The Cold Kid Case (A Sparky of Bunker Hill Mystery Book 1) by Rosalind Barden; Bet Your Bottom Dollar That This Mystery is Such Fun

 The Cold Kid Case (A Sparky of Bunker Hill Mystery Book 1) by Rosalind Barden; Bet Your Bottom Dollar That This Mystery is Such Fun

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Rosalind Barden’s YA Historical Mystery, The Cold Kid Case, is what you get when you give Little Orphan Annie Nancy Drew’s detective skills. You get a charming scrappy kid protagonist and a fun engaging mystery.

Sparky is an 11 year old street smart orphan living in Depression Era Bunker Hill, California. Her life of running errands for a local bookie, picking pockets, stealing food scraps, and hiding in out of the way places is interrupted when she becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young girl since Sparky was the one who found the body. Sparky hides out in Creepy House, a mansion owned by Tootsie, an eccentric but kind silent movie actress. Sparky, Tootsie, Tootsie's loyal butler Gilbert, and Sparky’s protective friend Bobby are on the case to investigate the girl’s death and clear Sparky’s name. 

The Cold Kid Case is reminiscent of one of those old Kid Adventure films starring the likes of Shirley Temple, The Little Rascals, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Hayley Mills, Tatum O’Neil, Jodie Foster, Gary Coleman, Aileen Quinn, Sean Astin, Coreys Haim and Feldman, Ke Huy Quan, Macaulay Culkin, The Olsen Twins, Mara Wilson, Dakota and Elle Fanning, or the many kids who front Nickelodeon or Disney shows. They starred precocious kids who have either busy, distracted, neglectful parents, or no parents at all. They are born with smart mouths, plenty of attitude, uncanny survival instincts, and a penchant for finding adventure wherever they turn. Adults are usually clueless or evil. Though there are occasionally good kind adults who help the kids, mentor them, and if orphaned might adopt them. The kid's lives might be in danger but they usually come out on top and often end up in a better situation than when they started. 

Sparky is that type of kid and Borden has fun with her character. Her first person narration is a delight to read with its 1930s slang and tough kid attitude. (“Once (Bobby) tried kissing me. That’s when I socked him good and down he went….Didn’t faze him. He kept on proposing, and telling other kids that I was his ‘girl’ which made me think he warranted another whammo.”) Her savviness in sneaking into and hiding in various spots around Bunker Hill come in handy when she has to run from police officers, violent gangsters, or potential murderers. Even small touches like how we barely learn about Sparky's past, don’t even know her real name or if she even has a real name add to her characterization as a kid who had to survive on her own and harbors no illusions about how the world works. 

In fact, there is an edge to this book that is often found in some of the best Kid Adventures: an awareness of the darker real world that is around these kids. Sure, they have fantastic adventures and more often than not succeed in them but they aren’t without serious conflicts. These kids are often faced with deaths of parents or other family members, poverty, divorce, addiction, family arguments, criminal activity, abuse, and adults who want to kill them and don’t care that they are kids. Often these conflicts surround the adventures, maybe as an instigating factor or exist to make the kids even more vulnerable and unable to rely on the adult world around them. Sure Annie might have sung that “the sun’ll come out tomorrow” but she certainly knew that most of the time it didn't. 

That is at play within young Sparky. It’s hard to avoid the reality of the Great Depression when it’s all around her. She isn’t the only orphaned or abandoned kid and she sees adults unable to survive and fighting for last scraps of a meal or employment at a demeaning dead end job that can only admit five people. If her elders have a hard time surviving in these circumstances, then what chances do kids like her have? In fact, the dead girl’s backstory is such an example. The identity of the murderer and the motive are pretty appalling and become more terrifying the longer one thinks about it. This might be a YA Novel, a Kid’s Adventure, even some form of a Kid’s Wish Fulfillment in many ways but don’t under any circumstances think that it avoids the real world around it. In fact it plunges headlong into it. There is a strong sense of reality and a savage bite within the fantastic proceedings. Sparky knows how the world works. She just chooses to fight against it in her own way. 

Some of the bite of reality gets lost once Tootsie enters the scene but in her own way, she also plays into the Adventure subgenre. Supporting characters in these types of stories, particularly adults, are often broad and larger than life with very little subtlety and Tootsie definitely plays that trope to the hilt. Of course her being a former actress definitely adds to that. If this was a movie instead of a book,  the actress playing Tootsie would reject the catered lunch and craft services and prefer instead to gnaw on the scenery.

She is very melodramatic, vain about her appearance, and often waxes nostalgic about her former roles and stardom days. There is an almost youthful playful innocence like she has the childlike nature that Sparky lacks. Sparky directly faces the reality of the Great Depression while Tootsie prefers instead to get away from it and live in an idyllic fantasy. 

Despite its name, Creepy House is anything but. It is a study in fantastic imagination of what a movie star’s home would look like with its ornate furniture, room sized bathtub, and particularly Tootsie's two stuffed leopards which were once real leopards that she had stuffed (and Sparky loves so much that Tootsie allows her to keep them in her new bedroom). Tootsie’s butler, Gilbert, also plays into this fantastic setting. He is the straight man to his mistress’ comic antics and encourages her while occasionally keeping her grounded and providing some direction to Sparky. He is stern but willingly indulges the schemes of the two women in his life. He provides shelter and alibis when authorities come looking for Sparky and plays along with Tootsie’s elaborate ruse to extract information from a rival actress to help the girl. 

Like Sparky, Tootsie is also never referred to by her real name, though in her case it’s probably for artistic reasons and adds to her eccentricities. While she is clearly concerned about her new young charge, Tootsie indulges Sparky’s investigations even furnishing disguises and at one time appearing incognito to assist her. Tootsie is a maternal figure who is loving but acts like a big kid herself. She offers enough of a safe harbor for Sparky to find shelter and freedom for the girl to be herself and learn from her mistakes. 

It is not too much to assume that some legal papers, a court visit, a new last name and a change of address for Sparky, and a new title that begins with “mo-” for Tootsie are in the duo’s future. Not since Din Djarin and Grogu in The Mandalorian have I wanted to see a surrogate parent/child relationship become an adopted reality more. 

The Cold Kid Case is a fun, bright, sassy mystery that plays into the genre with a lot of wit, bite, and heart. 

