Category Archives: Movies

Rolando Briseño’s Spinning San Antonio Fiesta at the Alamo

June 14, 2011Art, Filmmaking, Movies, MusicREB

Rolando Briseño is a San Antonio-based public artist. He proudly embraces the designation of Cultural Adjustor (I believe it’s printed on his business cards). There have been several events over the years (sometimes at the Alamo, sometimes in a gallery space) where Rolando has curated similar shows to prompt people to reconsider the prevailing mythos surrounding the Alamo. This video was taken during the 2011 event, which, I believe, was staged on the feast day of Saint Anthony de Padua, June 13. There are way too many luminaries from the local arts and cultural scene to list here, but we do have a who’s-who of San Antonio, whether as part of the ceremonies, or as members of the audience bearing witness to this moment of cultural adjustment. The band playing is Los Nahuatlatos, and I poached some of their live performance during the event to use for the music bed. I shot this all so loosely, with no intention of editing it into anything, really. I just happened to have my camera with the (cameras are wonderful devices for the socially awkward introvert to hide behind), but when I got home later that day and edited together a short montage, I loved how the emotions (joyful and tragic, at the same time) were so fortuitously captured.

[UPDATE: On September 5, 2024, Centro de Artes Gallery unveiled a show. Dining with Rolando Briseño: A 50-Year Retrospective. My little film was included (true, it’s but a minor footnote to Rolando’s impressive and on-going career, but I’m very honored). The show continues through Feb. 9, 2025. I hope to make it to town and see it.]

Pretty Packages

April 14, 2011Movies, Music VideosREB

Pretty Packages, by the Push Pens.

Direct by Erik Bosse and Steve Bailey.

Shot and edited by Erik Bosse.

Music by the Push Pens.

Featuring Manuel “Cros” Esquivel, Dino Foxx, Billy Muñoz, Claudia A. Rubio, and Chris Castillo.

This piece was created as an online promotion for “The Push Pens: Last Call For Truth,” a full-length play produced by Jump-Start Performance Co. The show was written (words and music) by Cros, Dino, and Billy. Steve Bailley directed the play. Art design by Blue Hernandez.

For this promo video we chose a song with a bit of a narrative. We needed a bar, so we reached out to the friendly folks who ran the Pedicab Bar & Grille (which sadly burned down a few months after we filmed this). Claudia and Chris were reeled into to be a couple of the “pretty packages.”

I shot this on my Canon 7D (which was still fairly new to me). I wanted to use the existing bar light, so I had to use my fastest lens, which was a 50mm. This is why things all look so cramped. Also, I had that lens open almost all the way, with way too shallow a depth of field. The cut away shots are on stage at Jump-Start with Blue’s wonderful mural (which he created for the show) in the background.

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Below is some more information from a blog post I wrote about the shoot.

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Here’s a behind the scenes shot [at Jump-Start] of the three Push Pens, with director Steve Bailey.

I was a lot of fun. I am so in love of shooting HD video with the Canon 7D. Stick a fast lens on the camera (I’m using a 50mm f 1.4 lens, which is longer than I really want, but it does look great!), and you’ve got a lovely look!

Bars are perfect places to shoot with these new breeds of HD video-enable DSLRs. Move your subjects around to the most flattering pool of light. Find a sweet compromise between ISO and f-stop, while keep the shutter speed at a 50th of a second (if you’re shooting at 24 frames per second).

The concept behind this particular Push Pens song, “Pretty Packages,” is that pretty people bring opportunities of love into your life often when you’re quite happily in another relationship. And the question is, how will you deal with it?

The Push Pens are Dino Foxx, Cros Esquivel, and Billy Munoz. Here Billy is the bartender. The two parallel stories are about Dino and Cros, two best buds, one gay, one straight. Dino is being seduced by a pretty guy; Cros is half-heartedly fighting off a pretty girl.

