Quentin Tarantino explains other directors' authenticity (or lack thereof) for you.

In the midst of an interview with Friendly Journalist Lane Brown for NEW YORK magazine, Quentin Tarantino had this to say about David O. Russell's THE FIGHTER vs. Ben Affleck's THE TOWN:

What makes The Fighter something we’ll be talking about in 30 years?

Part of that is the explosion of David O. Russell’s talent, which had always been there but really coalesced in that movie. I think he’s the best actor’s director, along with myself, working in movies today. And The Fighter had impeccable casting. As an example, I really liked The Town, which also came out in 2010. It was a good crime film. However, next to The Fighter, it just couldn’t hold up, because everybody in The Town is beyond gorgeous. Ben Affleck is the one who gets away with it, because his Boston accent is so good. But the crook is absolutely gorgeous. The bank teller is absolutely gorgeous. The FBI guy is absolutely gorgeous. The town whore, Blake Lively, is absolutely gorgeous. Jeremy Renner is the least gorgeous guy, and he’s pretty fucking good-looking. Then, if you look at The Fighter,and you look at those sisters, they’re just so magnificent. When you seeDavid O. Russell cast those sisters,and you see Ben Affleck cast Blake Lively,
 you can’t compare the two movies. One just shows how phony the other is.

The full interview can be read at:

http://www.vulture.com/2015/08/quentin-tarantino-lane-brown-in-conversation.html

L. A. poet Richard Beban and the Ballona Wetlands--with a little I HEART HUCKABEES on the side.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CobaltPoets/message/14244
[Relevant passages of the above message from Mr. Beban:
I am delighted to tell you that I have been hired as the co-Executive Directorof the non-profit Friends of Ballona Wetlands <http://www.ballonafriends.org/>,L.A.'s preeminent wetlands education and preservation group. The Friends havebeen working for thirty-one years to save and restore the last remaining coastal wetlands acreage in L.A. County, and educate the public about the importance of wetlands in our world ecosystem.

Other groups have Ballona in their name (in fact, one of them, definitely trying to sow confusion,is run by the same people who tried unsuccessfully to SHUT DOWN a marvelous wetlands poetry event Kaaren Kitchell and I ran in 2003 because it didn't toe their political party line), but we're the Friends of Ballona Wetlands.

Why tell poets all this? Because the Friends will be offering poetry reading and publication opportunities in the very near future (mostly at the usual non-profit rates, of course), so e-mail me [address deleted] if you have environmentally themed work.]


http://www.ballonafriends.org/
http://www.socal.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=5632
http://www.metro.net/news_info/archives/2003/04_April/mta_051.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballona_Wetlands
http://www.allmovie.com/work/the-last-stand-the-struggle-for-the-ballona-wetlands-216293
http://www.argonautnewspaper.com/articles/2008/08/07/news_-_features/top_stories/2bal.txt
http://www.ballona.org/Content.aspx?page=3&sub=5
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2003/2003-04-21-03.asp
http://www.calcoast.org/news/wetlands091803.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Heart_Huckabees
http://www.alternet.org/environment/16006/greenwashing_coastal_development/

Pay special attention to the final link above.