Masters of the Star Machine by Joe Crawford; Motivated Mastermind by Johnny Shaheed Miller; The Lebanese Cuisine Cookbook: An Authentic Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Culinary Journey with Delicious Modern and Traditional Easy-to-Make Homemade Recipes Directly from the Heart of Lebanon by Maysa M Rehmen; The Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook: 1000 Days Smoke and Delicious Recipes, Expert Tips, and Pro Techniques for Mastering the Art of Wood-Fired Cooking by Dr Clare; Hearty Harvest Soups: A Culinary Journey Through the Seasons Discover the Rich Flavors of Seasonal Produce with Timeless Soup Recipes for Every Month by James Stott Python Programming and SQL: 5 Books in 1-The #1 Coding Course from Beginning to Advanced by Mark Reed

 Masters of the Star Machine: Manipulated by That Incessant TV/Movie Viewer by Joe Crawford; Motivated Mastermind: Master the Art of  Powerful Thinking with Captivating Stories and Real Life Examples by Johnny Shaheed Miller; The Lebanese Cuisine Cookbook: An Authentic Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Culinary Journey with Delicious Modern and Traditional Easy-to-Make Homemade Recipes Directly from the Heart of Lebanon by Maysa M Rehman; The Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook: 1000 Days Smoke and Delicious Recipes, Expert Tips, and Pro Techniques for Mastering the Art of Wood-Fired Cooking by Dr Clare; Hearty Harvest Soups: A Culinary Journey Through the Seasons Discover the Rich Flavors of Seasonal Produce with Timeless Soup Recipes for Every Month by James Stott; Python Programming and SQL: 5 Books in 1-The #1 Coding Course from Beginning to Advanced by Mark Reed

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Masters of the Star Machine: Manipulated by That Incessant TV/Movie Viewer by Joe Crawford

This is a summary of the review. The entire review is found on LitPick. 

Masters of the Star Machine is an intriguing look at fame and how desperate some are to get away from or hold onto it long after their heyday is over.

Steve Wilkerson, Judy Bentley, and Doug Sanchez starred in the sitcom, The Three Little Amigos but eventually went their separate ways. Years later, they are hired to appear in a Western directed and produced by Judy’s ex-husband. The more they spend time together, the more they realize that old friendships and romances never really die. 

There are a lot of great inside references and shout outs to many films and shows. Even some real life Hollywood types play alongside the fictional shenanigans, giving a sense of reality to the Hollywood make believe. 

The three protagonists react differently to their old days and subsequent years and it reflects many of the choices that they made. 

Doug has a history of addiction in which he has been in and out of rehab and relationships that ended badly. He hopes that his return to the top will give him an incentive to remain clean and sober.

Judy gained a notorious reputation because of her struggles with bipolar disorder and some behind the scenes drama. She wants to get her career back and she doesn’t care whom she has to step on or use to do so. She constantly strings Steve along to help her expose her ex not for justice but to gain some fame and positive exposure.

Steve is more ambivalent about his child star days than his co-stars.  He isn't interested in becoming a star as he is in recapturing his friendship with Doug and especially his romance with Judy. He sees the people of his memories not the troubled mess that Doug is or the manipulative user that Judy has become. He won't accept that they have grown up and are different than the people that he once knew if they ever really were.

This is a book that reminds us that Hollywood and nostalgia can be very similar. They trick us into seeing an illusion, air brushes out the flaws, make us only remember the good times, and make us accept a fantasy over a reality.

Motivated Mastermind: Mastering the Art of Powerful Thinking with Captivating Stories and Real Life Examples by Johnny Shaheed Miller

Johnny Shaheed Miller’s book Motivated Mastermind is an inspirational book about making goals and facing challenges with determination, resilience, and motivation.

Miller talks about activating the “Warrior Mentality:” Understanding that “S#@% happens and to learn from it.” In other words, setbacks and disappointments teach us lessons like how to take advantage of opportunity, use time wisely, and learn about self-reflection and self-awareness. 

Discipline is key when taking on the “Warrior Mentality,” Miller writes. It gives one the tools to master self control, seeing past excuses, and acting with purpose instead of talking about goals but never accomplishing them. When many meander away from their pursuits, discipline is often the first thing to go. This book is designed to make that first and foremost in Reader’s minds since any goal takes time and discipline in using that time wisely. 

This book offers exercises and projects to help Readers maintain focus and concentration and doing so with strategy and precision. The most important exercise is probably the  “30-Day Focus Challenge.” It shortens what could be an insurmountable task of goal achievement into small increments. Day 1 is devoted to selecting a goal. Day 2 involves setting the master plan on how to achieve said goal. Days 3-29 is where the real work begins by monitoring and tracking the progress of which parts of the goal were met and which still need to be achieved. Day 30 ends with increasing one's confidence by reflecting on the progress and celebrating the accomplishments. Goal setting can be a difficult process but it is made easier by focusing on the individual steps to make the end result.

Motivated Mastermind offers plenty of chances for reflection on how those goals are met. Did we act with integrity? How did we develop our network? How did we face adversity? What did we learn? Where did we succeed and what needs work? Are there other goals to set and what remains to be done? This is a book that gives Readers the motivation to achieve, accomplish, and succeed.

The Lebanese Cuisine Cookbook: An Authentic Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Culinary Journey with Delicious Modern and Traditional Easy-to-Make Homemade Recipes Directly from the Heart of Lebanon by Maysa M Rehman

One way to understand a culture is to experience its food and Maysa M. Rehman’s The Lebanese Cuisine Cookbook takes Readers to a culinary trip through Lebanon to experience the best of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking.

The book offers tasty authentic recipes that capture the Lebanese dining experience. They include, “Baba Ganoush,” “Mujadara,” Shawarma B'ham,” “Mankoushe with Cheese”, “Asabe Zainab,” “Cocktail al Fakhara,” and “Ras Asfour.” The recipes include meals for soups, main course, drinks, appetizers, breads, snacks, and special occasions. 

Besides recipes, the book includes fascinating information about how food pertains to Lebanese culture. There are sections that discuss important ingredients that are used in many traditional dishes like specific aromatic herbs and spices like Bharat, cumin, coriander, and fenugreek. Important grains like bulgur wheat and legumes like chickpeas are also suggestions that capture the taste and smell of Lebanese cooking. The most essential ingredient is olive oil. It is so important that Rahman devoted a whole section to it alone. There are also sections on utensils and cooking methods to make the dining experience an inclusive one.