And there there’s Steve Bailey, the director of the up-coming Push Pens’ show at Jump-Start. He was there at the shoot, doing this great job of shouting out suggestions of what the actors should be doing. We weren’t running sound, so this was fine. But better than fine, it was a blast to have Steve on set. He helped to move things along fairly quickly. And he had us all laughing and at ease.

I’ve known that I would really like Steve for years, but he’s rather stand-offish. But lately I’ve been privileged to see him work. He’s just the sort of brilliant. committed, playful, wise, and sweet man I always wanted him to be.

Here are some screen-grabs fro the shoot.

And for some broader context, here’s a scene from the play which I shot also for promotional purposes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esgin4mNl58

A Bourbon Would Be Nice

March 19, 2011Filmmaking, MoviesREB

A BOURBON WOULD BE NICE (2011).

Writer, director, DP, editor:

Erik Bosse

Additional production assistance from:

Roslava Gonzalez, Amanda Silva, and Deborah Keller-Rihn.

Cast (in order of appearance):

Lisa Suarez, Dino Foxx, Mellissa Marlowe, Gabriel Carmona, ST Shimi, Chris Gonzales, Dr. Rita Urquijo-Ruiz, Sandy Dunn, Raquel Beechner, Nikki Young, and Jacinto Guevara.

Music by:

Lisa Arnold

Special thanks:

C4 Workspace, Jump-Start Production Co., Rome Talent, PrimaDonna Productions, the San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs, the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, and the San Antonio Film Commission.

A Bourbon Would Be Nice was produced for the 2011 San Antonio Neighborhood Film Project (which is one of the programs connected with the DCCD). It’s a contest based project, and only those who are selected by the judging panel receive any funds. I think this one came close, but looking at it now, I cringe at the flaws (all of which are my doing): overly shallow depth of field causing the subject to drift out of focus; ghastly lighting in the “bar;” inexplicably poor audio, also in the “bar;” and a shoddy “fix” for the bad audio in a couple of the clips. But I couldn’t have asked for a better cast. And I do love the scene with Lisa and Chris shot in Shimi’s house. It’s warm, funny, playful, and all three of them look great.

Here’s a group photo of Rosalva, Shimi, Christopher, and Lisa.

And two images of Lisa’s wonderful transformation.

And a photo of the Southside Reporter, with a picture of ME on the cover! (Here’s a link to the online article.)

City Hoop

March 14, 2011Filmmaking, MoviesREB

Stink Bug on Guano

April 20, 2008Art, Cycling, Filmmaking, Movies, San AntonioREB

My latest NetFlix arrived this afternoon. For some reason I had never gotten around to seeing Living in Oblivion. It’s one of these movies about making movies that everyone who has seen has loved. Especially if they’ve ever worked in production.

I’d put it off because I’d assumed it was just goofy fluff. I think the problem is that I confused it with another movie about making movies, The Big Picture by Christopher Guest (which I have just placed in the NetFlix hopper, to arrive in good time to my front porch).

Tom DiCillo directed Oblivion, and if someone had explained that he was the DP for Stranger than Paradise, I might not have put off seeing this film for long. Also, I had not known that it starred Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, and Dermot Mulroney.

It’s definitely worth watching, and I expect I’ll see more of DiCillo’s work. But if you just read the comments on IMDB it sounds like fucking Shakespeare. And I think the reason is that with the digital revolution and the explosion of film schools, a significant percentage of serious movie watchers have, at some time or another, worked on a film set. And Living in Oblivion does a solid job of delivering the verisimilitude of what it’s like on a movie set. One of the highlights is Dermont Mulroney as the director of photography who wears a beret and a leather vest without a shirt. We’ve all worked with someone like that … or someone who wants to be like that.

Apparently the piece began as a 30 minute short, but everyone enjoyed the experience so much, that they tracked down more funding and extended it into a feature.

There’s a great establishing scene that opens the piece. It’s 4:30 in the morning. Two production assistants are loading up the craft service table with stale cookies a handful of grapes, and a carafe of coffee. No one else has arrived yet. One of them opens a half gallon carton of milk and gives it a sniff.

