(no subject)

Roger Ebert's scathing review of the latest Rob Schneider œuvre mentioned many of the guilty producers by name, and that made me wonder: Why does a film like "Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo" get made? The first one obviously sucked hard, and everyone who worked on that one should have either learned their lesson or been thrown out of the business, right?

Looking at the IMDB entry for European Gigolo, I notice:

1. the director is named Mike Bigelow (with an 'e' instead of an 'a'). This is his directorial debut.
2. Jason Ward and David Garrett also wrote Corky Romano, another prolonged excuse to get an SNL alumnus on a movie poster. They also worked on two short-lived sitcoms: "Living with Fran" and "Da Mob".
3. Garrett has a slightly longer filmography, which includes everything Jason Ward ever did plus several more sitcoms, and a few producer credits on films I never heard of.
4. Harris Goldberg gets credit because he wrote for the first movie. After the first movie, he was allowed to make "The Master of Disguise". I've heard "Without a Paddle" got at least mixed reviews, and at the very least got Burt Reynolds back on the talk show circuit.

Both films have seven producers. The only producer in common? Adam Sandler, whose record speaks for itself. Whatever happened to the other six who produced the first movie?

1. Michelle Archer produced no other films ever. She was given "special thanks" in two movies, and was the assistant to Joel Simon when he produced the Shaquille O'Neal vehicle "Steel". Maybe her credit as "associate producer" is exaggerated.
2. Barry Bernardi seems to have a long record of shit, though it's long enough that maybe the ones I was too young to see may have been OK. But his five most recent released films were also SNL alumnus vehicles, if you count Eddie Murphy in "The Haunted Mansion". He's currently filming Click, which stars Adam Sandler. I like the premise described by IMDB, but I'm not very optimistic.
3. Deuce was the first theatrically-released film co-produced by Sidney "Sid" Ganis and Alex Siskin. He then went on to do Big Daddy, Mr. Deeds, and The Master of Disguise (Sandler, Sandler, Carvey).
4. Executive producer Jack Giarraputo is described by IMDB as "Adam Sandler's producing partner at Happy Madison Productions." It keeps coming back to Sandler. His IMDB profile contains every SNL-alum-driven film that Lorne Michaels turned down. I can't wait to see Untitled David Spade Christmas Comedy!

I don't know enough about Hollywood to know whether these people represent the creative process that spawned these movies, or whether they represent the control structure that decided whether to give them money. I suspect the former, since the control structure seems to be well-insulated against film companies learning from their mistakes.

(no subject)

I biked home down Broadway again today. A bit of a hill, since there's a bridge going over I-10, and it goes around what Google Earth calls "Bell Butte", which I've never heard named. Once around that butte, there's another one called Twin Butte, consisting of two peaks, which becomes a backdrop to the I-10 traffic. But at that point I can't stop and take it in, because there's no sidewalk along that part of Broadway, and the rightmost lane becomes an I-10 access road, and it's uphill and I don't want to lose precious momentum.

I've ridden that way many times. This time along, my throat kind of dried out, despite a quick gulp of Powerade beforehand. By the time I made it to 48th Street, breathing suddenly began to irritate my throat in a most uncomfortable and unpredictable way. I started to cough, as maybe there was something stuck there.

I coughed harder, and harder, and suddenly what was coming up was no longer from my lungs.

At that point, I was still two miles away from home. I walked slowly for a few blocks and drank the rest of my Powerade in an attempt at replenishment, and rode home slowly and safely.

The question I have is: did I overexert myself? Or does that kind of thing happen when you get a dry throat and cough too hard while exercising? Do I need to take some extra care, see a doctor, etc?

I really hope it wasn't something I ate. Because I liked what I ate.