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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

BYOB Weekend

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29 Responses to “BYOB Weekend”

  1. LexG says:

    Since I started here, I’ll end it here:

    Officially announcing the retirement of the LexG character for the foreseeable future. Due to bankruptcy and severe, severe depression issues, I’m having to leave Los Angeles and give up on all my dreams.

    I’m moving back to the hotbed of action and vag that is my hometown of Blawnox, Pennsylvania. I have a job set up working at a relative’s TIRE STORE. Guess I will live out the rest of my days as a sober tire salesman. Maybe I’ll meet a nice rural PA housefrau there or something.

    But fifteen years in LA… Not only did I not succeed, I barely even tried.

    Thanks for the good times.

  2. BrandonS says:

    Frequent reader, infrequent commenter, but I will break my streak of lazy non-commenting to say I’ll miss you, Lex (or you AND Lex, depending on how much Lex is you and how much you is Lex, or however your personal Malkovichian brain-tunnel works). Don’t tell the others, but you’re my favorite. Take care, and take care of yourself. I think you’re swell.

  3. Peng says:

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
    I will miss your posts here and on HE.
    You are the best commentator I’ve read so far,and you’ve got character!
    Please consider to write your own blog in future.

    Peng – a fan of LexG from Singapore

  4. IOv3 says:

    Man, that sucks Lex, but at least you have a job. That has to count for something in this horrible economy. You at least will be by a ton of Hollywood productions in the foreseeable future.

  5. shalini21 says:

    I started following MCN recently, and in such a short time I became ur fan. Your each comment is so insightful. I am gng to miss you terribly. Hope you’ll join us back again and good luck for your new beginning.

  6. Anghus says:

    Lex, do a doc about your time in l.a. and moving back to PA. Briliant opportunity.

  7. Danny says:

    That’s exactly what I was going to say: Lex’s best opportunity at movie stardom, ironically, has never been as attainable as it is now… a Lex doc would be real Sundance material.

  8. Anghus says:

    Theres a million stories about people moving to Hollywood to follow their dreams. How many tell the story of someone giving them up?

    It writes itself.

  9. Joe Leydon says:

    LexG: Please keep in touch. Seriously.

  10. Missy says:

    I`m going to miss you Lex <3

  11. Triple Option says:

    Lex, this one’s for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K0q74jtV8s

    Sorry to see you go and yet I can see how this can be very good for you. Many of your contributions were timeless. You made a lot of people laugh and think. Very commendable. Not to say you didn’t have your, uh, moments, I’m glad that you at least tried.

    Get well! Peace & God’s speed ~

  12. StevenRS says:

    Listening to this in honor of the great LexG

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqQLbWS4CQo&feature=related

    Ultimately leaving LA in defeat, affects me more than anything I saw at the cinema last year.

    Heartbreaking.

  13. Al says:

    If the documentary is impractical there’s always the old fashioned option: you’ve obviously got a way with words- write a (LexG) book. That could really be something.

    Your presence will be sorely missed.

  14. sanj says:

    hey LexG – you need your own entry into wikipedia

    puff daddy changed his name to p.diddy …

    will you change your name and be back like 6 months from now ?

  15. Clean Steve says:

    Lex, while I am an infrequent commentator here, I read it every day. And allow me to reach out to you in a reasonably serious manner as I, too, am under-going a life change. I am getting divorced after 16 years of marriage and 3 children. I am moving, 2 weeks from today, into an apartment wherein I will embark on a lifestyle modeled after Kirk Van Houten, after he moved into the Bachelor Arms apartment complex. He still gets to see Milhouse, but has to deal with his ex-wife dating former American Gladiators. I expect to see my ex rolling down the road in a giant hamster ball someday.

    My point? Man’s dreams are the devil’s pudding. We all have to go through crap like this sometime. So feel for you and send as many good vibes as I can spare. Or to make it more Kirk Van Houtenish, you CAN borrow a feeling.

    Unless, your having one over on all of us then you can eat dick. Just covering myself there.

  16. Clean Steve says:

    Oddly, I’m watching A Serious Man on HBO right now. “Look at the parking lot, Larry. Look at that parking lot.”

  17. JKill says:

    Just want to say Lex that I’ve been reading these boards for years now, and I’ve greatly enjoyed and appreciated what you’ve written here but also your genuine enthusiasm for all things film. Good luck with everything man. Wish you the best.

  18. anghus says:

    the doc would be easy. logistically, you’d need a day filming around l.a. landmarks for cutaways. you’d want to conduct interviews with lex while in l.a. Afterthoughts and lamentations don’t really have the same impact as filming him there in the final days before leaving.

    filming styles would have to change. hand held in l.a. static shots in PA. Once back in PA, the camera would never move. large, picturesque shots. In l.a., the frame would be filled with people and movement, capture the organized chaos.

    lex, you’re far from alone. dreams often times make people miserable because they are immaterial. smoke and ether. even when some people achieve them they still don’t feel any more fulfilled. some people step up to the plate and swing for the fence. some people never step up at all. some step up and strike out. what they all have in common: they all probably think there’s still something missing.

  19. actionman says:

    Lex — I left Hell-A after 7 years because it just plain old bit the big one…many of your frustrations were the same ones that I experienced. I’m now much happier living in CT, having bought my own house, and selling motor-oil (making a ton of money and getting a chance to go to the movies 2 times a week, something I could never pull in Hell-A due to crazy work hours). Keep your head up…there are still movie theaters in PA.

  20. Paul MD (Stella's Boy) says:

    Best of luck Lex. I have always enjoyed reading your film criticism and commentary. You’re by far one of the most interesting writers around. I hope you get better and find some happiness. You will be missed.

