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LOST WEEKEND 6-PACK
2 BOOKS, 2 MOVIES, 2 DRINKS
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I thought I'd turn the tables a bit this week by starting the weekend early - real early - but more so by tapping Randy Becker at NexTv Entertainment for a Lost Weekend 6-Pack. After all, it was Randy who tapped me to put together the literature blog for his NexTv's website. It's been an amazing partnership and I am indebted to him for the opportunity and for being such a champion of my writing - he was one of the first people in Hollywood to notice my screenwriting and among the first to work to promote it. That said, I thought I was the writer and he was the Hollywood wheeler and dealer... I mean, damn, when I asked him for a 6-Pack, I thought I'd get a list of "suggestions" for changes to the blog, you know Hollywood-style notes... "Maybe the blog could be a website?" / "Lost Weekend Wine List is polling better as a name with the 35-55 demographic than Lost Weekend 6-Pack." / "We're bringing a few people just for a 'polish' on the blog." Instead, I got something passionate and heartfelt - just like Randy, who's NexTv Entertainment has been hooking up talented filmmakers, directors, and actors with the the top players in Tinsel Town for the past few years. I love Randy's 6-Pack so much, that I am declaring a long weekend to enjoy it... starting right now. Cheers - J. Goertel
A lost weekend 6-pack, eh? Wow…with 2 kids and a business that kicks and screams all
day every day, the idea of filling a lost weekend with movies, books and
alcohol, while deliciously fun to imagine, is simply not going to happen. But even
before I indulge my imagination with this exercise, I need to step back and
look at the great accomplishment of James Goertel. When I first asked James to consider creating the lit blog
for us at NexTV, I figured that he’d provide a few excellent articles and then we’d
slowly feel our way forward.
Instead, he has created this incredible experience for writers both to participate in and to experience as readers. With some of the hottest authors and poets generously donating work, simply because James asked them to, I have been BLOWN AWAY by ALL ‘LIT’ UP. Blown out of the water, in fact. It’s not often when you find someone to take ownership over an idea, then take it to the next level (and 17 levels beyond…18, even). The LOST WEEKEND 6-PACK is one of my favorite examples of James’ great ability to provide a sandbox for others to play in. THANK YOU JAMES!
Instead, he has created this incredible experience for writers both to participate in and to experience as readers. With some of the hottest authors and poets generously donating work, simply because James asked them to, I have been BLOWN AWAY by ALL ‘LIT’ UP. Blown out of the water, in fact. It’s not often when you find someone to take ownership over an idea, then take it to the next level (and 17 levels beyond…18, even). The LOST WEEKEND 6-PACK is one of my favorite examples of James’ great ability to provide a sandbox for others to play in. THANK YOU JAMES!
Having said that…curse you James Goertel…CURSE YOU AND THIS BLOG! That’s right, I said it…Since I founded NexTV in 2009, I have read over
1,500 scripts, watched over 3,000 videos and taught one 4 year old how to ride
his bike without training wheels (two days ago, in fact…an incredible sight). But you are asking me to identify my 2
books, 2 movies and 2 drinks for this mythical lost weekend. Well, James…let’s see…I’ve read 1 book in
the past 3 years, I’ve seen 4 movies in the theater, each of which came with
disposable glasses and, as for alcohol?
Well, I wish I was drunk now, but instead I sit here at 2:38am,
intoxicated by the tingly sensation in my ass from having 185 pounds of sagging
body weight pressing down on it for the past 15 hours….so this task is more an
exercise in remembering who I’ve been, than a genuine look into who I am today.
Still, I’m up for it, so what the hell…lets’ give her a
shot.
2 Drinks:
Vodka on the rocks with onions…and a straw. Any brand of vodka works for me. They all feel like a poke in the eye going down, but I love ‘em anyway. And I like to fantasize that my wife thinks I’m still a bad-ass for going mixer-free. Which brings me to drink #2. Wine Coolers. Okay, not exactly, but the acceptable male euphemism; Mike’s Hard Lemonade…the purple one.
Vodka on the rocks with onions…and a straw. Any brand of vodka works for me. They all feel like a poke in the eye going down, but I love ‘em anyway. And I like to fantasize that my wife thinks I’m still a bad-ass for going mixer-free. Which brings me to drink #2. Wine Coolers. Okay, not exactly, but the acceptable male euphemism; Mike’s Hard Lemonade…the purple one.
