Happy Birthday, Chris Walken

It’s my favorite actor’s birthday today, so of course I will pay tribute to the man in my blog. I met Chris in 2001, as you might know, and have since spoken to him over the phone a few times. So, for me, he’s a very real person, not just this huge iconic movie star. It’s hard to believe the man is 62, what a life he’s led so far. Chris has been in showbusiness all his life. His mother Rosalie got him and his brothers into the world of live TV back when television was being born in New York.


(Naked City, 1963)

Since then, Chris has done lots of theater and of course over 100 films. He is probably one of the most impersonated people as his voice and rhythms are so unique. But, aside from his legendary place in movie history, Chris is just a good person.

A little birthday anecdote about Chris: He had this joke he played on people on the set of several movies. He pretended to be a little down and depressed. Finally someone from the cast or crew would ask him what was wrong. He would candidly say, “Well, it’s my birthday today and nobody remembered, just feeling a little down I guess…but, promise you won’t tell anyone.” Of course by the time they would break for lunch, there would be cake and other goodies available. Eventually, word got around, so now he can’t pull that particular prank anymore. He’s moved on to other pranks of course. Many people don't know Chris as a "funny guy" but he really does have a great sense of humor.


(Weapon Of Choice video for Fatboy Slim, 2001)

Last time I spoke to Chris, he told me his mom was near 100. His father also lived to near 100. I am hoping that he’s inherited their longevity and we’ll see a lot of Chris for years to come.


(Aug. 2001, Fan Club Reception)

Happy Birthday, kiddo. All the best from a really big fan.

On Joining The Pessimistic Procrastinators Guild Of America

Without giving too much away, I am working on a screenplay. I am currently doing a step outline (it comes between doing a 1 page synopsis and a 7 page treatment) The story is not registered yet, so I can't really give it away, but as soon as I register the treatment with the guild, I might be talking more about it. Anyways, it is basically a murder mystery thriller. It is the first time I've considered a story in this genre, but I've got the beginning, middle and end, and it has a very good twist, so I'm going with it. In my outline, I've gotten past the first plot point and there is a lot of intense action after that point. The challenge is to move the story along without losing the pace. Since this is a murder mystery, I have to think about the clues, and find ways to work them in throughout the story. But, they have to be subtle because, what's worse than watching a murder mystery and the audience being able to pick up on clues and predict the outcome before you get to your twist!? Well, I know I'll get there.



I've recently become aware of a whole screenwriters' community on the internet. Wow, there are so many writers! And, they love to talk about writing and pitching a script and so forth. They like to debate too. But, what I've also discovered is that they go there to procrastinate, just like me, perhaps when they too have a bit of writer's block. There is a chat on one of the message boards, so I've had a chance to chat live with some members of the screenwriters' community. Very cool people. But, damn, they are total pessimists. I suppose most of them have had screenplays that they poured their hearts into and then someone else read their work and thought it was crap. Rejection is a huge part of the business, no doubt.

A discussion in the chat recently was about how "you'll never get a screenplay made into a movie unless you live in either LA or NYC" But I tend to disagree. I'm sure it is a bit of an advantage if you live there. And, sure, if you're writing for episodic TV, you probably need to live there. And of course If you don't live there, you've got to be willing to travel there frequently if you want to keep your career going. But, I don't think it is too overly optimistic to believe a good script is a good script, and to believe that this world is getting smaller with technology. As a graphic designer, I've had clients I've never met face-to-face. Heck, I've had clients from other countries. It has never been a problem to sell myself and my concepts over phone, fax and email. I do understand, however, that Hollywood is sort of slow on the whole internet thing. It is much like the advertising/marketing biz. You get these creative directors that have been in agencies for 20 years and they're not going to get fired for not being "up on technology." It's certainly the same way in Hollywood. They're used to doing things a certain way. I'd venture to say that a lot of people in the business still don't even have computers in their offices, and if they do, they're used basically for remedial word processing and nothing more.

