April 14 movie: Living in Oblivion. I had seen this before a couple of years ago, which is a good thing because I had it on while I was doing my taxes (why yes, I do my taxes at the last minute. Every year. In fact I'm rather bummed that my taxes are now so complicated that I can no longer do them on the evening of the 15th like I used to). Because this movie is so funny that if I had been watching it for the first time I would never have been able to pay attention to my schedules A, C and E.
I used to be friends with a woman who worked in film in NY and she said that Living in Oblivion's unglamorous view of independant film-making is spot-on, from the exploding fog machine to the spoiled milk to the beat up old station wagon to pick up the actors. Also I heard that the "Chad Palomino" character is a parody of Brad Pitt, with whom the director, Tom DiCillo, worked on Johnny Suede. Watching with that in mind, it makes a lot of sense. The guy playing Chad, James leGros, did have a Pitt-ish manner about him. I wonder if Chad's halitosis problem is shared by Pitt as well.
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What a terrific film. B and I stumbled across it by accident a few years back, and loved it. The few people I know who are actual New York actors who have seen it attest to its authenticity, as well. And it's got some of the most creative use of b&w vs. color I've ever seen.