View from F6617 at the Royal Sands, Cancun, Mexico.
Today is April 15th.
It was predicted that it might rain here (35%), so I made an appointment at the spa (massage). Prior to that, we enjoyed the sun poolside. As mentioned previously, it has been windier and cooler this week.
I have managed to finish off 3 books and am currently reading a copy of “The Godfather” that someone left on the freebie bookshelf, because, in the wake of completing “The Last Kings of Hollywood” I am interestedin revisiting the source material for Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece. It is interesting to hear how he came to make the film in the first place, and how he and Mario Puzo collaborated on the script while holed up in Reno in a hotel.
Puzo was a novelist, but not a screenwriter and, after the original movie hit it big and there was talk of sequels, he thought he should, perhaps, learn more about writing a screenplay. He checked out a book on writing a screenplay and, within it, found praise for his script for “The Godfather,” written when he knew nothing about the actual craft, so he shut the book and soldiered on. One of the anecdotes that both Francis Ford Coppola and Mario Puzo’s son mentioned in the Introductions fo the book was the note that Puzo made (to FFC) that Mafia members “don’t brown; they fry.” I don’t know why this particular “note” was seen as significant, but the entire book about Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas depicted these three titans of Hollywood and told so many interesting stories.
At La Isla Mall on April 14th.
But the thing that stood out, for me, was how influential the women in their lives had been, but how most of the wives or girlfriends had to shelve their own dreams and aspirations in order to support their husbands or boyfriends. It was the old “Stand by your man” mantra. Eleanor Coppola, who died in 2024 after a 14-year fight against a chronic disease for which she refused to do chemo, was, herself, a director of documentaries and had many other goals. Her book, written from her journals, about the making of “Apocalypse Now” really made an impact on me when I read it upon its initial publication. She talked frankly (and intensely) about how FFC, while filming for 17 months on location, had an affair and lost massive amounts of weight. What she didn’t share was that her husband since 1963 had been seeing Melissa Matheson, Oscar-nominated screenwriter of “E.T.” for the better part of 7 years, a well-known “secret” that most of Hollywood knew, even if Ellie did not.
Eleanor Coppola (1935-2004) in 2023.
I sat down and wrote to Eleanor Coppola (who wrote me back), expressing my admiration for her no frills style and her interesting content. I had never written to anyone before, and—aside from David Sedaris—I have never written to anyone since.
My snail mail letter was full of praise for the book. I learned that the rest of Hollywood was not quite as forgiving, as they viewed it as a sort of “revenge” piece, retaliating for FFC’s affair (although she did not name “the other woman.” I recognized Melissa Matheson as the woman who became the eventual wife of Harrison Ford (she did not write the “E.T.” screenplay until much later when encouraged to do so by Steven Spielberg). Matheson died at age 64 in 2004. (Harrison Ford, of course, went on to marry Calista Flockhart years later, but they were divorced at the time of Matheson’s passing.) Marcia Lucas, George Lucas’s first wife, was a talented film editor who greatly enhanced his films during their partnership.
It seemed that FFC would go to Matheson to hear encouraging words and praise. She is described as soft-spoken and calm (probably a good listener.)
Director Francis Ford Coppola.
But Coppola was reluctant to break up his marriage—spurred by Eleanor’s pregnancy in 1963—and dragged his feet on any kind of rupture of his Italian family, which originally included children Gio, Roman and Sofia. The death of their firstborn son, Gio, because of the rash driving of a speedboat by Griffin O’Neal (son of Ryan O’Neal, but not the son of Farrah Fawcett as I may have erroneously assumed in an earlier piece—that son was Redmond) is covered and obviously deeply impacted both Coppolas. Nothing worse than the death of a beloved child, and Gio was learning his father’s craft and moving up in the world.
It’s a good read, if you’re interested in the movies and these titans of the Hollywood film industry. It explains how the “auteur” films of the 70s will not be allowed to return, as we now have to have “tentpole” movies with built-in audiences, as it is all about the bottom line.
Having just heard Steven Spielberg speak for an hour in Austin, and having heard Coppola speak at the Chicago Theater for my birthday last July, I really enjoyed the book.
Today was Tuesday and I had to return to the nail girl to finish my pedicure. She is a very nice young girl, but possibly the slowest nail technician I have ever met. I also have never seen a nail technician use their own finger to smear something sticky on the nail fill acrylic area. Nor have I ever had brown mud and salt rubbed on my forearms. I was asked to remove all of my jewelry. Fat chance of that! I haven’t had my wedding ring off my ring finger in years. My ring finger was jumped on back in high school when playing intramural basketball (thanks, Judy Postel!) and the joint buckled backwards and is now permanently enlarged. For a while in the 60s I wore a brace thing to try to force my ring finger to lie flat.