Where pessimism should be is not in the fact that you don't live in LA, but that the market is completely saturated with screenwriters. Chris Walken once said that everyone he knows has a screenplay, even his dentist. Chris asked his dentist what the screenplay was about and the dentist said, "Well, it's about this dentist..." LOL. So, the challenge lies in getting noticed out of a kazillion screenplays, being read and getting an opportunity to pitch. Producer and Charlotte resident Barry Weitz, who recently led a seminar here on the Hollywood business, was much more optimistic when he said that this business is America's greatest export. American screenwriters can never be "outsourced." Americans do movies best. Well, I'm American, so I definitely have a chance against a screenwriter from another country. I refuse to turn into a pessimist until I've had my first 50 rejections. But, before I can get rejected, I have to finish this screenplay! Okay, enough of my own procrastinating - back to writing!

Sandra Bullock Needs Reinventing

Yesterday, Sandra Bullock got her star on the Walk Of Fame ("awarded" is too strong of a word- the star ceremony is paid for by someone sponsoring the recipient or the recipient herself, just FYI) In a couple press clips, Sandra said she didn’t want to do any more of the typical girl-next-door-romantic-comedy roles. “I don’t do anything anymore that feels safe,” Bullock said in an interview. “If it doesn’t scare the crap out of you, then you’re not doing the right thing.” (as told to MSNBC)


After taking two years off, Sandra has a new movie out, “Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous” Not much of a stretch. Later in the year, she will play the frumpy “To Kill a Mockingbird” author Harper Lee.

What does Bullock need to change her career path? I think first off, she needs to make her public persona a little less than angelic. Have a scandal, girl! If she’s not already attached, she should hook up with someone like Lenny Kravitz for a while. Just be seen on a few dates with someone who is not necessarily the boy next door.

She needs a new look, and new hair. Sandra has such a plain average face, she could pull off just about anything with her hair. Maybe a different color even. I wonder if she’s considered being a redhead? She needs to have some more dramatic makeup too perhaps. Try to shake off that "average" look a bit.

Also, it wouldn’t hurt for her to maybe go to an acting workshop and learn something new. Not saying she’s awful, but Sandra is just Sandra. She needs to break out of herself more. Maybe learn how to pull off a villain. Do some theater, portray someone like Medea or Lady MacBeth.
Heck, maybe she’d go for the role I’m writing right now; Nora, the introverted artist who has some psychological problems. Well, she needs to do a lot of Medea first before I’d hire her.

Good luck, Sandra.

Food Porn

News came out today about a new breakfast sandwich at Burger King, the "Enormous Omelet Sandwich" It is about 730 calories and 42 grams of fat. It contains a sausage patty, two eggs, two slices of cheese and three strips of bacon. Yipes! But, apparently that's not as much as in Hardee's "Monster Thickburger." I'm sort of mixed on the responsibility of the fast food industry and the problem of American obesity. It is the American Way to be gluttonous it seems, and back when they made regular sized sandwiches, Americans just ordered two or three of them. From a marketing standpoint, fast food restaurants just supply the demand set by Americans.

Whose fault is it that so many people are fat? From a consumer standpoint, I think restaurants are partly to blame, but if someone orders a food with the words "Enormous" or "Monster" in the title, well, you gotta figure they're not worried about restaurant responsibility. I'd love to see how a sandwich titled "The Super Triple Fatty Deluxe Burger" might do in the market. It would probably actually do quite well! LOL.

You can't blame restaurants 100 percent and you can't blame consumers 100 percent either. They're working together to make America fatter. The only way to get unhealthy food off the market is to stop buying it. The only way to get healthy food into fast food restaurants is to make those choices when you go. Sadly, that's not going to happen. Too many Americans are already fat, raising fatter offspring and putting money toward the big-portion market.

