Hurricane Sandy aka Frankenstorm Battening Down the Hatches in N.Y.

George Takei in Ib Times

The cinemas are closing.  

AMC, Clearview, Anjelika, City Cinemas, Regal all will close down Sunday evening and Monday leaving New Yorkers to watch movies over the internet.  Read The Hollywood Reporter for the facts.  Think how this can increase streaming dollars.  As Carmegeddon in L.A. increased the number of babies born nine months later, so streaming dollars should show the film industry what a good stay-at-home storm can do.

Distance learning, satellites, storms, epidemics, transportation woes...whole stories remain to be told.  

Peter and I went today to see The Sessions in a sunny L.A. at the Arclight, our favorite L.A. theater. This Fox Searchlight pick-up from Sundance is beautiful and intimate.  I don't usually cry in films, but tears welled up several times to my own surprise.  Helen Hunt was perfect, though I had a problem with her Jewish husband - especially his ugly tattoo, an unexplained missing-of-the-mark which immediately put me off; definitely not kosher in this otherwise authentically told and sincerely felt film.  In all other respects (and maybe the tattoo was the director's decision), casting by Ronnie Yeskel was perfect.  Worth a future blog (on casting, with Ronnie's help) which I hope to do soon.   Hots off also to the location manager, Jerod Parsons.  I loved his choice of that Persian Mikvah on Westwood; I might try it too  one day.  Rhea Pearlman was wonderful.  I thought the spiritual joining of Catholic and Jewish faiths was most interesting, given the subject.  It confirmed to Peter and me that The Bible can be used to confirm every idea known to man (thought not, perhaps, to women).

How lucky we are to be in L.A. enjoying the sunny warm days, although there was an earthquake this morning which woke me up. Thanks to you know who, it was slight. Maybe a 2 or 3 on the Richter Scale?  Haven't heard yet. (Flash 3.9 on the Richter Scale, 7 hours ago at 8:24 AM, preceded by a 7.7 in Canada resulting in a tsumani alert in Hawaii and followed by a jolt in Palm Springs)

Have a good weekend!