Monday, March 29, 2010

Waking Sleeping Beauty



I went and saw Waking Sleeping Beauty this weekend. It's a limited release documentary about how Disney went from making scary movies (both in tone and in box-office returns) in the early 80's to making some of the most successful animated movies of all time.

The documentary itself was probably not the best made. It focused on the battle of egos between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy Disney and Michael Eisner. It followed their rise, and each of their falls. While interesting, it wasn't what I, or anyone in the audience, went to see.


We went to see Howard Ashman (the musical genius who quite possibly saved Disney animated films) singing "Part of Your World." We went to see how they balanced working on multiple animated movies at once. We went to see the behind the scenes lives of the animators, not the behind the scenes lives of the CEOs. They're not the ones who meticulously drew by hand the countless drawings that would later end up thrown away. The parts about the animators are great. The parts about the executives, dull.

The footage is of poor quality (it seemed to be shot on a home video camera from the 80's) and out of focus, which makes it difficult to focus on the story itself. Better than the grainy VHS footage are the clips from the animated movies that we love, and the caricatures that the animators were constantly drawing to express what was going on in the company.

There were lots of moments where the audience (which was bigger than expected) laughed out loud. The timing of the editing is great, and the animators are all very funny people. I think if you worked in Disney animation, you'd have to be. The hours were terrible, the conditions were worse. I have nothing but respect for those who created the movies that defined my childhood.


Would I recommend the documentary? Sure. Netflix it when it comes out. It won't get wider than it is right now. It's enjoyable and it reminds you why you love the animated movies you love.

On second thought, maybe you should just rent Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and the Lion King instead, because undoubtedly, after hearing just glimpses of those catchy tunes, you'll wish you were just watching those.

Monday, March 22, 2010

From the Stadium to the Sea

No I didn't run the LA Marathon (for those of you that don't know "From the Stadium to the Sea" was the theme of this year's marathon). But the theme seemed to fit my weekend, as it started in Downtown, moved to the Pier, and ended back around Hollywood. Everything those marathon runners saw, I saw, and I had the added luxury of four wheels and air conditioning.

Saturday morning started with a trip to FIDM with Lesley to see the Oscar nominated costume display. Some were breath taking, some were amazing, some made us a squeal, and some were from Aliens in the Attic.

Lesley and I were like kids in a candy store with the costumes from An Education, Where the Wild Things Are ("Do you know how many hipsters would kill to steal that outfit?"), A Single Man ("They have the furry sweater!"), Inglourious Basterds ("Inglourious Basterds!"), and Julie and Julia ("Meryl wore that!").



This picture was from the exhibit several years ago, but since it's Helen Mirren, and she plays an intricate part in this blog post, I'll allow.



After playing over on Vermont for a bit, Lesley and I went to Santa Monica. She had never been on the pier, so we hit that up first. Kettle Corn! Cotton Candy! Rides! It's like a carnival, but better, because it's on water. Lesley and I joked about the pier being destroyed by a giant wave (as in a Roland Emmerich movie) and low and behold, go kicked off the beach. Not because of our off color jokes, but because a suspicious package was found on the pier. Cops were everywhere. We were instructed to go past the lifeguard tower. Dear lifeguard, if the pier was to explode in a gigantic terrorist attack, I highly doubt being on the OTHER side of your lifeguard tower would make the slightest difference in my chances of survival.

So we went to a British foods store. A logical move right? It is when you're with Palf.

Palf and I parted ways and I was joined by Kristen, Julie and Jeff. A bottle of wine and batch of margaritas later, we hopped into a cab for Bar Lubitsch. After my rave review of it, they had been wanting to try it. We got in and it was PACKED. Have no fear though, we found ourselves a nice pocket of space and proceeded to hang out and drink through the night. Kristen, Julie and nights out (or in!) are a perfect storm. Doesn't matter where we are, doesn't matter that someone in the bar had B.O. (okay, it a little bit did), we have a good time. Saturday was no exception.

We stumbled down Santa Monica to Jones for a post-drinking pizza with Banner. We scarfed a pizza of our own and downed half of Rebecca's. Success? I think so.

Sunday was just as successful, if not COMPLETELY different. Megan came to visit!



Megan, my oldest friend (as in, since 2nd grade, not age 102), is the assistant to journalist Annie Bardach, who is quite possibly THE go-to journalist on all things Cuba. Annie is a member of the Moron Society (a group of free-thinking, intelligent people [journalists, writers, directors, actors, politicians]) who get together to elect morons in society and discuss current events.



On Sunday, there was a Moron Society meeting at Helen Mirren and Taylor Hackford's house. They live around the corner from me! Their neighbor is none other than Roland Emmerich, of aforementioned pier discussion.