“I think this milk’s gone bad.”

“When did you get it?”

“That can’t be it. I just bought it Tuesday. Wait — what’s today?”

“Monday.”

“Really….?”

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Someone finally snagged the recliner that had been dumped in front of my house. That took a good three or four days. And I can’t imagine it was an easy task to haul it into the pickup truck. The deluge the other night must have soaked it with a good thirty pounds of water.

This week is bulky trash pick up. It comes to my neighborhood maybe twice a year. And always the week proceeding the King William Parade. The neighborhood commission doesn’t want anyone to have some lame reason why their yard or curb is filled with unsightly crap as the parade with all the public officials and the media comes tromping down our streets.

This means that the enterprising trash pickers are cruising the neighborhood looking for the tasty morsels to snatch from the mounds of brush and household refuse. I don’t mind this — I’m a supporter of the time honored scavenging arts. But it does create a maddening bottleneck with all the trucks inching along the street — the drivers hopeful, discerning.

But it’s not just the residential neighborhoods. For some reason I have been seeing people’s shit dumped out along the Mission Trail where I ride my bike. This was out on Villamain along the railroad tracks between Missions Espada and San Juan.

Next, I stopped to inspect the Bridge to Nothing. The location for a Carlos Pina short film of the same name. It’s a decommissioned bridge that spans a little canal that shunts off the San Antonio River. It’s a cool location, and I was thinking if it might lend itself to an upcoming dance video. It’s filled with aesthetic potential, but I came to the conclusion that it won’t do for the performance.

There’s another place I want to scout as a location. It’s a much larger decommissioned bridge. You can see it from up on I-37 as you head north from the Alamodome. It’s on the eastside. If I wasn’t still fighting this damn cold, I might have cycled over to the place. But, instead, after coming home from my more humble bike ride, I got on my computer and used Google Maps to get a satellite shot down on the bridge. And then I thought maybe I’d try the “street view” setting. I’d tried this before, but wasn’t able to get it to do much.

Wow! It’s working great now. After cruising around the closed off ramps to the eastside bridge (360 degree street-level photos), I headed over to check out my block.

The Google photo truck had obviously come down my street around Halloween. The Witte’s house and the Cortes’ house are both festooned with loads of fake spider webs. With no little trepidation I rotated around to look at my house, fearful that I’d be sitting on my porch and picking my nose. But I was nowhere to been seen. My truck wasn’t even in the drive.

There’s actually a way to cruise down the photographed streets. All I did was to use the arrows on my keyboard. It’s not a fluid movement, but it’s a rough approximation.

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I found this on my windshield early this evening as I was heading out to the grocery store. Some fucking bird had perched in the pecan tree above my truck and took a dump on my windshield. And for some reason this stink bug couldn’t keep away.

I call this piece Stink Bug on Guano.

Look for my entire guano series at the finer digital photo galleries this coming First Friday

Free Furniture For Those of the Mullet Class (Déclassé Poseurs Also Encouraged)

April 16, 2008Movies, San Antonio, UncategorizedREB

It was bound to happen, as I have been living on borrowed time for too long (face it, we all have). In my case, it was a simple question of an expired auto inspection sticker as well as registration. This happens to me periodically (every year, actually). I’m beginning to believe that this life-style just isn’t working for me. This living hand-to-mouth. I put off getting my car legal because I never have the bonus cash laying about. And then I get busted, and I have to scramble to make some court clerk happy. This happened yesterday in Alamo Heights. Actually, this thing has happened before in Alamo Heights — three years running. Damn that punch card for a free pound of coffee from Central Market (AKA, the Gucci HEB). At the risk of making Miss Nikki Young tear up with my callousness directed toward her ‘hood, let me just say: fuck Alamo Heights! Having said that, I will admit that their police officers are polite. Also, their courthouse is easy to locate, and rarely do I need to generate crocodile compassion for probationers and assorted jittery scofflaws of the mullet class while I wait in line. In fact, there never does seem to be a line. So, a class act all around. Just don’t let the sun set on you here, son, if you know what I mean.

