Meanderings: August 31, 1999

Tuesday,
August 31, 1999

Well, we finally made it to San Francisco, despite an idiotic clerk at the San Luis Obispo station who whined that she didn't know anything about CalTrack and if we wanted to get to SF we had to take a bus to San Jose and a train to Oakland, then work our way overland. Piss on that -- we got to the San Jose Amtrak station, and the same station also had the CalTrack commuter trains directly into San Francisco. So we blew the San Jose-Oakland Amtrak tickets and bought two commuter tickets into San Francisco -- okay, so it's only 16 bucks wasted, but hey, that could pay for a cheap dinner. Stupid bint.

In any case, we're at yet another Travelodge right near Fisherman's Wharf. Did a short recon this afternoon, had lunch and stopped at Ghiardelli Square for chocolate, then went back to the room and crashed until 9:00 pm, at which point my beloved popped up and suggested a movie. So I dragged my unwilling carcass out of bed, felt a little better after a few minutes (but not that much -- I suspect I've picked up a cold or something similar at the con, which isn't surprising), and we headed off to see BOWFINGER.

Now, I suspect that some people won't get into this movie because that can't conceive of ANYONE going through that much trouble to make a movie. Lyndon and I sat there roaring, because we KNOW people who have done exactly the same thing. The premise is, a down-on-his luck director named Bowfinger (Steve Martin) gets a last chance at success with a script called "Chubby Rain." Unfortunately, to make it work he needs the services of Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy), the most famous black action hero in Hollywood. Unfortunately, Kit thinks Bowfinger is an idiot and refuses to do the movie, which is when Bowfinger gets his brilliant idea -- to film the movie AROUND Kit, using undercover footage of the actor. What BOWFINGER doesn't know is that Kit is going through a bit of a mental downswing, aided and abetted by a hilarious Scientology spoof called MindHead, and the actions of the guerrilla film crew convince Kit that he's being stalked by aliens. Mix in a newbie actress from Ohio with the instincts of a Great White, an older actress who's been doing melodramas WAY too long, an innocently eager stand-in for Kit who just happens to be his brother (Eddie Murphy doing the best geek impression I have ever seen), and a film crew composed of illegal immigrants (watching these three develop into Hollywood veterans over the course of the movie is half the fun), and it just gets insane in places. In any case, the last scene alone was worth the price of the ticket -- I just wonder if Mike Jittlov has seen this yet.

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