I was watching an interview with Spike Lee today, and he was talking about the best films to be released so far in this decade, since the year 2000. I was very happy to see on his list Requiem for a Dream, Brokeback Mountain, and, somewhat surprisingly, Roger Dodger. Not "surprisingly" because it's a bad film - it's a great one - but because it's a little movie that hardly anyone remembers. Spike was mentioning how the screenplay was so great, that it was fun even just to read it, like a good book. I searched on the net real quick and found the script, and, since I won't post the entire thing on here, here's an excerpt. Great dialogue...

******************************
INT. RESTAURANT – DAY
Roger and Nick sit across from each other at a table.

ROGER
So, Nick... You need some help with the ladies?

CUT TO:
EXT. STREET – MAGIC HOUR
Roger and Nick walk down the street.

ROGER
All right. Here we go. Get this straight. Sex is everywhere, okay? It is all around us. It's not some distant destination. It's not Everest. It is right here. You have to attune yourself to it.
You have to bring yourself into alignment. You have to find the zone, Nick. Okay? Do that, and I promise you a whole world will open up. Look at me. I walk around in a state of total receptivity. I'm like a fucking lightning rod.

NICK
All right. Fine. What do I do?

ROGER
For starters, let's get rid of that little meditation. The blue triangle. We don't block things out, Nicholas. We let them in.

NICK
Let what in?

ROGER
There are millions of women in this city, Nick. Millions. Most of them are blessedly unaware of the countless ways...
in which their bodies are exposed to our eyes. So, first, learn to read the sun, where it sits.
You'll notice... correlation between backlighting and transparency. They wear light-colored clothing, underwear shows right through. Bra straps, panty lines. No need to stretch or squint. It is there for us, okay? For example—

A WOMAN passes by. Roger skillfully, subtly checks her out. Nick, on the other hand, stands there staring at her as she walks by. Roger looks at him.

NICK
What?

ROGER
Are you blowing my cover? Are you blowing my cover like some... construction worker?

NICK
No. I was just—

ROGER
Jesus Christ, Nick. Use your head. Step back. Let her pass. Okay? Give it a few seconds. Watch this, and then camouflage the move. Pay attention.

Roger once again skillfully checks out a woman as she passes by.

ROGER
Checking of the watch is good. Or of the pager. Or looking for a street sign like you're lost.
Or just now you saw me do a combination. Whatever it is, don't get caught. Do you think women have a clue what goes on up here?
What do they think, it's just stock quotes, drill bit sizes?
They don't know shit! Let's keep it that way.

NICK
All right.

ROGER
What about your eyes?

NICK
What? My eyes?

ROGER
Your eyes. How's your vision?

NICK
No, it's good. It's 20-20.

ROGER
Okay. Peripheral?

NICK
I don't know. It's fine, I guess.

ROGER
Fine's not gonna cut it, Nick.
You gotta work your muscles like you're training for the fucking Olympics.

NICK
Yeah.

ROGER
Up, down, left, right, et cetera. Here. Follow my finger.

NICK
Okay.

ROGER
Tell me when it's gone.

NICK
All right.

Roger moves his finger only a couple of inches away from Nick’s field of vision.

NICK
Okay. Stop.

ROGER
That's it? Nick, you need a hundred, a hundred and ten degrees...
before you're ready for the street. I see behind me on a good day. You play video games?

NICK
Sure.

ROGER
Good. That stuff is training for the eyes. Registering images in a split second. It's invaluable. Oh. Right there. Blue sweater. Blue sweater. Median. Blue sweater. Blue sweater...

Nick searches frantically for who he’s pointing at. He finally sees her just as she stands up.

ROGER
That young lady just-- And you missed it.

NICK
I know.

ROGER
In just a fraction of a second.
That's all. But a trained eye can get in there for a look. You have to learn to anticipate your opportunities, okay? Getting out of a cab, wind from a subway grate... or as you so sadly missed there, bending over to pick something up. These are situations which require lightning reflexes.

NICK
I tell you, I can do that.

ROGER
You're a step slow right now, Nick.
Hey, no wonder. I remember what it's like out there. No interaction. No face time. Look at me. Every day I have the street, the subway, the ATM line... the office, the gym--
What have you got? Young people sitting in cars in Ohio. Wistful glances at the stoplight....

NICK
No, I go to school. That's interaction.

ROGER
Okay. Let's work with that.
The high school building is four stories, if memory serves.

NICK
It's five stories now.

ROGER
Whatever. It's multistory, and that means stairs, which is good.
Free yourself from the tyranny of eye level. Come here. Use the angles. High for cleavage. Low for the skirts.

NICK
All right.

ROGER
Remember, there's no shame in calling on an old standby, right?
Dropping of the pencil. Tying of the shoe. Just don't telegraph it.
What about reflective surfaces? Mirrors, windows?

NICK
What, in school? No, there's no mirrors.

ROGER
What about that ugly glass trophy case?

NICK
Yeah, that's there.

ROGER
Well, use it. It's perfect.
Go stand over there for a second. Keep going. Keep going. Stop.
If you can't stare directly, turn your back and use the glass.

