Suggested Summer Viewing

Now that we’ve arrived officially at the Summer Solstice, I thought I’d mention some DVDs worth putting in your Netflix queue before your upcoming plane/train/road trip. Or, perhaps you’re joining the growing throngs of families taking "staycations" instead of the summer holiday off in Turks and Caicos? Just as well, a good DVD recommendation and popcorn with melting Junior Mints go well with a staycation also.

What I’m listing below may not show-up on the AFI 100, but believe you me, they’re good in my book, which may not be saying much, but it’s a list to peruse at least. These are films to enjoy after the kids are down and you’ve opened a nice Australian Shiraz. So, here goes, some foreign films to get you in the mood for some globe trotting:

Enchanted April – Let’s start off in the UK/Italy. This newly released DVD is worth its weight in gold. LOADED with British talent, from Judy Densch to Jim Broadbent, Alfred Molina to Michael Kitchen, it is a travelogue befitting those with a wanderlust for Italian destinations and UK sensibilities that we Anglophiles enjoy (Honorable mentions: Hope and Glory, Croupier, Sexy Beast, and Possession for the UK. For Italy, Cinema Paradiso, and Room with a View even though half is set in London, the best bits are in Italy).

La Femme Nikita – Tripping into France now, for those who simply must have their summer action flick, there’s enough explosions, shootings, and assassinations to sate those with even the most insatiable Quentin Tarantino chicks-with-guns-n-sword appetites. Plus, or as they say in French, plus, there are hotties toting big guns speaking saucy French words that drip from beglossed lips. (Honorable mentions: Red (from the trilogy “Blue,” “White” and “Red” from Polish director Kieslowski) – Each of these films can stand and be viewed alone, but Red is my fave, and Irene Jacob just breaks your heart (so does her dog). Other HM's Jean de Florette, Amelie, and My Father’s Glory.

Eat Drink, Man Woman – Ang Lee’s big breakout film. This Taiwan (if memory serves right) film is about a world-renown chef and father of several daughters, each unique in their own way (and each unique in their own way of torturing dad) and finding themselves at crossroads of a modern Asia set against traditional cultural demands. This film was remade into Tortilla Soup, which, as is the case with all U.S. remakes, was not quite up to snuff. Oh, do not watch this film hungry. (Honorable mentions: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Raise the Red Lantern, and House of Flying Daggers)

My Life as a Dog – Now in Scandinavia, in spite of the title, this Llasse Hallstrom-directed quirky coming-of-age film is actually worth your time. The Swedes are quite good at restrained design (whether architecture or furniture) and their directors are very good at delivering reeled-in performances by their actors. (Honorable mentions: In honor of Llasse, we’ll throw in his other films Chocolat, Shipping News, and Something to Talk About)

The Sweet Hereafter – Our brothers in Canada have an amazing filmmaker in Atom Egoyan. If a film can be sweet and gut-wrenching at the same time, this is it. The performance by Ian Holm is spectacular; if you haven’t seen this one yet, pull your legs up underneath you,let the day come to a close, and watch this one with a loved one. (Honorable mention: Jesus de Montreal, The Score, and Some Girls)

So, there you have a few offerings from around the globe. We could have also mentioned Like Water for Chocolate, Y Tu Mama Tambien (Mexico), Pan's Labyrinth, Barcelona (Spain), The Big Blue (Greece), Il Postino, Death and the Maiden (Chile), but I guess we just did.

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Quentin Tarantino: This Dog Has No Reservoir

"Quentin Tarantino: This Dog Has No Reservoir" was originally published on NeoPolitique. 

There's a maxim in politics that says "attitudes shape policy." That small phrase also speaks volumes about filmmaking. Whether it's Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, or Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, attitudes shape film. It seems obvious that such a statement is true. But, how many times do we leave a movie without thinking about the worldview of the film's creator, let alone the message of the film? Today's movie audiences, although quite knowledgeable, seem intent on being entertained, not challenged. To critically examine one's viewing habits requires too much effort; euphemistically, we're cerebrally challenged; realistically, we're lazy. This article seeks to confront this laissez faire attitude and asks the question: are there significant worldview differences between the filmmakers of today and yesterday, and if so, what are the effects on society? To answer this question, let's look at two influential directors and their films: Frank Capra and his Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Quentin Tarantino and his Pulp Fiction. Both filmmakers and their films are representative of the spirit of their times‐‐their generation's zeitgeist. Even a child can sense that there is something palpable behind Capra's films: a message of hope; a love for America (After Mr. Smith, Capra himself enlisted in the Army for four years to serve his country); an indefatigable faith in the God‐given value of all men. Regardless of one's position in life, Capra made all men and women feel like they could obtain a piece of the American pie, if not bake it. 