I took off my watch and the fun continued. I did not enjoy the mud, which had something to do with a coupon I had inadvertently found in a coupon book and was apparently representative of some ancient Mayan manicure. All I know is that, after I had been there since quarter of 4 p.m. (nobody but me in the shop for 15 minutes) on Monday, waiting, Valeria entered and we snail moved into action. There was one other woman getting a pedicure, but she spoke Spanish,. I do not speak Spanish, so it was a quiet 2 hours.
La Isla Aquarium.
The manicurist took a LOOONG time and at 6 p.m. I finally suggested the splitting of the pedicure part off to the next day, as we had 7-ish restaurant reservations and I still had not had a shower nor changed my clothes. I never did have enough time to do either of those things. I did them today, after the postponed pedicure. At least the chairs DID massage you, which was very good news, as my back has been hurting, which my daughter would say is because of the mattresses. (I blame it on old age. Mine, not the mattress.)
We went to La Isla tonight to an Italian restaurant that has been in business for 40 years, Cenacola. We had a hard time finding it, as our cabbie failed to mention that there were 2 La Isla Mall sections and we were wandering around floor 2 of the wrong part.
I asked 3 people for directions to this restaurant, after the cab driver gave us a bum steer. I had not been to La Isla for years. It has changed about as much as the airport, which bears no resemblance to the airport we flew into in 1990. La Isla is a very high end mall with every brand name you can think of, but very few people actually shopping in those stores or buying anything. Sadly, I have learned that the one remaining store that sold perfume in Kukulcaan Plaza near us is moving to La Isla next year.
Wedding on the beach.
Royal Sands, view from F5517.
Tomorrow, a massage at 3 and fried chicken, which is how we began this adventure.
Thursday, the Veranda, where we dined last Thursday on beef and chicken, which was good.
The weather this week is windier and in the high 70s. It was in the low eighties last week and there was very little wind.
Back in Illinois and Iowa, tornado warnings.
Connie, Craig, Stacey, Will at Nicoletta’s.
Pensive.
Cancun, Mexico.
Ava.
Elise.
Elise & Ava.
Elise.
Ava & Elise, horsing around.
Elise, son Scott, Ava at the Royal Sands pool.
We’ve been coming to Cancun since about 1990.
We first stayed at the Fiesta Americana Condessa for 2 years. Then, we rented at the Royal Mayan for 2 years Then Ricardo, our enterprising sales guy, suggested that we should purchase a unit at the Royal Islander, which had not been open long.
We purchased Unit #4492, which was a penthouse unit, and we enjoyed that unit every year until the entire Islander went back to the state (Mexico) 2 years ago. The view was unrivaled, as there is no other Royal property that was 9 stories tall, but our unit was perched atop the store and looked out at the beautiful multi-colored blue ocean. We still miss the Islander. And, for that matter, the days of wandering from the Caribbean (gone) to the Mayan (gone) to the Islander are long gone and so is our favorite restaurant, Captain’s Cove.
When the Islander went back to the state, we decided to try to purchase a second unit at the Royal Sands on the secondary market. The Royal Sands had opened in 2000. The lease is for 50 years, whereas the Islander was either 25 or 30. So a unit bought when we purchased a second week to replace the Islander was purchased before we found out that the Holiday Inn was buying up the Royal Resorts chain.
The restaurants at the Islander were superior to the Sands (especially the Conquistador, which moved there from the Mayan when it closed) and, by the time we purchased a second unit on the first floor of the Sands, we had already been coming here for something like 10 years—although not always at a place we owned. Now, we have been coming back every Easter for roughly 36 years. Gone are many of the amenities we used to enjoy, like the Taco parties on Tuesdays and the open bar party with limbo contests. On the other hand, this year they are not pressuring us to come to a meeting to try to sell us a unit, because, as of now, the PTB would prefer that all owners, like us, fork over our units so that the desk can charge whatever the traffic will bear to rent them out. We really don’t know what the daily rate is here (although we should ask) but I know that at the Pueblo Bonito chain in Mazatlan it is something like $483 a night.We pay maintenance fees, which have steadily risen from about $500 a year to 3x that much, but that is still quite a bit less than the bill would be to pay $500 a night for a week.
Front: Jesse, Joy, Ava and Elise; middle row – Will Allison, Stacey (Wilso), Norma (Jessica’s Mom), Jessica; back row: Steve Nelson,me (blonde), Regina Nelson, Craig Wilson, Scott Wilson.
