Will "Man of Steel" Steal The Summer Box Office? YES!!

June 14th. Mark your calendars. The "Man of Steel" returns to theaters. Thank you, Warner Bros!

No, it is not a sequel but a serious re-boot to a story that has captured the imagination of kids and adults alike since 1938. I must admit I was a little disappointed in "Superman Returns" but the fact that I bought a dvd of it anyway tells you something about how deeply rooted this character is in our national psyche or at least mine.

These days, movie tickets are not cheap and if you get the munchies, forget it... you are screwed. The average working class movie lover is forced to be judicious in where they are investing their allotted "cinema" budget.

If I have to save my pennies from today forward, I will be viewing the "Man of Steel" on the big screen! With Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Lawrence Fishburne, Michael Shannon and Russell Crowe attached, you have a strong indication that the story is not just popcorn fluff and may have some real depth to it. If you were a fan of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, one can only imagine how his involvement as producer stirred the creative juices of Zack Snyder as a director.

I am excited! In case anyone is on the fence, I am attaching the latest trailer of the "Man of Steel."

You watch this and tell me you aren't ready to take another ride with Superman!

I dare ya!

      

Friday Screening of "The Americans" in the No Ho Arts District

Last night I had the pleasure of getting to view an advanced screening of the season finale of "The Americans".

I LOVED IT!

I usually don't watch the season finale of a television series if I have not actually watched the whole season. Unfortunately, I don't have cable and The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was holding a free screening last night. One of the perks of being a member of SAG-AFTRA is the variety of free or low cost industry events. Most of these events are held at the main office in the Mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles. However, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is in the NoHo Arts District and a few blocks from my apartment. How could I refuse? When my friend Theresa called with an extra ticket I said what the hell, let's do it!. I am not "Mr. Industry Networker" but I figured this would at least get me out and about on a Friday night.

Goldenson Theater

I arrived at 7pm, choosing to park on the street so I had time to stroll the NoHo Arts District which is finally after living here for years is slowly developing a cultural pulse. The courtyard of the Academy had a tasteful sculpture garden of celebrity busts. Hahha! Yes, by that I mean, the heads of famous television stars from Milton Berle to Bob Hope to Carol Burnett and many many more. I made my way through the crowd to find Theresa who was patiently waiting at the entrance of the Leonard H. Goldenson Theater. This was my first time there and it was beautiful. There is something magical about walking into a grand theater space. The curtains, the carpeting, the energy of the room all make you feel you are a part of something special and invite you to enjoy yourself  Okay... sorry, I digress, but what actor does not simply love a good theater?

The evening was sponsored by F/X Network (We were all asked not to give away any secrets so there will be no spoilers to ruin your viewing experience!)
 
I fell in love with the show. Set it the 80's, the series deals with Russian spies living in America as an everyday married couple with two kids as they do their thing during the COLD WAR. I was intrigued, partially because everything was new to me but the acting was stellar and the story lines were intelligently thought out. I actually plan to pick up the Season 1 dvd when it is available so I can catch up.

The best part of the evening was, surprisingly, the panel discussion with the creators and some of the cast. The leads of the cast are Mathew Rhys and Keri Russell. Keri was in Canada taping an upcoming "Planet of The Apes" movie but sent a clip to say hello and apologize for her absence. Matthew stole the night!  I was always a fan of Matthew Rhys from his days on the ABC series "Brothers and Sisters". This character he plays, in "The Americans" is compelling and his chemistry with Keri Russell is apparent. We soon discovered he is also amazingly funny. He had the audience in the palm of his hands with his Welsh charm and razor sharp wit. Another member of the cast, Margo Martindale, who plays Claudia on the series was not only funny in real life but riveting on screen. Margo is an amazing character actress who I fell in love with while watching her sweet and moving portrayal of  a lonely middle aged tourist in "Paris, Je T'Aime".

Panel discussions are often hit or miss. They could be thought-provoking or boring as hell. For a series that is so dramatic and serious in it's tone, the cast kept the audience in stitches for the entire panel discussion. You could not help but enjoy yourself.
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I may need to check out a few more of these free screening events. The opportunity to ask questions of the creators on their creative vision and the actors on their process is valuable on its own, but to be able to view high quality film and television screenings for free in an industry setting can't be beat. It may also help me get over my issues with "networking" that I have on my list of business responsibilities I need to improve.  Sounds like a plan.

I am not exactly a social butterfly but I must admit, I had a great time last night. We capped things off with a late night dinner and a delicious chocolate at my neighborhood diner called Sittons. I went home happy and even found a new series worth checking out for both the entertainment value as well as a resource for studying good acting.

A full night and I still woke up in time for my 7 am run in Griffith Park. I couldn't ask for anything more!

Making "Blog Catalog" Work For Me

When I first set up my blog, I went through a period where after writing a number of posts, I got a little obsessed with the idea of driving traffic to my site. For the most part my blog is more of a personal journal of my life and journey as an actor. However, every blogger is human and inevitably you fall into that "traffic" nightmare until you snap out of it and get back on track.

