My Netflix Queue

Here's what I'm saving for later:

• Portlandia - I didn't love Seasons One and Two.  I liked them for sure.  I thought it was clever.  I'm writing something with my best friend that we came up with because she started out a conversation with, "I was watching Portlandia the other night and thought of you..."  Then Season Three came on Netflix and I was hooked.  This was the last thing I binge watched.  But I'm not counting it as new because I started checking it out a while back.  Love Chloe Sevengy.  Love the nod to French New Wave.  Love, love, love.
• Derek - I love the bad hair and the sweater on the cover.  I love that it's a new Netflix show.  I hear they're supposed to be great, which is why I keep saving them on my queue.  I love that it's a less arch show supposedly than the other shows he has done.  It's a recent addition, which means that it has a snowball's change in hell of getting watched any time soon.
• Breaking Bad - I know!  It's over now.  I need to get beyond the three episodes I've watched.  It looks great.  I'm intrigued.  It's a bit dark for me.  But I keep waiting for a free month.  Or an illness.  I'm not really waiting for an illness.  I shouldn't have said that.  And I'm not waiting for a free month.  That would mean that I wouldn't have work or money or ideas coming in.  That's not a good thing.  So I'm not going to watch it any time soon?  Even though I should?  
• House of Cards - Everyone I know is raving!  I'm an asshole for not watching.  Yet another reason for self-loathing. It's smart.  It's created by Beau Willimon.  It has staff of playwrights.  But I feel again like I need to devote a binge watching session to it and there never seems to be enough time.
• Orange is the New Black - Same issue.  And I was told I'd like this more than House of Cards.  But I still can't forgive Jenji Kohan for the last few seasons of Weeds.  Although, I did skip around and graze binge watch (that's a new term I'm coining...to graze binge watch is to skip around a bunch of episodes just to get the gist or to catch up) the last season of Weeds.  It means you're half committed.  Is that like being semi-erect?  It's exactly like being semi-erect.
• Mad Men - Probably the travesty of all time, along with never watching The Wire.  That's on HBO Go, which is another drug of choice.  But this post would be five years long if I took time to talk about what I'm watching or not watching on HBO Go.  I could devote a whole post just on my love of HBO Go.  It's like a fever dream.   
• Back to Mad Men - I need to watch it.  I've never seen an episode.  I'm afraid I'm going to love it too much, stop bathing, shit myself and then feed off of my own arms because I'll be so glued to the screen.  One day...one day it will happen.  I have that to look forward to.
• David Chang: The Mind of a Chef - I keep this guy around because I love him.  I've binge watched him twice.  Is that like gang banging someone twice?  It's exactly like gang banging someone twice.  I love cooking and I love Asian revolutionaries.  Nuff said.
• Top of the Lake - I impulse purchased this one.  Although, it's not a purchase.  The service is already paid for.  But it has pedigree and it sounds interesting.  And I feel like I want to reject Elisabeth Moss twice since I'm not watching her on Mad Men.  I'm afraid to commit to Elisabeth Moss.  That's the real confession here. And clearly I have chosen sides because I'm watching Portlandia.
• Scandal - I can't get past the pilot, but everyone says it gets better.  And hey, it worked for me being gay.  So maybe Scandal Gets Better too.  That seems to be the word on the street.  Eventually I came out and things worked out on the other side.  I just need to give Scandal a shot.  For that reason, maybe it should move to the top of my queue.
• Drive - Is this the first movie on here?  I love Gosling and I hear great word of mouth.  And I don't want to think up a joke here because I've got too many things to get to on my queue.  Or on my list talking about what's on my queue.
• Freaks and Geeks - I've seen it.  I keep it around like the Bible.  It makes me feel safe and secure.  Because it existed that means there is hope in the world.
• Manhattan - Same as above.  But the movie version.  It's got style.  It's got panache and flair.  And those are things that should never be underrated.
• Jiro Dreams of Sushi - I have started it.  Because of the chef pilot I'm writing, people have been suggesting it to me.  I'll get to it.  Or it will sit on my queue, half eaten, for another few months.  Hope it doesn't get moldy.  Food joke!
• Luther - Peer pressure.  People say I should.  And Idris Elba is sexy.  I loved him on The Office.  I wonder if it's like that.  I seriously know nothing about this show.
• The House of Cards Trilogy (original BBC) - If I'm not watching the newer, longer, sexier more American star-studded version, do you think I'm going to make time for this.  Well, one thing I heard was that it's better.  But I feel like I need to binge watch these two together, which is another reason why it's taking me so long to watch either one.  Does size matter?  We'll see.
• A Place at the Table - I'm a sucker for documentaries.  And I'm a bigger sucker for food documentaries.  This will probably get watched before much else, along with Jiro Dreams of Sushi and my third binge watching session of David Chang: The Mind of a Chef.