We see changes every year, and some are improvements. There is now a children’s park outside our B5108 unit, which used to be a tranquil garden. Not sure that’s an improvement, but the little people probably like it. We miss restaurants that have closed and we don’t go downtown that much any more, especially after the unrest in Puerto Vallarta. It seems calm here, although, sadly, we have watched the decline and fall of Kukulcaan Plaza over the years. It used to be a bustling mall and we still like to dine at Ruth Chris’ Steakhouse within it, but, aside from the make-up and perfume and purses you can purchase at the end of the mall closest to us, there isn’t much left open inside. The other mall, La Isla, was always the “high end” mall, but we haven’t been there yet. The teenagers chose to go to a place called the Market on their shopping spree, so we have no recent reports of changes there.
It was very sad when the Islander reverted to the state of Mexico, and they are now making it into another All Inclusive place. I don’t like anything about the idea of HAVING to eat every meal at just one place, and I also want to be able to throw together a quick lunch or breakfast, if I feel the need. The places that have redone themselves have often ripped out the kitchens entirely and have made the bathrooms fancier. This is not what I would have wanted if I had a young family, and it does not really scream “Improvement.”
We prefer having a full kitchen and pots and pans and plates so that we can make breakfasts and lunches, if we choose (not to mention snacks). We go out to very nice restaurants at night, and we sometimes order food around the pool or at the beach, but we don’t like HAVING to eat all meals here at the Royal Sands, which, as owners, we don’t have to do.
Will (Allison) and Stacey (Wilson).
On Saturday everybody else (13 people total) will fly home.
We will become just an old couple doddering around on our own, reading books and watching our Super Box and probably dining much less fancily.
The weather has been wonderful and, so far, the sale that took place last year of the entire Royal family to Holiday Inn Vacation Rentals has not made a huge difference, although the place seems busier than normal, even though it is Easter break time.
It will be easier to move from the first floor to the fifth floor to the unit we purchased 2 years ago. We used to have to take everything down to the Islander by cab, but since the Royal Mayan bit the dust, the Royal Caribbean became Uno, and the Royal Islander is temporarily closed and under construction the only Royal Properties left are the Royal Sands and the old one downtown and the Royal Hacienda, which is way out of town.
This year my son has his 17-year old twins and two of their friends, Joy and Jesse, and we have our daughter and her fiance, Will, in our unit. Son Scott also has his mother-in-law in tow and there was one day of shopping and there has been one day at the spa for a massage.
We have had game night here twice, which has been Balderdash, Fish Bowl and euchre. Except for a semi-fall onto my bad knee last night at Porfirio’s, there have been no horror stories. I asked for (and got) ice immediately and sat with ice on my knee throughout the serving portion of the festivities. Fortunately, aside from a bruise on my wrist when I caught myself on a chair, I have been able to walk normally and did not re-injure the already fragile left knee.
“Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story” won the SXSW Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature at SXSW 2026. Directed by Ayden Mayeri, it’s the story of a quartet of childhood friends who made a record when they were junior high school age (11 to 13) and it surfaced as a hit on the website Rate Your Music 24 years later. Said Director Mayeri, “This album being discovered is the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me.
The X-Cetra Story (Photo by Dessie Jackson).
”WRITER/DIRECTOR
Director Ayden Mayeri, who has 58 IMDB credits, has appeared in such films as Paul Feig’s “Jackpot!”, “Mr.Throwback,” “Cora Bora Comedy,” “Spin Me Around,” and is the Writer/Director of this award-winning documentary. After the unexpected fame of their album Et-Cetra, (made in 2000), Mayeri decided to try to get the foursome together again, twenty-four years later. Ayden admitted “I really missed hanging out with them and being carefree. She likened their reunion in Santa Rosa as “Our version of Backstreet’s Back.”
Ayden Mayeri
Ayden admitted that she wanted to recapture the unself-conscious feeling of her pre-teen years. It is captured via extensive videotaping by one of the girl’s mothers from back when the girls were 11 to 13, in 2000. Kudos to Editor Phil Rosanova and Audrey Leach, who drew the task of blending copious amounts of film and to cinematographer Barry Rothbart. The musician mother Robin O’Brien who had ties to the German music provider Akim and produced the girls’ maiden vocal efforts deserves much credit for the album existing at all, also.
Now 36, Mayeri described the era to The Daily Texan as “a journey of me trying to fit in.” She said, “It’s just me and my friends, living our childhood dream, putting our vision out in the world… It was crazy because we made this album in the year 2000 when we were 10 to 12 years old … we were immediately very embarrassed about it. We were like, “Let’s never talk about that again. We’re in junior high. Everything’s embarrassing. (We) don’t want anyone to know we did that.”
