I had a dream two nights ago that I got my cell phone bill and it was $500. So last night my psyche decided to one up itself and I dreamed that the cell phone bill was over $2500. (Is the cost of communication that high?) In the dream the people at a hot-dog stand refused to sell me a chili dog because of my huge cell phone bill. I'm half tempted to take a walk to Pinks and rectify the situation, but a 4 hour drive on a tummy full of Pinks is probably not the best idea...

It was tough to judge the movie, as it is a Summer Blockbuster "eye candy" film and none of the eye candy was done. But from what I saw I can say it looks very cool. There are a couple of really cool action sequences that will be really jaw dropping in the finished product. I'm a big fan of the source material and the film did a good job of capturing the feel of the Asimov world. The story deals with the failure of the "Three Laws of Robotics" and the dangers of unchecked technological advancement. I had the thought leaving the theater that millennial American cinema is really creating the mythology of the future. This film sits squarely before the events of The Matrix, and could easily lie on the same timeline. But I, Robot deals more with the rise of our Robot masters, which we don't really see that often. We get a lot of humanity rebelling against the robot society (The Terminator, The Matrix, etc) but not a whole lot (the Animatrix excluded) of HOW the robots take power. Which really goes a long way to illustrating Azimov's genius. I hope that we all realize that the subjugation of the human race under the steely heels of our Robot Overlords is more or less a forgone conclusion at this point. Not that we should fight it, because after all the machines will probably do a better job of society that we have thus far. But that is a different post entirely,

After the show we filled out a short questionnaire and then got left the screening room. My friend and then got to talk to the Executive Producer and Editor about what we thought of the film. I found it extremely interesting to see this side of Hollywood, and see how much pressure the executives are under to make a winning film. Making a big blockbuster is completely different that making any other type of movie, simply because there is so much more (over a hundred million dollars) riding on the film. We then got to briefly meet the Director, which was very cool for me! All in all an extremely interesting evening and I look forward to seeing the film in its finished form!

It is hard for me to know what to think of the script at this point, since I've spend so much time with it. It could very well be total shit and I wouldn't really know. But even at the very worst it is leaps and bounds better than ARES, the script I wrote for my Thesis in colege. That is tripe. The kinda crappy thing is, as hard as it was to expel those 105 pages, like an overly-hard stool, from my body. As tough as it was to force my self into a writers routine, and as painful as a few of those days of writing were, THAT was the easy part.

But thats cool. I'm ready to deal with the re-writes, and the business angle, and the log lines and query letters now. But most importantly I have finished a second script. Like in science, the first time results happen it doesn't mean much, but is the scientist can reproduce the results a second time then that MEANS something. I finished my second script, which means I am capable of finishing 100 more. I have certainly have enough ideas, and I'm actually looking forwards to starting development on my next idea.

And by now I'm sure you're all sick of reading about "my script this" and "my screenplay that" so I'll shut the hell up about it. Probably.
Maybe.

(Did I mention that I wrote the script with Jake Gyllenhaal in mind for the lead/title role? So if you happen to know him, or know the guy that cleans his pool, or serves coffee at his Starbucks, let me know.)

On Friday we caught a showing of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and we were all totally blown away. The film is phenomenal and is a direct hit on every front. Both Winslet and Carey gives the performance of their career, and Carey's is especially heart-felt. The Direction is incredible, Michel Gondry builds an amazing tableau for the characters to play in, and many of his signature visual "flairs" are present, but are in no way gimmicky or flashy. They all serve the story, which is easily one of the most inventive and earnest scripts I've ever seen. Charlie Kaufman is, in my mind, the greatest American screenwriter working today. And you can quote me on that. I don't know how to recommend this film highly enough without resorting to cliches and excessive superlatives. Just go see it I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. In fact I give it the !

We are also preparing for our yearly Vegas excursion, and in fact leave in a week! We are driving through the desert on Monday night and will return on Wednesday with just enough time for me to sleep before my early call on Thursday morning. Jules is very excited to get in some Black Jack, while I'm still stinging from the beating I took last time we were their and am more looking forward to a bottomless Gin and Tonic and 48 hours away from Los Angeles.

I'm busting-ass to get a solid first draft of the script done so I can start soliciting criticism from friends and confidants to prepare me for the May rewrite. I've given myself until this Friday, so we'll see if I can pull that off. Let me know if you would like to read it and I'll pass along a hard copy or send out a .PDF for you perusal. But if you read this draft, I expect to you pull no punches. The more pointed the criticism the more weaknesses will be exposed.

Now is the time that I do my little dance and raise a glass to the completion of the first draft!

