Grenier's 'Shot in the Dark' Is On Target

I was moved by the documentary Shot in the Dark, an autobiographical film by Entourage star Adrian Grenier about reconnecting with his long, lost biological father.

Partway through the movie, Grenier and a couple of his buddies set out on a road trip to Ohio, where his father lives. Once he and his father finally meet, his father is surprisingly willing to appear on-camera and candidly discuss his failed relationship with Grenier's mother and his shortcomings as a parent over the years.

Rather than being bitter about his father not being around when he was growing up, Grenier merely seems inquisitive, like a journalist investigating an interesting story. At times, Grenier’s attitude seems almost flippant. In one scene toward the end, he and his father act out a skit satirizing how Grenier was traumatized by his father’s neglect.

By the end of the movie, it seems as though Grenier and his father are going to stay in touch and make up for lost time. And why wouldn’t they? What wayward parent wouldn’t want to embrace a kid who’s handsome, has a great sense of humor and is totally willing to forgive and forget?

To Grenier’s father’s credit, he doesn’t seem like he’s interested in capitalizing on his son’s fame and fortune, since the documentary was made before Grenier hit it big on Entourage.

'Classic' Is in the Ear of the Beholder

I was recently talking about music with my good friend Margaret. The topic of classic soul came up and Margaret said she prefers pre-1980s Aretha to her later, more pop-flavored work. She’d rather hear “Respect” or “Natural Woman” than “Freeway of Love” or “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”

As I pointed out to my friend, I was over my grandparents’ house a lot as a kid, and the only music they listened to was country and gospel music.So, therefore, I wasn’t exposed to “classic Aretha.” 

But Aretha started out singing gospel, Margaret argued. However, my grandparents saw her as a secular artist, I countered, and didn’t play her music around the house – not that I remember, anyway.
 

Furthermore, I’m 10 years younger than Margaret (I hope she doesn’t mind me telling her age), and when I started listening to music as a preteen in the mid-1980s, my first real exposure to Aretha was 1985’s “Who’s Zoomin’ Who” and subsequent albums.

I love some of the post-“classic Aretha” stuff like “Another Night,” “Jimmy Lee” and her duets with Michael McDonald (“Ever Changing Times”) and George Michael (“I Knew You Were Waiting”). These songs are classics to me.

So, I guess the term “classic” depends on how you define it.

Rob Lowe's 'Melt' Could Use a Dash of Diversity

Recently watched the movie “I Melt with You,” an ensemble drama starring Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven, Thomas Jane and Christian McKay. The actors play college buddies who reunite 25 years after graduation for a weekend of trying to recapture their youth through wild partying at a beach house.

The story keeps you on the edge of your seat, wondering if and how the college buddies will carry out the suicide pact they made 25 years ago. If life wasn’t working out as planned when they were older, they had promised to do away with themselves.

Carla Gugino ("Spy Kids") has a cameo as a police officer who suspects something is awry at the cliff-side beach house where these rowdy men have encamped for the weekend. I won’t spoil the ending by revealing what happens.

I’m not sure if “I Melt with You” qualifies as an “indie movie,” since filmmaker Mark Pellington implies in his commentary that it was financed by a studio – or at least made through the Hollywood system. But the movie certainly qualifies as “low budget” since it was made on a relative shoestring of $1 million. (Of course, this would seem like a blockbuster budget to many indie filmmakers who struggle to make movies on micro-budgets of $50,000 or less.)

Pellington and his crew did a decent job of making “I Melt with You” look like it had a larger budget, even though much of it was shot with a barebones crew, natural light and existing locations. And the actors seemed passionate about the story and the characters, foregoing many of the perks they usually get, as they described in their commentary.

Overall, I enjoyed “I Melt with You” and would recommend it. However, I was disappointed by the lack of racial diversity in the cast. The actors who were cast are great, but I’m sure it would have been easy to find at least one performer who is African-American, Latino, Asian or another ethnicity to play one of the four lead roles.

I guess diversity has a long way to go, even in the anything-goes world of low-budget moviemaking.

True Art Lovers

Recently watched Herb & Dorothy, an interesting, quirky documentary. The movie is about New York art collectors Herb and Dorothy Vogel, who amassed one of the most extensive and amazing collections of modern, abstract art in the world over the course of a few decades.

What’s phenomenal about this endearing couple’s story is that they assembled this awesome art collection on the meager salaries of public servants. Herb was a sorting clerk for the post office and Dorothy was a librarian in the Brooklyn Public Library before they retired in 1979 and 1990, respectively.

Herb and Dorothy were both obsessed with art from the beginning and began making friends with up-and-coming artists. They collected works by bartering and making installment payments. Oftentimes, the starving artists were grateful just to have someone interested in supporting their work.

Among the artists whom Herb and Dorothy befriended in the early days were Christo and Jean-Claude, who later went on to international acclaim and designed the world-famous “Gates” installation that ran along 23 miles in Central Park in February 2005. One of the earliest pieces Herb and Dorothy collected was a collage by Christo, which the Vogels acquired in exchange for cat-sitting for the artist.

Herb and Dorothy crammed these brilliant works into every inch of their tiny apartment. Eventually, they began to feel that they should share these works with the world. But instead of accepting lucrative offers to sell the works, they donated them to several museums, including the National Gallery of Art in D.C. and the Akron Art Museum in Ohio.

It would be wonderful if, like Herb and Dorothy, we all had a special someone to not only share our lives with, but our passions as well.        

Black Family Drama 'Of Boys and Men'

Recently watched the movie Of Boys and Men, an independently-produced family drama with Robert Townsend, Angela Bassett and Victoria Rowell.

Townsend plays a working-class father who struggles to keep his family together after his loving wife (Bassett) is killed in a car accident. Bassett essentially has a cameo, appearing in a handful of flashbacks laughing and horsing around with her husband and children. There’s also a scene where she appears apparently as a ghost to reassure her husband that her spirit will always be with him.

Rowell plays the opposite of her scheming character Drucilla on The Young & the Restless. In Of Boys and Men, she plays Townsend’s understanding sister who becomes a surrogate mother and guidance counselor, of sorts, to her niece and nephews.

The story centers around Townsend’s 10-year-old son, who falls in with the wrong crowd and starts acting out and robbing neighbors after his mother dies. The little boy has to decide if he wants to go live with his more stable, financially secure aunt or stay with his harried, overwhelmed father. Young actor Dante Boens does an excellent job of portraying the boy’s emotional conflicts.

Of Boys and Men is a movie worth watching that presents a three-dimensional portrait of an African-American family.

 

 

 

My Favorite 'Bond' Theme Songs

Looking forward to the new James Bond movie "Skyfall." Just heard Adele's theme song, and it's definitely classic 007.

My favorite Bond themes of all time:

"For Your Eyes Only" - Sheena Easton

"Die Another Day" - Madonna

"Goldeneye" - Tina Turner

"A View to a Kill" - Duran Duran

"Nobody Does It Better" - Carly Simon

"Another Way to Die" - Alicia Keys and Jack White

I'd Rather Be 'Courteous' Than 'Polite'

I'd much rather be described as "courteous" than "polite."

"Courteous," to me, means considerate, conscientious of others' feelings, that you think before you speak and act.

"Polite" has a negative connotation - basically that you're considered "nice," i.e., a pushover!