"That's Not What I Meant."

Just one more post on this topic and I'll shut up, I promise. (Maybe I shouldn't promise.) But I know some of you are wanting to view the film, and now I have links!

http://vimeo.com/6223159 (this one is higher quality and can be watched full-screen)



Last night was the Best of San Diego screening, and the Cane Toads were once again out in force. I was feeling red-carpet ready since Robyn flat-ironed my hair before we went (is there any arena where that girl doesn't dazzle?) and I had on my "Film Noir Red" lipstick. Sadly, there are no photos.

We were in a smaller theater and it sold out, but luckily everyone in our group managed to snag a ticket. Thirteen films had been chosen by four judges, but this time there were no ballots--we were just there to celebrate. That's what I told people, but I'd be lying if I didn't also admit that the butterflies were pounding my ribs in anticipation of the judges' awards (determined earlier) that would be announced after the screening. These were for specific categories, such as Best Editing and Best Directing and Best Acting. Long ago, for our movie "Burnin' Love" (which you can still find on YouTube) we won Best Cinematography, which was cool but seemed disconnected from MY experience with it. It was a techie award, ya know? I was hoping for something more...personal this time.

But I didn't want to hope too much, because I had sworn to anyone who would listen that any more awards would just be gravy after sweeping the audience vote and being chosen for Best of San Diego. And I meant that. Did you hear me? I meant it.

We had the dubious honor of appearing first, which meant our laughs were muted--the audience needs to be warmed up. This group of films had more comedies, and some of them were truly hilarious. I loved the one about the lost singing duo "Milla" and "Vanilla," and the one that combined "stoner film" with "martial arts film" (which, believe it or not, was really smart.) There was even a cop buddy film where one of the buddies was a big-haired puppet. We laughed a lot, and I winced a bit, wondering if some of these had been in our screening group, would the Audience Award have been lost? (That's me, as Polly Sunshine as ever.) The last film of the night was about two guys in 1979 who decide to make money to impress chicks by robbing a liquor store, and it was pretty funny, but I guess it was the judges' darling, as it swept the major awards--Best Acting, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Directing and Best Picture. It was like they were with Spielberg or something.

I was a twinge sad not to win Best Script or Best Directing, since I could have pointed directly to myself (in part) for those honors. However, we did win "Best Use of the Line of Dialogue" (to refresh your memory from last Friday-- "That's not what I meant") and I am choosing to see that as a writing award. First of all, we ended up using it like 10 times, and second, didn't we have to decide HOW to position it in the surrounding dialogue that WE wrote, in order to make it funny? Yeah, it's a writing award. You're not going to talk me out of it, so don't even try.

And we won a second award! "Best Use of Prop," which was a crayon this year. David did tell me that we were one of only two teams to use the crayon for something other than its intended purpose (the Stoner/Martial Arts gang poked an eye out with theirs) so right there we had an edge. And the shot of Marie in close-up, seductively applying the crayon to her ruby-red lips, is pretty hilarious. What amuses me is that it's been six years, and every year I'm convinced we've been robbed of Best Use of Prop. And this year--well, we weren't robbed. We have the certificate to prove it.

A couple of our guests murmured that we WERE robbed of Best Cinematography, Best Script, Best Acting...which was all very nice to hear. I said to David, "Well, our script certainly had the MOST words!" which made him laugh--on that point, we are always bitterly divided, since he's a real "less is more" kind of guy, and I'm a proponent of the Mae West school of life: "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful." I'll drink to that!

This time, it was just a Shirley Temple, which really hit the spot. We celebrated afterward at the Cheesecake Factory (did you know they now post the calories per slice, and that each slice provides the recommended daily allowance for a 200 lb. man?) and basked in the glow of a full week of congratulations and plaudits from our friends and the city of San Diego. Whew! It's a bit exhausting being a celebrity that no one's ever heard of. I'll need about a week at the Beverly Wiltshire with a fur-lined eye mask and room service before meeting with any more studio heads.

Check back with me then, and hold all my calls.