2 movies:
MIDNIGHT RUN and QUEEN MARGOT. The former because it’s awesome. If you haven’t seen it, I think it’s Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin at their best…really. Just brilliantly executed on all levels and a blast from beginning to end. I force myself to NOT watch it for at least 4 straight years, just so I can enjoy it when I stumble upon it. #2…Patrice Chereau’s QUEEN MARGOT is everything I love about cinema (aside from the subtitles, but Isabelle Adjani makes even that worth it). Historical fiction at its best. Rich characters, gripping love story, awesome performances, but more than anything else…a great, edge-of-your-seat story. If you haven’t seen it, it’s so worth renting or buying or, what, downloading?
MIDNIGHT RUN and QUEEN MARGOT. The former because it’s awesome. If you haven’t seen it, I think it’s Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin at their best…really. Just brilliantly executed on all levels and a blast from beginning to end. I force myself to NOT watch it for at least 4 straight years, just so I can enjoy it when I stumble upon it. #2…Patrice Chereau’s QUEEN MARGOT is everything I love about cinema (aside from the subtitles, but Isabelle Adjani makes even that worth it). Historical fiction at its best. Rich characters, gripping love story, awesome performances, but more than anything else…a great, edge-of-your-seat story. If you haven’t seen it, it’s so worth renting or buying or, what, downloading?
2 Books:
This is a tricky one. Of the books that have stuck with me, I’ll choose two that are particularly meaningful…even after all these years. GROUND BENEATH HER FEET by Salman Rushdie. One of my favorite books ever. A great story about an Indian Female Rock Star, but what Rushdie does that I just love, is he gives you an experience that can only be had with a novel. He makes you work hard, at first, to keep up or even to understand what the hell he’s talking about, but when you finally break through and the challenges of his style fade away, you start to experience a tonal sense of his particular India and these particular characters. The smells, the point of view, the irony, all of those ephemeral, underlying things that are essential to the real experience of a specific life in a specific context…I close that book and feel like I’ve been on a ride through someone’s perception of a place and time and a people. I love so many Rushdie novels, but this is the one that I just keep going back to.
WATER MUSIC by TC Boyle would have to be #2. Boyle is simply a great story-teller, and since I’m always partial to historical fiction, this is my favorite of his. It’s an adventure story that follows a petty criminal in Scotland and a famous British explorer as he seeks to find the Niger River in 18th Century Africa. I used this book as an example when working with a writer on his action-adventure film, yesterday, in fact. If you want to go on a ride, an ever-escalating, nearly exhausting, rollicking tale…this is it. Purely for story, this book covers so much ground. I mean, you are literally out of breath halfway through the book and Boyle just keeps amping up the trouble his tainted heroes find themselves in. Pure fun.
This is a tricky one. Of the books that have stuck with me, I’ll choose two that are particularly meaningful…even after all these years. GROUND BENEATH HER FEET by Salman Rushdie. One of my favorite books ever. A great story about an Indian Female Rock Star, but what Rushdie does that I just love, is he gives you an experience that can only be had with a novel. He makes you work hard, at first, to keep up or even to understand what the hell he’s talking about, but when you finally break through and the challenges of his style fade away, you start to experience a tonal sense of his particular India and these particular characters. The smells, the point of view, the irony, all of those ephemeral, underlying things that are essential to the real experience of a specific life in a specific context…I close that book and feel like I’ve been on a ride through someone’s perception of a place and time and a people. I love so many Rushdie novels, but this is the one that I just keep going back to.
WATER MUSIC by TC Boyle would have to be #2. Boyle is simply a great story-teller, and since I’m always partial to historical fiction, this is my favorite of his. It’s an adventure story that follows a petty criminal in Scotland and a famous British explorer as he seeks to find the Niger River in 18th Century Africa. I used this book as an example when working with a writer on his action-adventure film, yesterday, in fact. If you want to go on a ride, an ever-escalating, nearly exhausting, rollicking tale…this is it. Purely for story, this book covers so much ground. I mean, you are literally out of breath halfway through the book and Boyle just keeps amping up the trouble his tainted heroes find themselves in. Pure fun.
So, for a Randy Becker Lost Weekend 6-Pack, you’ll be
transported back about 10 years to a time when he actually read books and
watched movies. Don’t pity me,
though…my life is awfully good.
For a lot more information on all the good things Randy is doing with NexTv out in L.A., please feel free to visit here: http://www.nextventertainment.com/
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