Until recently, I’ve only seen two documentaries by Martin Scorsese. The epic 4-hour Journey into Movies, which I had got my hands on through Netflix DVD mail delivery back sometimes in the 2000s, and “Public Speaking” on HBO about the fascinatingly articulate New Yorker Fran Lebowitz.
Because of the upcoming release of The Irishman, Scorsese has been promoting his work publicly by making appearances, he has since been in the Bay Area at the historic Castro theater. The Irishman was all sold out, except for a stand by list. But, there were tix to him introducing and screening his latest doc about Bob Dylan, “Rolling Thunder“.
It’s always been on my wish list to meet Scorsese in person. Like Tarantino, I don’t think he hob nobs with the public (or make an appearance at a Con), other than speaking on occasion. I don’t think I will ever get Scorsese to sign my copy of Taxi Driver*. But, I did catch a glimpse of him “making an escape” after he spoke last week. He prob needed to pee. I caught it on video.
I admit I have never finished any of Hideo Kojima’s games except for P.T. But, that’s more than I can say for this guy who’s never played a single Kojima game. Some have called him overrated… but I’m fascinated in a nerd culture kinda way because of his love for scifi and movies, which inspires him. He’s written his love for that stuff, but not as a critic, but as a fan. He also has a YouTube channel that I’ve subscribed, but haven’t consumed of much yet. #TooMuchContent
That being said, I was lucky enough to have met the guy (however brief) at a Gamestop in San Carlos. I met up with Artie, barely lucky in time, to join him in line before the 200 ppl maximum cap. This was for the #WorldStrandTour. No cameras, no handshakes, and Kojima seemed super shy. He signed my copy of Death Stranding, and, I just bowed to him. He returned a smile in kind. The Men In Black security was a bit much, but, for the record, they were efficient in keeping in line the few lucky ones to have met Kojima.
Bo! was able to RSVP a “secret screening” of Netflix’s “My Name Is Dolemite“. It was in a secret location in San Francisco (well, not super secret but a super limited screening). We got there first. I’d say the room sits at most 30 people, which eventually filled up to about half.
A Netflix rep was there, but no Eddie Murphy. We always assume we’re gonna meet the stars whenever we attend events, both Bo and I, as we tend to be super lucky to meet celebs on most occasions. The rep seemed stressed, but she explained to us the purpose of the screening was so the movie could qualify for a possible Oscar nomination. Same thing is being done with The Irishman.
Overall, the film was inspiring and fun, and Wesley Snipes even has a hilarious role in it. There was one musical scene with Eddie Murphy singing with an actress, I never caught her name, but the tune kept nagging me in my head, which I later found out was “Ballad of a Boy and a Girl“. It’s since been on repeat rotation for me on YouTube while I’m WFH.
#TooMuchContent
Had dinner with my hetero-life mates Rob & Doris, and Alan, and we chatted our nostalgia for King Norman’s Toy Kingdom store with games we grew up on like Axis & Allies, Castles & Catapults, and… the infamous, elusively expensive Dark Tower game. I didn’t realize, besides voicing Unicron in Transformers Movie (1986), Orson Welles final appearances include having lent his voice to the Dark Tower commercial. This brings me back to my D&D days of just wanting to immerse myself in fantasy story telling.
By this time, two things I should have consumed… watched Rick & Morty S4 and watched The Mandalorian. I’m part of the later group that had lost interests in the Star Wars universe, I was a bit skeptical about The Mandalorian, but also intrigued, because Jon Favreau was the one heading this project (Chef was amazing!). With so many rumors and speculations about a Star Wars series floating around, I never knew what news was real. It’s healthy to be skeptical. And, it won’t fail that Lucas will do more tweaking. I gotta stop bitchin’ & moanin’ and create my own Star Wars project. I have built my own SW canon on my shelf. I am still a fan.
To revisit my comment about probably never having to get to meet Scorsese ever signing any of his work for me, the closest spiritual/meta thing to happen, tho, is to having met documentarian/author Paul Duncan at the luxury Taschen bookstore in L.A. at the Grove. It was a lucky random encounter where he had authored over 50 Taschen books including ones about Scorsese and esp. “Taxi Driver”. We chatted a bit about his friendship with Scorsese, and I was in awww. And, Of course, he signed me a copy of his book.
The rest of #toomuchcontent
BOOKSTORES: How to Read More Books in the Golden Age of Content (YouTube)
Netflix Reacts to Disney Plus (YouTube)
Taxi Driver A Study of Masculinity & Existentialism (YouTube)
The Toys that Made Us S3 (Netflix)