That said, 730 calories in and of itself is not all that bad if that's 1/3 of your day's intake. Balance that big breakfast with a modest bowl of vegetable soup and green salad with vinaigrette for lunch, broiled shrimp and veggie shish kabobs and brown rice for dinner with a little sorbet dessert, and you've had a relatively healthy, 2500 calorie day. But, unfortunately, that's not how most people end up thinking about eating - the mindset here is that "it's just a sandwich." You ask "what did I have for breakfast?" and in most people's minds it's "just a sandwich." Most people don't think "four servings of meat/protein, two servings of dairy and three servings of bread." If we all thought like that, I don't think Americans would be able to get fat no matter what was available in restaurants. Instead, we think "I had a measly sandwich hours ago. I'm ready for a big fatty lunch!"

What I do think fast food restaurants could do is to have a sticker for each sandwich with the basic Nutrition Facts right on it. Wrap the sandwich as usual and slap the sticker on there. Do the same on the french fry cartons and other food containers where possible. Surely, nobody could sue them then! That takes much of the responsibility off them for whatever they want to sell. Why haven't they thought of that? Well, maybe they do like to somewhat "trick" consumers. I mean, take a chicken Caesar salad with ranch for instance. No way in heck would they want to slap a label on there that said how much fat and calories are in a salad! What, and scare salad eaters away? People want to believe that they made a smart choice. I think back to when I was fat and I was getting a Wendy's Garden Veggie Pita thinking it was probably an okay choice. I was tricked for sure. I didn't know I was eating like 30 something grams of fat for basically salad on a pita, something that I could make at home to contain less than 4 grams of fat. There is a bit of "tricking" going on there, but they're not doing it to make people fat, just to make money. I'm guessing Wendy's discontinued the pitas because people realized that they might as well have a fatty burger if they're going to consume that kind of fat. Ah well. As long as people don't start ordering chili with extra fingertips. ;-D

Movie Review: Candy

I thought I'd start off my movie review blogging with a film I recently aquired from 1968, appropriately titled Candy. I have my father to thank for leading me to this movie. (hmmm. I was born in '71, is the character of Candy Christian who I was named after? LOL, hope not!)
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Here is the synopsis as it appears on Deep Discount DVD:
Christian Marquand's CANDY follows the adventures of a gorgeous, naive young woman (Ewa Aulin) who sets off into the world on a journey of sexual discovery. Along her personal yellow brick road, she encounters a wacked-out poet (Richard Burton), an enigmatic Mexican gardener (Ringo Starr), an evil general (Walter Matthau), a lascivious guru (Marlon Brando), and a wily surgeon (James Coburn), all of whom want their own personal taste of Candy. Can she fend them off in time to save her own soul? With a script by Buck Henry (THE GRADUATE) based on the novel by Terry Southern (DR. STRANGELOVE), CANDY is a wacky send-up of Voltaire's CANDIDE and one of the zaniest sexcapades ever captured on film. Marquand's erotic comedy also features a rock-fueled 1960s soundtrack that includes the Byrds and Steppenwolf.

This movie apparently vanished for a long time, according to my father. One could not find it on VHS or DVD or even Laserdisc. It was like it never existed. But, someone must have finally got the rites to release it on DVD. Of course, in the '70's, you could get the porn version of this story starring the one and only John Holmes. But, now, both versions are readily available. Interestingly, it was after Marlon Brando's death that this movie seems to have resurfaced. It was almost as though this little flick was kept in a tight vault somewhere and then it was let out again. There are lots of reasons one might want to try and cover up any involvement with this project, but the huge cast list and reputable writer make Candy a part of filmmaking history.

