Edgar phoned me this evening -- woke me up from one of my ubiquitous naps; he said, "Are you always asleep?" -- and said, Hey, let's catch a flick, so I headed over the hill and we went to see a restored version of Stanley Kubrick's Lolita.
Wow wow wow.
If you haven't seen this movie, go. Now. Go see it.
Not only is it hilarious (I thought the guy sitting behind us was going into apoplectic shock) but it's masterful storytelling. Kubrick knew he was up against every moral code of his time in telling this story. And it's brilliant how he pulls off letting us know everything while showing us nothing. For example: Humbert and Charlotte are at breakfast. Lolita is off to school; first she kisses Mummy's cheek, then she bends down and kisses Humbert's cheek. Well, actually, we see where she kisses Mummy -- her face disappears when she kisses Humbert, and from his expression we get the idea that perhaps she licked his ear or something. Fantastic. Diane says go.
(Note: I read somewhere -- Variety? oh, by the way, Darin, I've renewed my DV subscription for another year -- that the new version of Lolita by Adrian Lyne, starring Jeremy Irons is done...but no one will release it. Is making it NC-17 really better than doing it all with suggestion and innuendo? Not unless you want every male in the audience getting off on the pornographic aspects of it. Which I guess is what sells tickets. But you can't sell tickets to a movie that can't be distributed.)
I've noticed quite a few of you checking the index.html file during the day. Just say the word...or follow the instructions on the title page...and I'll add you to the notify list. Really. Honest. This is my ego we're talking about here.
Actually, to be honest, this more erratic posting of The Paperwork is probably going to be the norm from now on. School is heating up, and I've gotten a lead on a really hot script coverage position. If it works out, obviously I'll let you know all about it, but for right now I'm being selfish and hogging it to myself. I half want to go to the film school and rip down all the flyers advertising this.
Reading "2 to 3" scripts a week is going to be a challenge, but not in the way that it is for everyone else. The rule of thumb I've usually heard is that a two-hour movie takes two hours to read. Well, I did Reality Bites -- not a deep flick, but a good hunk o' paper, and I read carefully -- in less than an hour last night. So if I can speed up doing coverage, I should be able to do each one in a couple of hours. I think. What do I know?
Tomorrow: the big speaker. Okay, here's a hint -- he's primarily an actor, but he directs as well. And he's won an Oscar for one job, but not the other.
As this describes at least five guys in the past 15 years, let me narrow it down further: meeting Warren Beatty would be interesting, like watching a cockroach is interesting; Jack Nicholson would just be scary; and I find Kevin Costner extremely uninteresting.
Go to it. More tomorrow.