  21. movieman says:

    What is there to say, Lex? Your daily dosage of genius and raucous insanity will make the Hot Blog a poorer place for us to rest our weary heads.
    Keep the faith, and blog on once you’ve resettled into the family bosom.
    I was in your shoes many years ago, and my decision to return to my hometown (in godforsaken NE Ohio) wasn’t the end of the world. Really.
    In fact, I probably would have never found my soulmate/life partner if I’d stayed in New York.
    Sometimes it really is okay to be a big fish in a small pond.

  22. arisp says:

    Lex – I left LA in June after 10 years. It was rough, and yeah, dreams had to die, and I know a thing or 2 about being depressed about it, but you never know what life holds. Good luck, and see you here soon (I assume the internet exists in Blawnox).

  23. Don R. Lewis says:

    See ya in 2 weeks Lex, when you’ll be back.

  24. Good Dr. Not Bordwell says:

    The best way to honor LexG is for all of us to pay extra careful attention to color timing from now on. Lex is the only guy I ever heard of who could name a studio just by the color timing of its trailers.

    Do yourself a favor before you leave L.A., Lex: buy the Oxford World’s Classics edition of Goethe’s Faust (David Lukes translation), both parts, and read it while you’re on break at the Tire Mart.

    GOETHE POWER.

    GOOD POST.

  25. LYT says:

    I regret I never got to drink with LexG. I offered, of course, but the driving was a hurdle. Here’s hoping that in the new town, there’ll be bars and friends in walking distance.

  26. sanj says:

    Round Ireland with a Fridge – Movie Trailer

    one of the worst movies i’ve seen .. DP or
    other movie critics – you need to see this ..

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4–AvSeBors

    another film i hated is Red Road 2006 – and yet
    somehow this got some awards

    DP – you need to make a special DP/30 – Movies from the
    UK that totally suck ..grab a few movie critics

  27. cadavra says:

    Back to year-end Top Ten Lists:

    There are still a few contenders that have eluded me (WINTER’S BONE, CITY ISLAND, THE WAY BACK, CLIENT 9, HEREAFTER, etc.), but this should be close enough. The list is limited to 2010 domestic theatrical releases, and I’ve excluded THE LOST SKELETON RETURNS AGAIN and DARK AND STORMY NIGHT for obvious reasons. I don’t believe in arbitrary limits, so it’s a Top 16; all lists are alphabetical. You may commence eye-rolling and/or vomiting at your convenience.

    The Best:
    CAMERAMAN: THE LIFE AND WORK OF JACK CARDIFF
    THE CONCERT
    DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM
    GET LOW
    THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
    THE KING’S SPEECH
    MADE IN DAGENHAM
    MICMACS
    MORNING GLORY
    RED
    SHUTTER ISLAND
    THE SOCIAL NETWORK
    SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD
    TRUE GRIT
    UNSTOPPABLE
    WILD TARGET

    Honorable Mention: ALICE IN WONDERLAND, THE AMERICAN, CASINO JACK, EASY A, FAIR GAME, THE GHOST WRITER, the other two “Millennium” films, HARRY POTTER & DEATHLY HALLOWS #1, HOW DO YOU KNOW, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, HOWL, HUGH HEFNER: PLAYBOY ACTIVIST REBEL, THE ILLUSIONIST, INCEPTION, INSIDE JOB, MACHETE, MESRINE (both parts), OSS 117: LOST IN RIO, SECRETARIAT, THE TOWN, WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE and two guilty pleasures: THE A-TEAM and COP-OUT.

    Worst of the year (of those I actually saw): BLUE VALENTINE, EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, LITTLE FOCKERS, PIRANHA 3-D and RESIDENT EVIL: ENOUGH ALREADY.

  28. Clean Steve says:

    Lex went to L.A. I have talked about it for years and never did. Millions have done the same. That in itself is a victory for Lex. A Doc is a good idea. Might have to tone down the use of “vag” for the MPAA, but ya know….might be a winner. Turn that floater into a root beer float, as my grandfather used to say.

Leonard Klady's Friday Estimates
Friday Screens % Chg Cume
Title Gross Thtr % Chgn Cume
Venom 33 4250 NEW 33
A Star is Born 15.7 3686 NEW 15.7
Smallfoot 3.5 4131 -46% 31.3
Night School 3.5 3019 -63% 37.9
The House Wirh a Clock in its Walls 1.8 3463 -43% 49.5
A Simple Favor 1 2408 -50% 46.6
The Nun 0.75 2264 -52% 111.5
Hell Fest 0.6 2297 -70% 7.4
Crazy Rich Asians 0.6 1466 -51% 167.6
The Predator 0.25 1643 -77% 49.3
Also Debuting
The Hate U Give 0.17 36
Shine 85,600 609
Exes Baggage 75,900 62
NOTA 71,300 138
96 61,600 62
Andhadhun 55,000 54
Afsar 45,400 33
Project Gutenberg 36,000 17
Love Yatri 22,300 41
Hello, Mrs. Money 22,200 37
Studio 54 5,300 1
Loving Pablo 4,200 15
3-Day Estimates Weekend % Chg Cume
No Good Dead 24.4 (11,230) NEW 24.4
Dolphin Tale 2 16.6 (4,540) NEW 16.6
Guardians of the Galaxy 7.9 (2,550) -23% 305.8
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 4.8 (1,630) -26% 181.1
The Drop 4.4 (5,480) NEW 4.4
Let's Be Cops 4.3 (1,570) -22% 73
If I Stay 4.0 (1,320) -28% 44.9
The November Man 2.8 (1,030) -36% 22.5
The Giver 2.5 (1,120) -26% 41.2
The Hundred-Foot Journey 2.5 (1,270) -21% 49.4