By far, the most interesting chapter is the one concerning the mezze, a small dish that heralds the beginning of the meal. It is so important to Lebanese culture that a whole chapter is devoted to mezze and its significance. It is described as an integral part of Lebanese culture, heritage, and hospitality. Families who serve mezze engage in conversations and combine traditional foods inspiring unity and closeness. It is good to learn where these traditions came from and why they are still important in modern life.

The Lebanese Cuisine Cookbook is a great book that opens a rich tradition and culture of food, family, and togetherness.

 The Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook: 1000 Days Smoke and Delicious Recipes, Expert Tips, and Pro Techniques for Mastering the Art of Wood-Fired Cooking by Dr Clare

Barbecuing and outdoor cooking is a frequent pastime during the spring and summer seasons. The Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook offers some great recipes to try on your grill or smoker as well as some advice on how to use wood fired cooking.

The recipes feature suggestions for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and appetizers. They include “Bacon and Egg Breakfast Tacos,” BBQ Chicken Flatbreads,” “Traeger Smoked Meatballs,” “Traeger Grilled Corn on the Cob,” and “Traeger Smoked Deviled Eggs.” The variety of meals promise to be healthy and delicious. 

The introduction to the book includes tips and techniques to master the art of wood fired cooking. Such tips like choosing the right wood such as hickory or mesquite to provide seasoning and flavor help elevate the outdoor cooking experience. Tips like understanding indirect heat where food is cooked away from direct flames help Readers understand how to master wood fired cooking properly.

The Traeger Grill & Smoker Cookbook is highly recommended for those who want to cook, eat, and enjoy a meal in the great outdoors. 

Hearty Harvest Soups: A Culinary Journey Through the Seasons Discover the Rich Flavors of Seasonal Produce with Timeless Soup Recipes for Every Month by James Stott

Soup is probably the ultimate comfort food. It is meant to provide warmth for a cold day, serves as the first course for a tasty meal, and invokes memories of childhood days. Of course, such a heartwarming inviting food staple has many ways to make it and James Stott’s Hearty Harvest Soups is a short but nice and colorful cookbook

There are plenty of different ways to make soup and this book shows that variety. Readers are treated to such tantalizing varieties as “Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lemon,” “Corn Chowder with Bacon,” “Chicken Tortilla Soup,” and “Classic Chicken Noodle Soup.”

There are international soups for those whose feet and taste buds want to travel to other countries. The soups come from such places as Morocco, Italy, Greece, Mexico, Vietnam, Russia, Thailand, India, Cuba, France, Hungary, and Korea. It is perfect for those who want to implement more diverse food into their regular eating habits.

The Hearty Harvest Soups Cookbook is filled with inviting bright colorful photographs that activate the senses of sight as well as taste. It promises an appetizing meal with plenty of heart, warmth, variety, and pleasant memories.

Python Programming and SQL: 5 Books in 1-The #1 Coding Course from Beginning to Advanced by Mark Reed

The Python Programming and SQL Series is an intensive look at programming languages and how coding is used to help us understand and use computers and other modern technologies. To understand something you have to learn the language and this book helps Readers to master these programs.

 It explains the various definitions used in coding and how they are used. Readers can learn for example what the SQL/JSON model is and how it can be implemented into a database. 

The books also take the Reader on a step-by process on how to write a computer code and put it together. The Python book for example introduces Readers to Integrated Development Environment. Then it teaches how to create a simple code with the words, “Hello there.” It’s a good interactive lesson for future coders and programmers. 

There is also plenty of advice on troubleshooting or as one of the chapters bluntly describes, “when things go haywire” and how to fix those situations during coding. It also includes sections on personalizing databases and making them unique such as inserting graphics and large objects.

This 5 in 1 book series is a great start for anyone who is curious to learn more about coding and programming languages and how to implement them into regular use. 

A Dream Called Marilyn by Mercedes King; Wistful Introspective Historical Fiction Of Marilyn Monroe and the Golden Age of Hollywood

A Dream Called Marilyn by 

Mercedes King; Wistful Introspective Historical Fiction Of Marilyn Monroe and the Golden Age of Hollywood 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Mercedes King’s A Dream Called Marilyn is the third book in two years, after Isaac Thorne’s Hell Spring and Lee Matthew Goldberg’s Immoral Origins that I read that features Marilyn Monroe. But it is the only one which stars Monroe herself and not a demon or con artist/assassin that looks like her. Here, she is a complex vulnerable and troubled woman and the highlight of this book.

Monroe comes to the attention of Dr. Charles Campbell, psychiatrist to the stars. Monroe has just been fired from what would be her final film, Something's Got to Give and is considered an addict and deeply paranoid. The more Charles talks to her, the more drawn he is to the real woman underneath the glamorous facade. But her sessions begin to reveal some darker secrets about a certain President of the United States, one John F. Kennedy. Charles finds himself the target of some sinister people who want Monroe to keep those secrets to the grave.

By far the most intriguing aspect of the book is Marilyn herself. She embodies the persona of someone who is surrounded by people, is the center of attention, and is still very much alone. She gives off the image of a beautiful bubbly kittenish unattainable goddess-figure but she is more complex and nuanced than her surface shows. The world doesn’t see a woman packed with fragility and insecurities egged on by the pressure of looking glamorous and making appearances. It doesn’t see a once lonely little girl abandoned by her mentally ill mother, deprived of love and security, and looking for them in every bad relationship that comes around. 

The world doesn’t see a hopeless romantic who is so enamored with the fantasies that she sells onscreen that she genuinely believes that Kennedy will divorce Jackie and marry her so they will live happily ever after. Charles sees all of that and so does the Reader. She is depicted as a lonely troubled misunderstood soul who needs someone to love her for herself and not the image that she conveys. She stands out in her therapy sessions with Charles to the point of stealing every moment that she is in the book.

She almost takes the spotlight from Charles but he proves to be an intriguing character in his own right. He has plenty of issues that suggest that he could use a few therapy sessions himself. He has a Hero Savior Complex that often pairs him with troubled women: Marilyn and his wife, who has her own mental health issues and a careless attitude towards their children. His fantasies about Marilyn increase the more that he gets to know her and definitely violate the doctor-patient relationship.

