It's not too bad...not as funny as I was hoping for, but not something I'd turn the channel on.

They do the same thing in Times Square at the beginning of Vanilla Sky. I think half of their operating budget must have been spent on bribing people in the government to make that happen.

My friend who's an urban planner in Manhattan just told me it costs nothing to get a permit to shoot in the city but I read in the neighborhood paper in Battery Park City the complaints were RAGING over Will Smith's shoot for I am Legend recently. It included a mob scene with helicopters. I'm assuming the mob was just the outraged neighbors pissed about the crew taking over all the available parking spaces.

This question goes all the way back to Omega Man. I still don't know how they managed those eerie, empty city scenes and highway overpasses.

My friend who's an urban planner in Manhattan just told me it costs nothing to get a permit to shoot in the city but I read in the neighborhood paper in Battery Park City the complaints were RAGING over Will Smith's shoot for I am Legend recently. It included a mob scene with helicopters. I'm assuming the mob was just the outraged neighbors pissed about the crew taking over all the available parking spaces.

The permits are free but the trucks to do a shoot take up enormous amounts of street space, the PAs can be assholes about letting you walk through your own goddamn neighborhood, and a helicopter low enough to shoot is extremely loud. I'd be pissed too.

I'm in favor of raging mobs and would help light the torches.

It's not too bad...not as funny as I was hoping for, but not something I'd turn the channel on.

Yeah, that sums it up. I like what they were trying to do, I think, and the movie they ended up making is an okay way to pass an hour and half.

I finally got around to seeing Pan's Labyrinth and I am totally stunned. I think it is right up there with Belle et Le Bete and just a few other totally excellent fantasy films ever. I'll have to watch a few more times to be sure.

Mirrormask touched me much more than I expected it would and certain moments of it kind of travel with me. Whenever I sense that someone isn't being altogether truthful, I want to ask, "Is that half of a brick? That's a half brick isn't it?"

Last night we rented Grey Gardens, the Maylses brothers documentary that was recently made into a B'way musical. It was amazing, stunning. The commentary (it's a Criterion release) was probably the best commentary I've ever listened to. I feel like these kinds of movies aren't being made anymore, and it's a shame. I want to watch it again. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes documentaries but hasn't seen it yet.

I love Grey Gardens. It's completely absorbing and fascinating and it sticks with you for a long time after.

It's not one of those "Mad Hot Ballroom" movies where a camera is turned on completely average people who charm with their averageness-- these women were made to have a film about them. What a glorious combination of subject and filmmaker(s).