Miscellaneous: Come Blow Your Own Horn

Various commitments are keeping me from delivering work of the high standard I’ve set here at the ol’ internet homestead. But I can’t slack off, not when I’ve received concrete proof that I am A Force For Good In My Time. In recent days, I have:

- Convinced the eminently sensible Bill Crider to record The Gong Show Movie.

- Gotten my whip-smart nephew Luke to fall in love with “the Budapest underground murder mystery thriller romance dark comedy Kontroll.”

- Helped a total stranger discover the miracle that is Out of the Past. If you search for the dialogue exchange from the movie that was featured in the Oscar tribute to film noir, this site comes up first. Meaning that I have Robert Mitchum’s back.

- Persuaded my friend Mike to use his Barnes & Noble gift card on two Mickey Spillane classics.

As Mike himself told me: “You’re changing lives, dude.” Yes. Yes, I am. Now if I can only get a few more people to watch The Apple, I’d be in business.

TV: The American Idol Exchange Of The Day

Simon Cowell: This stage either makes you, or it breaks you.

Me, dripping with sarcasm: Well said.

Ryan Seacrest, simultaneously and without a trace of irony: Well said.

Miscellaneous: Links

Yet another reason to be in New York: the Film Forum’s Don Siegel retrospective. Oh, to see Charley Varrick on the big screen. And four diaries offer a day in the life of Hollywood.