My brother & I went to Sausalito to see a movie that one of our oldest friends wrote & directed.

It's called Jailbait, and one of it's stars is Michael Pitt, who has been in Hedgwig & The Angry Inch and starred in Last Days.

Knowing my friend (Brett C. Leonard) it's not surprising that the movie is very stark & brutal & sad. It's about a kid who gets 25 years for spray painting "Fuck You" on someone's Mercedes because it's his third strike.

It's not in a wide release, you can probably only see it in art theaters in major cities, if at all. There was only one other person in the theater with us!

The dialog was great, and I was laughing aloud many times, and the tension worked very well, too.

But what I noticed most was the personality of my friend coming through. Stories that I have heard over 30 years popped their heads out in the screenplay. Friends who I've known for 30 years were producers, having given money to help finish the project.

I'm very proud because, while it's not The Matrix, it's totally uncompromising. He did it exactly like he wanted to.

It's an odd thing to experience someone you know so well through a channel like this. Has this ever happened to any of you?

No, but it sounds cool!

FunkMistress said:

yes, very fun. I didn't specifically mean a movie, though, but maybe you've read a friend's writing or seen some of their artwork after knowing them as a person for a long time.

I recently joined a band, and I know it was a trip for my friends & family to see me onstage for the irst time, too.

How did they raise the money to make the movie? Did they shoot on film or on DV? Just curious....

And yeah, it's interesting to see someone's personality flow through their work. Most of the time it gives the work a strong "voice" in a very positive sense. But sometimes a voice that is too strong can be limiting, especially for screenwriters that are trying to create different characters with separate personalities.

Yeah, it is weird. A friend and former co-worker of mine played the title character in Cheryl Dunye's "The Watermelon Woman". It wasn't too shocking, because she's really that elegant and pretty in real life...someone just had the good sense to commit her to film.

retina said:

Like I said, some of our lifelong friends gave him money, but I think the bulk was him schmoozing rich art patrons.

The movie isn't the kind that will make money, but it's super artsy/indie, the kind of thing that could give a rich person some artistic cred to have their names attached to.

I think it was shot on film, but I know lots of small movies aren't film anymore, so I'm not totally sure.

It was actually in Tribeca 2 years ago and has won awards some small film festivals.

Somehow he was able to include those elements of his personality without it detracting from the characters. There was no "Woody Allen" character--someone unseperable from the writer.

My brother & I had insights into the writer that other people wouldn't have picked up on, so the movie had inside jokes for us.
[Edited 9/8/06 13:15pm]

Okay--Sausalito is about an hour from where I live...is it playing in the same theatre tonight??

I LOVE MICHAEL PITT!

INSATIABLE said:

Damn, first my show, now this--I'm the last minute master! I think last night was the last night. I just found out it was playing a couple of days ago.

Here's a short not-so-nice review.


http://movies2.nytimes.co..._id=305817

NDRU said:

Man. Link's blocked here at work, but thanks! I'll check on another PC later.

I'll have to keep my eye out for it. Oh, and I still hope to see one of your future gigs!