Friday, 11 August 2000

WEEKEND PREVIEW

Time for a change of pace. But it's odd when a change of pace means getting back to the job you do every day. In this case, it's a bit of a relief. I'm China-ed out and America-ed in and looking forward to a very busy three weeks heading up to Telluride-N-Toronto. For those of you who have been left hanging by my last few days of China coverage, I will wrap it up next Wednesday in Ranting & Raving. I figure that by then, perspective will have come and exhaustion will have gone.

It's funny though. When I woke up this morning at 4 a.m., I realized that I woke up at 4 a.m. the first day in China too. And while I knew no one in my group then and wandered around the breakfast room, not quite sure where to sit, this morning, I kind of wish that there was someplace in L.A. where I could find my fellow travelers gathered for our daily breakfast. In the end, it's always the people who stick with me, not the places I go. And being as I live in a different world than most of the people I spent the last 10 days with, my sense of loss is already settling into the pit of my stomach. Most of these people spend their lives on sets, building and losing families in 3-month periods a few times a year. That's one of the things I didn't enjoy about production back during that part of my life. I want to keep my family with me. In a town and a business that can be quite ugly, a simple smile or a kind gesture can make it all bearable.

Of course, my life isn't exactly Chinese water torture. I reestablished my national loyalty with an eating orgy of Memphis BBQ at The Pig, catching up on the last 10 days of Americana with friends. There will be drinks at The Skybar tonight. I'll get to see Cameron Crowe's much-buzzed-about Almost Famous on Saturday night. And I plan on checking out my beloved Yankees at Anaheim Stadium on Sunday. Heck, I even get to talk to Los Angeles via the radio on Saturday morning. It's good to be home.

The next new Hot Button will appear on Monday and we'll be back to the regular schedule after that.

THE GOOD: Cecil B. DeMented doesn't feel like a John Waters film to me. Well, it does….but it doesn't. The slickness of Crybaby was understandable, considering that it was an Imagine production with a larger-than-usual budget for John Waters. But generally, a part of what I expect from Waters is a certain directorial incompetence, with the jagged edges showing desperate inspiration. There is a clean look to Cecil that not only surprised me, but seemed a bit ironic given that the movie is about guerrilla filmmaking. There is a lack of all things Waters, from sex to mindless grotesquerie that was positively distracting. One of the running gags in the movie is that the group is restraining themselves from sex in the name of art. Now, just imagine what Waters circa Divine would have done with that! Even when the characters are finally free to jump each other, the sex seems like it's out of a PG-13 flick, not America's most profane light satirist. And unlike the great Hairspray, the story doesn't call for restraint. You have Melanie Griffith, the woman who burnt up the screen in Body Double and Something Wild and who showed she still has that energy in Another Day at Paradise, screaming on every level except with the heat that makes a movie star a movie star. (And by the way, Waters doesn't do Ms. G any favors with his angles or lighting.)

And yet, I like this movie. Yes, this is a positive review. There is more than enough here to make film lovers feel like they got their money worth, even if this isn't Waters' most inspired work. This is, in fact, the first case where Waters would have been helped greatly by having someone else direct his vision. But still, the jokes are there, the insight is there and the free rein with which Waters smacks Hollywood and indies alike is a joy to behold. But at the same time, you feel the very real love that Waters has for the work. When kidnapped by Cecil B. DeMented, Griffith's Honey Whitlock (sounds like a stripper, no?) is a raging egomaniac and lives to be abusive. Yet, when pushed into starring in Cecil's "project," Honey wants them to get it right. She's a professional… even before the Stockholm Syndrome kicks in. And a big part of what I felt she connected with as she went through her journey was the passion on the lunatics that had brought her to the asylum. But the unfortunate part is that Cecil isn't, despite all of his pretensions and vanity, really a genius. Waters delivers a good movie here… but lacks the directing skills to hit that level for himself or Cecil. But the heart is in the right place.

THE BAD: I thought that I would readjust to America on the night of my arrival by going to Maxim's latest greatest bimbothon party. No such luck. I waded through the clingy tops of the silicone enhanced and was told by the press team, "Sorry, no Internet people except on the press line." I haven't done a press line in years and didn't want to do them back then. So, I took off, called friends and went to The Pig for some more interesting meat.

I was planning on being much more unkind, but I got a very nice e-mail from one of the Maxim team this morning (Friday), explaining how difficult the whole project was. Apparently, L.A.'s power structure is on high-tension mode with the Democratic Convention about to hit. About 30 minutes after I got there and left, the place was shut down by the police. I am told that much of the crowd headed to the Whisky Bar, where the police shut things down shortly thereafter. Sounds as fun as The Replacements is funny. (See below.)

Anyway, not getting into the party felt more like home than getting in the door. I got to experience the lame efforts of my hometown at being Felliniesque. (Fellini offered surprise...L.A. only offers big breasts and freaks.) I got to have a bad time with an overwhelmed publicist. I got to not care about getting into a "hot" party. And I got to have a nice exchange with a publicist who I know really does care. All-in-all, I'd say that I'm back in my tri-color Kansas… if L.A. only had the heart, the brain, the nerve.

"Replacing Brain Cells & a ROTD with more Harrison Ford info than you wanted to know"