Documentary

Tomorrow is the LA premiere of "A DYING KING"

Tomorrow starts the limited theatrical run of my friend Bobak's documentary, A DYING KING. I spent a good amount of time on this production, which spanned many years. This was a real passion project for him, and never having made a film before, he took a giant leap of faith & unsurprisingly, saw it to the end. Most people will never realize the difficulty in completing an independent film, let alone a feature-length documentary. The amount of work just compounds & whenever you think you are finished, a whole new set of challenges appear. 

You can catch the film this week in LA, starting Wednesday at Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills; Thursday at Laemmle Town Center 5, Encino. A New York run starts the following week and it will tour through several cities including some European ones.

The online release starts in 2018.  

Here is a link to the LA Times review:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-dying-king-review-20171114-story.html

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A Dispatch from Mexico Seetea (or, 10 Line Items for a McNugget Breakdown of Mexico)

-Mexican food is wonderful

-Cuernavaca is a magical place; especially if you’re a foreigner and purchased a huge villa with a botanical garden, next to your tennis court.  Although, the natives I met where very proud of the city regardless of villa size.  The weather; “Eternal Spring Stylz”.

-I traveled through the Sierra Madre's, wherein it reminded me of one of my favorite John Huston classics; THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE.  This was a real psychological comfort.  Later, I was told that what we drove through was the Sierra Madre del Sur, and that the one in the movie was the other range, know as Sierra Madre Oriental which was situated on the gulf side.  And yet still, another range north of the Sierre Madre del Sur exist’s, named the Sierra Madre Occidental.  So, count em, three Sierra Madre Mountain ranges in Mexico. Don’t ever forget it.

Mexico City - shot from ABC Hospital 

Mexico City - shot from ABC Hospital 

-The airport smelled like diarrhea from a newborn (this description was provided to me by an extremely competent Surgeon whom I was traveling with).  My report wasn't as specific, nor as nuanced.

-I stayed at an Airport Hotel one night out of scheduling necessity.  First time.  And certainly last time if I happen to visit Mexico City again.  See above for reason.

-Observed hundreds of open aired eateries throughout the city.  Like, maybe thousands.

-The majority of Mexicans I talked to believe that the drug cartel problem is mostly American propaganda.  It exits, but, "doesn't really affect regular Mexicans".

-Always take more ADVIL on trips then you think is necessary.

-A red eye flight, straight to a shoot is not as efficient as it sounds. But it is just as horrendous as it sounds. 

-Alaska Airlines has the youngest flight attendants I've found among the US airlines.  Does this have to do with union status (can I pose a question without the need to verify?)