Austin
Film Festival 2001 Day 4- October 14, 2001!
| I
knew that the only film I was going to see on Sunday was
the new Richard Linklater, "Waking
Life." My friend John Christensen has a small role
in the film. John passed away in December of last year
and "Waking Life" is the biggest role that he had ever
had. All of us who were friends with John, and there are
many, were waiting for this film. Also, I had interviewed
Wiley Wiggins, the star of the film, sometime last year
and Filethirteen had pretty much published the first extensive
information on the film from Wiley. We broke a bit of
the story, so to speak. My relationship with Wiley has
since deteriorated, since we are both such weirdos yet
have little in common. I like Wiley and think he's very
talented, but he's also strange as fuck. Wiley lives in
L.A. now and is trying to get his career started again.
And finally, my most important reason for seeing the film
is that "Waking Life" looks wicked as hell. Linklater
is a bad ass. |
 |
The showing wasn't until 8pm and I was feeling pretty blah.
I wrote a little and then got into watching Robin Williams
"Inside the Actors Studio" on Bravo. Web, my partner in crime
on Filethirteen, was supposed to come to Austin on Sunday
night but sent me an e-mail saying he couldn't make it. This
was pretty much the first indication that it was going to
be a rather drab night.
|
The
John Christensen clique continues (l to r) Mark Brauner,
Johnny Lewis and Alan Campbell
|
I got to the Paramount
early. I was to meet my friends Mark Brauner and Alan
Campbell there at 6:45 and did so. There was no line at
the Paramount which surprised me. I thought this movie
would be huge. I needed some cash to pay back Alan for
buying the tickets, so we hunted for an ATM and found
one close by. We went back to the Paramount and some folks
were milling about. Kim of AFF was on a cell phone and
when she got off, she asked me to take her picture, so
I did. Ryan Williams, also of AFF was there. The AFF folks
were pretty busy trying to keep everything in order because
they were dealing with the assholes of the Austin Film
Society, which I'm sure is a nightmare. My friend Kelly,
who works at the Paramount, came up and told me over 1,100
seats had been sold. The Paramount only holds 1,400, so
that's quite a bit. Seating was assigned for the event.
|
|
Kim
of AFF
|
Kelly also pointed out that Tim the Wonder Horse, a
former "acquaintance" of mine, was in the line behind
us. Tim and I don't speak now, so I didn't say hello.
Kelly went in to go to work and within minutes, they
let us in.
Inside, I went to see Kelly again. He was working
the bar upstairs. It was still pretty early and hardly
anyone was there. I talked to Kelly a bit about the
film we are making together and we got into a pretty
intricate conversation. Meanwhile, Alan and Mark were
talking to the recently arrived Johnny Lewis, another
old friend of John's. After a lot of talk and good feelings
from being with friends, I looked over and saw Tim TWH
sitting on a bench looking wan and depressed. He looked
so sad. He's good friends with Kelly too, so I assumed
he was waiting for me to get the hell out of the way
so that he could say hi to Kelly. So, we said our goodbyes
and headed towards our seats downstairs.
|
|
Prior to the show, I saw a few people I knew. I headed
over and said hi to Tim and Karrie League, the owners
of the Alamo Draft House. Karrie had told me a while
back she had seen "Waking Life" at SXSW, but Tim hadn't
seen it yet. It was nice to see them out and about,
taking some time off from the Alamo. They both work
really hard at making the Alamo nifty and inventive.
I need to go more. I used to go to the Alamo at least
once a week when I first moved here.
We also saw Carol, John's mother, and Tim, his brother,
sitting towards the front. Actually, Tim came to us
and said hello. We went to the front and said hi to
Carol and she gave us a big hug. About that time the
lights dimmed and we headed back to our seats.
A guy who looked really familiar introduced the film.
I think Mark said his name was Turk or Pip or something.
It was something odd like that. Mark knows a ton of
local actors and film people So it's cool to hang with
him at film stuff. Soon Linklater was introduced and
Wiley, whom I had seen in the audience when he arrived,
accompanied him to the stage.
|
John
Christensen's mom, Carol
|
Wiley has lost a lot of weight. Being a starving actor in
Hollywood has been good for him. But, really, he needs a sandwich.
Would somebody feed this boy!
