SACRIFICE

Just returned from a day of shooting which has turned out to be extremely rewarding.  The young filmmaker Katie Young held a screenplay contest and was fortunate to get this wonderful screenplay written by  Annette Sanchez.   The film is dominated by roles for women (only two men on set) and the dialogue is real and authentic.  I am very fond of many of the women I find myself acting with and have learned so much.  Amilie Pierce and her Mom Angel Pierce are one of the finest mother/daughter duos I have ever met.  It has been a privilege to spend time with them and work with them. Here's some more info from Kayfilms Productions.
Films - KAYfilms Productions

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD/Violet Crown

Sometimes a film can raise you to a higher plain emotionally and thoughtfully and today that is what happened for me at the VC.  I had read a wonderful NEW YORKER review about the film but had been forewarned by a dear friend that I might not like it.  Well, today I was riveted by the performance of Louisiana 6 y.o. Quevenzhane Wallis and her local father actor Dwight Henry.  There was nothing about this film that I disliked.  The characters were so authentic, the environment so challenging and the love between the actors for their special place had me cheering for every counter culture move they made.  I came away feeling we have no right to remove people from life threatening conditions.  Where should we bring them to...a football stadium where no one likes them and police shoot them walking across a bridge?  We live in an imperfect world.  The funeral scene for Wink made me think it was the most authentic ritual I could ever hope for when it is my time to move on.  Go see this film.  It is wonderful!

SAVAGES

Passed up our AFS Doc night at the Austin Studios to see a pure brain not required film.  While Benicio Del Toro plays one of the scariest torturers on film and I spent half of the film covering my eyes I found this film entertaining.  A story of marijuana growers in California who make unbelievable weed grow..the seeds come from Afghanistan (thank our military intervention for that one).  Two guys share the same girlfriend and go to extremes to save her from the Mexican cartel who wants the California weed.  Dumb storyline, John Travolta is humorous as a crooked DEA agent, Blake Lively plays a vapid stupid rich pothead but it all worked for me after a week of a major house project.  Sometimes you just need to sit back and be dumb!

LAS MALAS INTENCIONES X 2

I'm reposting what I wrote in April about this wonderful film.  Rosa Garcia-Montero is a daring director who makes choices for children that are unique and rarely seen.  I must admit I find this little girl's analysis of the adults in her world to be intelligent and compelling.  And yes, she does bad things.


LAS MALAS INTENCIONES/Cine Las Americas

YIKES! A FLOOD!/AUSTIN DRAINAGE AND LANDSCAPE

The Tuesday before we left for NYC there was a biblical storm and water was ankle deep outside of our LR windows.  I screamed, Abe ran outside with buckets and hauled it up and away and I grabbed every towel in the house and placed around the LR windows.  We left for NYC fearful as more rain was anticipated and it came..3"-6".  But before we left we met with Scott Lockhart from AUSTIN DRAINAGE and LANDSCAPE who reassured us he would take care of this the day we returned, drew up a plan for new drain pipes, landscaping and exposing our foundation.  We left, heard about the rain from Reed and got a reassuring call from Liz that all was dry indoors and the garden did not need to be watered.  We arrived home and for the last four days a crew of hard working men (all on salary) and exceedingly pleasant have worked from 7a.m.-5p.m. doing really hard digging, drilling, paving, hauling, brick laying.  This has been an enormous task and we are so pleased with the outcome and the ease with which Scott helped us.  So if you have a flood or need drain or landscape work I recommend this contractor with 5 stars.

THE FLAME

After a long afternoon on the set of SACRIFICE (there's lots of waiting around on shoots) we headed up to SKYCANDY to see an aerial and theater performance directed by Andy Agne with music composed by Chris Humphrey.  I met Chris when I was an extra on ALL THAT REMAINS and she was a lead actor.  I had the good fortune of being cast next to her on a couch with the instruction to be consoling to her at her time of grief.  What an interesting conversation ensued and since that time I've learned all that she does here in Austin as an actor and a musician.

 Last night's performance of THE FLAME was wonderful and unusual.  The Olympics can be very boring for me but these artists performing aerial and acrobatic tasks on hoops were amazing!  The music and singers added so much to the feeling tone as well.  The piece about the slaughter at the 1972 Munich Olympics was particularly heartfelt for me and Abe.  The music that accompanied "Grecian Homecoming" had me dancin' in my seat.  This is a solid evening of entertainment.  Thank-you Chris for sharing.