I signed up for a variety of blog registries. Some are useful, others are so complicated that they sacrifice flashiness for ease of use.In the end, I find myself only really invested in one. Blog Catalog. It could be just my personality but I get bored with jumping from one registry to the next trying to raise my visibility. I don't have the time for that nonsense. Eventually, I noticed that I usually visited Blog Catalog not to drive traffic to my site but to check out other blog sites that interest me and to join in thought-provoking and enjoyable discussions with other bloggers around the world. The fact is my Blog Value rank on the site is 12. I have absolutely no idea how that value is determined or how to raise it and frankly, I don't care all that much.

As I slowly engage in discussions, I am intrigued by the comments of other bloggers and that in turn entices me to check out some of their posts. That process works well for me. I have read more blogs as a result and the access to viewing other blogs is easy to understand and navigate so my tech-resistant brain does not  put up a fight.

I know I sound like a shameless promoter of this registry but, when something works for me, I like to share it. As you can see from my prior post, I mentioned wanting to work on making a paradigm shift in my thinking. My first step was to re-vamp an idea I had a while ago of making a mission statement for my life and career. The plan is to use this mission statement as a tool similar to what Bob Proctor mentioned in the posted YouTub
e clip, I figured if I create a personal mission statement and drive it into my subconscious mind over an extended period of time, the results would be a tangible benchmark of the effectiveness of this  method.

As I thought more about this, my mind recalled a post by Darin L. Hammond, a Blog Catalog blogger. He wrote about creating mission statements and provided resource links that I plan on using to help me with my new endeavor.

In case there may be any doubt, I do not work for Blog Catalog in any form but I will probably be referring to it often in future blogs because when I find any inspiration I am not going to pretend I came up with the ideas  myself. I prefer to give credit to any blogger who helped me along the way or who simply wrote something so engaging I want to share.
 
With that in mind, I have provided a link to Darin's post in case anyone reading is interested in creating a mission statement of their own  . Check it out.

http://www.zipminis.com/20/post/2013/04/mission-statements-the-ultimate-guide.html#.UXsbDEqi-Lg

Exploring The Subconscious Mind and Paradigm Shifts For Inspiration & Creative Transformation

As I continue down my road of self-discovery and creative transformation, I cannot help but find myself traversing the "YouTube" landscape for the random whiff of inspiration. Last night I stumbled across these YouTube clips by Bob Proctor. They gave my left brain some food for thought as to how to get myself and my thoughts moving in the direction I want my life to go.





What I enjoyed about both clips is the presentation of information without the "woo woo" feel of many self-help books etc.

I want to explore the concept of making a paradigm shift in my thinking. Having recently come to realize how much I have incorporated unconsciously a "victim mentality" while assuming consciously I had let go of  certain scars from my teen aged struggles, I know "change" will not be instant. If anything, I see that what you accept into your mind as true over the years, won't go away without putting in the work to replace that thinking at the core where it lives. I'm not looking for a quick fix, but a method or two I can incorporate into my daily routine that might just produce some results. Anything worth achieving is worth working hard for.

We shall see what comes of this journey down a road less traveled...

Memories of A Dream: "Twin Peaks"

As I was surfing the Blog Catalog site, reading an array of interesting posts, I came across blogger DaleCooper57's post called "Into The Woods" which discussed the phenomenal series "Twin Peaks".
Check it out:

http://dalecooper57.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/into-the-woods/


To say I loved this show is an understatement.

During my time as a student at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, my classmates and I were knee deep in the intense study of our craft. All of us dreaming of the future and the desire to make a living doing what we loved. ACTING.

Conservatory training was our day job from 9 am to 6pm Evenings were filled with rehearsals of scenes or projects we were involved in. Yet, when "Twin Peaks" came on, a group of us would gather together, drawn in by the surrealism and masterful storytelling of David Lynch.

David Lynch made it undeniably clear that what we were watching was art, like you've never seen on television before. I was hooked and frankly unnerved by what I watched as I found myself compelled to see where he was going to take us and how.

I remember watching the dream sequence was like a revelation, I was not only freaked out by Bob, but the feeling I was swept up into an actual dream. Nothing I have seen on television before or since has inspired me more creatively. It was in my opinion groundbreaking for its time.

I hope to one day  be involved in something as an actor that affects an audience as much as this clip below did for audiences when it aired.

Enjoy..   

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Dear Google, Yahoo, Facebook & OutLook.Com: Your War for My Email is Driving Me CRAZY!

I am what you would call techno-resistant. I accept that I live in an age when technology is literally exploding with new advances aimed, or so they say, to make my life run easier. However it feels more like a continual vomiting of complicated changes to devices and, frankly, areas of my life that were working pretty well, thank you very much. All of these intrusions have forced me to change the way I organize my life and time and I am getting annoyed.

Will this madness ever end or will I eventually develop the new neural pathways that don't make all these intrusions feel like a pain in my ass?