As Marilyn needs to be cared for, Charles has a need to do the caring despite his marriage, job, and the difficulties that come with being with a public figure. Their relationship puts Charles in some dangerous territory and increases his and Marilyn’s dependence on each other. It is not a healthy relationship and is made even worse by the scrutiny and danger.

If there is one complaint with the characterization it is that it is at the expense of the plot, at least the type of plot that King puts them in. There is a strong implication that Marilyn’s troublemaking persona is manufactured by a studio wary of publicity and she really is the target of potential assassins. That is an interesting angle but King wrote Marilyn with so many personal issues that it becomes hard to believe that her problems stem solely from outside forces and not within herself.

Perhaps King could have written Marilyn as more self assured and stronger, the type of person that would make one think, “Maybe, someone is after her.” Of course sometimes you can be paranoid but actually have someone after you at the same time. Certainly the stress that Marilyn is under would trouble even the hardest of hearts. But in this case, Marilyn seems like someone who may be worried about being poisoned but could just as easily reach for the bottle herself.

The strongest overall tone in this book is wistful and introspective. There is a realization that this represents the end of an era and it does. Charles is looking back on his life as an older man who has seen the Vietnam War, the Millennium, terrorist attacks, economic insecurity, and the inevitable decay of the American Dream. His time with Marilyn marks the last of his golden years and those of the country, a world where Presidential scandals are hidden and assassination is not a by word. Marilyn represents a time gone by as well, the end of the studio system where movie stars were unattainable and where films reflected our dreams more than our reality. Of course this is nostalgia and nostalgia wasn’t freely handed out to everyone. For people like Charles and Marilyn, this was a happy time. For many other people, it wasn’t. 

However, Charles and Marilyn are involved within the field that produces manufactured dreams so people can live idyllic fantastic lives every time they enter a cinema, the field that often contributes to if not outright creates the nostalgia. It is the lie that they sell and they have to, no matter how much it costs them personally. The reality is hidden but the fantasy and the nostalgia remains. 

 

New Book Alert: Dark Beauty by Blake Rudman; Twisted Tale of Twins Tarnished Beauty, Ambition, and Sudden Fame

 New Book Alert: Dark Beauty by Blake Rudman; Twisted Tale of Twins Tarnished Beauty, Ambition, and Sudden Fame

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Blake Rudman's Psychological Thriller, Dark Beauty, is a twisted tale of a pair of twins who are tarnished by ambitions for beauty, fame, wealth, and revenge.

Identical twins, Tessa and Kristin Morgan are on the eve of superstardom. The former models turned actresses are coming off the premiere of Dark Beauty, a critically acclaimed box office hit film that is already receiving Oscar buzz. Well most of the acclaim is directed towards Tessa who is being hailed as the latest discovery since Jennifer Lawrence. As for Kristin, well "wooden" and "erratic" are some of the kindest comments. The twins' argument is interrupted by a stalker who sprays acid on both twin's faces leaving them with physical and eventually mental and emotional scars. Most of the book takes us to the twins' lives before the accident and sudden fame and their lives afterwards.

Dark Beauty does the usual theme of the good twin vs. bad twin, but thankfully subverts expectations by giving Tessa and Kristin subtleties and facets that break stereotypes to be interesting individuals who are caught up in a continuous rivalry and duality that probably has been going on since the two shared a womb.

Chronologically, Tessa and Kristin first appear during their senior year in high school when both are seen as pretty, popular, and smart but Tessa is favored by their parents and peers while Kristin retreats into sullen rebellion. It gives the impression that Kristin at one time tried to be as nice and scholarly a girl as Kristin, but the comparisons wore on her so she gave up and stood away from her sister in a self imposed isolation. 

Ironically, after graduation Kristin wants Tessa to join her in a modeling career instead of going to UCLA and medical school to become a doctor. She says that it's because twins are a rare angle for agencies, photographers, and advertisers to explore, but it could just as easily be that she believes that Tessa has the same ambitions and desires that she does and wants to share the glamorous life with her. 

Tessa however has her own goals and identity to discover. She has wanted to be a doctor since she was five and loves her sweet boyfriend, Daniel so she is ready to start her own life. But Kristin is a narcissist, along with displaying symptoms from some other mental disorders suggesting that she is a very troubled woman. Kristin only considers what she wants so she spikes Tess's bottled water with LSD so she'll bomb her final exam. So her only option is to leave UCLA and join her sister into the modeling field.

Of course, Tess gets the laugh when their careers change from modeling to acting. Tess works hard to study her role of the bad sinister twin in the movie (no doubt by a slight case of Method acting by taking on her sister's attributes to play the role). Kristin however falls into addiction and partying with an endless stream of men which affects her performance. Tess who never wanted to be an actress or model gets praised while just like when they were kids, Kristin is ignored.

While Tess is mostly hard working, kind, and intelligent while Kristin is scheming, self-centered, and aggressive there are times when their personalities don't shift so much as their good/bad twin dichotomy becomes fuzzy. Tess at times behaves very cold and self righteous especially regarding Kristin's behavior. Kristin displays a self-sufficiency and a sharp mind that allows her to survive despite adversity.

Perhaps this is why Tess is able to play the part of the bad twin in the movie so well. She isn't playing her polar opposite based on her sister. She is playing her own subterranean thoughts, things that she always wanted to do but hid behind a good girl veneer. After the scarring, she retreats into her self-pity and depression. It is only when she discovers what Kristin has been doing that she takes control of her own life. To do that, she has to be as angry, controlling, manipulative, and scheming as her sister. She has to out-Kristin Kristin in reality not in cinema.

Kristin herself shows much of her strength and self-sufficiency in her post-scarring. Ironically, without Tess around she shows a great deal of intelligence and control of her life instead of being thought of as always second to Tess. Her career after the scarring is too juicy to get into but it displays not only her dark nature but her ability to put herself forward, away from her sister. 

The twins' confrontations are as tense and suspenseful as accusations are made and secrets are revealed. Together they reveal the beauty and the ugliness inside the darkness.

