I'm famous!

I was in a panel yesterday about how movie trailers are made, which was awesome. As I was waiting for the panel to begin when, no kidding, five different people said, "Oh, you're the interpreter from yesterday." (in the Jeffrey Tambor workshop.) It was insane. I have to admit, though, that I kind of liked it. :)

I heart Jeffrey Tambor

By far the highlight of my week so far has been an acting workshop given by the amazing Jeffrey Tambor. He led two actors, Greta Gerwig and Kent Osborne, through a scene while demonstrating directing techniques. It was amazing. It felt like taking a year of film school in two hours. If I were in LA, I would definitely try to take a class from him at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. The best moment, by FAR, was when I actually talked to him! The girl next to me had asked him a question, but in a roundabout kind of way. He didn't understand what she was asking, so I restated her question. Jeffrey Tambor said that I used wonderful logic and had a beautiful mind. How awesome is that!?!?! I'll be high for a week off that. :)

Harold and Kumar are my new buds (ha!-buds)

OK, so I've only seen parts of Harold and Kumar go to White Castle, and raunchy humor usually isn't my thing, but when given an opportunity to go to a panel with celebs, I jumped. The panel was made up of Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, creators of H&K, Neil Patrick Harris, Kal Penn, and John Cho. They were all charming and well spoken, and I may just have to join the church of NPK. (When you see the sequel, it will make total sense.) Later that night, I went to the world premiere of Harold & Kumar 2: Escape from Guantanamo Bay. The whole cast was there, and it was a really great crowd, so it was a riot. I laughed until my sides hurt. It was awesome!

Opening Night

With great excitement, I attended my very first film festival - South By Southwest 2008. The opening night film was 21, starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Bosworth. Well, actually the real star of the film is Jim Sturgess, a Brit who is absolutely adorable. The film is the story of a group of MIT students who made a fortune counting cards in Las Vegas that is based on the book Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich. The book focuses on (former) card counter Jeffrey Ma. The film was good, but the best part was a Q&A session following the film with Sturgess, Mezrich, and Ma. They were funny and entertaining. It was a really fun night.

Oscar Nominations Reactions

I was up early this morning, getting ready to go sub, so I got to see the Oscar noms live.

First of all, I'm so excited for Juno (my personal choice for best film of the year), and for Diablo Cody (nominated for her first film!!).

Not all all surprised at the love for No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, although one day I hope the Academy will realize that dark and violent doesn't automatically equal good filmmaking. Very surprised at all the love for Michael Clayton, which critics loved, but didn't really find an audience.

BTW, where was the love for Into the Wild? And Hairspray?

Also very surprised at Cate Blanchett's nomination for Elizabeth: The Golden Age instead of Keira Knightley for Atonement.

As usual, there were a couple out of far left field - like Ruby Dee for American Gangster and Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose.

Also, as usual, there were a couple of nominations that seem to be based on a strong career, rather than the actual film, e.g. Philip Seymour Hoffman (who was phenomenal in Capote) for Charlie Wilson's War, Laura Linney for The Savages, and Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah.

If only I ran the Oscars....

Quick Media Update

So, I'll be writing a few longer posts soon, but there are a few nuggets I want to share.

1. Dexter is the best television show I've ever seen. (Yes, ever. Even better than Firefly - only by a little.) The season 2 finale is one of the best hours of television ever made. (Yes, it's really that good.)

2. I love Juno. It's everything a movie should be - clever, funny, touching, strange - and it has a cheeseburger phone. Love it!

3. I have completely fallen in love with Jeff & Jen's big screen/flat screen/HD/all the channels on Earth entertainment system and am completely spoiled.

4. Lost is back in 23 days! Yea!!!