I've had a few cigars in the intervening 4 years, but tonight I had an excellent cigar that both scratched the itch to smoke that I was having and made me want to go pick up some more cigars for the coming spring months. It was an Macanudo "Hampton Court" that was given to me by Greg when he was visiting last week. I intend of trying to find a good tobacconist in Hollywood this week to pick up a few more cigars. Anybody know of a good one?

Greg and Christine stopped by for a quick visit on their way from Santa Cruz to San Diego and it was very nice to see them, chat, and hang out! It was the first time we had seen them since they announced their pregnancy, so I was half expecting some weirdness. After all they are now full-fledged ADULTS plunging headlong into parenthood, and I am NO WHERE near that place. I can't even imagine. But of course there was no weirdness. They are two of my oldest friends, some of the first people I met after I left for college, and they were super stoked to be turning down parent lane. I also realized that, in a few years, I get to play the part of cool "uncle" john from out of town who brings candy and firecrackers!

I also just found out that I will be a Grip on a one-day music video shoot tomorrow. The Line-producer/UPM/Production Coordinator mentioned making me Key Grip (the "captain" of the grips) which would be a big bump for me and a very nice addition to my resume (or CV as they are evidently called in the "business.") Though after I talked to the Gaffer today I got the feeling that it will be kind of a De Facto title as I will most-likely be the ONLY grip. But it cool. I'm excited to get back to work as it has been a SLOW couple of months. I also got to see finished film of one of the shorts that I griped on in December. It cut together very well, and I actually got my "copy," which is something that is always promised on freebie shots (credit/copy/meals) but rarely actually delivered. So that is pretty cool.

Now as much as I WANT to curl up on the couch and veg in front the the TV, I gotta get some writing done...

Further increasing my desire to smoke a cigar (which I haven't done since moving out to LA) was Wil Wheaton's post about his cigar-shop experience today. I feel for the man, though the R&J #2 is a little girly for my tastes... Not really, I just would prefer the 8-9-8 in the first place...

What I really want to do is smoke a fat cigar on my patio and shoot squirt guns at the squirrels.

I know better though... I gotta get some pages out. Since the last time I mentioned my progress I've squeezed out another 15+ pages. There were some difficult scenes among those pages too. I have once scene that is almost all exposition and I think I've re-written it 4 or 5 times already. I finally decided that I just had to move past it and keep working down my outline. I can revisit the scene and make it work in a polish/1st re-write. I think (hope) I'm over the "hump" and the rest of act II won't be as painful.

And I had a scene that was actually emotionally painful to write. It is a scene that really begins the Protag's downward spiral through the rest of the film, and after finishing it I found myself very depressed and exhausted. It was weird to feel so negatively effected by a scene I completed, as usually any progress in the script makes me giddy. But I guess it is a good sign. Cathartic at the very least. So with that said, I'm going to quit stalling...

Got another 5-7 pages out today... I'm upto 35 and into the meat of act II now. (Act II is a scary place because this is where an underdeveloped idea will cause major problems.) I'm a little scared that I'm going to run out of plot before I get to the magic page 85 since my scenes are running a little short, but I think I have some Ideas for how I can beef up the "B" plot and keep everything flowing. I think it is funny that I haven't the slighted idea of what the title should be. But whatever... That can come later. I gotta stay focused and get act II onto 20lbs bond first...

Thats the awards, but as we all know the awards are only a small part of the night, fashion and "buzz" being the other main aspects. The fashion front was fairly unexciting this year (though better than last year's sombre attire.) I was particularly partial to Tim Robbins had the best suit of the night with the black-on-black-with-black accents number and the peace symbol bling (which was suspiciously absent during the second half of the night.) But his acceptance speech fell a little flat. I mean he and Sean are the most out-spoken Hollywood leftists and all that come out of their combined stage time was a hushed mention of absent "WMDs" and a whole bunch of ego-stroking aimed at Mr. Eastwood. I have a creeping suspicion that the two held their tongues because of a request from Clint (a right-leaning political figure.) But Mr Errol Morris made up for it with his barbed jibes at the Bush Administration and a "New Viet Nam." I love Errol Morris' films and I was very happy to see him finally win a damn Oscar. Looking forward to checking out "Fog of War" this weekend, and if you are unfamiliar with his work I HIGHLY recommend you check out his fiercely original and laugh-out-loud funny documentary "Fast Cheep and Out of Control."

But today... 75 and sunny. Almost unbearably sunny. Gem-hued cloudless sky and the promise of nothin but blue skies from now on.

Yet another post-relocation adjustment to make. Maybe I should buy some shorts and get a spray-on tan...