I saw Jeanine Heller at Argrove (sp.) on Hillhurst this morning. She was eating some omlet and having coffee–Damn shes skinny, she looks skinny in films like Spiral, but shes thinner/delicate in person. Shes gorgeous, she has that audrey hepburn mixed w/ some angelina jolie look thing going. I hope to see more of her round-i think shes getting more main stream now–moving on from indies.
Also saw Giavanni Ribisi (I am terrible at spelling) at the same spot last week. I love him

I saw the guy who played Newman on Seinfeld at Trader Joe’s this afternoon. The celebs are out in full force!

I literally ran into k.d. lang at the Arclight a while back. She was very nice, considering I nearly knocked her to the ground.

I saw Lisa Loeb at the Spiderman 2 premiere at the Arclight, with some guy who wasn’t Dweezil Zappa (I found out later that they had broken up a while ago, but I was surprised at the time; plus, I was surprised she was in L.A.).

I also saw Tony Shaloub (sp?) outside the El Capitan, but that wasn’t as recent.

I’ll say it again in support of the Arclight:

Two words: Viggo Mortensen

And I was there to see The Two Towers, so yeah. Also, he was with Karl Urban, who plays Eomer, if anyone cares.

Screw all that — can I get an OMG around here for HERO? I just got back from seeing it at the Arclight and it was SO! MINDBLOWINGLY! AWESOME! I want to have every single one of Jet Li’s babies. Has anyone seen the sequel, which is apparently already out in Asia? HERO is like, two years old.

Also, I did not see any famous persons in meatspace there tonight. I am a luzer.

I think I need to see it again. It was be-u-ti-ful but I was seriously bored by a lot of it. I think I need to just be in a better mood. My foot was killing me the entire movie and there was an idiot sitting next to me. Not you Mike, on the other side :-)

Totally. Crouching Tiger it ain’t. Very different kind of film than the asian action flicks US auds are accustomed to. It was like a long, beautiful tableau — more like a painting than a film. That’s evidently why Miramax sat on it for two years, and why it reportedly took Tarantino’s support for the film to be released at all. Unlike JD I had nice people on both sides and my feet were unmashed — so I gave it two thumbs up.

I loved _Hero_ as well – it actually gave me a greater appreciation for my culture, which rarely interests me. A Korean friend of mine, however, had mixed feelings. I’m not quite sure how to explain it, but he was sort of afraid that its significant presentation of Chinese philosophy and mythology/folklore would perpetuate the idea that Asians are “exotic”, and keep us from ever becoming completely accepted in American society, regardless of whether or not Westerners appreciate or like the film or Asian cultures in general. (Sadly enough, his dismay is primarily driven by the difficulty he’s had trying to find himself a Caucasian girlfriend – quite a few Caucasian women have told him they don’t date Asian men. I’ve never encountered that.)

Personally, I like being thought of as exotic – unless it’s the _NewsRadio_ definition of “exotic” (which is “ugly”). And I thought that the movie, while a little light on action compared to standard fare, was much more interesting than the usual hackneyed revenge-driven plot. It’s certainly preferable to _Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle_, which my friend actually applauded for its attempt at demystifying Asian men (though he admits it’s probably a crap movie).

BTW, the fight with Sky in the chess parlor was the coolest.

Yeah, the fight with Sky was amazing. Loved it. The action pretty much trailed off from there though.

And tell your buddy not to despair about difficulty with Caucasian women. I can’t get a Caucasian girlfriend either and I AM Caucasian…

Oh yeah, any word on Viviane? I sent over a get well basket but haven’t been by.

>I’ll say it again in support of the Arclight:
>Two words: Viggo Mortensen
>And I was there to see The Two Towers, so yeah. Also, he was >with Karl Urban, who plays Eomer, if anyone cares.

When Two Towers was open, we saw Elijah Wood at The Grove. He was going into a theater across the hall from the TT showing. That’s got to be a weird feeling.

Viviane was released from the hospital Thursday night. I saw her very briefly Saturday afternoon. It looks like she’s more or less back to work, but I’m not positive about that (she was in and out of the restaurant). She has a neck brace, a lower back brace, is on medication, and is in a lot of pain – she can barely move. It was heartbreaking to see her that way.

MRHOOKS, I hear you/your pal 100%. I wonder if the solution there isn’t so much that we need fewer far-out fantasy flicks like Hero, but the need for more everyday representations. Other kinds of features from Asian directors and/or about Asian or Asian-american characters just aren’t getting distribution. The stories are out there. THe talent’s out there. But to a great extent, their movies aren’t.

Just don’t mention _The Joy Luck Club_. At least, not around Asian males.

Films such as _Hero_ come with an automatic bias, being that they are foreign; because there aren’t many domestic films that feature an Asian lead, Asians will continue to be considered as foreign as the films they are in. And just as you don’t see homosexuals kiss on broadcast TV, you don’t see Asian men kiss non-Asian women. Well, aside from _The Lover_.

I also wonder if part of the problem (as perceived by my friend) is due in part to the US’s geographical and cultural isolation from (most of) the rest of the world. Maybe my friend needs to go after more artsy, open-minded women…though sometimes it comes with problems of its own…

Sorry to hijack the thread. The Arclight rules! :D

Way to hijack, Mr. Hooks, heh.

I think my coolest star sighting was helping James Spader buy a videogame for his kid at the Toys R Us on La Cienega north of the 10 Freeway about two years ago. ^_^

Ah! The Arclight brings L.A. together! We’ve seen King Buzzo from The Melvins, Eric Idle, Quentin Tarantino, and Selma Blair there (though not all at the same time).

I love the Arclight. Best. Theatre. Ever. I’ve seen a few sticom actors attending films there, but the best celeb sighting I had was at a screening of Return of the King in the Dome. Dominic Monaghan showed up to speak to the audience for a few minutes. Totally unplanned. He wandered in after he realised Amoeba was closed. He showed up too early and was trying to find a way to kill a little time until it opened. Thanks Dom!

Dude, Jeanine Heller is Angelina Jolie’s 1/2 sister-I just found that out.
ps. I love newman

jeanine heller is not anjelina jolie’s half sister