Megan and I were honorary Moronettes and handled parking at the Hackford/Mirren estate. Afterwards we were invited to listen in on the meeting, which was incredible. These people are such intelligent speakers.

Mirren, or as Hackford calls her, Helly, was a sweetheart. So nice. She gave me a stack of ham, a bottle of wine and a cheery pie because "I could afford such a thing."



I feel like I should have more to say about this event, but I guess it's all just sinking in. They're wonderful people and it was exciting to be a part of it. Will anything come of it professionally? Probably not - but you never know!

Saturday, March 20, 2010

The Muchness of Alice in Wonderland



I guess I'm about three weeks late, but I just saw Tim Burton's much talked about Alice in Wonderland. I've read all the reviews and heard all the complaints from my friends. Alice has lost her muchness, they all say, faithfully echoing Johnny Depp's hatter.

But has she?


Tim Burton has yet again created a fantastical world with extraordinary characters. Lewis Carol may have very well been writing specifically for Burton's over active imagination. The sets and costumes, as in every Burton film, are the stand out here. From Alice's changing dress to the details of the heads bobbing in the Red Queen's castle moat, everything from a design point is just right.

Well, almost. I'll tell you, in this movie may have had too much muchness. In 3-D, while breathtaking, the constant camera movements, moving scenery and changing focus make it hard to focus on anything. The flowers sway as the camera swoops through them, sometimes they're our focus, but at other times it's Alice and while the flowers are in my face, it is Alice who we should be watching. I think 3-D actually hindered this film, more than helped it. There was too much to look at, and I wished I could have taken a step back to see it all (granted I was sitting in the second row, but I can't imagine it was much different anywhere else in the theater.) 3-D takes you into the world, but what about the films in which you want to sit back and examine it? 3-D was too much.


Also joining in the category of "too muchness," was the addition of names to the characters. Why can't the Red Queen simply be known as the Red Queen? Why did we need to call her the Red Queen AND Bellizabeth (or whatever the hell it was, I never fully caught it.)?

I rather liked the new story line, as this was more of a sequel than a faithful retelling. Alice in Wonderland isn't much a story at all. Alice follows a rabbit down a rabbit hole and playfully goes from one strange character to the next. This version had a plot. Imagine that! Where the central question of Alice in Wonderland (as written) is up for interpretation, this version asks the question: Will Alice fill her destiny? It is interesting, as those who have seen it can attest to, that the issue of destiny comes up both in London, and in Wonderland. After all, she was destined to marry what's-his-face-snaggle-tooth, just as she was destined to slay the jabberwocky and ruin the Red queen's reign on Wonderland. The plot unified the characters, and gave a reason for their existence and involvement in Alice's Wonderland.

One of my favorite characters, the Cheshire Cat, did not disappoint (and partly, I think, that's because he was a slow moving character. The camera stopped moving when we were with him and I was able to focus on his stunning grin.)


The insane March Hare is also a stand out, with the stand out human performance being Helena Bonham Carter's Queen. She's fiendish, likable, humorous and a bitch. She's everything you'd want the Red Queen to be.

Overall, I've got to say that I liked it. The more time I spend away from it, the more I feel that way. Next time I see it, however, it will not be in 3-D. It's too much.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Areas I Love: Vermont Avenue

This is a new thing I want to start doing, in addition to my regular blogging/ramblings. Picking a place I like in LA and talking about it.



Vermont Avenue in Los Feliz (which I have been informed, I do not pronounce properly). I first stumbled upon Vermont while back at Chapman. I was thrifting for a movie and stumbled upon a little place called Squaresville in the uber hip neighborhood in Los Feliz.

After being introduced to Squaresville I vowed to make this little neighborhood, full of shops and big trees, book stores and bars my home. When I first started looking at apartments in LA, this is where I went. Ultimately, I didn't end up over here - but I've been visiting it more and fall in love with it every time.


It's everything you could one on one street. It's alive, but not over crowded, every night. The people that hang out on Vermont are the type of people that you look at and think "I could be friends with you."

There are so many restaurants on this street and I've only been to handful. It's a street that you walk down and want to try it all. One day, I might.

Here's a rundown of a few places on Vermont I enjoy:

Squaresville


Squareseville is a little vintage thrift store that is packed from wall to wall with some of the coolest clothes ever to grace the last decade. I would make it my closet if I could.


A little movie theater that shows indie movies that don't usually make it to the big ones, as well as a studio movie or two. I saw Crazy Heart here, and it's charming. Charming, I think, is the word I'd use to describe the entire area.



