Published in Picture Palace·Jan 19Member-onlyThe Difficulty Writing a Script About AngelsIn 1998, I began a journey to write a dramatic screenplay about angels. Twenty-five years later, the screenplay remains unfinished. I wrote dozens of drafts with myriad characters. I experimented with voice-over narration, flashbacks, linear narrative, circular narrative, fantasy dreamscapes. With each iteration, I focused on human characters and tried…Angels8 min readAngels8 min read
Jan 7Member-onlyCovid Finally Got MeAll good dramas need a compelling opening scene. Mine started with a migraine. Not an ordinary migraine like I get once or twice monthly. This was a leviathan, a pounding throbbing pulsating torment that blinded me for hours. …Covid 196 min readCovid 196 min read
Jan 3Member-onlyNew Apps for 2023The geniuses at Silicon Valley have done fantastic work making our lives more efficient. Not only have they eliminated annoying brick and mortar outlets like book stores, record stores and movie theaters, they’ve helped put an end to unnecessary industries like taxi companies, affordable apartments and know-it-all newspaper chains. It’s…Apps5 min readApps5 min read
Published in Picture Palace·Dec 30, 2022Member-onlyHere’s To You, Cliff RobertsonCliff Robertson won the 1968 Best Actor Oscar for his role as a mentally disabled man in the film Charly. His triumph led to offers to star in films like Straw Dogs and Dirty Harry. He turned these down and instead wrote, directed and starred in an awful film called…Actors9 min readActors9 min read
Published in Picture Palace·Dec 25, 2022Member-onlyMy Favorite Los Angeles Movie LocationsWhen you’re a classic movie fan and you live in Los Angeles, it’s hard not to see the city as one big movie location. Drive over the Sixth Street viaduct in downtown and you visualize the car race in Grease or the motorcycle chase in Terminator II. Stop for a…Movies9 min readMovies9 min read
Published in RiverRhythms·Dec 21, 2022Member-onlyThe Mysterious Sounds of Neutral Milk HotelThe first time I heard Neutral Milk Hotel, I was driving back from my friend’s home in Calabasas. He gave me a CD called In the Aeroplane Over The Sea with the admonition, “This one’s kinda weird but I think you’ll like it.” I cued the first track “The King…Indie Music7 min readIndie Music7 min read
Dec 16, 2022Member-onlyRemembering My MomWhen I was six years old, my mom gave me an important lesson. She was on carpool duty when she dropped off Lawrence Fishman at his home. He didn’t say thank you. She became furious. She told me, “I don’t want you to be friends with that boy. …Moms6 min readMoms6 min read
Dec 15, 2022Member-onlyRemembering My Father, the Film ProducerIn August 2012, I received a call from my father. We spoke about the Dodgers and the coming election and the Los Angeles heat wave when he casually said, “I’m going to Ghana tomorrow.” “Uh, what?” “I’m meeting with an investor for our movie. …Hollywood10 min readHollywood10 min read
Dec 9, 2022Member-onlyI’m Afraid of the Big Bad WolfWhen I was a boy, I was afraid of the Big Bad Wolf. It started when my dad brought home a Three Little Pigs record album, a Disney promotion he’d received for filling his tank at a Union 76 station. …Disney5 min readDisney5 min read
Published in RiverRhythms·Dec 6, 2022Member-onlyThe Rise and Fall of MP3 Blogs“I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there’s something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out.” — Nick Hornby, Songbook In the infancy of the Millennium, MP3 Blogs began appearing on the web…Music4 min readMusic4 min read