CAST
X-Cetra cast
Following “Rolling Stone’s” writing an article on their X-Cetra album of the early 2000s, the quartet of old friends gather in Santa Rosa and even write some new music. The film became a thumbnail character sketch of each of the four girls: Jessica Hall, Janet Kariuki, Mary Washburn and Ayden herself. The intervening years for each girl are related in a way that makes us care about them, especially since we’ve seen them when they were adolescents perched on the verge of high school.
EDGE OF INNOCENCE
The universal truth for all girls that comes throughis that dating and boys and being “cool” will change the relationships between these girls that formed earlier. The self-consciousness of youth will sometimes inhibit even those who are obviously talented at a young age. One of the reasons Ayden gave for making the documentary was this: “I think my greatest dream is that people feel free to be creative for no reason and to really go back and tell their younger selves that they’re great … I really wanted to show what girlhood feels like, and that’s why I’m reading from my diaries, and we’re talking about some kind of messed up stuff, because that’s girlhood”
X-Cetra cast
It was clear early on that Ayden was innately talented. But, as a lyric sung in the documentary asks, “Did I make you feel embarrassed when I’m something to be cherished?” This film allowed the four fast friends of 2000 to revisit and recapture the exuberance of their youth, via X-Cetra.
Jessica, for instance, shares that boys of their class harassed her with the nickname “titless” for a long time, while Mary—the youngest at eleven—was excluded from the group as high school approached because the other three were two years older. Brushes with parental divorce, drugs, relationships gone wrong—all are included and fill in the picture of who these four girls are and who they were in 2000 before life intervened.
DOCUMENTARY RESONATES
X-Cetra cast
The documentary struck a chord with the audience, which voted it the winner of the Audience Award at SXSW 2026. It resonated with me, as I taught junior high school students for eighteen years. I remember my own daughter’s early friendships and creativity when exactly the same age as these girls in 2000. The line, “Are you gonna’ live in that moment for the rest of your life?” was a good one, highlighting that the lives of the foursome have moved in separate directions.
Thanks to the parents who both filmed and recorded the girls at a young age, we can see the arc of their lives from 2000 to 2026. I’m sure their reunion to celebrate the unexpected success of X-Cetra the album was a great one.
This SXSW documentary was a joy for the original members of X-Cetra and it is a joy for the audience.
Ryan Gosling has not had a release recently—not since “Barbie” in 2023, for which he was paid $12 and ½ million dollars (compared to the $29 million he earned for 2016’s “La La Land.”)to play Ken. “Project Hail Mary” was directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who are best known for “The Lego Movie,” “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,” and the animated film “Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
PLOT SYNOPSIS
Science teacher Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spaceship light-years from Earth. As his memory returns, he discovers he is on a mission to stop a mysterious substance (an astrophage) that is killing the sun. It’s a desperate Hail Mary ploy to save Earth. An unexpected friendship with an alien dubbed Rocky ends up being crucial.
Those who read the book were among the most supportive, but also the most critical of the Drew Goddard adaptation of the Andy Weir (“The Martian”) book. I have not read the book, so I’m out of that debate.
Andy Weird book “Project Hail Mary” is the basis for the film.
THE GOOD NEWS
Anthony Whyte of “The Movie Blog” was correct in saying, “Project Hail Mary” is about learning how to understand someone completely different from you. He describes it as “a warm, funny, and genuinely heartfelt sci-fi film that reminds you why these stories work in the first place.”
If it works, that is. For me, it did not, but “Project Hail Mary” opened at $33 million domestically on Friday at 4,007 locations. If it reaches $77 million by Sunday it will be the best opening for Amazon MGM ever, eclipsing 2023’s “Creed III,” which garnered $58 million. This means that, just like my opinion of “Plantman & Blondie” at SXSW as weak, I am the one out of step with the mainstream. So be it.
TONE
Given the previous films from this directing team the humor was a given. That part works. However, for me the movie at times couldn’t seem to make up its mind if it’s a comedy or a save-the-world serious epic. With Gosling, who was so good at light humor in 2016’s “The Nice Guys” (as well as during his guest stints on “Saturday Night Live”),I went into the film fully expecting lightweight banter and wry humor. I was looking forward to that. Did the humor mix expertly with the seriousness of the save-the-world mission? That’s the question.
Films like “Crazy, Stupid Love” (2011) and “Barbie” fed into this expectation of a humorous good time. There is humor in “Project Hail Mary”—perhaps too much of it, since the entire film, like “Independence Day” or any previous Save the World movie—is all about sending a team into space to certain death, a suicide mission— to save the planet and preserve the universe. A team of three people will be launched into space to find out why astrophages are draining stars in the solar system.