Capra, after making a string of successful pictures, had an epiphany‐like experience which pushed him past the myopic focus plaguing many of today's young filmmakers. As a result, he decided his films would incorporate principles that surpassed the ersatz and, instead, promoted the eternal. For the remainder of his life, unlike today's young filmmakers, Capra said that there would be a message attached to his work. 

His films, especially Mr. Smith, carried a message of the common man overcoming tyrannical powers with God‐given abilities. Film critics of the time called this message film "Capra‐corn" because these films patriotically promoted democracy. Was Capra's love of America simply a generational thing? What about young filmmakers today? What is their raison d’être? 

No better example of today's filmmakers can be found than in Quentin Tarantino, one of Hollywood's most respected directors. Tarantino's Pulp Fiction won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and was heavily favored by the critics at the prior year's Academy Awards where Tarantino earned a screen‐writing Oscar for Pulp.(2) He got his first break with Reservoir Dogs, setting the modus operandi for other projects with sharp, eclectic dialogue and pathological characters set in the criminal underworld. 

Although Capra and Tarantino have in common a deep love for the medium itself, the worldviews that shape their films are significantly different. Capra was hooked on filmmaking after bluffing his way onto a San Francisco set to direct his first film. Capra, sans television and film, shaped his films with previous faith‐based experiences and classical erudition. Tarantino, however, grew‐up watching hours of television and frequently going to movies with his parents (he would later incorporate the homosexual rape scene he saw in Deliverance, at the age of eight, into Pulp Fiction). (3) Both television and film played key roles throughout Tarantino's childhood. His mother, in fact, acknowledges that her son was named for a western movie character ‐‐ Quint Asper. (4) 

One could argue that while Capra's worldview shaped the medium of early film itself, Tarantino's worldview, conversely, was shaped by a steady diet of film and television. Capra took the sinew of the American life that de Tocqueville wrote about, and placed it on celluloid for the world to see. Tarantino, however, glamorizes a worldview of pop‐culture because it is all he knows. He offers this slickly packaged modernity – “McDernity” for the fast‐food set ‐‐ to a post‐boomer generation looking for life's answers; answers Tarantino is unwilling to understand or incapable of giving. This inability and indifference seems ubiquitous in the films created by today's young cinephiles. 

Tarantino routinely swings his characters from one violent scene to the next on vines of witty dialogue and rich sub‐text. The conversation between Jules and Vincent in Pulp is a prime example. The two hit‐men, en route to "settle" an account for their employer, discuss the fine nuances between fast food in America and Europe. This dialogue is typical for Tarantino's consumer‐driven films. Yet, no matter how many humorous catchphrases they utter, his characters say nothing transcendent. 

Tarantino's characters are primarily interested in surviving the here and now.(5) There is little doubt about the impact that Tarantino's films are currently having on American culture. He brings wit to any script he touches. He was brought in to bring life to Crimson Tide's moribund script, and the results paid‐off. (6) The catchy dialogue that fills and links many scenes of Tide were his touch. Tide was clearly a blockbuster in '95, and Tide's video sales also benefited from Tarantino's signature dialogue. Besides writing Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino also wrote Natural Born Killers and True Romance ‐‐ violent films all. Tarantino has said that he abhors the violence seen every day on U.S. streets, but that violence in film is "cool." (7) 

It's doubtful that Tarantino will ever undergo a similar experience that Mr. Capra went through; realizing that film is not simply to please oneself, but to affect positive change in others as well. The primary difference between Mssrs. Capra and Tarantino is real‐life experience. Mr. Capra's muse was comprised in a lifetime's worth of living, while Tarantino has only been able to draw from a shallow pool of commercial pabulum. After all, Capra gave up millions to serve his country, as did many other Hollywood elite of his generation, during W.W. II. He earned France, Britain, and the U.S.'s highest honors for his service to America and the allied powers through film; his life reflected the same values that were displayed in his films.(8) One can only imagine the horror if Tarantino's life reflected what his films advocate; one wouldn't have "Capra‐corn" but "Terrortino" or "San Quentin Tarantino." 

Undoubtedly, Frank Capra, though accomplished in both science and film, would marvel at Tarantino's prodigiousness. After all, Tarantino's derivative work results largely from his admitted ability to stand on the shoulders of film giants. Tarantino is a masterfully skilled filmmaker and there is something awe‐inspiring about watching an expert work his craft. If only his vision matched his enormous talent. Because Tarantino's films are derivative in nature, and primarily influenced by previous filmmakers and their work, the result is a "closed system." Tarantino draws inspiration not from external sources ‐‐ a la Capra ‐‐ but from the medium itself. In any closed system, a state of entropy exists, and ultimately leads to a slow deterioration of the quality of the base. The base in question here is the message of Tarantino's films ‐‐ which has suffered degradation to the point of non‐existence. 