He waves at Nick’s reflection in the window.

ROGER
Hi, gorgeous. Remember, angle of incidence equals angle of reflectives. In other words, if you can see them, they can see you. So be alert.

NICK
This is really complicated.

ROGER
It's rocket science. You were smart to ask for help.

NICK
I have a good one. When they're wearing short sleeves...
and they raise their arms to fix their hair, you can see in that gap there.

ROGER
Now, see? That shows me you're using your faculties.

NICK
Don't they know we can see in there?

ROGER
Of course they do. Breasts are very sensitive. They know when they're exposed to air. Are women gonna walk around with their hands clamped to their sides? No.
Their hair has to be dealt with eventually, Nick. And it is our job, it is our vocation to be ready.

NICK
All right. So all this looking is fine, but how do you take the next step? I need to meet someone.

ROGER
If you can't see how the two things are related, Nick, there's nothing I can do for you.

Roger begins to walk away.

NICK
Wait. Relax. Come on.

ROGER
You think we are kidding around here? Do you think this is a joke?

NICK
No. Why do you think I'm here?

ROGER
You have got to make sex a presence... in your mind, in your life... in your spirit.

NICK
All right. I'm sorry.

ROGER
All right.

This is crazy... I was watching TV just now, and they had an interview with this guy, he started his own website, called Justin.tv -- Apparently, for some reason this guy has decided to wear a small video camera, attached to his baseball cap, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and broadcast the video on his site. I guess The Truman Show is now reality...
So anyways, I logged on to his site as the interview was taking place (on a live tv show) and, sure enough, there he was, giving the interview (from his POV). The interview ended, he talked with people backstage, and then he walked outside to his car, to find a parking ticket on his windshield. I stopped watching as he was driving in his car (it's not too exciting watching someone drive - from their point of view), but I dunno, this whole thing just struck me as insane and I felt compelled to report it on here. Check out the site, at your own risk - I didn't see anything graphic, but apparently he wears the thing ALL the time, even going to the bathroom, so if that's something you don't want to see, you probably shouldn't take the chance. You might log on and see a little surprise someday, who knows...

I was right...it didn't take them (YouTube) long to delete the David O. Russell freakout video... here's the repost (for as long as it lasts) of the 2nd video from below:



Also, they deleted the short clip (2 minutes) I posted from Freaks and Geeks, and yet entire episodes still remain on YouTube... that site is going down in flames if they don't come up with some kind of compromise in terms of what kind of content is allowed...

Came across something really interesting today...
People that know about director David O. Russell know that he has a reputation for going absolutely insane on the movie set, even going so far as to scream at the actors and crew and throw things around and sometimes even physically assaulting people (there was an infamous incident back in 1999 where he and George Clooney almost got into a fistfight).
Well, things were apparently no different on the set of his 2004 film I ♥ Huckabees, where Russell repeatedly freaked out on-set. This brief explanation gives you the gist of it, but the real reason I'm posting this up is because of what lies below: Two video clips of the actual on-set craziness... This is really rare, I tell ya... you hear stories about this sort of stuff happening, but you never get to see it. Well, here's some leaked on-set production video... enjoy it before somebody's lawyers get pissed and take it down:





You get the feeling from the clips that Lili Tomlin may be marginally insane, but it's hard to tell how far Russell has actually pushed her before we see her on-camera outbursts. On the other hand, she was in 3 Altman movies, and he was known for not putting up with any shit (i.e. with Warren Beatty in McCabe & Mrs. Miller), so I get the feeling that Russell had just pushed her over the edge... But in any case, she had already been in a Russell film, 1996's Flirting with Disaster, and if he was that nuts, why would you work with him again? Maybe he's just become insane fairly recently?...

Freddie Francis
1917-2007

You don't want to "over-watch" something, so I sometimes purposefully refrain from watching certain things for months at a time, only to revisit it at a later date (often - however unintentional it may be - in marathon-like sittings of several hours at a time). Such as it was I decided to turn on Freaks and Geeks tonight... God damn, this show never gets old...

I downloaded Zodiac tonight, so I could watch it again, and I've got to say... it's really early to be saying this, as the movie year's just started (and movies released this early almost always get forgotten by December) but I'd like to put in an early (hopeful) prediction for Robert Downey Jr. as Best Supporting Actor for next year... he completely stole the show in this picture.

I found an old box the other day, and in it I discovered, on several videotapes, the entire series of American High. It was on TV in 2000 on Fox, canceled after 4 episodes, and then re-aired on PBS in its entirety later that year (which is how I was able to record the entire series). It was quite an interesting experience to watch it again, since I first saw it during my freshman year: It borders on the melodramatic at times, but, after all, that's quite a melodramatic point in your life. Overall, it's a great examination of high school life. While it bills itself as following 14 kids (for a year), it really concentrates on about 6 or 7 in detail (even that's a large task, for only thirteen 30-minute episodes). A large amount of then-current music was used in the show, so it's doubtful it will ever be released on DVD. Watch a 3.5 minute trailer here.