• The Trip - I rented this at my local library once.  I watched a bit of it.  But as discussed, I love food and talking about food and humor.  So this might get watched on a binge eating/binge watching weekend.  Oh...that's a great theme.
• Jean Michele Basquiat/Basquiat - I'm pairing these both together because one is the documentary and one is the film with Geoffrey Wright that I saw a long time ago.  I'll probably watch both together because I love art as much as I love food.  And anything that talks about art, I'll watch.  And as I've already mentioned, documentaries place higher on my priority list because I don't have to think when I watch them.  I can enjoy them more than scripted shows because I like to poke holes in scripted shows.  It's part of my process.
• Hit & Miss - It's the Chloe Sevengy show where she places a transgender hit person.  A hit man with boobs.  It sounds like an outrageous idea, exactly the sort of thing I'd watch.  Yet I'm not watching.  I'm intrigued by boobs and balls.  I hope there are lots of those kinds of quality jokes in this show.
• The Art of the Steal - An art heist documentary.  Done.
• Political Animals -  I've already seen it, but I'm writing a soap and I liked how soapy and fun this was while also trying to be serious and political.  It has its bad moments, but it has Sigourney Weaver and it's really smart in places too.  This is when I'm bored and I want to watch something I've already seen and I don't want to invest in something new.  It's like going back to an old lover.
• America in Primetime - it's a learning tool.  A four part series on certain archetypes in TV.  I've watched them all at least once.  I've watched the one on the independent woman four or five times.
• Valentino: The Last Emperor -  I also love fashion documentaries in addition to food and art documentaries.  And this is one of the best because these two old queens know how to serve decrepit, bitter realness.
• The Conversation - Because I should see it.
• Beautiful Losers - I don't remember why it's on here.  But it expires tomorrow.  So I'll just let it die, like the butterfly on the cover.
• Big Night - Saw it years ago, writing a show about chefs...thought I'd use it for reference.  Haven't touched it.
• Terms of Endearment - I used it for research for a sketch I'm writing.  I watched it last night.
• The Long Goodbye - I'm writing something that involves Altman.  It's on my queue because it's a great film and I'll go back to it as I continue writing my play.
• 8 1/2 - I've watched parts of it.  I need to get back.  Mastrianni keeps staring at me.  I need to watch it.  It'll take away the bad taste in my mouth that was the film version of Nine.
• Step Up to the Plate - It's a documentary about a father who's trying to retire and surrender his restaurant to his son.  It's great.  I've watched it once.  It's for research.  I'll watch it again.  I could watch people talk about food for days.  I could even read the subtitles about them talking about food for days.  That's how much I love food.  And films and TV about food or about process.  I love hearing about process.  And I love family dynamics.  This has it all.  This is a recommendation to put on your queue because you probably wouldn't know about it other wise.  Then you can also let it sit there for a few months before you finally watch it..
• Punch Drunk Love - Because I started watching Magnolia again recently and I like P.T. Anderson and I never caught this film the first time around.  This is another of those "I should watch this" films that I might never get to. 
• Style Wars - a graffiti documentary for 1983.  I need to watch this!  I'm working on a musical project and this might be helpful as research.  Actually, speaking of queues...the musical project has been on my queue for years and this documentary might suffer the same fate.  But both will be great when I finally get to them.  I know it!
• Stolen - Another art heist documentary.  I'll probably choose one and get rid of the other because this queue is getting too long.  This list of what's on my queue is too long too!  I'm wrapping it up...soon.
• The Pitch - Watching Season Two now.  It's on my DVR queue.  Boring.  I realized that Season One was on here because it was a recommendation while I was putting other things on my queue.  The pilot is probably the best episode.  So treat it like it's an hour long documentary and just watch that.  Maybe it'll get you hooked.  But if it doesn't, this pilot is enough.
• Two in the Wave - It's a doc about Goddard and Truffaut.  Yeah...I know I need to make time.
• The Turning Point - I've never seen it!  And it's about dance...yet another thing I'm obsessed with after food and art and fashion.  It's on here because it was recommended once I saved Terms onto my queue.  And that's another thing: the queue is now called My List.  Is that because not enough people know what a queue is?  Get those dummies off of Netflix.  They don't deserve to be here.
• Young @ Heart - I saw the trailer for this film years ago.  I watched another documentary a year ago about senior citizens in a hip hop dance troupe.  Hopefully I won't be a senior citizen by the time I get to this.
• Just for Kicks - a documentary about sneakers.  Sure.  I'll watch it...just for kicks!  Ha! 

