celebrity", with Kenneth Branaugh as a philandering novelist cum celebrity journalist, having the male physique the director would have loved to flaunt.
The movie was full of famous faces, making it a smorgasbord of pretty people, with those pretty people mostly having sex with other pretty people, all signifying nothing.
Mostly, the movie reminded me of why I'm not a fan of most of Woody's works, until "The Purple Rose Of Cairo".
I recognize that this was meant to be a send-up of Hollywood's lack of depth, both from the point of view of the stars as well as the paparazzi, but... at least it had a writer in it.
(smile!)
Next, I had thought to go with "The Adderall Diaries", but fifteen minutes in I realized it was going to be far too dour a note to end my SHO M T F M FF.
Nope, I had not, so every scene was fresh for me!
Like the black and white about the Hollywood scene, this full-color treat from the Coen brothers was a send-up, this time of the Pentagon folks, with lots of celebrity faces making up the characters.
This scene is during the end of the book tour for Sandy Pfarrer's latest in the series about Oliver the Cat and his antics in DC, learning about government.
Of the trio on stage, she's sitting far right.
What of her husband, Harry?
Oh, he's not there, as he's busy with Oxborne's wife, as well as with Linda at the gym, where a copy of Oxborne's tell-all has been found and is being marketed by Linda and Chad to the Russians, who really find it to not be of note as the Cold War is over, but they're pursuing the matter just the same, as is the folks at the Pentagon, though from a distance.
The hilarity ensues as the bodies start falling!
Seriously, there's nothing serious about this, just lots of good fun with John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, George Clooney, and Brad Pitt, among others.
Yep, definitely the best one to be the last of fourteen viewed for free!
Thanks, Showtime, for helping to make Labor Day weekend special!
(smile!)
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