It’s official, my friends Michael Fitzpatrick and his husband Greg Ivan Smith have completely lost their minds. They’ve decided to shoot a feature film. Now. During a pandemic.

God love them.

Not willing to just hide under their bed covers, Michael and Greg are using this extended period of “postponed employment” to finally shoot the feature version of their award-winning horror short, Remission.

So they are driving across the country – yes, you read that correctly – DRIVING across the country from Los Angeles to shoot in upstate NY. And they will be doing the entire project alone, in quarantine, just the two of them.

Someone forgot to pay their brain bill.

Since they’re working under the SAG-AFTRA Ultra Low-budget Production Agreement, they’ll be acquiring a payroll company, insurance, making union benefit contributions, along with purchasing or renting what always seems to be an endless amount of other necessary items to make a quality film of this length.

But quality doesn’t come cheap.

Michael and Greg have created a Seed&Spark campaign in order to fund the film, with a goal of raising $15,000 (a small amount in the world of features, but a huge amount for this project).

I’ve known Michael and Greg for decades (and how weird and scary is it to say y0u’ve known someone for decades?) and I absolutely adore them. (Michael was my best man at my vows renewal ceremony) I know it’s not the best of times (One may even call it the worst of times) to donate money to a project, but any amount will make these loveably chuckleheads dance for joy.

You can donate on their Seed&Spark campaign page. They have some great incentives for each pledge-level and a donation makes you a real part of their team, with updates coming to you along the way: from pre-production through filming, to their film festival journey and beyond.

Creating art is of vital importance right now, please consider being a part of theirs.

Thanks so much.

Best Pitch Video I’ve Ever Seen

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Oh my lord I’m excited about the upcoming film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. In case you’ve been living under a rock or you’re not a Harry Potter nerd like I am, Fantastic Beasts is the prequel to J.K. Rowling’s series Harry Potter. It opens November 18, 2016. I’m all a twitter.

And what should come out today but a teaser video entitled Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The video shows  how Ilvermorny was founded and more about the four houses in the school:

• Horned Serpent – a ‘great horned river serpent with a jewel set into its forehead’
• Pukwudgie – ‘a short, grey-faced, large-eared creature’
• Thunderbird – a creature that ‘can create storms as it flies’
• Wampus – ‘a magical, panther-like creature that is fast, strong and almost impossible to kill’

You can even get sorted into an Ilvermorny house (just like in Hogwarts). Everything you need to know about Ilvermorny and  Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is on the website Pottermore.

Here’s the Ilvermorny video:

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The new Ghostbusters Trailer has reached an epic milestone. As of this writing it is #18 in the Most Disliked Videos on Youtube. Wow. (FYI – Justin Bieber’s “Baby” featuring Ludacris is #1).

I’m thinking that making the most disliked list is not something the producers of the new Ghostbusters were aiming for. They keep saying it’s not a remake of that awesome original but a wholly new film that can stand on its own but it can’t and it doesn’t. Here’s what Melissa McCarthy had to say about the subject.

“I know it’s weird that they say

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Being a dad of a little girl, I have watched the animated Cinderella film more times than I can tell you. And frankly I’ve had my fill of the film. But in 2015 Disney will release a new live-action version and it looks magical. Instead of calling it Cinderella Live-Action and to not confuse it with the animated version, I’m simply going to call it Cinderella 2015.

And what a cast.Cinderella 2015 had me at Helena Bonham Carter as the Fairy Godmother. But add in Cate Blanchett as Lady Tremaine, Lily James as Cinderella, and frigging Derek Jacobi as the King and I’m already camping out in line to get a ticket.

And I love love love this dialogue exchange, that addresses the question of the ridiculousness of wearing shoes made of glass:

Cinderella: “They’re made of glass.”

Fairy Godmother: “And you’ll find them really comfortable.”

Helena Bonham Carter makes me laugh with her line reading.

I suppose Disney felt the Cinderella franchise was starting to wane so they decided to make Cinderella 2015. I can’t wait for remakes of all of the other 1930s – 1940s princess movies.

Here’s the trailer to Cinderella 2015.

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This is so terrific I can’t stand it. It’s a cut of the film Julie and Julia without the annoying Julie scenes.

As you may recall, Nora Ephron’s  2009 film Julie and Julia is a delightfully light and fluffy souffle starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. Streep plays Julia Childs at the beginning of the master chef’s cooking career. Adams plays blogger Julie Powell, who challenges herself to cook all the recipes in Child’s first book. Meryl got wonderful reviews. Amy, not so much.

But now, thanks to Adam Goldman, the world has Julie and Julia without Julie. It’s called & Julia.

Goldman has taken the film and cut out all of the modern day Julie scenes so now it’s a story about Julia Childs in search of herself.

Is it any good? Oh yes indeed. I watched it and loved it. As Decider said, “It’s just a sweet one hour film about Julia Child’s quest for self… In fact, now that this edit of the film exists, it feels like something beautiful has been added to all of our lives.”

It’s so true! I love this edit. We get Meryl Streep’s amazing performance, Stanley Tucci, and Paris in the late 1940s. Good Lord, what’s not to love about that?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to watch it again.

Bon appetite.

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Like a lot of people, I was both shocked and saddened by the death of Robin Williams. His death is a great tragedy but there may be some good to come from it. Robin Williams’ depression may finally help bring depressive illness out of the shadows. There’s a stigma about depression. From both sides. I know a lot of people, including myself, who suffer from depression and are afraid to say anything because we’re afraid people will think we’re weak, crazy or somehow a lesser person. On the other side, a lot of people think that those suffering from depression should just get over it or just cheer up.