Speaking of the mullet class (my people, if the do-right boys of Alamo Heights have any say in matters), here is a photo diptych that says it all.

The first is what I look out at every morning while standing at my kitchen counter sipping fine Alamo Heights coffee. Carlos and Hope Cortez have a grand, beautiful house — here we see they’ve decorated it for Fiesta. In about ten days the King William Parade will raucously make its way down our street.

And this second images is what the Cortez family has to face every time they peek out the window or leave their house. They’re wonderful people, and they suffer in brave silence. One of the apartments in this triplex where I live just emptied, and the Barcalounger with the greasy headrest is perched on a low-cut tree stump. The landlady hasn’t mowed in a month or more. And all this picture needs is me and Carlos Pina sitting on my porch drinking 40 ounces of Bastardo Beer and drunkenly talking a bit too loudly about “shooting another movie here — yeah, fuck yeah.”

But Carlos has moved on from that sort of rough and tumble character. He’s now a gentleman rancher out in the Lulling oil fields, with a new sensible car, a conservative haircut (yes, a goddamn haircut!!), and spiffy new headshots from Deborah and Ramin. Here. I’ll have to poach an image from his MySpace page.

It’s a great shot. I hope he gets increasingly meatier roles. And, if I squint just right, I can still see the hardened punk rocker from the Rio Grande Valley.

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Last year the King William Parade used my street to stage the floats, marching bands, and et al. This meant that we on the 700 block of E. Guenther were only able to see half of the parade. There were some pissed off citizens. They reacted by joining up with the parade commission (or whatever), and so this year the parade should be back to it’s traditional starting place and route. I can certainly applaud this grassroots activism. If it was only this easy to take the reigns where the war on terror is concerned. Or global warming.

For those who haven’t attended the King William Parade as well as the King William Fair, it’s the best thing about Fiesta. The parade begins around ten a.m. on Saturday. April 25th. But come early. It’s an ordeal to find parking. Come on by, you’re welcomed to sit on my little porch or in my front yard — just bring your portable chair if you want to sit proper. I’m at 716 E. Guenther. RSVP and I’ll have a cup of coffee waiting for you.

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My last NetFlix movie was Save the Green Planet! Well, that’s the English translation of the title. It’s a Korean movie from 2003. The contemporary South Korean cinema is very weird — well, from what I’ve heard. And this is no exception.

I selected this one because of a trailer I saw on another NetFlix offering. It looked like a playful and kooky sci-fi film. Not so. It’s a kooky and gritty and intense psychological drama. It’s one of those movies you want to watch with other people, so you can discuss it afterwards. It’s a good film. Beautifully shot. Tightly written. But because of the preview, I had certain expectations. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had been allowed to watch it without any information. And, really, isn’t this the way we should enter every film? Actually, this is the reason why I like attending film festivals. Just dive into a film without having been tainted by any of the PR.

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And, to close, I’m looking for a good home for a late 20th century-era recliner. It’s perfect for lounging and watching the box-set of the Rockford File while eating a bucket of chicken. Or so I assume.

It has yet to be rained on. Act now!

A VIP at the Gala — Yeah, That’d Be Me

April 15, 2008Film Festivals, Filmmaking, Movies, San AntonioREB

Saturday I finally got a chance to put in an appearance at CineFestival at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.

I arrived early, because there was a student screening at 9am. But I eventually discovered that it had been moved to the Alamo Drafthouse. Just the student portion. Damn. I’d been wanting to pimp the Josiah festival to a captive audience of teen filmmakers. I could have driven out to the hinterlands (the Drafthouse is way out by Sea World), but, because my Locos documentary was screening at ten, I decided to stay.

Good thing, I guess. Because the person who was supposed to be volunteering to run the dvd player for the screenings at the gallery space had flaked.