What is an astrophage and why should we care?
THE SCIENCE
Ryan Gosling plays a middle school teacher with a doctorate in molecular biology who is drafted to save the world in “Project Hail Mary.”
The science is explained well as mentioned in Anthony Whyte’s The Movie Blog review. It’s easy enough to understand to the extent that we need to remember any of these sci-fi explanations. As someone who dropped out of chemistry after one day (and physics in two), it was plenty detailed enough for me. Judging from math and science scores on tests nationwide, it will be adequate for the average audience member.
As Anthony noted in his TMB review: “Visually, the film is strong across the board. The use of color and lighting stands out immediately. This isn’t the cold, sterile version of space we’re used to. There’s warmth here. There’s texture. It feels lived in. The camera work and transitions are consistently engaging, with some shots that genuinely feel like they were pulled straight out of a comic book panel.The cinematography and sound design are the real stars of the show.” Agreed. Cinematographer was Aussie Greig Fraser who is known for Dune: Part One (2021), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) and 2012’s Zero Dark Thirty
SOUND
Co-star Sandra Huller as Eva Stratt has a fairly big part early on and sings “Just stop cryin’, have the time of your life. We can meet again some day, Somewhere far away from here.” The music, in general, is very good. The sound adds immeasurably in ratcheting up tension. Composer was Daniel Pemberton, who also did the music for “Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse.”
THE CAST
Basically, it’s a one-man play, as Ryan Gosling’s character is the only one of the three astronauts who survives the blast-off into space. The two supporting NASA astronauts don’t survive the trip out and we learn very little about them.
And here’s where I have to get off the fan bus.
RYAN GOSLING FILMS
Ryan Gosling.
I’ve been a fan of Gosling’s since his performance in 2001’s Sundance film “The Believer,” which won the Grand Jury award at Sundance over 25 years ago. There is not a red-blooded heterosexual woman alive who hasn’t seen “The Notebook” (2004) and loved the romance with Kate Beckinsdale. Gosling’s star continued to rise with “Half Nelson” (2006), for which he was Oscar-nominated as Best Actor in a Leading Role, followed by “Blue Valentine” (2010). “Crazy, Stupid Love” (2011) saw Gosling lifting Emma Stone in the fashion of Patrick Swayze in “Dirty Dancing” and teaching Steve Carell how to be cool.
Then came “Drive” in 2011, “The Ides of March” (2011), “The Place Beyond the Pines” (2012), “The Nice Guys” (2016) and “La La Land” in 2016, (which we all thought had won Movie of the Year for a few minutes on Oscar night, thanks to Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.) “ Blade Runner 2049”—often mentioned as Gosling’s finest film—came out in 2017 and 2023’s “Barbie” cemented Ryan Gosling’s status as a hunk whom heterosexual women want to see romancing an equally attractive female lead.
ROMANTIC LEAD?
Project Hail Mary
So, who’s the female romantic lead in this one? Answer: nobody. “Gravity” (2013) at least had Sandra Bullock and George Clooney in space together, without pursuing their romance. So, could we have that version of things in this sci-fi space movie, please? Ryan doesn’t have to get the girl, but could there BE a girl for him to potentially court? (Do people still use the term “court” in 2026? No? Okay. Their loss.)
That lack of a romantic sub-plot explains why there IS no girl, no romance, and way more emphasis on getting along with intelligent alien life forms in the universe—a trendy topic in today’s news. Give me back a leading lady that our 45-year-old hero can at least flirt with, please. And aim for “Gravity’s” length (91 minutes).
It didn’t work for me (and neither did “Plantman & Blondie” at SXSW) but different strokes for different folks.
FATAL FLAW
Ryan Gosling in “Project Hail Mary.”
THE MOVIE IS TOO LONG. WAAAY TOO LONG. This is an interstellar sci fi comedy drama based on a book by Andy Weir (“The Martian”) that is meant to be light-heartedly amusing while taking us on a space adventure. It’s not “Oppenheimer.” Much of the film involves talk of space and one highlight is Gosling’s dramatic walk in space to secure a predator that will neutralize the star-eating effect of astrophages.
But the film ran over 2 and ½ hours. While I enjoyed the friendship between James Ortiz’s alien Rocky, I would have liked the movie much more if it had a backstory involving Ryland’s love life—or lack of one. Not true to the novel? A valid defense, but I haven’t read the novel, and I wish I hadn’t spent 3 hours seeing the movie, despite my admiration for Ryan Gosling’s body of work.
