Whom did I see talking into his cell phone outside of The Uptown last night? Harvey Weinstein. (Co-founder of the amazing Miramax Films, for those of you who don't follow these things.) If he hadn't been surrounded by large bodyguards, I might have gone over to talk to him once he got off his cell phone. Here's what I might have said to him: "I love Miramax! Please give me a job!" Why was he at The Uptown, you ask? Well, for the U.S. premiere of Fahrenheit 9/11, of which he is the executive producer.
I was on my way home from traffic school (more on that later) when I noticed something going on outside of the Connecticut Ave. theater and eventually decided to find a parking spot and check it out. Surprisingly, there weren't too many locals hanging out in front, and only a few cameramen and reporters. There was more press and locals at the Cecil B. Demented world premiere in Baltimore, but I guess you'll always get a bigger crowd when there are movie stars involved. There was one protester with a sign, one side of which read: "Democrat Party Left Me When They Turned Against America." The other side had something similar, but the "rat" in "democrat" was emphasized with red marker.
After I'd been standing around for about a half hour, trying to find out from others in the crowd what exactly was going on and when it would happen, the doors opened and the audience started pouring out. In the audience were Art Buchwald, Sally Field, and tons of politicians and talking head types, whom I only vaguely recognized. The most notable was Terry McAuliffe, democratic national committee chairman, who gave a brief red carpet interview on kicking Bush out of office.
Michael Moore himself, of course, was saved for last. He came out to a lot of applause, and I have to say that unlike for most of his public appearances, he cleaned up well for this one. After the crowd chanted "Speech, speech!" Moore said a few words. It was pretty much this: "See my movie tomorrow, yada yada yada, the majority needs to take back this country, yada yada yada." Applause. Then Moore got in his limo and left.
Yes, not very exciting, really, but I'm a total movie nerd so I was pretty excited about seeing Harvey Weinstein.
Wednesday, June 23, 2004 :::
A good article about The Owls. Too bad their summer tour isn't taking them anywhere near here.
Check out "Put Yourself Out" by The Hard Tomorrows, a D.C. band playing at the Black Cat on Monday, June 28. You can't tell much from one MP3, but they sound like they're worth checking out.
Also, listen to the new Fiona Apple track, "Extraordinary Machines," over at melodynelson.com. I'll certainly be checking out that album.
Tuesday, June 22, 2004 :::
Lollapalooza has been cancelled because of poor ticket sales. When I read the headline on stereogum, I thought for a second that it was a joke. Wow... Morrissey, Sonic Youth, PJ Harvey, The Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, String Cheese Incident, Danger Mouse, Von Bondies, The Walkmen, Broken Social Scene, Le Tigre, BRMC, The Datsuns and more, and they couldn't sell enough tickets to go through with it? Just when I had decided that I was going to brave one more sweaty summer festival...
Also via stereogum, stream the new Cure album here.
Monday, June 21, 2004 ::: Franz Ferdinand got lots of D.C. love last night at the sold out (over-sold, most likely) show at the 9:30 Club. The Upstate Life and DC SOB have posted their impressions. I agree with both of them on the fact that Franz Ferdinand put on a tremendous show. To see a band come out of nowhere and get so much adulation so soon is pretty amazing, and I think they deserve it. As a guy standing behind me put it: "They are just so fucking tight. It's perfect." One thing on which I'd have to disagree with DC SOB's rj3 is opening band Delegate. I thought that while they weren't memorable or original, they were entirely serviceable as an opening band, unlike the many painfully terrible opening bands that come through town. The second act, Sons and Daughters, are one of those genre-bending arty bands featuring two guys, two girls and a mandolin. They reminded me of The Rogers Sisters, although Sons and Daughters are less clangy and more country, although both bands have the angular, somewhat spastic sound.
Check out the stereogum comment thread devoted to complaining about a recent FF show at NYC's Webster Hall. Read the MTV review of that show here. Via Gothamist.
01/05: Taint and Bliss present INFAMY, 9:30 Club
01/10: Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton, 9:30 Club
01/19: Benjy Ferree, Meredith Bragg and the Terminals, Greenland, Black Cat 01/24: Hej Hej, Cafe Saint-Ex