While Capra's films are tagged as "say‐something" movies, Tarantino's have nothing redemptive to say, even to themselves. Although Tarantino has his Palme d'Or, there is one French award that he surely will never achieve, an award that Capra would surely not trade. Prior to the permanent banishment of English films in France during the Nazi occupation, one French theater played Mr. Smith Goes to Washington continuously for one month saluting the themes of Liberty and Freedom imbued in Capra's film. As those words appeared in the film, and Old Glory waved majestically above the Lincoln Memorial, the French audiences cheered‐on. (9) One can say with confidence that no current Tarantino film could be offered if called upon for a similar task. Perhaps, that film is yet to be made. 

Endnotes: 1. Frank Capra, The Name Above the Title: An Autobiography (New York, NY: The Macmillan Company, 1971), 240. 2. John Fried, "Pulp Friction," Cineaste, 1 April 1995, 6. 3. Tim Farrand, "Filmmaker Mapped Path to Top Like Army General," Reuters, 27 August 1995, 1. 4. Farrand, 1. 5. Fried, 5. 6. Cindy Pearlman, "Quentin Tarantino's Destiny," Sacramento Bee, 23 April 1995, EN13 7. Farrand, 1. 8. Capra, 367. 9. Ibid., 293.

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My Birthday Wish ... Well, Two Wishes

CG / MG usual hang in Malibu

There resides in every man's heart, a desire to be heard, to speak, to make a difference.  Okay, perhaps not in every man, but a least in most men.  Most sane men, one hopes.  But, let's be honest, some men don't give two rat turds about making a dent in the universe. About posterity.  Truly.  Sad. Man.  But whatevs.  To each his own.  And, my own? Well, I have two of my own, sons that is. Amazing young, college men, who have more of a clue at their young prodigious age than I (or many of my cohorts) ever did at their age. Truth be told, they are very much like their mother in that regard (driven to get out of school and make a living ... now!).  Don't get me wrong, I encourage and guide and suggest like any concerned parent. And, they'd both tell you I'm a bit too hands-on, I'd wager, and always giving them too many fountain pens and journals to fill, and books to read.

Jg. for FatScribe

So, those two young men above are my posterity (that squishy fella there in the gray cardigan? C'es moi). My oeuvre is nada. My words, my stories, my scripts, my online consulting, companies, my startups, my business aspirations? Worthless compared to my sons.  I hope (and often pray) that they represent 100x better/more than what I ever could bring into this world, its mesosphere and below, its business ecosphere and its all-around ethosphere.  Wherever they lay their heads, their hearts and their talents, I pray (and expect) that they will add to and not detract from; that they will love more, live more, lie less (if ever) and leverage less (if ever -- from a personal debt perspective) than ole pops did. I pray that they have six kids each in the fecundity department, are as lovely and loving and languid as their mom is in the personality department, and as entrepreneurial, enthusiastic, and ecclesiastical as their dad has been. That's my b-day wish today, viz., for my kids to be happier, yes, but to be better.  Okay -- my two wishes, I'll be greedy -- are represented by these two most beloved cherubs (in their dad's opinion at any rate), that they be oh-so-much-better men that this man.  Hopefully after I'm long gone, their uncles (bio & otherwise) will help see to it.  To know God, and to make him known in whatever they choose to do.

Supreme Collab w/ LV 2018 LA Time Capsule

Meanwhile, like many young men today in the US, UK, Japan, South Korea, and a bit in the EU, my sons are intrigued, piqued, and unfortunately attracted by the shiny object, the objet d'art with the luxe commercial impulse.  They've seen street and skate brands that have been brilliantly handled/marketed with an assiduous and adroit hand to blow their market cap 100x.  What was interesting to observe was the phenomenon of the musical group, clothing label, or restaurant 


I was at the Century City mall today.  The parent company for Louis Vuitton (LVMH) held an exhibit these past two weeks for the history of LV since its luggage heritage humble beginnings.  It was very well done, nicely put together, and very modern as well, for at the end there was a light display with some nice AR (augmented reality) or VFX that made a magic "malle" (fr.: malle or trunk) that took on the shape of many LV trunks over the years/decades.

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2016 Season's Greetings & 2017 New Year's Resolve

2017 Holiday Solipsistic Recriminations

Armani peaked lapel, Pendleton camel overcoat,
tie by Ted Baker, D-Bag by yours truly.

Yep, that's me, heading out to a couple of holiday parties this year. Work parties are a great way to stand out from the crowd with just the right pocket square, tie, or classic brogues. Although I'll write all day long about startup projects (like the ones with LegalZoom, JustLuxe.com, etc.), my little family's goings-on here in Malibu canyon/Calabasas/South Central, and about the restaurants we eat at, coffee joints we frequent (hello Coffee Bean where I saw Brad Garrett today, all 8'3'' of him -- good gawd he's tall), and the various celebs we rub shoulders with (just for kicks and giggles, plus the artist uses the materials available to him or her), I'm not one to usually get in front of a camera like some Instagram/Facebook/Twitter neophyte.  But, whatevs.  Still, apologies for the very rare selfie.  (Now, if the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon holds water, you'll see pictures of me all over the Internet.)

