2002-08-05 | 7:22 p.m.

corduroy licorice discovered the power behind the throne. for some reason, the original builders had put an electric outlet on the wall near the toilet bowl.

***

good things about today:

- hearing bad rick springfield (no, that's not a redundancy*) on the restaurant sound system at lunch

- take-out grilled vegetable panini served at said restaurant

- catching myself singing kajagoogoo in the loo at work

- reminding a co-worker of something very clever she'd once said and seeing her smiling eyes tear up with enjoyment

- remembering a scene from a movie i saw yesterday and laughing outloud at my desk

***

the movie i refer to above was the latest from director steven soderbergh, full frontal. i loved it! of course, i've loved all of ss's movies that i've seen--with the glaring exception of oceans eleven. but thanks to full frontal, i'm willing to forgive the vegas debacle.

despite the ss connection, i also love "insider" movies about hollywood types. my friend a-boy mentioned the also-shot-on-digital-video the anniversary party as another example of that type of movie and he's so right. it's the perfect companion piece to full frontal. i don't know why i get such a kick out of seeing these beautiful people revealed as shallow, neurotic and just as messed up as any of us. i suppose the glamorous images we're forced fed go down a bit better with a side of bitter arugula.

the film uses a 35 mm movie-within-a-DV-movie device, which didn't do that much for me. it was the grainy DV, apparently mostly adlibbed, part of the tale that i was fascinated by. it didn't hurt that catherine keener was there in the blurry part, including one of the coolest-looking love scenes i didn't really see. she had the line that came back to me today with the laughter burst. just like tv zero, i can't get enough of her.

i heard that the new yorker reemed this film in its review. i would think that an nyc magazine would love to see a film that skewers l.a. so well. perhaps the method of storytelling was too contrived and lalalandish for that reviewer to stomach. or maybe it was that even though everyone in the film gets dragged through some unflattering moments (including the dear, perpetually self-mocking brad pitt), they still come out looking preternaturally hip and lovable despite their foibles.

damn those star genes.

* thanks for the correction in terms, idio. i guess i'm the oxymoron. doh!

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