Weekly Reader: The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin; Memorable Historical Fiction About Two Women Who Led The Silent Film Era

 Weekly Reader: The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin; Memorable Historical Fiction About Two Women Who Led The Silent Film Era

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: In the days of Hollywood Silent Films, no female star shone brighter than Mary Pickford (1892-1979). Pickford was known as "America's Sweetheart" and was often recognized for her long golden Victorian curls, her diminutive size, and innocent expressions which led to her playing little girl roles well into her twenties and thirties. She starred in various movies like Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Pollyanna, Little Annie Rooney, and Poor Little Rich Girl. While on screen she played the forever young ingenue, off screen she was a force to be reckoned with. She was able to control the production of her own films and in 1919, with Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Tom Mix, and Douglas Fairbanks, she created United Artists, the first production company run by actors, directors, and other performers (leading to the famous one liner provided by producer, Richard A. Rowland, "The lunatics have taken over the asylum").

The public was fascinated with Pickford's romance with and marriage to Douglas Fairbanks. Their ornate home, Pickfair, was seen as the symbol of Hollywood Royalty with its residents seen as the King and Queen. 

It's a little known fact that Pickford made a slight transition to sound, achieving enough success with Coquette that she won the second Academy Award for Best Actress in 1930. (Fun fact: The first was Janet Gaynor for the films 7th Heaven, Street Angel, and Sunrise: The Song of Two Heavens). After a series of failed and aborted projects and her divorce from Fairbanks, Pickford retired from acting to produce films. Eventually, she became a recluse until her death in 1979.

Another important female figure in Hollywood who was not as public but still left a huge impact was Frances Marion (1888-1973). Originally, she was hired as a writing assistant to director/screenwriter Lois Duncan. Eventually, Pickford hired Marion as her scenarist for her various films. Marion's writing for films like Rags, Rebecca, and Pollyanna helped cement Pickford's on screen character. Marion worked her way upward to becoming the highest paid screenwriter in Hollywood and head of the writing department at World Films. She was praised alongside other female screenwriters at the time like Anita Loos and June Mathis. During World War I, Marion became a combat correspondent and documented women's efforts on the Front. She directed the films, The Love Light and Just Around the Corner (the former starring Pickford). She won two Academy Awards for Writing for The Big House in 1931 and The Champ in 1932.

In total, Marion was credited with writing over 300 films and producing over 130.

Melanie Benjamin's historical fiction novel, The Girls in the Picture, tells of the deep friendship between Pickford and Marion recounting their first meeting in 1914 during the early rushed experimental days of this brand new entertainment venue. It takes them through Hollywood's expansion, the rise and fall of both women's careers, their stormy romances and marriages, their achievements of wealth and power, the stress of World War I, the founding of UA, the overwhelming publicity of the Fairbanks-Pickford marriage, the advent of sound, and their eventual estrangement. Benjamin depicts how both women used their talents and strengths to make their mark in a male dominated industry and helped develop it into a legitimate art form and the giant source of entertainment that it is today.

Benjamin neatly contrasts her deuteragonists starting with their backgrounds which helped propel them to join this burgeoning industry. Marion is leaving behind two failed marriages and wants her life to mean something significant that doesn't require her just to be someone's wife or mother. For her, the motion picture industry gives her a career and a chance for freedom.

For Pickford, real name Gladys Smith, entertainment is already in her blood. She has already been a stage actress to support her mother, Charlotte and her younger siblings, Jack and Lottie. She decides to become a film actress to obtain a wider interest and get more money for her family.

If you are a fan of the early days of filmmaking, then this book is a treat. It is detailed in describing how those early movies in the early 1900-1910's were quickly and cheaply made with everyone playing many roles: actors, writers, directors, editors, custodians whatever was needed. Scripts weren't written so much as they wanted to capture a brief couple of scenes. Props and costumes weren't exactly plentiful so everyone just relied on what they had. Stunts, particularly horse riding, had no protection so sometimes accidents happened and on occasion were captured on film. (I would describe them as "Mickey Mouse productions" but Mickey wasn't created until 1928.) It wasn't until the mid-1910's that filmmaking gained prestige, the productions became slicker, costlier, and more polished, and the public recognized the artistry involved in the movies's creation.

Originally, the moguls were so uncertain about how the public would react to the performances that actors weren't dubbed with their names but under titles like "The Biograph Girl," "The Vitagraph Boy," and so on. While Florence Lawrence was the first to be casted under her own name, Pickford was also similarly recognized. This moment in the book foreshadows Pickford's eventual influence within the industry.

Both Pickford and Marion are given multiple chances throughout the book to show their independence and courage to become recognized amongst the men that surround them. Pickford recognizes her persona so is very careful about accepting roles and being involved in the production of films that capture her "America's Sweetheart" character. She is also financially savvy having been poor, so she watches every penny and accounts for her growing wealth. 

When she is one of the founders of UA, Pickford is similar to Charlie Chaplin, hard workers who recognize the art form of filmmaking and want to shoot the movies until they are right.

Marion's contribution to making her mark in a man's world is in her writing and becoming one of the highest paid writers, male or female. Her scenarios emphasize Pickford's character's spunk, courage, and survival instincts, as well as her playfulness and childlike innocence. 

Marion's independence is especially evident during WWI. Many soldiers dismiss her because of her gender. Some are baffled and openly hostile that a woman is covering the front lines of war. Marion is determined to get the story, even walking through muddy and violent roads and crossing the Rhine. This experience matures her as she sees the truth of war that Hollywood can only imagine and how important movies are to people put in bad situations and long for escape.

Marion recognizes her and Pickford's contributions years later when she sees photographs where she or Pickford were the only women who were surrounded by men. 

Like many friendships, Benjamin reveals the differences between the two women. While both are strong and independent, they also differ in many ways. Marion is a quiet well read intellectual; Pickford is a bold street smart commanding presence. Marion takes pride in her unconventionality from surviving two divorces and not wanting to get remarried until she is established in her career; Mary is so protective of her image that she refuses to divorce an abusive husband and hides her affair with Douglas at first. Marion has simple tastes and just wants a nice house near Pickford of course, plenty of freedom to work, and a supportive husband; Once Pickford starts making money, she wants to live like a star, in an ornate grand mansion hence Pickfair, have a wide circle of influential friends, and become the center of attention. 

Their differences are balanced in their friendship with each other. Marion is able to bring Pickford down to Earth and isn't afraid to tell her the truth no matter how bad it is. Pickford gives Marion a touch of glamor and excitement in her life and encourages her to develop her talent.