We end the year 2016 name-dropping -- Sniff! -- had a nice little meeting recently with actor/producer Will Smith jumping in at the end that was about a friend/client's product.  Nicest guy, like, ever.  Could be cool if it gets traction. We'll see. Not even close to being the most important meeting for 2016, but it was cool for my pal-client to be sure. Actually, have a fairly important product/project that involves Quincy Jones that is fairly significant, scalable, and salutary ... if it comes through. Mos def keep you all posted on that one -- I just said "Mos def."

And, because it's the end of the year everyone's making lists (and checking them twice), I figure ole Fats should get in on the craze.  So, here goes.  If a half-way successful business fella, with several king-size (okay, regular type) failures does it for ya, I present 11 random points that will sound oh-so-self-important!
______________

No. 1 -- Double-down on good things, and eliminate the unproductive things. 45 mins each morning on email is too, too much.  That goes for relationships, too. Spend time with friends and business partners who appreciate you rather than hanging out with "the right" (folks you think are cool) people that you probably won't talk to in 18 months (or who can't be bothered to talk to you).

No. 2 -- Take ownership of the "total shite" things you've been putting off. Make them A's or 1's on your to-do list and get them crossed off. They say endorphins kick-in for Type-A personalities who know about getting things done. They literally get off getting things off of their (oft-crushed) lists. Go and do likewise, my fine friend who listens to less-than-successful types making lists of eleven!

No. 3 -- Make the "good-enough now" your freaking arch-nemesis of the "perfect one year from now." Just get sh*t done, bud; perfect it later.  It's called iteration, so iterate as you go, on-the-fly like, brotha.

No. 4 -- As I always tell my reps and my sons and my friends. "Activities drive opportunities!"  Don't wait around for things to come to you (never be an order taker), make it happen (be a chef cookin' things up, not a waiter taking orders)!

No. 5 -- If you don't A-S-K, you don't G-E-T. It's not just a truism, maxim, or promise, its a bloody curse because believe me, someone else is asking out your future wife, getting the money for your project, and landing that dream job.  What?! Tell me I'm wrong, people. Seriously, is a "no" going to kill you?!

No. 6 -- Make a list of the "giant goals" in your life right now.  Those goals you'd love to have accomplished, you know the ones you talk about and your friends go, "oh, sure!" dripping in sarcasm:  Marathons to run. Books to finish/start. Scripts to write/pitch to studios.  Dream houses to build in your future/fave state or country.  Now ... focus on the ONE thing that you cannot imagine LIVING without if you were on your death bed and staring down into your end-of-life bucket list. What isn't there that is truly bumming you out right about now? What would embarrass the hell out of you if your friends/family were there going, "yup, she never was going to accomplish that restoration of the ole McPherson Estate. She was such a dreamer, not a doer."  Screw that noise! Get pissed off. Let shame and anger work their pokey little fingers into your crawl and make you good and uncomfortable and DO something about it.

No. 7 -- Live within your means. Be debt-free. Life is just better when that debt-free goal is indeed your reality, pal o' mine.  I hate that there is any debt hanging over my fat, pudgy face and bald head like some Damocles Sword and she ain't pretty, and sleep, she ain't sweet with that drama all up in my business.  Trust.

No. 8 --  Tell your kids, parents, friends, and loved ones you love them.  Often.  Hey, Dear Reader, I've only known you since 2009, but ... uh, um, I love ya.  "I don't know if a "ya" counts as an  official "I love you" but I'll take it."  (name that Nancy Meyers movie!)

No. 9 --  Be grateful. I just sent a letter to a friend who did me a major solid, like, ten years ago. Changed my life. Each Thanksgiving I send such letters to folks to remind myself and them what their largess did for me and my family (Ben Stein was one such fellow one fine day in Malibu -- still need to write about that).

No. 10 --  Write a journal. Keep a diary. Make a record of your life and share it with your family. Chronicling your family history or even simply tracing a narrative of your personal life stories can be a gift for the next generation.  I double-dawg dare you.

No. 11 -- When you're about to go out with friends, and then some creepy little voice tempts you to cancel, excuse-make, LIE, or call an (Omaha!) audible like Tom Brady... tell that little soul-sucking creep to piss-off and GO OUT with your friends or family.  Events, happenings, concerts, museums, trips to the local landmark are what memories are made of ... not hugging a piece of the ole sofa on a Saturday morning or Tuesday during must-waste-my-life-tv!  We miss you when you cancel on us. We'll see you out there on the court, at the movies, or at Bible study.

That's all for now.  Let's both of us commit to live life to the fullest for 2017!

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