And...scene.

Back to The Company

I love how the film begins on the beginning of a performance and ends at the end of a performance.

I want this play to almost work as an outline.  As a piece of choreographed notation. 

Here are the things that are supposed to happen right now.

The following pieces of dialogue should happen simultaneously.  Here’s the transcript of what the actors are saying, but when you see it, you wont hear everything upon first hearing.

Of course there are scenes that happen in a normal way. But this is about the creative process.  And sometimes that creative process happens all at once.

More Creative Tidbits Concerning I WANT IT

There’s this article that a friend shared recently:

http://www.businessinsider.com/25-nike-ads-that-shaped-the-brands-history-2013-8#the-very-first-just-do-it-ad-1988-1

That might be a thing to look at.

When I look at those ads, I reflect on what an impact on the culture those ads had.  I’m fighting hard against my own instincts to be cynical in the creation of this play.  I could make Fred this cult leader or this Svengali character.  In his purest form, here is a guy who had an idea about getting a message out to the world and decided to do it through advertising.  When you have something that pure, it is so easily corruptible.  So you have these “disciples”, if you will, of his GLENN, ROBERT, JANET, and KIMBERLY who also have the task of getting his message out there.  (The second I typed the word “disciples”, I automatically thought of Jesus and the Apostles – not a bad road to go down)  Sometimes, the message gets a bit messed up when you entrust a group of people who have their own set of goals, ambitions, prejudices and the like that contaminate the message.  The same thing has happened with religion.  The same thing happens with any message that gets out. 

And what is our religion now?  What do we worship?  We offer our tributes to the gods these days with our dollars.  And what do we spend on?  Clothes, shoes, electronics…stuff.  And who gets us to buy stuff, ad agencies.  But what if one ad agency decided that they were going to be more altruistic and that’s the message that it constantly preached.  Yet still this altruistic message was still the force behind people buying stuff.  It gets convoluted.  And that’s what I want to focus on.  The leader doesn’t have to be corrupt.  The disciples are the ones that corrupt the message.

I like THAT message more.

I also like that KIMBERLY is this character who starts out unsure of herself and thrust into this world that seems beyond her.  Then she happens upon an idea and eventually that idea becomes bigger than her.  But she latches onto it because she wants to believe that message and she wants the recognition that comes along with it.  She’s only 27.  So this is her shot.  And she takes it, but it turns her into someone she isn’t sure she is or should be.

To me this is reflective of the transition that happens from this “golden age of W+K” that we all keep talking about to something that becomes more commercial, even though the fame and the fortune came about because they were pure and honest. 

Then when she thinks she’s won, someone comes along and “steals the ball”, another guy.

This BOY in the play, he eventually gets chosen as a “regular person” who’s featured in one of the ads, to add to the authenticity of the message.  Like the “Find Your Greatness” kid in the Nike Ad or Walt Simon in the first “Just Do It” ad.  This gives me so much to think about.

In Terms of Physicality...

Glenn and Robert play basketball.  One on one.

Janet and Kimberly talk.

These scenes happen side by side.

Actually, this scene happens while Janet and Kimberly are in the middle of the court.

The floor should be a mini basketball court.

There’s another scene where a boy plays basketball by himself.

Fly on the Wall

People ask me what it's like to write.  This is what it's like.  These are the thoughts that enter one's head as they're trying...

Writing.  I’m in the library.  The shades are drawn.  It’s a beautiful day and I’m ready to write.

I’ve got my Robert Altman: The Oral Biography by Mitchell Zuckoff with me.  I have some overpriced tea from the coffee place downstairs served to me by the cutest little barista ever.  So that alone is worth the extra charge. 

I’m getting sleepy.  Maybe this tea will help.

It’s too hot.  I hope I don’t fall asleep.

I also have the fake glasses I wear when I want to appear to be smart.

Wrote some.  That’s good.

Grieving in Real Time

My Dad died last year and I have often thought about how I would deal with that in my writing.  At one time, I had thought about writing a play about the family who is around when someone is dying.  Complete with cockroaches, which we had a complete infestation of during the time my Dad was dying at home.  It seems like an impossible task.

But Luis Alfaro wrote a one-man show about it less than a year after his Dad died.  It's called St. Jude, after the hospital he was in here in LA.  And this is not a review, so that's as much recap as I'm getting into here.  The bravery that Luis showed in this one man performance was so great and captivating.  It was a raw experience and also conversational, fun and entertaining.

I have no idea how he did that.  He got on stage and bared his soul.  He's still grieving, but he actively shared his grieving with us.  It was remarkable because it wasn't acting at all.  It was pure sharing and exposure.