Seeing A Film In This Country

I was about to write a post about THE THIRD MAN which we saw last night at a packed to the gills  PARAMOUNT  theater.  But I was stopped dead in my tracks by the news about last night's events in a suburb of Denver, only 25 miles from Columbine.  I'm shocked and outraged and walking in every parent's shoes who may have lost a loved child. I can't imagine being made fearful of  going to see a film, the way I and so many others have  learned about the world when we were growing up in our own enclaves.  A form of entertainment that is safe, can be culturally and globally enhancing as well as being entertaining.  I did not grow up around guns and continue to be very uncomfortable with the gun talk that is so easily had here.  We need to continue to make guns a very real issue in this very disturbed and violent world.  I am happy to say I have not raised kids who think guns are good.

Maynard,Our Fat-Tailed Gecko/ 30 Years Together

I was about to run out to pick up crickets for our African fat tailed gecko and then decided to write about him.  He's named Maynard for an English drummer (TOOL?)  He was Liz's 17th birthday present and became ours when she left for UT the following year.  He's a very related easy to care for guy who eats crickets we buy from RIVER and REEF on S 1st.  When we decided to move to Austin we really struggled as to how to get him here (many lizards are confiscated from your pocket by TSA).  So we sent him UPS and he had his own airline ticket.  And he drove around in a UPS truck until Liz's boyfriend at the time retrieved him and sent us a message he was OK.  I have saved the message on my phone...it was a stressful delivery!  And so today when we meet Liz at the Four Seasons to celebrate our 30th Anniversary I am thinking about the children in my life.  The people whom I have had the privilege to bring into the world and orient  to a life I think is important.  Both Josh and Liz are Abe's and my proudest achievements.  They enhance the world they were brought into and contribute so much.  They lead lives of productivity, creativity, benevolence, and have no greed.  They do for others by the jobs they have chosen.  Josh helps people get around our nation's capitol on bicycles: no oil issues, no footprints, no toxic air pollutants, and good health contributions.  Liz takes photos of people and children who benefit from the new Health Care Law.  She brings us photos of lives and environments so far from our own and always manages to find the people who live on the bleachers, but contribute so much.  So while I am dining at one of Austin's finest restaurants, my heart is filled with gratitude for the life I have shared with a truly great man.  Happy Anniversary Abe.

HOME!

A delay at JFK (what else is new?) and finally home to our much loved home on S. 4th.  Preparing for a shoot the next three week-ends of an indie film SACRIFICE and major landscaping and drainage work starting tomorrow at 7a.m.  Happy to be home and re-connected to Austin through film and work on this lovely home of ours.  Left much loved friends back in Brooklyn and returned to our new acquaintances and the continual building of community here.  Night y'all.

It's a Pedestrian City/ Live From New York

Spent the morning at Naidre's on 7th Ave and watched everyone walk by, on their way to work, the subway, bringing kids to the camp bus.  No one looks at each other, everyone looks focused and caught up in their own worlds.  That's the difference.  No one has time to acknowledge the other people in their eyesight or path.  You wouldn't get anything done or where you have to be.  Walked Prospect Park with Abe, ate bagels at Bagel World and once again on the F train to Regal Heights for a visit with Abe's Mom.  She wants my shoes, loves my dress and is surprised to learn they come from Texas.  She asks us if we're married and we remind her Wednesday it will be 30 years!  Her caretaker Lucie is with us and she hugs me tightly and thanks me for all I've done...is she kidding?  We thank her regularly for all SHE does!  Dinner with Stuart and Lenny at GIOVANNI'S where we celebrate 30 years of marriage and a friendship of 46 years.  My friend Lenny tells me I've calmed down and used to be a 17y.o. firebrand.  I like that.  Talk to Reed and Liz and learn the rain did not come inside the house and all is well.  Leavin' on a jet plane tomorrow night, I'm ready.

LIVE FROM NEW YORK/ A Premie Grows Up

It's hot, the subways are hot and steamy, it's storming and life goes on NYC style.  Checked out Bloomingdales (did I ever pay that much for clothing?), walked a mile to CANDLE 79 at 79th and Lexington where I met Lenny (my oldest friend from college) for vegan lunch, walked some more with her  to Starbuck's, talked our heads off, walked to the Jewish Museum for the Vuillard exhibit (eh), walked to the West Side through Central Park to meet Abe and his sister at NONA'S for dinner.  Walked about 5 miles through city streets filled with stores, more stores and people of all persuasions.  The Upper East Side was dead as a door nail, those folks hit the Hamptons.  Yesterday I ran into a former client walking  in Prospect Park.  A 4 y.o. who weighed 1 lb 11 ozs at birth and needed human growth hormone added to her mother's milk at $2K a month upon duscharge.  Mama remembered me, remembered I got insurance and medicaid to pay so this baby could go home.  And there she was, a tall 4y.o. perfectly developed, wearing eye glasses and so happy when her mama told her who I was.  She thanked me when we said good-bye  for "getting her milk."  Could anything beat that?  NAH!