So, what was wrong with this movie? Well, a lot. I would describe it not as some kind of "free-love sexual spiritual exploration," but rather a "rape fest of a mentally handicapped person." Candy was made out to be so incredibly dumb that one would think that she was definitely born without part of a brain. And, she was so passive sexually that she may as well have been a blow up doll. She says "no, please stop." or "what's going on?" but doesn't really do anything to fend off the sexual advances. If you can get past the idea of repeated, passive rape and a little incest thrown in, Candy is actually quite funny and fun to watch. There are some hilarious one-liners, and Brando is gut-splittingly funny as the guru. The best way to watch this movie would be if you're pretty much drunk, or high (if you do that sort of thing, just say no to drugs! LOL) I think that everyone in this movie must have been either drunk or high while making it. But, it looks like they must have had fun on the set at least. (I'm wondering what ever happened to the lead actress Ewa Aulin?) This was Ringo's first film outside of The Beatles films. (He's pretty awful as the mexican gardener by the way, but funny nonetheless, if you can get past the rape) So, what I'd say about this movie in summary is that it is so bad that it's worth watching for any film historian. You end up wondering how in the heck all of these famous stars got together. And, if your at least tipsy, there are laughs to be had.

Now, in IMDB, it looks as though they are making another movie named Candy, but it doesn't seem to be related to the 1968 version. What we know is that in the movies, if you have a character named Candy, she is going to be pretty much open to having sex. I think the name Candy has certainly dropped in baby name popularity since the 1970s. Hmmm. I wonder why? ;-)

Anecdote: A bitter taste of Hollywood

During my continuing stint as Fan Club coordinator, I was eventually approached by a fan who happened to be the daughter of a late great film director and lived in LA. She was very enthusiastic about Walken, as he had just been nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Catch Me If You Can. She told me of how she was "campaigning for him" in Hollywood for the award. I didn't really understand, but I was glad to have someone in LA who might be of influence. She dropped so many names, I was just dazzled. I told her that we'd probably organize an event in LA for the fans and I told her we'd love it if she came. Well, I wasn't attending left the organization to one of our members who I trust and put her in touch with this daughter-of-a-great-film-director. We sent an invitation to Mr. Walken and he did attend. Little did we know that this daughter-of-a-great-film-director had invited camera people to hound Walken and his wife as soon as they showed up. It was a disaster in our eyes as we never want to make Walken feel he's ambushed. Walken probably didn't mind as it was a glitzy night for him anyway (later that night he attended the ICM party) but still, it was not a nice impression.

I wasn't there, but basically the widow-of-a-great-film-director and her daughter took over the event. They came in and pushed tables out of the way and made a huge scene. Once the Walkens arrived, none of the fans had a chance to approach them without these two women and their camera people barreling in for a photo op and schmoozy chat. It was horrific. ( I will mention that not that many fans could attend. The war in Iraq had just begun and many were afraid to fly due to high terror alerts. Still, a group of local longtime fans were there. It was to be a quaint, understated event, but didn't end up that way at all.)

The funniest part of this story was, when the restaurant owner came with the bill, these two women-with-the-name were out the door before offering to pay any portion of the bill for all the camera people they had invited. They stuck it to us basically. It must have been a funny scene to see "Hollywood Royalty" dashing so quickly out of the place in order to duck out on a tab. Word got around and it left a bad taste in everyone's mouth about these women.

Finally, I got a call from the widow-of-the-great-film director (she was also an actress in her day, but her fame fizzled.) She scolded me for not being grateful for their efforts and said if it weren't for them, Walken wouldn't have come to our little event and that he did this as a favor for them. I assured her that he came when invited and that was that, and that I didn't appreciate them turning it into a press event when it was supposed to be a very quiet, calm evening. She reiterated that her and her daughter are "Hollywood Royalty" and that I should basically bow down and be grateful for my bread and water. I politely thanked her for her advice and told her that we're in this for fun and bid her goodbye.

Months later I read a post on a Russel Crowe site written by the daughter-of-the-great-film-director and she basically took credit for Walken's nomination. What a slap to a great talent, as if he needs help to get a nod for his work? Of course was about to do the same thing to Russel Crowe fans. These two women have no talent, only a legacy left by their husband/father. I ended up sort of feeling sorry for them. What an awful thing, to not have anything going for you except your last name. I won't even mention their name as it wouldn't be right take that only thing away from them (and don't any of you post it either if you know who I'm talking about. This is the only livelihood they know.) I do hope some day they both find something worthwhile they can do besides riding the coattails of others.