The film came on and I was flush with emotion. I have wanted
to see this film for So long. I was So angry when this film
showed, unannounced, at SXSW, because there were a lot of
people who knew I really wanted to see the film and no one
told me about the screening. But Lodgey is too melancholia
these days to be a bitter queen. Lodgey will be okay.
|
John
Christensen's brother, Tim
|
The
scene with John was ethereal, magical. It was as if he
was able to leave us a message from beyond. It was beautiful
and surreal. I cried. Linklater dedicated the film to
John. I never knew. I just never have known a deep and
profound loss such as this really. I mean, I have lost
grandparents and that has been tough. But they were older.
It was not like the shock of losing John. John had So
much promise. John was such a remarkably unique and amazing
person. I do not know if I can ever explain it. John made
you feel like you were golden. He made you feel special.
People loved him. People circulated around him as if he
were the center of the universe. He had gravity. He was
the sun and we all orbited around him, basking in his
glow. Oh, that sounds typical and trite. It was much more
than that. I can't explain it. The deep sorrow of knowing
I will never see him again. I will never be able to tell
him I love him again. I will never be able to hug him
again. It's still unimaginable. It makes me want to believe
in heaven. It makes me long for that day, like that beautiful
ending in the film "Longtime Companion," where we are
all together again and having a good time and enjoying
each other's company. That golden day when we finally
reunite. I miss him So fucking much. And I only knew him
around a year. I cannot imagine how his other friends,
some who had known him for years, cope. |
Anyway, (sigh) after the film, Linklater comes back with
Wiley and Animation Director Bob Sabiston for a Q&A. Linklater's
Q&A's are usually pretty freeform and I never really gain
too much from them. I wanted to take pictures, but last time
I was at a Linklater function, sponsored by the assholes at
AFS, they confiscated my camera and would not let me take
pictures. I have recently got a newer, smaller camera and
took it in. I moved down towards the other photographers from
AFS during the Q&A. I turned off my flash and took some snaps.
At one a point, a girl came down and asked, "Are you with
the Austin Film Society?" So, I said, "Yes" and she left me
alone. This amused me. This is why some of my pictures aren't
So great. I try to be unobtrusive when I take them. Unless
other photogs are snapping away with flash, I don't use flash.
I sit pretty close to the stage usually So that I can get
pics. I don't make a spectacle of myself getting pics. Maybe
they'd look better if I did, but there is an integrity of
moment that I try not to corrupt. So, sorry if the pics aren't
great.
|
Oh - a cool thing Linklater did tell us was that his
DV film "Tape," which stars Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke,
will be screening at the Paramount in November. I think
Fox Searchlight has picked up this film. It's based
on a one-act play.
There was an Afterparty for the "Waking Life" screening
but tickets to that were $100. All of this was to benefit
some AFS and AFF related charities. I, of course, did
not have $100 for the part So had no plans on going.
I kinda thought we might be going over to the Driskill
afterwards. But someone gave Tim Christensen, or his
girlfriend maybe, a ticket to the party and we realized
that it was just a regular ticket to the film with a
special stamp on the back of it. We looked around on
the floor and found enough for all of us to go. Linklater
has been really nice to John's mom, Carol, So maybe
he took care of her and Tim. I'm not sure. Regardless,
we headed to Buffalo billiards for the Afterparty with
plenty of tickets for entry.
|
Richard
Linklater, Wiley Wiggins and Bob Sabiston after the
AFF screening of "Waking Life"
|
 |
The party was pretty lame. The food was okay but we
didn't have the complimentary drink tickets, So we paid.
That's not even a big deal, it was just a pretty dull
party. We hung out as a group but I definitely missed
some of John's crowd. Where was Trish the Dish and Bunny?
They shoulda been there. Maybe no one organized the
thing. I don't know.
We had a few drinks, talked and I cruised cute guys,
of which there were several. Wiley came in and Carol
went over and said hello. I should have said hi but
I'm always afraid of Wigging Wiley Out (what a great
name for a band). So I don't say hi. I'm afraid he thinks
I'm a cyber stalker. And after that night where he kicked
me out of his backyard, I can see why. Therapy is helping...
Hehehehe...
We decided to leave after a bit and on the way out
I saw Onur Tukel, director of "Ding-a-ling-les" and
Larry Lawrence, star of "The Last Hope." Larry had gotten
some passes into the party and Onur was in heaven standing
just this close to Linklater, who was right behind him.
I remember when that used to seem cool to me too.
Went home. Was melancholy. Didn't write.
|
(For my lost light, John Christensen...)
lodger2001
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