Forgetting those student screenings far far away, the CineFestival films were showing in two locations. The main theater at the Guadalupe complex, as well as the gallery space a block to the north. Belinda — one of the main people at the Guadalupe — walked me over to the gallery and gave me a mini tour. The building used to be an old HEB warehouse. It’s damn impressive. Five big studios. And a large gallery space. The gallery had been turned into a screening room.

She showed me the basics with the room’s lighting and the audio / visual equipment.

Veronica Hernandez, my NALIP colleague, was there with her two little girls. They had just rescued a puppy wandering in the neighborhood and the girls were hugging it.

“What’s its name?” I asked.

One of the girls told me. Lulu, I think she said.

“Oh, god,” Veronica muttered. “They’ve already given it a name.” She turned to her daughters and reminded them that this was not their new pet. They were simply saving it from getting run over.

A couple of other people showed up. But by the time I began the 90 minute block of short films (including mine), half a dozen people were there to watch the films.

(I found out that many people had been directed to the Alamo Drafthouse when they stopped off at the Guadalupe’s box office … even though they wanted to see the Taste of Texas short films, and not the student short films. There was a point where I headed over to the box office and spoke to the individual who had misguided these people. I won’t name names, but this individual seemed unconcerned. “What was I to know? A short film is a short film.” Hmm….)

Dora and Manual showed up with two of their kids. They helped out volunteering at the gallery space.

There were some workshops happening in one of the studios while films were screening in the gallery space.

The first workshop started off with no one showing up. It was for kids. And the panelists were Ozuna (from Harlandale), Gisha (from Say Si), and Gregg Barrios (local writer, who had headed my novel writing group for awhile). What made no sense to me was that Ozuna and Gisha were teachers in kids media programs. As was festival coordinator, Victor. Why couldn’t they rally the troops? I was very dejected with this sad display. Gisha got on her cell and called over to Say Si to see if someone could bring some kids over.

There was a forum I attended. It was run by Jesse Borrego and Susanne Mason. Mason had directed a documentary, Writ Writer — Jesse had narrated the piece. Because the deceased subject of the documentary, Fred Cruz (a prisoner who educated himself in the law to help fellow inmates), had a San Antonio history, many of the questions were about Cruz’s life. And, really, I wanted some information about the process of producing a documentary. But It was still interesting.

I watched another block of short pieces, and then headed over to the main theater to see Alex Cox’s digital feature, Searchers 2.0. I like it. And maybe later I’ll write some about it.

The next big film was Propiedad Ajena. Russ showed up. And we went in to watch it. Fifteen minutes into the piece, I knew it wouldn’t be delivering anything rewarding or surprising. I was a slick Mexican feature length telenovela. A multigenerational soap operatic love story that chased me out to Giovanni’s, just a block away. (Giovanni’s Pizza, at 913 S Brazos, makes the best pizza on town, don’t even bother trying elsewhere.) Luckily the place was open. I hadn’t had anything since a Mexican pastry for breakfast (thanks Dora!). I ordered a couple of slices and grabbed a Jones soda. I spent about an hour hanging out and talking trash with Giovanni. He’s an old school leftist from NYC (still with deep ties to family in Italy) — he’s my neighbor, a few blocks to the north. He knows everyone in the San Antonio arts scene, and we dished the dirt back and forth until I realized I really should return to the film.

I paused outside the theater to take this blurry photo of the people lined up for the next show. The joint was hopping!

I had no trouble wiggling back into the theater. I had a VIP pass. Back inside, I thought I’d made it with perfect timing. The film seemed to be winding up. But, no. What I thought was the last gasp of a third act false ending was actually the second act third act pivot. I have another forty minutes of this overwrought nonsense. But at least I was well-fed.

When the lights came up me and Russ headed out. The following film had sold out. And while I expect my VIP pass would have let me in, he had no such credentials.

We eventually found ourselves at the gallery space for the Saturday night gala party.

And because I had to get up early the next morning for a shoot, I stayed until about 2am.