The moral of this anecdote is a lesson I learned: Don't depend on others to make a name for you, do something to make a name for yourself.

A bit of introduction

Hello and welcome to The Candy Project. I have my brother and nephew to blame for my interest in blogging my thoughts. Thanks, guys! I should start off by saying that I'm new at this, so bare with me. The Candy Project is me in a nutshell. I suppose. My life is an ongoing project that keeps evolving. 15 years ago, I was just a graphic designer. I could define myself pretty easily back then. I find that as we age, we take on so many roles. Now I've come to be so many things. Let me break it down:

Graphic Designer:
I graduated Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI in 1994. By then, I had already picked up a full time job in my field. (We're talking print design, his was before most of us knew what the internet was) These days, I freelance, but find a decreasing interest for designing a bag for frozen fish filets for Harris Teeter or a website for Hines Nut Co. There must be more to life...

Wife:
Soon after I graduated in '94, I married Jonathan, who also graduated from Kendall with the same degree as me. We immediately moved down to Charlotte, NC after the wedding. We didn't waste time living somewhere we didn't want to be. We were attracted to Charlotte mostly because of the mild temperatures, but also there was “newness" to the uptown area, and everything seemed so clean. It seems like a frivolous reason to move, but at the time it really didn't matter too much where we lived as we were just starting out. I was able to transfer within the company I was working for, so I had a job. (since this is The Candy Project, I will tell you that my first boss in Charlotte was also named Candy, a sign perhaps?) So, we got a little apartment in Charlotte and started life as husband and wife. Jonathan didn't have a a job, but he was teaching himself some techniques in new media and was able to quickly land a full time gig. We make a great team, so the marriage has worked beautifully.

Mom:
In 1996 we bought our first house with the idea in the back of our mind that we would have children. But, we weren't ready. We spent a couple years in a big four bedroom house by ourselves. Eventually, we cleaned out a bedroom that had become storage and we got busy just before our five year anniversary. We went on vacation to the Cayman Islands, came back and a month later, we were parents-to-be. Ethan was born in January 2000. (Remember all that Y2K stuff? Ha) It was rough going when Ethan was a baby as he had jaundice, reflux and soon after some weight gain issues. But, we got through it somehow. On Ethan's second birthday, we decided to get busy again and a month later, I was expecting. Adam was born four days after my 31st birthday. What a gift. He was an easy baby and continues to be fairly manageable. With two great boys, we decided to quit while we're ahead and not have any more kids. We made this decision permanent, surgically, if you know what I mean. No regrets either. Two kids is our limit; two-against-two. We admire anyone who can handle more than that. Much of my day, the role of “mom” is my biggest one. I have a group of other moms I hang out with (one of them is named Candy, another sign perhaps?) The kids are such a joy. In this blog, you will come to know my two boys and enjoy some of the precious moments that I get to have with these two. I’ve found also when you become a parent, you start to get a whole new set of strong beleifs. I am very much a breastfeeding advocate, and this comes from someone who is currently nursing a 2 ½ year old. There are a lot of opinions out there on the subject, but my philosophy is that every mom should have the chance to make an educated choice whether or not to breastfeed. Unfortunately, there is so much misinformation out there that it makes it hard for any mother to get a good start. I may talk a bit about breastfeeding in my blog. Also, I have some beliefs about discipline as well that I might share along the way.

Seamstress:
I have a beautiful new sewing machine. I seem to have a natural talent for sewing. I have been making some baby slings and some stuff around the house like curtains and slipcovers, etc. I am thinking of doing some hand bags or belts or who knows. I am not sure how far I will go with this talent, but it's fun! I will probably touch on my sewing projects in my blog now and then.

Health Nut:
I’ve been vegetarian since 1990. I am not really a health nut, though, that’s just a label I guess. I was actually overweight most of my life. A while back, I finally got it under control. I work out at the gym a lot now and I try and watch what I eat. For the first time in my life, I’m finally keeping it under control. I’ve been hovering around the same weight for a year now. I’d still like to lose 10 pounds, but I’d consider myself a healthy weight now. I might discuss aspects of weight loss, weight maintenance, vegetarianism, health or just cooking in this blog. It is an area I’m interested in.