As with many friendships, Pickford and Marion grow apart for various reasons. After WWI, Marion wants to write bolder, better scripts to reflect a more advanced worldview but Pickford still needs her professionally, so she continues with the standard Pickford vehicle. While Pickford originally loves the little girl character because it gave her the childhood that she never had, she begins to resent it the older that she gets and wants to play adult roles, much to Marion's chagrin. (Supposedly, when Pickford cut her hair from the long Victorian curls into a short trendy bob, it was such a scandal that it made headlines). Both women want to advance but feel tied to their friendship to end it until a fight emerges forcing their hands.

Their marriages  added to their conflicts. Marion likes the flashy and charismatic Douglas, but once he enters the scene she sees Pickford becoming a more glamorous star and affected snob. They are remote and standoffish so Marion has trouble relating to them. 

Marion's third husband, Fred Thomson is a religious leader turned actor who is clearly uncomfortable in this fame driven lifestyle but likes working in Western. His early death caused by an injury leaves Marion eaten up with remorse that Pickford reveals in a fit of anger.

The book also implies that sound was a huge stumbling block in their friendship's end. While Pickford did win an Oscar for Coquette, she can't adjust to this new normal and most of her films flop (including a version of Taming of the Shrew with Douglas). Plus, her marriage to Douglas flounders. She is such a relic of the old silent films that when the movies enter a different era, she would rather drop out of life rather than adjust to it.

Marion however effortlessly sails into the sound era. In fact many of her scripts like The Champ are well known to this day. She is able to find her own voice, pun not intended, without being bound to Pickford's. Benjamin implies that Pickford is envious of Marion's adjustment to the modern days while she sticks to the past. 

Marion and Pickford's friendship ends during a film production when they call each other to task for old conflicts and reopen old wounds. (According to Benjamin's notes, in real life, their friendship's end was a lot less explosive and was more gradual, coolly phasing each other out). The two don't reunite until 1969 when Marion visits the now reclusive Pickford in Pickfair.

The Girls in the Picture is a wonderful time capsule of the early days of Hollywood. Most importantly, it is an excellent and in depth character study of two women who changed it and each other forever.

New Book Alert: Double Down by CJ Axlerod; All About Aaron: The Single White Male

 

New Book Alert: Double Down by CJ Axlerod; All About Aaron: The Single White Male

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Okay judging by the subtitle of my review, the plot of CJ Axlerod's Double Down is not the most original thriller. It clearly borrows elements from the films, All About Eve and Single White Female in which a successful beautiful older woman takes an extremely ambitious and unstable woman who bears a strong resemblance to her under her wing. It isn't too long before the young upstart doesn't just want a life like her mentor, she wants to replace her mentor. 

The plot is familiar. But there is still enough suspense in Axlerod's genderbent version (casting men in the roles as the older success story and young upstart) as well as some good characterization and a few twists that make a frequent plot at least interesting.

This book's answer to Bette Davis' Margo Channing is Alex Cole, a noted action film star. Alex has been a success since his teen idol days when he appeared in the soap, Days and Nights. He has a string of successful blockbusters behind him and lives in a palatial house with a loyal staff.

Recently, Alex has been shot at by a mysterious stalker and now is afraid of appearing in public. However, he has many publicity appearances and press junkets to appear in.

Enter Aaron Peterson, assistant manager of a hotel in Naples, Florida and a YouTuber. Aaron has gained fame for his  videos where he does accurate impressions of Alex. Why he's even a dead ringer so Alex's friends suggest that he hire Aaron to impersonate the movie star at public appearances while the real deal remains hidden. Meanwhile, investigations will be made on Alex's mysterious stalker.

Aaron is eager to impersonate his acting hero and Alex sees a vulnerability in the other man that he is instantly protective of. It isn't long before Aaron's envy of Alex's life takes over and he doesn't want to just replace him at public events. He wants to replace the actor permanently.

Among the interesting approaches that Axlerod takes with the book is how Alex is written. For being a film star, he is free of ego. In fact despite the glamor job, he acts like a regular guy. He is close friends with his staff and treats them like friends and equals not underlings. He has a healthy relationship with women in which he respects them and is not only a good romantic companion but has many platonic female friends.

He knows many things about the people around him and vice versa so when Aaron at one point does something out of character for Alex while imitating him, one of his closest friends picks up on his deception right away. 

By contrast, it's Aaron who acts more like the spoiled arrogant narcissist when he imitates Alex. He treats Alex's employees like dirt, hits on female friends, and creates suspicion among Alex and his closest companions. This deliberate isolation works to gaslight Alex but also in Aaron's mind to punish him.

Aaron can't understand why someone with that much wealth doesn't use it to Lord over people. He is disappointed that Alex acts like a regular normal person. In Aaron's twisted mind, he feels that Alex doesn't deserve his wealth if he isn't going to use it. 

Other aspects to Alex's personality that Aaron exploits are his vulnerabilities. For living the life of the rich and famous, Alex has had his share of problems. His parents died when he was in his teens. His wife passed away recently and he is only just starting to get back into the dating game (though appears with beautiful starlets for publicity purposes).  In his mid-forties, Alex is starting to feel his age about appearing in the action film genre so wants to branch out into more mature fare like his latest film Hell After Dark, where he plays an anti heroic archangel. 

These issues put Alex in a vulnerable sensitive position that Aaron can easily exploit to his advantage. Aaron plays on these darker moments in Alex's past and present so he can appear like someone relatable towards him. He even shares hard luck stories about his own past so Alex can find some common ground with his new frienemy. Aaron's skilful way at manipulating Alex prove useful in his campaign to destroy and ultimately replace the actor.

There are a few plot twists towards the end in which I won't reveal but they suggest that Aaron is simply the most obvious one hiding a duplicitous nature. There are others around Alex that are manipulating him for their own gain. In the world of this actor, many are acting around him. 

The resolution calls to question many of the previous events and make the Reader wonder if Alex ever was or will be safe among the people around him again. Can he trust anyone when he finally sees them for who they really are? Aaron is the most sociopathic, but strangely enough he is honest in his sociopathy.

In an actor's life can he truly find reality and honesty? Can he find someone who isn't acting? 