I’m Screening at the 30th Anniversary of the CineFestival

April 9, 2008Film Festivals, Filmmaking, Movies, San AntonioREB

I have discovered another reason to blog about the upcoming CineFestival. My short documentary I submitted — “Dia de los Locos” — will indeed be screening. Saturday morning. It will be in with a block of other short pieces between 10am and 11:30am. So, I guess I will be opting out of the extra hours offered Saturday by the Company.

This from the website:

Saturday, April 12
10:00 am – 11:30 am, GCAC Gallery -Taste of Texas Shorts

Rio Grande Odyssey, Dir. Chad Green, 3 min.
Dia de los Locos, Dir. Erik Bosse, 15 min.
DreaMachine Lullaby, Tonzi Canestaro-Garcia, 7 min.
Requiem for Sweep, Vincent Moreno, 11 min.
The Great Wall of Texas, Dir. Valerie Asensio, 7 min.
Ram, Dir. Tyler Ybarra, 5 min.
Eye for an Eye, Rogelio Salinas, 8 min.
Hurricane Party, Dir. AP Gonzalez, 28 min.
Preview: Long As I Remember: Chicano Veteranos, Dir. Laura Varela, 10 min.

I don’t know if this is the order in which the pieces will be screened.

I’ve seen Rio Grande Odyssey about four times already. It’s excellent! Directed by Chadd Green, shot by AJ Garces, produced by PrimaDonna Productions, and featuring poet Rod Stryker, it’s smart, slick, fast, wise, and funny.

My own piece moves along fairly well — or so I like to think. It features my collaborators and co-producers, Deborah Keller-Rihn and Ramon Vasquez y Sanchez (we comprise Proyecto Locos — an artist collaborative). I’ve flogged it about quite a bit locally, but if anyone out there has yet to see it, come on out Saturday morning. (Actually, it’s posted online, accessible through my website).

I’ve seen some of Vincent Moreno’s work before at a NALIP video slam. Very beautiful and moving work.

Tyler Ybarra is perhaps best known for his wonderful mockumentary, Tripas Love. I’m guessing this short piece is a pean to the late lamented head honcho of the legendary Tacoland.

Rogelio Salinas is a very focused filmmaker with a clear path in the work he wants to create. I’ve seen bits of a work-in-progress of his over the months. Very promising work with striking photography.

And of course, Laura Varela. She’s undisputedly one of San Antonio’s most committed and serious filmmakers — I’m really looking forward to this preview of her current big project.

As for the other films, I know nothing about them or their creators. But I’m expecting to see wonderful and new work.

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I woke up this morning feeling fairly seedy. And as the day progressed I knew I couldn’t pretend that I wasn’t coming down fast with a cold. This is going to make this upcoming weekend a bit of an ordeal. I want to take advantage of as many of the CineFestival screenings as possible. Also, I have an opportunity to pitch the Josiah Youth Media Festival to some young filmmakers. Then there’s the Main Plaza opening. And, also, I have agreed to help shoot a rather hush-hush gorilla art event which is scheduled to meander, peripatetically, through downtown and the southtown area over the weekend. Damn, but it’s sad, in a way, that I no longer have connections to black market pharmaceuticals. (Ah, those were the days. Sometimes I wonder how I managed to live through them.)

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It’s interesting that I found out today that the Dia de los Locos documentary was scheduled to play at CineFestival (thanks to a MySpace bulletin from Vincent Moreno), because I met for breakfast with the other two members of the project. Me and Ramon were sitting at a westside taqueria. We managed to cajole Deborah to come and join us. She was in the neighborhood shooting photos.

Ramon had recently bought a really kick-ass Canon point-and-shoot camera at a pawn shop. It came cheap, but lacked an instruction manual. When Deborah showed up, she took a look at Ramon’s camera, rummaging through the menus to see what it might do. While they were doing that, I checked out Deborah’s newish DSLR, a Nikon. It’s a nice little machine. And I’m glad she got it. I’ve seen her do some great stuff with little point-and-shoot digital cameras (since her last DSLR crapped out), but clearly she was hampered. No more.

