We Arrive at the Weekend

I was sorry to read that Peter Falk died yesterday.   I enjoyed his Columbo very much.  It was one of the last TV series I can remember following, until Law & Order came along. Although he modeled Columbo on Charles Vanel's Inspector Fichet in the 1955 French thriller Diabolique, Falk was unique and made the character his own.  It was a perfect fit.  He was wonderful.

We arrive at the weekend. Submitted for a low-budget feature and a training video this week and finally lined up an editor to produce my demo reel.  The actor I had originally planned to have edit it (at a certain level we all wear multiple hats) landed a speaking part in Men in Black III, so he's off shooting it this week.   Rumor has it that the film is over budget and tension is mounting on the set, but I bet this guy is loving it!  I'm so happy when things go well for those I know.  (Yay!)

Still trying to work out a contract to do a few episodes of that audio series that's coming together.  The wheels of progress have been turning slowly lately.  I just got a production still from Clear and Sunny Skies, the short film I shot last fall and that just premiered in March. That's it at upper right.  I won't get the DVD until September, so it will be awhile before any clips show up in my demo.  I like the shot though.  Pretty pictures are so boring.  This looks like my teeth are on edge. (Excellent!)  I put it on the landing page of my website too.

So I'm off to the movies.  I've been dying to see (God help me!) Bad Teacher.  The trailer is a hoot, but  I may wait until I hear from someone who actually saw it before plunking down  money for a ticket.  I got burned on The Hangover II, which turned out to be big budget porn (and I exaggerate not at all.)  The trailer for The Tree of Life makes it look too earnest by half, so that's out.  I rented The Company Men recently because it was out of the theaters before I had a chance to see it there.  That should have been the tip off.  How do you miss with a film about guys who lose their jobs during a down economy?  You focus on very rich guys who lose their jobs during a down economy.  I mean, losing your country club membership and having your Porche repossessed are tragedies to be sure, but of a somewhat lower order than having to move your family of four into the garage at your in-laws house (which actually happened to some poor guy.)  That leaves Rio (I could go for a kids' film in a pinch) or Midnight in Paris.  I'll probably do the latter.  Woody Allen and Owen Wilson are hit and miss, but they're due.