April Fool's Day Weekly Reader Special: The Disaster Artist My Life Inside The Room, The Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made By Greg Sestero; A Hilarious and Heartwarming Book About Bad Film Making But Good Friends

April Fool’s Day Weekly Reader Special: The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, The Greatest Bad Film Ever Made by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell; A Hilarious and Surprisingly Heart-Warming Story About Bad Film Making But Good Friends

By Julie Sara Porter,

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: There are bad films and then there’s The Room. Not since the full nightgown ladies wrestling in Manos: The Hand of Fate. Not since Ed Wood and Coleman Francis showed their directing skills or lack thereof in Plan 9 from Outer Space and Beast of Yucca Flats respectively. Not since John Wayne stunned audiences with his portrayal of Genghis Khan in The Conqueror. Not since Jennifer Lopez attempted to seduce Ben Affleck with “It’s turkey time, gobble gobble” in Gigli. Not since Elizabeth Berkeley bared her breasts in Showgirls. Not since Madonna attempted to act in…well anything except Evita have so many people looked at a film screen wondering “What the heck did I just watch up there?”
 Allegedly a film about a love triangle between a man, Johnny his “future wife,” Lisa and best friend, Mark it is instead a two hour experiment in bad filming with terrible camera angles, scenes that make no sense,  wooden or hammy performances, and lines that are bad beyond belief. (“Leave your stupid comments in your pocket!” “YOU ARE TEARING ME APART, LISA!!!”)

However as many fans of The Room and its writer/director/producer/star, Tommy Wiseau know, it’s not just a bad movie, it’s an experience more akin to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. People attend midnight showings and call back lines, throw spoons at the screen, and generally have a good time at a movie that instead of quietly fading away and having its performers suffer career nothingness, Wiseau and Co. are  held up as cult heroes and The Room has obtained a second life as “the Citizen Kane of bad movies.”
 Wiseau’s best friend and The Room co-star Greg Sestero (who played Johnny's best friend, "Oh hi Mark.") captured the making of this disaster-piece in his book The Disaster Artist, which is a hilarious account of how not to make a movie but is also at heart a moving testament to a loving friendship between Wiseau and Sestero.

Wiseau and Sestero met in the late ‘90’s in a San Francisco acting class. Sestero had dreams of being an actor ever since he was young and penned a sequel to Home Alone and mailed it to director, John Hughes. (He marveled that instead of giving him a standard rejection letter Hughes wrote “Believe in yourself, have patience and always follow your heart.”) He had the looks and interest, accepting roles as extras (including in the movies, Patch Adams and Gattaca) and taking acting classes but he lacked the confidence and nerve to truly pursue his interest to the fullest.
Then one day at the acting class of Jean Shelton, in walked a student that had plenty of confidence and nerve. After watching Wiseau mangle a Shakespearean sonnet, Sestero found him “terrible, reckless, and mesmerizing.” Sestero became determined to do a scene with Wiseau after he saw him ham up the famous “Stella” scene in A Streetcar Named Desire. Sestero got his scene partner and cinematic history was made for better or worse.

The book develops the duo’s friendship, both the bad and the good aspects of it. Sestero was constantly perplexed by Wiseau’s oddities such as never revealing any details about his personal life like his country of origin (his last name Wiseau is French for bird but his accent suggested possibly Eastern European origins) or revealing where he got his fortune (which included owning apartments in both San Francisco and Los Angeles and a fashion business called Street Fashions U.S.A.).
He had peculiar irritating habits that made him an impossible roommate such as staying up all night listening to tapes to learn English and lose his distinct accent. (“You think its good do you is not something that the average native English speaker would say,” Sestero dryly wrote. “(Wiseau) should have been learning to say, ‘I’d like a refund for these tapes please.’”)

Nevertheless Wiseau retained an optimistic nature that encouraged Sestero through discouragement and a devil-may-care personality that lived moment by moment. (He encouraged Sestero to go several hours out of their way to accompany him on a pilgrimage to visit the road where James Dean died and eat at a diner owned by a former friend of Dean’s.)
Humor is developed as Wiseau sometimes comes across as the proverbial “Best Friend/Roommate From Hell,” an odd but essentially good-natured lovable weirdo. Wiseau is the type of person that would invite such odd theories about his origins such as whether he is an alien or a vampire and those theories are almost believable. (Any future Men in Black production has to feature him in a cameo as “a celebrity/extraterrestrial” ala Michael Jackson in Men in Black II. It is law!)

However there are darker aspects to Wiseau’s character that border on mental instability or at least severe psychological or neurological disorders and Sestero does not shy away from revealing them.
He became possessive and jealous when Sestero made new friends or received acting roles like the lead in Retro Puppet Master.  He sent Sestero a Christmas greeting in Romania while Sestero was filming Puppet Master (which he did not tell Wiseau where the filming was going to be nor where he was staying.)
 He invaded his friend’s privacy by opening his mail and interfering with professional phone calls. Wiseau also had vivid dreams of Sestero killing him though Sestero’s writing suggested he feared the same from him. Sestero sometimes described Wiseau as “a life draining vampire” who sapped his friend of energy because of his emotional potentially unstable nature.

Sestero’s friends and family members warned him of Wiseau’s behavior. One friend in particular took Sestero to see the movie, The Talented Mr. Ripley in which Matt Damon played a con artist who seduces, murders, and impersonates his best friend (Jude Law) to help Sestero make obvious connections between the movie and his friendship with Wiseau.
Most people probably would have taken the hint, booked themselves into the nearest shelter, and told Wiseau via a restraining order to hit the highway, but Sestero was not most people.  He reasoned, “My mother tried to convince me not to go back to L.A. She failed. My hippie friend tried to convince me not to go back to L.A. He failed. Patricia Highsmith, Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Anthony Minghella tried to convince me not to go back to L.A. They failed.” (Which I don’t believe was their objective for writing, directing, and starring in The Talented Mr. Ripley, but what do I know?) Back he went to L.A., Hollywood, and “Tommy’s Planet.”

Wiseau’s behavior in his friendships is nothing to his behavior in filming The Room. His excitable, unpredictable, unbalanced behavior increased during the making of the film.
Oddly enough The Talented Mr. Ripley played inadvertently into the creation of The Room. (Matt Damon and Jude Law can rest easy knowing that.) At the 1999 Golden Globes in which Ripley won various awards including Best Actor for Damon and Best Supporting Actor for Law, Wiseau and Sestero were stuck in traffic watching the limousines go up and down the streets. Wiseau was dejected, “I know they don’t want me. I know they don’t want guy with accent and long hair. So I show them. I show them what I can do…..I write my own play. I’ll do my own project and it will be better than everybody else….People will see my project and you know what? They will not sleep for two weeks. They will be completely shocked you watch.” Which proved once and for all not only that Wiseau possessed misguided precognitive abilities but Fate had a sick twisted sense of humor.