What Ramon wanted to talk to us about was not really a new Proyecto Locos project, but an idea he has to create a binational cultural exchange between San Antonio and Mexico. Sure, there are loads of groups already doing this, but his plan is intriguing, and I think quite possible. It involves a certain amount of politicking, and here is where me and Deborah come in. We three have all done work that fits into this mold. Deborah was quick to point out that she was in the middle of her own projects, and so, she assumed, was I. But we all seemed to think this idea of Ramon’s might have merit. Maybe we could be involved via some sort of advisory committee.

Personally, I know that one of Ramon’s reasons for doing this is to create more opportunities to travel to Mexico. And, personally, I’m all over that.

We’ll see. Ideas are everywhere, but the grand ones only seem to take hold when a series of uncertain and unplanned events coalesce.

But while we were tossing around ideas, Ramon mentioned something about an idea he has had for awhile about a Barrio interpretation of Gibran’s The Prophet.

This would be loads easier to do than to create a binational cultural exchange program.

The more I think about it, the more I think I need to push Ramon to consider this the next Proyecto Locos project. Theater and / or film. “El Profeta at the Pik Nik.

(RE)ACTION, the Movie, Coming Soon

April 6, 2008Books, Filmmaking, Movies, Music, San AntonioREB

I kept a low profile today. Eating grilled veggies and reading George Saunders short stories. Also, I watched my latest NetFlix delivery. John Sayles’ Silver City. I’m not sure how I missed this when it came out. It had decent staying power at the theaters … well, for a John Sayles film. But it just passed me by.

However, I almost wish I hadn’t bothered. I’m very keen on John Sayles. Sadly, this isn’t one of his better films. Nor is it one of the notable films shot by Haskell Wexler. It’s got a killer beginning. I mean, wham, we’re into a juicy story by minute four. Maybe the problem is that there are oodles of amazing actors in this film, but they’re either miss-cast or have tiny roles. Chris Cooper, who was so incredible in Lone Star, is doing a second rate George W. Bush impersonation for the entire film. Mary Kay Place, Miguel Ferrer, Tim Roth, and hell even Daryl Hannah and Kris Kristofferson (two who are certainly acquired tastes for some, but who I quite like) — and all these folks are hardly in the film at all. Whereas awkward zombies like Billy Zane and Danny Houston are all over the screen with achingly uneven performances. The story line was far from original. It was handled so much better in Chinatown and The Milagro Beanfield War (the novel, not the movie — Robert Redford should have been horse-whipped for fucking up John Nichols’ brilliant novel).

I’ll place Sayles’ newest, Honeydripper, in my NetFlix hopper and see if he hasn’t lost it. I’m still stoked from the smart and powerful Casa de los Babys which preceded Silver City. Everyone’s excused a stumble or two.

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Ramon emailed me last week. He’s meeting with a city council member about a long-term art project and he wants me to get him the footage I shot of the Dia de los Artistas parade. This was the event that came out of a collaboration between him, Deborah, and myself — aka Proyecto Locos.

It was easier to find the footage than I expected. The tape was labeled and quick to find. Lately I have been so impoverished that I have resorted to using the the unused tail ends of digital video tapes containing similar stuff … all because I can’t afford new tape. But this was an event shot when I seemed to have been flush enough to have used a virginal cassette. Now I just need to trim down the 23 minutes into something more manageable and get it to Ramon this week.

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Tonight I popped over to Deborah’s space at Blue Star to meet with Joe Reyes, Stephanie Key, and Amber Ortega-Perez. Me, Russ and Deborah are wanting to make a short video of their music and dance collaboration that we saw in March. It’s a work in three movements titled (RE)ACTION. We talked about mood, tone, aesthetics, lighting, locations, and. of course, schedules. The plan is to shoot the piece three days in June. And if we cut it fast enough, get the piece into CAM (Contemporary Arts Month).

It was great being in a room with such accomplished and grounded creative individuals.

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This was a nice bit of wry graffiti in the Blue Star parking-lot, at the bridge over-looking the river.

I like the expression of fear, so simply placed.