Steve Carell and the cast of “Rooster,” as well a producers Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses, spoke at SXSW in Austin on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 at the J.W. Mariott in downtown Austin. With the producers and their star were castmates Danielle Deadwyler and Charly Clive, who play Dylan Shepherd and Katie, respectively.
The series revolves around Carell’s character of author Greg Russo, who has been summoned to his daughter’s college to help solve a crisis in her life, when her philandering husband, a University professor at the fictional Ludlow College (actually the University of the Pacific in exterior shots) creates a scandal by impregnating a student. That doesn’t do much for his marriage to Carell’s daughter Katie and soon Dad is summoned to help pour oil on troubled waters.
GREG RUSSO
Steve Carell onstage at SXSW on March 17, 2026.
Carell’s character Greg Russo is a successful genre author. Think of someone like Lee Child, the pen name for former television writer Jim Grant who wrote the Jack Reacher series alone until 2020 when he began writing them with his brother Andrew Child. In this fictionalized version of things, the character in the books is Rooster and Steve Carell’s arrival on his daughter Katie’s campus begins to cause some confusion, as his fans among the faculty and students begin to ascribe characteristics of the author’s main character to the author himself, Carell’s character is going to be pressed into service as a university lecturer and other adventures will occur. Written as ten 30-minute episodes, the series had the strongest opening for a comedy series n ten years for HBO and with the recent announcement of $21 million in tax credits for the series and its warm audience reception, chances are very good that it will make the cut and go beyond one season.
CHARLY CLIVE
Steve Carell with daughter Katie (Charly Clive) in “Rooster” on HBO Max.
British actress Charly Clive plays Katie, Carell’s daughter, and her British accent was a bit of a shock to those of us who have seen the first episodes, which she plays with an American accent. Charly starred in a British television series called “Pure” and is a 2014 graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Art in New York City. This is her first big American role.
MOTIVATION
When asked about why he took the role, Carell joked, “It was mostly money, really.” He then went on to say, “It felt true. I have been experiencing a lot of these life moments with my own daughter. I like parts representative of all parts of life, just experiencing life as it comes.”
APPROACH TO THE CHARACTER
Danielle Deadwyler of “Rooster” cast onstage on March 17, 2026 at SXSW.
Carell said, “I didn’t want Greg to be a Walter Mitty type. He isn’t completely comfortable in that role. Greg didn’t strive to be famous. He just wanted to be a writer.. I think he is shy, but not an introvert. He is married to an impressive woman…I read the pilot and thought it was terrific. A lot of times, you don’t know if something feels authentic until you’re in the moment, but this was an instant feeling of ensemble.: He went on to say “It was very reminiscent of my experience on the office (for 7 years). That’s the sense I get with this.”
DANIELLE DEADWYLER
Steve Carell as Greg Russo and Danielle Deadwyler as Dylan Shepherd in HBO’s “Rooster.”
Danielle Deadwyler, who plays Dylan Shepherd in the piece said of her comic chops, “I don’t have a comedy background. I’m winging it, Baby.” While acknowledging that Carell and Deadwyler come from very different places, Carell added, “The fun is finding the common ground. We had the freedom to start looking for it. There’s so many different directions you cam tale thiss.” Credit for the expert casting was given to Allison Jones, (“Scrubs”) who selected the cast members.
BILL LAWRENCE
Steve Carell onstage at SXSW with the cast of HBO’s “Rooster.”
Producer Bill Lawrence, who has an impressive list of hit shows including “Ted Lasso,” “Scrubs,” “Bad Monkey” and “Shrinking,” referenced some advice he was given by Michael J. Fox on “Spin City,” having to do with timing. The anecdote had to do with NOT changing a scripted “People who need people” line, but milking it with expert comic timing. He and Carell described “Rooster” as “a little push of kindness is needed right now.”
EPISODES
The team replicated a New England college in Los Angeles and Production designer Cabot McMullen, who has worked with Lawrence and Tarses for 30 years, was given credit for the authenticity of the college setting. The students, largely recruited from Stockton, California, were also credited with bringing energy to the piece. (“All the students brought a fantastic energy,” said Deadwyler.)
CONCLUSION
Those who watched the first episode will remember that old pro John McGinley as College Employee Walter Manes is often shirtless and Carell said that, in episode six, “I do some nudity.”
Scott MacArthur from “Breaking Bad,” playing a hockey coach with substance abuse issues opening a beer bottle on part of a helmet worn by one of his players was singled out for his creativity. “If you can create that kind of work environment, it shows up onscreen.”
Director Steven Spielberg in 2023.
Steven Spielberg was interviewed onstage at SXSW on Friday the 13th, 2026, in the sixth floor ballroom of the Hilton in Austin. His appearance was the first at SXSW since 2018, when he appeared at the Paramount in support of “Ready, Player, One.” This time, we can assume that his appearance was meant to coincide with the release of “Disclosure Day” in theaters on June 12th.