Live From New York/INTOUCHABLES

First a visit to Abe's Mom, a 95 year old holocaust survivor at Regal Heights where  she resides in  Jackson Heights.  Our unannounced visit to this woman with sparkling white hair who was SO DELIGHTED to see us is a feel good moment for all involved.  Donuts for the staff, flowers for Ruth,  a wheel outdoors, and everyone benefits.  Then a ride to the Village for lunch at GRUB with Pam and off to the ANGELIKA where we saw a superb French film based on a true story.  INTOUCHABLES is a film about an extremely wealthy quadraplegic and his Senegalese caretaker, two lives and cultures intersecting to benefit all involved.  Omar Sy is a charismatic, sexy, vibrant actor who brings so much compassion to his role as a true caretaker to a rich paralyzed man in need of a life infusion.  This film is so real and unaffected.  I so hope it comes to Austin.  The Violet Crown would be a perfect venue.

Back in Brooklyn

Back to Park Slope where we ate outdoors in the backyard garden of Pam and Ira's lovely old brownstone (Steve Buscemi's block) and then Abe  and I walked the old hood.  Went back to the Ansonia Warehouse on 12th Street where we had lived in a loft for 25 years.  A new dweller let us in and there we were on our roof with the most magnificent view of the NYC harbor and skyline.  Met up with good old neighbors Kristen and Bill and just shmoozed for an hour being up-dated on all the changes.  Then we walked to our favorite Bar/Grill JOHNNY MACK'S on 12th Street where we'll meet up with our guy Josh and his girlfriend on Saturday (it's been 8 months).  A visit to family friend Judy Cosme whose late  mother Maria  was Josh and Liz's After School teacher at P.S.107.  Oh yes, back to Brooklyn.  So far from Austin.  Both places have made their mark.

Leavin' On a Jet Plane But First The Paramount

My bags are packed, we're ready to go.  Back to the old hood for visits with friends, Abe's Mama and sister.  But tonight it's a stop at the Paramount for BEST IN SHOW and WAITING FOR GUFFMAN.  Much needed respite from drainage/flood/ landscaping  issues  when we return.  Don't tell Abe, I just love this home owner stuff!  Looking forward to the challenge.

Rick Perry and Healthcare

I have had the misfortune of hearing this man repeatedly on KUT today.  Apparently he gave an interview this a.m. on FOX news where he stated Medicaid is a failed program.  I have stamped my feet, shook my fist, pulled at my hair in response to his stupidity.  Should Texas refuse to accept the Healthcare Law found constitutional by our conservative Supreme Court  this is what will happen:  every uninsured visit to the Emergency Department which happens at enormous rates and costs taxpayers in Texas billions, yes, billions of dollars will be paid by Texans in property taxes.  All preventive medicine which lowers costs of overall healthcare for EVERYONE will not be provided because people don't pay for prevention, they request healthcare when they're sick or have had an accident.  I was a medical social worker for 33 years in NYC and saw first hand the amount of services cut because of uninsured and unpaid emergency room visits.  I just LOVE my new hometown.  I am so sorry Rick Perry comes along with the deal.

TO ROME WITH LOVE

While Kimberley Jones gave this a tepid review in THE CHRONICLE Abe reports THE NEW YORKER gave it a high five.  Maybe it has something to do with geographic POV.  But for me, a native New Yorker who traveled to Rome 7 years ago with a 17y.o.Liz, and has years of psychotherapy under her belt, this film was wonderful to see at the Violet Crown.  As always no one captures the beauty of a large bustling city like Mr. Allen.  He knows how to love a city.  We open with his portrayal  of a neurotic passenger on an airplane, and we are primed to laugh at this introduction to his kvetching (complaining) character.  Abe wanted the humor to follow throughout, but alas Woody gets into the relationships of the four couples with commentary and so story line usurps humor.  His casting Alec Baldwin (who just married a 28y.o., the yoga queen of Greenwich Village) as Jesse Eisenberg's alter ego is a hoot and Mr. Allen knows it. And so does Mr. Baldwin! Penelope Cruz is to die for in every way as a prostitute with a bold identity, and Roberto Benigni is one of the best physical actors imaginable.  Alas, Janet Page, whom I've loved in JUNO and   WHIP IT has joined the gaunt, needs to eat, skinny actors whose appearance left me befuddled.  Abe says she's a good actor and all I could think was "she's too skinny."  I'll bet she's moved to Brooklyn as well.  (snarky Addie)  I loved this film, go see it, it's beautiful to behold.