I went to this bar with Nora and it's exactly the type of place you'd imagine your grandparents drinking in. It's classy and old fashioned with super nice elderly bar tenders who treat you right. Live music every night makes it a relaxing place to chill.



A little diner with the coolest seats around. The booths are like seats out of 50's cars. It's menu is a little scatterbrained. For you Orange County kids, it's like Norm's but not a chain. The burger was amazing and huge (and that's that I ordered The Wimpy Burger [I kid you not, that's what its called!]).



I went here with Jeff and we keep going back. It's a hole in the wall Thai restaurant but it's SO good. The decor is kind of nautical, with fish tank portals on the walls. Reader Beware, if you walk into Pattaya Thai on a night they're doing karaoke TURN AROUND. It's terrible.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Rice A Roni

To truly appreciate Hollywood, sometimes you need to leave it. You need to see what other cities have to offer. As much as I love it here, it doesn't have everything you could want. Know what city comes close though? San Francisco.

Sure, part of that is because it houses the best friend (but not for long. [You hear that, Lauren? You're coming back down to LA. This trip has reminded me that life sans Lauren is NOT okay])

After bailing on work at lunch, Adam, Jeff and I drove up to the city on Friday. We were making great time until-

They decided to close down The 5. Excuse me? Closing The 5 Freeway on a Friday night? It took us an hour to go three miles to get to the detour. Then we got to drive through beautiful Coalinga*

After a plethora of tunes, some sub-par Baja Fresh and 7+ hours, we got into the city. San Francisco is amazing. They manage to fit so much in such a small amount of space. Everything "goes up to the sky and twists." Buildings, billboards and overpasses reach for the stars in a tall and wind-y city that's anything but sleepy.



Friday night:
We met up with Ryan and drank our driving frustrations away. There was drinking. There was dancing. There was Alan.

Whose Alan? In 7th grade I took tennis lessons. Go ahead and laugh. The classes were small and I had a friend Alan who I had lost contact with once I got older. Some 9 years later, in a city of over 700,000, I run into him. Crazy. Even crazier was that it was in a drunken stupor and he recognized me. Sad that I look the same as I did in 7th grade? This blog is getting depressing. Anyways- The night ended with us getting flashed by a woman, who it turns out, was a man.
That brings us to-

Saturday morning:
Brunch at Home. Jeff and I drank coffee, Adam and Ryan drank 2 Bloody Mary's each. I think you can tell who the smarter ones were (okay it was them, but shh!) After brunch we wandered around. Book stores, Art stores, Art supply stores, happiness.

Saturday Afternoon:
On our way to meet up with Lauren we stopped and checked out some performance art going on near the civic center. Interpretive dance, accompanied by music and plenty of chalk for sidewalk drawing. We were encouraged to draw and we did. For a while.

We found Lauren in the mess of the St. Patrick's Day Festival. She had successfully found herself a corned beef sandwich and was hell bent on finding green beer. We didn't.

We did find an Urban Outfitters and proceeded to play around in there. I got a sweet plaid shirt. Lauren got some boots. Jeff got a plaid shirt as well.



Saturday Night:
We rocked the plaid. We set out to eat a restaurant called Range that looked pretty good. We got there and decided we couldn't afford that menu, so we wandered the streets looking for something that looks good. This is how food eating decisions should always be made. We ended up in front of Cafe Ethiopia and, since none of us had eaten Ethiopian before, decided to try it.
We ordered a variety off the menu (none of which we could properly pronounce) as well as Ethiopian wine and beer. The Verdict? The food was spicy and good. The alcohol was sweet and bad. It was definitely an experience (we ate with our hands off of one giant plate) that I, not only would do again, but also recommend others to try (There are a handful of Ethiopian places in LA, lets go!).



We then ended up at an Irish pub (it being St. Patty's day weekend and all) and then to a house party with Ryan. Try to walk by houses in San Fran and not sing the Full House theme song. I dare you.

The party was a lot of fun, complete with new lesbian friends, dancing, mud, drinking, more dancing, and even more drinking. What a friendly bunch. We need to have more parties in houses and apartment in LA, guys.

Sunday Morning:
Well, more like-

Sunday Afternoon:
We got up and headed over to Pleasanton, CA a peaceful suburb of the bay and home to Lauren Emily Johnson. Downtown Pleasanton is exactly how you'd imagine it to be upon hearing the name. Diners, art shops, small town essentials and Thriving Ink.

Thriving Ink is an indie T-shirt company and the store in which most of my shirts are now from. It's Urban Outfitters, but indie. I know what you're thinking - Urban is as "indie" as they come. A chain of mainstream stores, while fashionable, is not indie. Kudos, Thriving Ink and may you be successful enough to no longer be indie.