ORIGIN OF CREATIVITY
Spielberg remembered being taken to Disney films by his parents as a child. They thought taking young Steven to see “Fantasia” as a seven-year-old would be safe. He disagrees. “The least safe thing they could have done was to take me to see Fantasia when I was only about 7 years old. I had this kind of over-dose or over-abundance of imagination, so whenever I saw something I would extrapolate from that. There was this sequence called The Night on Fall Mountain and it just destroyed me. What I wanted to do with my impulse was— when something scares me— I want to create some sort of talisman to protect myself…That’s kind of how the whole thing started with me wanting to find some way to put it up somewhat to take it out of me and put it on something else.”
Since launching his career with 1975’s “Jaws” Spielberg has had 223 wins of various sorts out of 358 nominations and is synonymous with modern American cinema, whether as writer, director or producer. He and Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas are the subjects of the recent best-seller “The Last Kings of Hollywood,” which I am currently reading. In his sixty minutes onstage, Spielberg, 79, reflected on his remarkable career and on some of the films that instantly summon the American cinema experience.
“E.T.”
Spielberg defined “E.T.” as a demarcation point in his career, making him want to have kids. He said, “I didn’t have much of a home life,” which later was explained more fully in his autobiographical film “The Fabelmans” (which Spielberg described as $40 billion of therapy that Apple and Dreamworks paid for”).
Of making “E.T.” Spielberg explained , “I loved those kids. I didn’t want them to go home.” He even acknowledged that Drew Barrymore never really went home, in the metaphorical sense, after starring in the film about an alien visitor.
He explained that, although it cost $10 million to shoot the film in chronological continuity, that was done so that the young actors and actresses would be saying goodbye to “E.T.,” the alien, in the final scene of the film, rather than the normal way of shooting pieces of the film out of context. He pointed out that this compounded the sadness of separation that all of the cast were feeling as the making of the movie came to a conclusion.
ALIEN MOVIES
With his disclosure that “E.T. made me want to have kids, Spielberg gave credit to wife Kate Capshaw and their 7 children and 6 grandchildren. Of his children, he said, “They keep me relevant and current.” He also absolutely crowed about the recent Obama comment about potential intelligent life beyond human life in the universe, saying, “This is so great for ‘Disclosure Day!’. That film comes out in June. Spielberg admitted that the recent New York Times series of articles on UFOs (now known as UAPs) “rekindled my interest in this subject matter.”
HISTORY
Spielberg onstage at SXSW on March 13, 2026.
Spielberg said that, “I’m drawn like a magnet to history. I just found so much richness in stories about the past.” He praised this year’s “Train Dreams” for covering an entire life over 75 years, since, “films move so fast.” He mentioned influences such as TikTok, and Instagram, while saying he is not on Instagram because of the “missing time dilemma.”
Question: “How do you do what you do?”
Spielberg’s answer was that he storyboards if there are a lot of special effects, but also noted that there were none on “Saving Private Ryan” or “Schindler’s List”. “I know the page count I need to cover. If you cast your film right, you get a person with a deep understanding of how film works.” He shared that he and Tom Cruise were both early arrivals on the set of “Minority Report” and said, “Your instincts and intuition are your best friends. I just need the cast to trust me” and advised would-be filmmakers to “learn from your heroes from before.”
SPIELBERG’S NIGHTMARES
A poster for the 1975 American film ‘Jaws’, directed by Steven Spielberg for Universal Studios. (Photo by Movie Poster Image Art/Getty Images)
Spielberg said, “Even the happy ones (movies) come from my nightmares.” He said the audience is the most important barometer for a film and admitted that the “Jaws” team “didn’t know what we had until the ‘Jaws’ premiere at the Medallion Theater in Dallas,” adding, “I have previewed all my films in Texas.”
His story of an audience member leaving the theater during “Jaws” to vomit, but then returning was a great, if amusing, tribute to his storytelling ability.
HUMILITY
Saying that his worst nightmare would be “not to get to do what I do” Spielberg expressed great admiration for David Lean’s “Lawrence of Arabia.” He and Martin Scorsese worked together to restore parts of the film that had been removed by studio heads saying, “You will never be as good as David Lean. It keeps me humble.” He described watching the film so many times that a silver object in the sand caught his attention and is still a mystery.
The acclaimed director also remarked, “I was riding high in 1978. My next movie ‘1941’ came out and I was humbled.” He also said, “Every film is different. Every film is a birth, a life, and a death. I don’t judge my accomplishments based on one film. I always fear that if I looked back too much I’d not move forward.”