 I’m tired of people telling me to just be happy. You don’t tell someone with polio to just walk. Or someone with cancer to just get over it. Depression is an illness like any other illness. It’s not imaginary or an attempt to be the center of attention. It doesn’t give a sh*t if you’re male or female, whether you’re rich or poor, whether you’re famous or not. Depression is an illness. And you don’t get a choice. You don’t choose to get it. It happens. The right amount of chemicals don’t get passed between the neurotransmitters and — boom — the door is wide open to depression or depressive disorder.

My Depression

I have suffered from depression and anxiety for years but the past few years it’s been getting worse.

Just over a year ago I tried to kill myself. (Spoiler alert: I wasn’t successful). For me it wasn’t so much that I wanted to die. I just didn’t want to be here anymore. I wanted my pain to go away. I wanted the voices inside my head to stop. I wasn’t interest in anything, I was irritable, I had insomnia but could also sleep the day away. I was bedridden for three months.

And the suicidal thoughts wouldn’t go away. Try as I might they stayed and grew stronger and stronger. And then they became too strong and my brain gave into them. Suicide seemed to be the right decision. The Black Dog was winning. Several times my therapist suggested I should check myself into a hospital. I had visions of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I never checked myself in. In hindsight, I may have been better off if I had.

My head was a horrible place to be. I couldn’t escape it. And then I was diagnosed with Bipolar II. It took me a while to come to terms with that diagnosis. How could I possibly have BP2? I felt broken and worthless. But once my doctors started treating me for BP2 everything change. Well, once I was off the Lithium and then on Lamictal. Lithium sucked.

I’m feeling better. I still have bad days, more than I’d like,  but it’s nice to have good days. Some days it’s hour to hour, but a hell of a lot better than trying to kill myself.

Here are symptoms of depression:

• Persistent sad or “empty” mood.
• Feeling hopeless, helpless, worthless, pessimistic and/or guilty.
• Substance abuse.
• Fatigue or loss of interest in ordinary activities, including sex.
• Disturbances in eating and sleeping patterns.
• Irritability, increased crying, anxiety or panic attacks.
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering or making decisions.
• Thoughts of suicide; suicide plans or attempts.
• Persistent physical symptoms or pains that do not respond to treatment.

Yep. I’ve had them all.

I know people who have tried to kill themselves and failed.  I know people who have been, unfortunately, successful. Hopefully the current spotlight on Robin Williams’ depression will change our conception about this awful disease.

If you or anybody you know is struggling with depression, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is open 24/7 on 1-800-273-8255.

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“Hitler Has His Own IMDB Page?”

He certainly does. He has four “Writer” credits, 29 “Self” credits, and my favorite: 1 “Miscellaneous Crew” credit. Miscellaneous Crew? Was he the caterer? He wasn’t even in SAG. But there are 683 Hitler films listed. That’s quite the body of work. I’ll tell you right now, there are not  683 Michael Caine films.

Under the Trivia section, it claims Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was one of Hitler’s favorite films. I have no idea if that is true but it certainly makes me scratch my head and giggle. In fact, an article in The Telegraph claims Hitler liked to draw Disney characters. Somehow I can’t image Hitler drawing Bambi and Thumper.

So I got to thinking, if Hitler has an IMDB page, what about Stalin? Sure enough, Joseph Stalin has an IMDB page, but his filmography is not nearly as extensive as Hitler’s filmography. There’s no way anyone can match 683 Hitler films. But Stalin does have some bon mot trivia.

“Stalin was diagnosed with ‘Typical clinical form of paranoia’ in 1927, by the leading psychiatrist Doctor Bekhterev and his assistant doctors. Next day Doctor Bekhterev and his assistant died of poisoning.”

Yeah, you don’t want to tell a dictator he’s paranoid.

“Stalin loved the Tarzan movies. He was amused by the concept of a man being able to communicate with apes. Stalin ordered an expedition in Africa, which gathered over 100 apes and monkeys for his plans of breeding an obedient soldier. After several years of non-results Stalin ordered the principal scientists executed and lost interest in breeding soldiers from apes.”

An army of monkeys? Like the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz? Oh I wish this was true but there is no proof this ever happened. The Stalin Monkey Army is an urban myth but it makes me laugh.

My IMDB page pales in comparison. 

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Frozen, Disney’s animated-musical phenomenon, is about to kick it up a notch. Disney announced that it will be releasing a sing-along version of the film starting Jan 31.

This new version of the film will include the lyrics of each musical number on the screen, with a bouncing snowflake to help audiences follow along as they sing out loud together. With the Frozen soundtrack topping the charts, we’re willing to bet that a lot of you already know all the words–this is your chance to show your stuff and harmonize with dozens of family and friends at once.

This is a genius move by Disney. Frozen is the #8 best selling animated movie. In non-glacial speed it will soon overtake Ice Age: Continental Drift and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (#6 and #7).  The soundtrack has been atop the Billboard album chart for three weeks this month with 769,000 copies sold to date, and Let It Go, the Oscar-nominated song that every child and adult seems to be singing these days, is #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 with 842,000 downloads. So a Sing-Along version of the film is a fantastic marketing choice.

And for those of you who must own Frozen (my daughter being one), it being released March 18, 2014. Get your order in now.

Here’s Idina Menzel belting out the hit song at the 2013 D23 Expo.

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