The Slush Pile

3rd Annual Best of Open Series at Coolidge Corner last night.
I go as "AERO"'s fiscal sponsor, Central Prods, now part of the deal.
And sure enough-- Mr. Michael Bowes is in attendance.
I say my howdy-do & we tentatively plan on meeting next week.
'Supposed to be every six months I check in,
give Michael all the big "AERO" news.
Want to talk to him about a Spring 2008 fundraiser,
maybe meet w/ the "Circuit" guys (another local sci-fi film WIP).

One of the attendees from prior night's Local Sightings "social" is there,
he has a film playing about Jerry Pearlswig,
autograph/celebrity photo hound...
It's one of two good things I see.
The other being "King of Discount Ho's",
a very funny music video w/ an army of clever lyrics,
pitching the high-concept of a bottom-basement pimp
& his less than stellar ensemble of prositutes w/ various irks
ie. rickets, facial hair, octogenerians.
Sort of the Island of Misfit Tricks, if you will.

"Pearlswig" is straight-up doc,
portrait of the now 65 year old collector
showing off his photo album--
any actor of sport celebrity who's been to town,
Jerry's got their flashbulbed portrait...
usually he's side by side. mouth ajar like a fish
or mechanical failure.
I recognize him from a photo print-out
from the copy shop I always used when I worked downtown.
Pudgy, coke-bottle glass Jerry and Denis Franz.
The footage of Jerry in "real-life" aka modest apartment
is out-of-focus.
The filmmaker guy told me it was an old Bolex,
and the spooled film didn't take too kindly to it...
but one of those perfect accidents happens.
Blurry, jittery Jerry in the here-and-now
comes across as daydream. The barrage of photos
and celebrity cameos...
Martin Sheen
Christopher Reeves
Michael Jordan
heck! even Bill Murray's cheek
are weighted more...crystal-clear escape.

Sadly, everything else is pretty awful.
A grab-bag of mac n' cheese.
Lot of it, but sloppy & unsatisfying.
I am genuinely thrilled when
a Youtube-like montage of clip footage depiciting
the conflict in Northern Ireland
plays the entirety of Simple Minds' "Belfast Child".
But that's about it.