A quick 5 hour jaunt down The 5 Freeway and we made it home. Simultaneously relaxed and exhausted from our trip to the foggy city.

It did something interesting, though. It makes me excited to explore LA more. I will love this city and everything it has to offer. I will find everything it has to offer and I will let it be offered to me. Los Angeles, it's just you and me (and nearly 4 million others).



*Coalinga is NOT a beautiful city.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Little Red Lies

Sometimes I lie.

Even that's a lie. I lie a lot.

-"Kevin would love to talk to you. I'll have him return."
-"No, we're not casting for that project right now."
-"Yes, I scheduled that lunch/meeting/conference call."
-"My boss is looking to set up drinks for all the up and comers from Focus Features, RKO, TLC... We'll need a booth."

Okay, so the last one wasn't me, but I certainly was apart of it. Rebecca Banner, to secure a table for her 22nd birthday at Bar Lubitsch, lied. Not a big lie, just a little one. I mean, to be fair, we work or intern at those companies. We just made it sound like the order came from a slightly higher power than our own. It did no one any harm, and we got a sweet booth to celebrate Banner's birthday (not like she remembers it, anyway).



Bar Lubitsch was an amazing venue for her birthday. Tucked away on Santa Monica Blvd, the bar looks normal on the outside.



Inside is like stepping into Nazi Germany. I know, I know - it's a Russian bar, but damn it all, the swastika on the wall made out of sexy can-can legs begged to differ. The bar was int he front, the dance floor in the back. The clientele was too cool to care, so I didn't either. It was fun. The color red was dominant and the stench of vodka, pungent.

Speaking of vodka, the vodka selection here is extensive! If you can name it, there's a vodka here infused with it. Chai infused vodka was a popular choice that night. As was vanilla. I'm not normally a vodka drinker (I had an...."issue" with it in high school) but I decided it'd be wrong to order anything else. I turned to their specialty drinks and picked one at random.

The Ninotchka
-Vanilla Vodka
-Liquid Sugar
-Muddled Strawberries
-Champagne

It was incredible. It won't make a regular vodka drinker out of me, but if you're ever hankering for a crazy atmosphere and a decent vodka cocktail, go! It's a good time.

And that's not a lie.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Philanthropic: A Word I Can't Say

Not because it's bad. It's not a cuss word, don't worry. I just literally cannot pronounce it. I was trying all week to tell people that I was going to a fi-lən-ˈthrä-pik event, and I couldn't get the word out of my mouth.

That point aside - this weekend was the second Philanthro Production I attended. They are, as Mikey put it, events that make you "feel like you live in LA."



The First: Over the summer Nora, Justin and I went to SAVOR THE SUMMER, in which all proceeds benefited cystic fibrosis. It was a white party and Nora and I looked good. By the end of the night I looked terrible. fruit, chocolate, tacos and tequila stained my white ensemble. Worth it. This event was a blast. Free tequila before ten meant that when we got there at 9:30 we each downed way too many shots. I don't know if you know this about me- but three tequila shots is too many. Drunk Marcus loves tacos and so did the front of my outfit.
Pretty people, loud music, food, and flowing booze. It was the type of event that makes you feel "so LA." I disappeared into the bathroom and came out to find all of my friends had already cabbed home. I walked.



The Second: Philanthro Productions threw another soiree this past weekend, ASPIRE. This party benefited homelessness. We joked that for every martini we drank, we were keeping a martini out of the hands of the homeless in an effort to get their lives back on track. But we paid our entrance fee and entered a room too small for the amount of people this event brought. That's great. the draw tot his event (not that events like these need a draw, everyone in LA wants to appear like they care about things other than themselves) was that it had food from some of the best restaurants in Venice. We pigged out on cupcakes and meatballs and steak and pasta and salad. And then we felt bad, given that the homeless are probably hungry. So we bought drinks (91% of our drink price goes to the charity).

All in all, they're great events. They're fun and you're going to spend that much on a night out anyways, might as well have it go to a good cause.


Now onto another point: Charity is a funny thing. It makes you feel good about yourself, but is that why you do it? It shouldn't be right? But it kind of is. Not that that's necessarily bad, just kind of interesting. People love causes. Look at Haiti, people have come out of the woodwork to support the 3rd world country rebuild after the devastating quake, but no one seemed to care that it was third world to begin with. Why does it take a huge event to make us notice those less fortunate? Why does it take someone getting cancer, to make someone an advocate for cancer research (which I am, by the way). Why are celebrities who donate to Haiti after a quake hailed heroes, but those who donate regularly ignored? It's all apart of image, I suppose. The more public the tragedy or the cause, the more publicity the philanthropic gesture gets.



We should start publicizing charities like mad, maybe they'll get more public donations.