BEFORE: I'm back from San Diego and San Francisco - Comic-Con was a financial success, and it looks like I will be going back next year, but beyond that, the future is uncertain. The boss doesn't think it's a very profitable endeavor, even though we had record sales - admittedly, he does have to pay for his flight, his hotel, my hotel, the cost of the booth, the cost of the merchandise... I've got to crunch the numbers later this week to show him just how profitable it was. We did take credit cards for the first time, so I have a feeling the numbers will tell a good story.
As for San Francisco, my visit to a certain movie company in Marin County got scrubbed, due to circumstances beyond my control. My contact there was busy off-site, so a tour was out of the question. I tried to make the best of it and see as many of the tourist sites in the city of San Francisco as I could. I took a tour of the Presidio (thanks to an absolutely insane cab driver), popped into the ILM lobby for some pics, then walked to Ghirardelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf, visited the Musée Mechanique (an archive of arcade games dating back to the early 1900's), took a boat tour around Alcatraz and under the Golden Gate Bridge, walked up some big hills, saw Lombard St., and wrapped it all up at the House of Prime Rib.
Getting back was an adventure - thanks to bad weather in New York, my flight time kept changing. Even after boarding, we sat in the plane for about two hours before it took off. They played the inflight movie ("The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel") while we were still on the ground, but I didn't watch it since that would have broken up my chain. Finally we took off, and I got in to JFK airport around 11 pm, and just paid for a cab home.
Speaking of my chain, when I left off it was a film about actors, and I think this one continues in that vein. Incredibly, Richard Griffiths from "Stage Beauty" carries over into this one, and I didn't plan that.
THE PLOT: Life for a pair of veteran actors gets turned upside down after they meet a brash teenager.
AFTER: Essentially, this is intended as a romance story, but a very unusual one. The romance is between a much older actor and a young, brash, twenty-something (?) girl. The girl is the granddaughter (or daughter of his niece, or something) of the actor's best friend, and while the age difference (and, um, certain physical limitations) prevent them from having the typical physical relationship, he is content to take her shopping, or out to dinner, provided he gets to kiss her shoulder, or smell her neck. Really, it's not creepy at all - OK, so it's kind of creepy.
Hey, just because Gramps is on a diet doesn't mean he can't look at the menu. The spirit may be willing, even if the flesh is weak. And it works both ways - she eventually learns she can get nice clothing, or that tattoo she's had her eye on, if she goes out on a "date" or flashes a little leg. Really, what's the harm?
I do wish that the film had a point to make, other than that old men are kind of pervy. I'm trying hard to find the life lesson or a little bit of wisdom beyond what obvious actions were on the screen, and it isn't easy. Maybe that the older folks are more experienced, and they don't have time to play the same little love games that the young folks do - they just know what they want, and are prepared to ask for it.
I could make a stretched connection here and tie this to Comic-Con - after 10 trips out to San Diego, I'm now something of a grizzled veteran. I can pack for the event without forgetting anything, and every year I learn a few new tricks, or as my BFF Andy says, each time I go, I get a little less dumb. The people who are there for the first time don't know all the tricks, but they eventually learn. I'm like the old, worn-out actor in "Venus" - I know just what I want out of Comic-Con, which is this week's comics, a couple t-shirts, some nice dinners in town, and a beer float or two. I've got it down to a simple routine, and I more or less stick to it.
The newbies still have this wide-eyed optimism that they can somehow see it all in four days (they can't) or believe they'll get some concrete information about the upcoming plot of the latest sci-fi blockbuster (I kind of doubt it) or that their life will somehow be enhanced by buying that hot new collectible toy (yeah, right).
From the trip to San Francisco, where nothing seemed to go completely right, but I had a blast anyway, I learned it's good to have a back-up travel plan in place, and that I'm not so set in my ways that I can't visit a new city once in a while, and just amble around, getting to know it. With the help of my smart phone and suggestions from Andy and Twitter people, I had plenty of options.
Also starring Peter O'Toole (last seen in "The Lion in Winter"), Jodie Whittaker, Leslie Phillips, Vanessa Redgrave (last seen in "Anonymous").
RATING: 4 out of 10 modeling gigs
I am glad to hear your Comic Con trip was profitable, especially that it sounds like you will be going next year.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the trip to some movie (well not really movie, more like post production...) company in Marin county. What company could it be...?