MANHATTAN STORIES

Tonight we went to the Hideout for the opening night of an Improvisational theater performance of Woody Allen's films.  The ten improv actors were just wonderful.   The stories they told of dysfunctional couples, hilarious psychotherapists, renewed relationships and the angst of finding love had the audience laughing and loving it all.  The house was full, the actors greeted us when we left and the talent was evident throughout.  Don't miss this...such fun!

Salmon Teriyaki and Liz

Spent the afternoon cooking and listening to The Avert Brothers (Brooklyn, Brooklyn my favorite) preparing for dinner with Liz.  While we live in the same city we love, she's a photographer who travels  when she can and so it's been a while. I cook and she brings us stories from places and people we'd never get to:  islands off of Louisiana, nature conservancies in California and Texas.  And from her travels we learn the cultural  norms that are so foreign to us as New Yorkers.  I am reminded over and over again  that America is a huge place, different styles, different assumptions, different expectations.  It's all settling in and reminds me of our good fortune:good health, intelligent kids, great life experiences.  An opportunity to learn more about people.

Recipe for Salmon Teriyaki:  Marinate for an hour (at least) salmon in teriyake sauce with cut up fresh green onions (scallions). Place salmon skin side down in 400 degree oven until your desired degree of doneness.  We do not like our salmon rare and so I baked for 30 minutes.

TED

I had never heard of Seth Mc Farlane or FAMILY GUY before reading  a piece about him in THE NEW YORKER.  So I looked forward to seeing his full length feature film that was not animation because he sounded like he knew how to write funny lines.  He did not disappoint.  Abe and I laughed our heads off at the Westgate while line after line between TED and Mark Wahlberg flew off the page.  Mc Farlane knows how to write. He's politically, sexually, culturally, racially incorrect and it works!  The story line is not worth much but the comedy delivered in dialogue is well worth it. Oh yes, go see this film.  Laugh your heads off.  It's a great break from reality.

It's the 4th of July.  What can I say?  Happy BD America and I hope Austinites think of their neighbors before shooting off fireworks in this drought ridden city.

SOY CUBA/Austin Film Society

A powerful film made in 1964 by a Russian and Cuban which was shown for one week and then shelved for 30 years.  After sell out performances at the FILM FORUM  (my favorite theater in Greenwich Village) in 1995 the film was finally distributed in the U.S.  It is a pro-Fidel and anti-Batista film shot beautifully in infra red (everything is startling white). The film shows us Cuba in the 1950's and is told in 4 stories.  We see girls lured into prostitution and treated miserably by wealthy Americans; a tenant farmer losing his livelihood; a university student lose his life to the cause; and a poor farmer leave his family and join the successful rebellion in the mountains.  It's a patriotic propagandist film that scores a powerful punch.  Chale provided us with six pages of program notes (how else would I know about infra red?) and great conversation following. A great night at Austin Film Society Essential Cinema.

MAGIC MIKE

Oh yes I did it solo. Got out of Gold's Gym and walked to Regal Westgate 11, talking on the cell to my oldest friend from college  as she walked as well in Great Neck, NY.  Grabbed a salad at Central Market and then sat down with a pretty full audience to see this very silly Steven Soderbergh film (with some authentic moments.)  If for nothing else see this film for Matthew Mc Conaughey's final dance/strip number.  This guy does it for real!  What a truly realistic performance.  I also liked the ending.  Not a bad thing to do on a hot summer day.  The best part of this event was coming out of the movie and hearing Abe in the lobby call "Addie."  What can I say?  I love this guy!

ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER/SACRIFICE

Went to Westgate early today to see this movie that got a great review from THE CHRONICLE.  Abe just loves vampire films and I just love him and wanted to have some fun with him before I left to shoot scenes for SACRIFICE.  Well let me tell you I really enjoyed this film.  It's a great action film, great special effects, beautiful martial art moves and I just love seeing slaves on the Underground Railroad participate in kicking the vampires' butts.  On a more serious side, living in the South as a transplanted Yankee is a life changing experience.  We're surrounded by people whose histories are so different from our own.  This movie reminded me that the divide is a core wound that runs deep.  It continues to filter through the divide we see in our politics.  It left me sad.

Spent the evening on the set of Katie Young's SACRIFICE.  A long day for Angel, the lead with a six week old and 4 y.o. both on the set.  It was my absolute pleasure to hold and rock that 6 week old so that she could work.  She is a great Mama with enormous patience and mobility.  She'll return to work in a few weeks as well, can you imagine?  Long day on set with a diverse group of actors.  Lots of waiting.