I like to write about things I have experienced or feel or have a close relationship to.  And some people have accused me of oversharing on my blogs (not on this one...yet).  But I can't imagine talking about how my Dad died with a group of strangers.  Especially when I'm still processing it.  It has been over a year and I'm still processing.  But I get the instinct because part of me wanted to start writing a play about it as it was happening.  For someone who writes to make sense of his world, this made a world of sense to me.

I love theatre when it's really alive.  When it follows that campfire storytelling tradition and when the writer/performer is telling you something he really thinks you need to know for continuing on the journey of life.  I have relatives like that who, when they are talking to you, are looking directly into your soul and giving you a tool for the arsenal.

I got to meet him after the show.  We're both Latino playwrights, but have never met.  My friend Kelly introduced us because she felt we should know each other.  And I'm glad she did.  He's from the same neck of the woods I'm from.  He knows my hometown very well.  It was just a good share.  Like in AA or Al-Anon.  "Good share, pal.  Good share."

I'm still thinking about it today because I was in awe of it.  It was so simple.  It was so pure.  It was the right amount of everything.  We put so many bells and whistles onto things because maybe we're scared of sharing.  Maybe we're scared that we won't be enough.  But it was a moment in that theatre where Luis was testifying that it was enough to share what had happened to him and how his father's death had an impact.  It wasn't manipulative at all.  That might have been the most impressive part of all.

Partnerships

Took a detour from working on this play.  And from reading Seven Days in the Art World or watching food documentaries for other projects.  I went over to my best friend Alanna’s house yesterday to bang out some sketches for a sketch project we’re trying to work on together.  I have never wanted to work with a writing partner.  I never resisted it because I never thought about it.  I just thought it was the dumbest thing in the world.  For me.

My theory is that the way you start writing is the way that works.  I know college roommates who started writing together and are now very successful TV comedy writers.  I started writing by myself.  I read lots of comic books as a kid.  I was a huge Marvel comics guy.  My cousin Leighton, who is a few years older than me, was a comic book fanatic.  So I got exposed to comics through him.  I remember reading the X Men Dark Phoenix saga because of him.  Then I got into the Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight and the Teen Titans.  I would walk to the corner store where they sold comic books and read them for hours.  That’s what sparked my imagination.  So when I was in the seventh grade and our school teacher asked us to start writing short stories, I started writing about these comic book characters.  Everything they did just captured my imagination.  Then I was writing little novellas and short stories in high school. 

Most recently, I started talking to Alanna who has been my best friend since childhood about working on something together. We were just chatting about growing up in the 80s and the things we used to watch on TV.  It was interesting to both of us that we lived in an era where so much wasn’t talked about.  Political correctness was finding its way into the public consciousness.  You had TV sitcoms doing episodes on serious subjects that far outreached the writers ability and sensitivity.  And yet, in addition to the Catholic church, this is how fiction became such a clear influence on me.  These fictions shaped my world view.  And somehow I wanted to make a comment on that.  We thought about Portlandia.  We talked about Square Pegs, an incredibly smart show that we watched as kids and loved.  We were too smart for our own good.  We were precocious kids.  So we wanted to write about our memory of looking back at that time, with some self awareness that has been gained over the past several years.  But we wanted to do it in sketch form, so we could tell a few stories per episode. 

The idea is to film four or five sketches for a sizzle reel that we want to take out and try to shop.  I had never thought that I would want to write with anyone.  The suggestion has been made recently, but I feel like that takes a lot of chemistry and I don’t have chemistry like that with just anyone.  Except for my best friend since childhood. 

So I came over and we sat down across from each other.  I’m very disciplined when I write.  I want to sit down and get to it right away.  I don’t like to waste time.  So we just start talking and we come up with a sketch that isn’t even on our list of sketch ideas.  Alanna stands up and starts talking in the voice of a character.  Then she goes back and repeats the line, refining it every time.  But she’s also repeating it to make sure that I’ve got it as I’m transcribing.  But I’m also rewriting.  And as she’s thinking of the next thing to say, I’m on a riff.  And before she can open her mouth, I chime in with “what I’ve got.”  And we’re off to the races.  Our references are the same.  We find the same things funny, but here’s why I think it works: she can just get up and start talking.  She’s fearless.  I need to get warmed up a bit and I like having control of the keyboard, so I can begin to structure the jokes and the rhythm of the scene.

Now it makes me want to write more with her.  And it makes me want to get her take on the pilots I’m working on and to do a little of the same sort of work on my scripts.  So who knows…this writing partner thing might just work out.