The chapters that dealt with the making of The Room show one comedic blunder after another so much so that it was a miracle that the movie got made let alone released. (No doubt due to Wiseau’s admirable but very bullheaded persistence).
Technical filming mistakes abound such as Wiseau filming in both film and digital causing the visual quality to be haphazard at best. Wiseau insisted that an alley set be built inside their rented studio even though a perfectly fine alley was standing right outside waiting for its film debut. (Wiseau’s reasoning: “Because we do first-class production. No Mickey Mouse stuff.”) As an actor, Wiseau was unable to remember his lines: you know the lines that he actually wrote such as “I did not hit her. I did not. Oh hi, Mark.”

Besides his lack of ability at filming, Wiseau was volatile and abusive with his cast and crew. Crew members got fired right and left, some after arguing justifiably over the unstable production. Wiseau tormented his cast such as his original pick for the character of Mark, an actor he called Don (but was really named Dan) whom Wiseau cast but did not film in an attempt to convince Sestero to play the part which he accepted.
 He was also verbally abusive towards Juliette Danielle, who played his future wife, Lisa. He reduced her to tears by mocking her appearance such as her acne ridden back.
An acquaintance of Wiseau’s, Markus shot behind-the-scenes footage allegedly for a documentary but was in reality so Wiseau could spy on his cast and crew talking about him behind his back.

Not to mention the fact that no one quite knew in filming what The Room was about. Carolyn Minnott who played Lisa’s mother, was confused about a line in which she announces that she has breast cancer but no other reference is made about this revelation. (“It’s a plot twist,” Wiseau not-so-helpfully said.)
A subplot involving Johnny and Lisa’s young neighbor, Denny and a drug dealer named Chris-R was shot with an action scene which Mark and Johnny subdue the drug dealer and somehow are able to arrest him, even though neither of them are law enforcement officers. (Days and hours were wasted filming the “Chris-R” scene according to Wiseau’s changeable moods over various details such as whether Chris-R has a gun and drops it or holds onto the gun causing lots of retakes and hours of unused celluloid.)

Despite being a catalog of ineptitude, The Disaster Artist is not an attack against Wiseau. In fact, Sestero clearly admired his friend’s drive to create his own movie and distribute it to the world.
This is prevalent where Sestero reveals some aspects that he had gleaned from various contradictory conversations with Wiseau and documentation about his past. (Revelations that Wiseau had discredited but Immigration documentation and subsequent research by others had later verified.)

Sestero described Wiseau as a lonely boy from an Eastern European country (documentation since the book’s publication suggested that it was Poland) who longed to move to America and be a part of the Hollywood world that he saw on screen.

According to Sestero’s account, Wiseau moved to France where he took menial jobs, was arrested in a drug raid where he was abused and threatened by the police, and possibly became a male prostitute.
He eventually moved in with his aunt and uncle in New Orleans where he still encountered loneliness and got his heart broken by a woman who the book implied may have been the inspiration for Lisa, Johnny’s manipulative “future wife".
He eventually settled in San Francisco where he sold jeans, yo-yos, and toy birds, and acquired the name Thomas Pierre “Tommy” Wiseau. (How he got his fortune to finance The Room still is not revealed and to this day no one knows. The book suggests various possibilities such as money laundering, inheritance from a wealthy mentor, or mob money-but nothing is outright stated keeping that aspect of Wiseau’s life as a mystery even still.)
 When Wiseau announced at the premiere of The Room “This my movie. This my life” Sestero and The Reader have no doubt about it. The Room was a difficult awful filming experience but it was  a labor of love from someone who loved movies and would have given anything to be a part of them.

There is also warmth between Wiseau and Sestero’s friendship. It is clear from the beginning that Sestero and WIseau filled a need for each other. Sestero’s writing implies that he would have never had the nerve to move to Los Angeles to pursue his acting dream if he hadn’t met Wiseau and the strange eccentric man had not encouraged him to follow his dream.
 Even more so Wiseau would never have had someone that understood his eccentricities and drew him out of his self-imposed isolation if he never met Sestero.

Like many well-known friendships like Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (and their current actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman) or Of Mice and Men’s George and Lennie, Wiseau and Sestero are better together than they are apart.
This is very paramount when in one chapter in their pre-Room days, Wiseau was depressed about Hollywood rejections and he disappeared leaving behind a voice mail message that he was “on a highway to Hell,” and wondering what it would be like to die young like James Dean. Sestero worried about a possibly suicidal Wiseau and wanted to call anyone to find out where he was. He realized he knew no one, no other friends or family members who knew or cared where Wiseau was. Sestero was aware that he was not only Wiseau’s best friend: he was his only friend. (He eventually reunited with Wiseau who wrote his screenplay for The Room possibly a cathartic experience for both of them.)

The Disaster Artist is the type of book that makes The Reader laugh but also warms their heart. It also warms their heart even more as Wiseau and Sestero lately have disproven F. Scott Fitzgerald’s claim that “there are no second acts in life.” They received a second act because of the cult success of The Room and its fans hailing it as an unintentional comedy cult phenomenon, which they willingly embraced. Recently things have turned around for Wiseau and Sestero giving them a third, possibly a fourth act.

The book for the Disaster Artist was not only a best seller but the film version directed by James Franco and starring him and his brother, Dave was a box office success but also an Academy Award nominee for Best Adapted Screenplay. (However the film’s star has eclipsed lately because of sexual abuse allegations towards Franco dismissing its status for any other Oscar consideration.).

 In an even more ironic twist, before the Oscars, Franco won the Golden Globe for Best Actor and called Wiseau to the stage to accept the award with him. (Possibly, this ceremony caused a traffic jam and some irritated young budding filmmaker despaired about how Hollywood doesn’t want him or her and planned their own screenplay in defiance). Wiseau has obtained the Hollywood success status that he longed for and things have definitely come full circle for him and Sestero.
The Dynamic Duo are still friends and continue to make movies including an upcoming one called Best F(r)iends that has some early positive feedback. There might be good performances and a good movie out of them yet.