I have been cruising along quite nicely with one email for Facebook notices, registering for things, getting email subscriptions etc, another for family and friends, another for business and my newest one for my blog.
But have you noticed everyone once you to make their place your one site to do everything? I liked the old format for yahoo, Outlook wants to profile me, Facebook wants to know every minute detail of my life, and Google just confuses the hell out of me. I am in "circles" and I have no idea how I got there or how to invite someone into a "circle". I have to take a tutorial just to figure out what is going on from one site to the next.

On-line Relationships

I am a generally private person. I don''t want to have to work this hard to communicate with for the most part...strangers.  Am I no longer allowed to ease into knowing someone before I call them a "friend" on-line? I believe they are trying to overwhelm you with so much stuff you will: 

1. only do this for one site and phase out the other from sheer exhaustion
2. You will be so confused you will give out more information for them to sell to advertisers than commonsense would ever allow you to do in your right state of mind.

Am I exaggerating? I don't think so. We are stuck in a race to own your personal information.

New Gadget Mania

You know "Skype" has arrived when my 86 year old mother is about to get her first computer so she can see her sister in Guyana and chat. This technology makes sense to me as a great convenience. I have held out for the simple fact I want to be able to sit at my computer and not worry if I look presentable or must I clean up my room in case I get a skype call. Uggh. Not appealing.

Now if I am honest, I would be able to manage if this technology war was just about my computer. Unfortunately, you are just not hip if you don't "Tweet". No thank you. I draw the line at Twitter. I am avoiding Twitter as long as possible. 

I-pods are great but I-Pads? Really? A laptop was just too inconvenient? Ipads may be the wave of the future but I will stay in my computer life raft until I am FORCED to adapt. And I do mean FORCED as is the case with my cellphone.

Texting Nightmares

I do not enjoy the phone in general. The idea of a cellphone completely annoys me. I enjoyed the days when you could not reach me on my cellphone that I am now "required" to take with me everywhere at all times. In case my friends want to text me some stupid comment about a subject I could care less about as I try to live my own life.

The fact that so many people have died needlessly that we have to have campaigns to tell folks not to text/talk and drive, boggles my mind! You are driving tons of steel and turning it into a killing machine because your life is so important you can't stop talking and drive safely? I don't care who is calling me I know that "multi-tasking" is a myth and I also know I will not do well in prison so I will not be making any trips to that hellhole because of a damn text.


Data Plan My Way To The Poorhouse

I have for years gotten by with a regular cell phone. Now, as I coach actors for auditions, it seems too difficult to get actors to text or god forbid call to schedule an appointment. Usually this was never a problem. However, it would seem that checking and responding to emails on one's I- Phone is so popular, actors can't differentiate between sending me a text and sending me an email. So I have lost a few coaching gigs because they sent me an email from their cell instead of sending me a text. Who checks email 24 hours a day? I must enter the I-Phone Universe or continue to be behind the business curve as more and more Entertainment Industry professionals adapt this technology into their work lives. My already stretched budget must make room for the nightmarish cost of data plans which I have so cleverly avoided until my professional back is up against the wall. What's next? Mandatory wi-fi so hackers can rob me of whatever personal info my email service providers have not already sold?

I have until May 18th until my old cell plan expires and I take the "red" pill, entering the I-Phone Matrix never to return the same techno-resistant state I love and adore. 

I know I know. Stop ya bitchin' and move on.  These days you either get on board the technology train or it will run you over because the conductor will be too busy texting or tweeting  to care.

    
   

 

  

Keeping the Faith, Eating "Humble Pie" and Trusting My Career Will Keep Chugging Along.

Well, I am in the midst of a slow period with my acting auditions.  

I admit I am not one of those actors who is a networking expert, keeping my face in the consciousness of casting directors. I haven't had many auditions recently so, no opportunity to book a new job. It will pass, I am sure but it kinda sucks all the same. 

 It's at these times when you have to do what you can to reassure your agent and manager that you are still relevant. Otherwise, they may lose that "umph" you need them to have to get your pic and resume in front of casting. It is hard enough to keep myself going, I can't afford to have them "lose the faith". 

Regardless, I am refusing to give in. I am doing my best to hone my craft and dig deep into myself to resolve whatever creative blocks may be holding me back. I am doing my part to make sure when my preparation meets with opportunity, success will be the result. That also means I also have to step out of my comfort zone and ask for help when I need it.

At the risk of seeming like a self-promoting tool, I am gonna put it out there and ask folks who happen to visit my blog to do me a favor. 

Please visit my IMDB page using the link below. 


An actor's IMDB page not only displays the television and film work the actor has done. It is also ranked so industry professionals can get a sense of what audience interest is out there for the given actor and their potential fan base. Without any recent work, my IMDB numbers are plummeting. If you feel like performing a random act of kindness, visit my site and if you are feeling generous, "click the Facebook "Like" button on the right hand side of my IMDB page where it shows how many folks like this actor. I know I know, it sounds cheesy but it would be a great help and won't cost you a thing but a minute of your time!!!!  


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0195448/

Hey, I am invested in making my acting career a thriving reality. A little humble pie is a small price to pay to live dreams.  Thanks in advance. 

Okay, I'm done.  Remember, LIFE IS GREAT...WHEN YOU LET IT!