• So… a sequel to Donnie Darko is going into production this weekend. The original writer-director, Richard Kelly, says he's "150% not involved" and that he doesn't have rights over the characters. The director is the man behind Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders. There is so much WTF involved here, I don't know where to begin, but maybe it could start with the way the studio tried to throttle the movie upon first release. And now that it's a cult hit anyway, there's a cheapie sequel in the works? FREAKY.
  
  
• That "promoter's ordinance" that would have required local performance venues to have massive insurance and pay potentially prohibitive fees has been tabled for now thanks to community response. It's back in committee for "fine-tuning." Go all you people who spoke out against it. Hope you'll still be up for fighting it when it inevitably comes back again.
  
  
• Last night, catechism proclaimed that her friends are smart and have many varied skills, and would therefore survive any coming zombie apocalypse. She and I and Chris and inediblebuddha subsequently sketched out our survival plan, which includes one hard-and-fast rule: Anybody who gets zombie-bit is honor-bound to tell everyone about it, and not hide it until they turn zombie and kill someone, like some moron seems to do in virtually every zombie film. Unfortunately, while our cunning plan seems to suggest that we'll all end up in a well-defended compound somewhere with plenty of food, water, ammo, weaponry, survival gear, and a nice note from Chris's mom instructing him to drive safely, we're also destined to lose catechism and inediblebuddha early because they're jumpy, impatient people who will say "Fuck this, we're smart, we'll be fine," and charge out amid the zombies while the rest of us are still planning. She has nonetheless threatened to write a bunch of fic about her friends and the zombie apocalypse. I think we should do whatever is necessary to encourage this.

I'm-a feelin': busy

So I missed Fashion Wednesday, and hence the finale of America's Next Top Model, because I had to go to a screening tonight. Who won? The show's site hasn't been updated, and neither has Bravo's. Was it any good? I haven't cared much about the show this season, apart from waiting to see how long Fatima's blend of bitchiness, cattiness, playing drama queen to the cameras, and weeping on cue would play before she got booted. I never thought she'd win, but I figured she'd make it to the finals, and that she was being crafty as hell about being absolutely everything the producers want in a contestant. But now I realize that I really am curious about who came out on top, and whether the finale was any fun.

Now that I think about it, I missed the finale last cycle, too. I was off on my birthday California travel adventure.

I'm-a feelin': curious

So I missed Fashion Wednesday tonight because I was seeing Journey To The Center Of The Earth In 3D, an upcoming film that the makers are touting as a groundbreaking, history-making first digital feature CGI 3D film ever, or some such — there were enough adjectives on the claim to remind me of various tours I've been on that have bragged about Chicago landmarks in terms that seem to have more conditionals than boasts. (For instance, Buckingham Fountain is not the largest fountain in the world, in spite of what some websites say but it IS supposedly the world's largest illuminated, marble fountain.)

Anyway. The film's star, Brendan Fraser, and its director, Eric Brevig, came out beforehand to whip up enthusiasm for the film, and returned afterward for a Q&A, introduced and moderated by Richard Roeper. And Fraser was gooooooo-fy. He took the mic and rambled for a while about how this film was on the "ouchy tippy point of the spear of technology." And about "all the helpful geeks and nerds" who came in and made the film around his acting after the greenscreen shoot was done. And how proud he was to have come up from his "humble frozen caveman beginnings" to be in this film.

After 10 minutes of rambling, he suddenly said "Did I just give a speech, or preach a sermon? Never give an actor an open mic. It's just a bad idea." Then he suddenly dropped his voice an octave and annouced "Excuse me, I'm just going to nip off to Las Vegas and marry my own voice."

The Q&A was pretty bland, with people asking some fairly expected questions about what it was like being on a set with only three actors, and what else the kid co-star had been in, and how the 3D process worked. About the only surprise was an old man with a thick Hungarian-sounding accent who, rather than asking a question, announced to the theater that while he was a fan of Fraser's and had seen many of his movies, he didn't like The Mummy. Without batting an eye, Fraser said "Well, that's too bad, because we just made another one. It'll be out in August. Maybe you'll like it this time — we're going to China."

Another girl started her question for Fraser with "I've been a huge fan of yours for many, many years." He shot back "So have I!"

It was cute and pretty upbeat. Tomorrow I'm interviewing him at his hotel here in Chicago, then immediately talking to the director. I imagine it'll be fun. I'll try not to harsh on The Mummy too hard.

I'm-a feelin': amused