Jewish Christian Pagan Agnostic?
I am very open to religion. Jonathan was raised Jewish and I was raised Christian. My boys attend a Methodist preschool currently and they learn a lot of Christian bible stories. Later, they’ll probably go to Hebrew School and study Judaism. But, for me, religion is sort of like a social club, and I think you can be a member of more than one. I tend to think of God as an entity who may be out there watching over us, or perhaps just a good idea. I mean, if there wasn’t a God or a concept of God, where would we all congregate? What would all that renaissance art be like? Religion is a good thing, spirituality is a good thing. It’s all good in my opinion. What I don’t like is when people think that only some religion is good – theirs to be exact and everyone else is just plain wrong. The truth is that nobody knows, - that’s why they call it faith! I may touch on the subject of religion in my blog – what I like about it and what I don’t. We’ll see where it takes us.

Superfan:
This is where my life gets a little bizarre. In 1997, before I had kids, I started freelancing at home. It was great. But, I missed that human interaction I had when working in an office. I think I needed something interesting to break up the day. It was around then that I had rented "The Prophecy" which stars Christopher Walken. I thought, "What an interesting actor!" I had remembered him from an SNL episode that aired on the eve of my 21st birthday. I remembered he was "The Continental" and "Ed Glosser, Trivial Psychic." It wasn't too long after that we rented "Mousehunt" which Walken has a small hilarious part of an eccentric exterminator. I thought to myself "Could this be the same guy? What a chameleon!" I was hooked. Soon after, I found an online community of Walken fans and my interest grew. To make a long story short, I now am coordinator of Walken's fan club. It is not an official fan club, but it’s the first and only international fan club in existence. In 2001, Walken did a play in New York and I organized an event for fans to attend after the play. We invited Walken and about 10 days before the event, I get a phone call from my idol, telling me he'd stop by our party. (this was such a surreal moment – for those of you who know what Walken sounds like, you might imagine.) Well, not only did he stop by the party, but he sat down and chatted with us for about an hour. (and, he brought artist Julian Schnabel with him) We all had wine and food and just hung out. What a dream come true! Since then, I have spoken to Chris a few other times on the phone, and he's written a couple letters for the Club. He also attended another fan club event, a pre-Oscar party in LA in 2003 (I didn’t go, but I was there in spirit!) Another mentionable highlight for me was when he called me on Mother's Day last year. Wow! Not only is he extremely talented and, I'd venture to say, an iconic legend, he's also just a super nice individual. So, anyway, you can say I have a mild obsession with Chris Walken and his films, but the bonus is the experience I've gained in the movie business. I've learned things about PR and event planning, and lots of other things I would have never known about. I've had the opportunity to learn a bit about directing, special effects and makeup (there is a Hollywood makeup artist named Candy Walken, yet another coincidence?) and just a lot about Movies. Walken has made me more of a film connoisseur than before. I’ve endured some pretty bad movies and some unseen good ones in my quest for more Walken. I am sure I will touch on the subject of Walken and film quite a bit in my blog. I will try and post some movie reviews or just talk about observations from the Hollywood biz.

Aimless Dreamer:
So, where to go from here? I recently attended a seminar on The Hollywood Business which was led by producer/ ex agent Barry Weitz. I don't know why I was drawn to it, but I'm glad I went. I told Mr. Weitz that “I’m still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up” The seminar just confirmed I know now more than ever that I HAVE NO IDEA what I want to do. But, for now, I have a screenplay in the works and I think it’s a pretty damn good idea for a film. I am always bursting with creativity and I need an outlet. I also just love film, so writing a screenplay seems like a good place to start. Who knows, with the minor connections I’ve made, perhaps I will some day have an opportunity to pitch it. So, this is the start of my blog, The Candy Project. Me: Under Construction. In progress. Stay tuned…