FAVORITE PERFORMERS’ SCENES IN HIS FILMS
Spielberg mentioned scenes from “Amistad and Tom Hanks crying in the crater and Daniel Day Lewis as Abrahan Lincoln. Two shots. Four minutes. One cut to David Straithorn. The scene had to do with the need to pass the 13th amendment, which made slavery illegal. “I was in the other room crying. Daniel Day Lewis asked, ‘Where’s the skipper?’ Then he came back, put his arms around me and hugged me.”
UNDER-APPRECIATED SPIELBERG FILMS
One humorous anecdote that came from the question about his under-appreciated films was the story that, when he was single, he had a criteria for a second date. “I used to show girlfriends “A Guy Named Joe” (Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne) or “Always”—Audrey Hepburn’s last film, Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter. “It was the film I used to show girlfriends. Them and ‘Two for the Road.’ If they didn’t cray at the end, I wouldn’t go out with them again.’
MOVIES AS COMMUNITY
When asked about the community and communication that happen in a theater (“The real experience comes from gathering audiences tougher at movies or concerts.”) Spielberg remarked that “Theaters like IMAX have committed to you.” He was asked what he can do to preserve the movie-making experience as it has existed for decades, given streaming and the tremendous convenience of portable communication devices like the IPhone. His response was, “All I can do with Ambling Entertainment and my parent company is make movies that people want to see.”
He admitted that he remains current, saying, “I see it all because it’s kind of a rush to see them all. I see everything I possibly could see.” With A.I. turning 25 this year he remarked that he is still very integrated with the writing process and said “I haven’t used A.I. in any of my films. I am not for A.I. if it replaces a creative individual,” which brought a round of applause.
When asked what film of his he would suggest if aliens wanted to see a film that was about human history, Spielberg suggested “E.T.” rather than “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.” He also expressed great admiration for Frank Capra’s “It’s A Wonderful Life,” calling it “the kindest film I’ve ever seen” and vowed that his next film will be a Western that will “kick ass.”
“Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real-Life Superhero” at SXSW.
Director Bayan Joonam appeared with the documentary “Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real-Life Superhero” at SXSW and shared the six-year project with an audience that, for the most part, has grown up on/with social media. Bayan is best known for partnering with actor Rainn Wilson to translate SoulPancake’s mission into digital video on sites such as YouTube.
As Head of Production for SoulPancake between 2012 – 2018, Bayan led the development and creation of award-winning original programming such as SoulPancake on OWN, Kid President, and My Last Days, which led to nearly a billion views, multi-season television franchises, and acquisition by Participant Media in 2016.
SYNOPSIS
With “Phoenix Jones,” Joonam tells us the story of Ben Fodor, born 5/25/1988, who, according to Director Joonam, as Superheroes go, “Phoenix Jones, to me, is the most legit of them all.””In 2010, reports began surfacing of a masked vigilante in a black-and-gold Superhero costume stopping crime on the streets of Seattle. His name was Phoenix Jones. Armed with pepper spray, a taser, and a team of costumed crime fighters, Phoenix Jones quickly became an international media sensation. But when his true identity was exposed by the Seattle Police Department, the heroic image began to unravel and his team abandoned him.
During the Q&A following the film, Joonam acknowledged that he learned about Ben Fodor’s Phoenix Jones persona through Rainn Wilson, who starred in the 2010 superhero movie “Super.”Rainn portrayed a self-anointed vigilante known as the Crimson Bolt in the film. (“Super” did not do well financially, grossing only $593,933 against a budget of $2.5 million but it has since become a cult classic, particularly among fans who appreciate its subversive and unconventional approach to the superhero genre.) Rainn Wilson makes a brief appearance in the documentary to state, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to put on a costume and jump into a dangerous situation.”
STORY ORIGIN
Bayan Joonam, Director of “Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real-Life Superhero” at SXSW.
It is clear that Joonam, who learned of Phoenix Jones when working for Rainn Wilson (“The Office”) has given a lot of thought to creating this in-depth portrait of a troubled young man, whose biological parents gave him up for adoption. How much of his “abandoned at birth” story is real and how much is manufactured for effect is up for discussion.
What struck me was the charisma that Ben Fodor exudes could have taken him to the top of so many endeavors. He was adopted soon after birth by two loving Moms, Margaret and Susan, who adopted other troubled youths. Ben created an alternate version of his early life in which he spent 11 years in an orphanage. Director Joonam has also worked for Jay Z. It is not beyond the realm of the possible to think of a young man like Ben Fodor with such charisma utilizing it in a similar fashion as Jay-Z and becoming a shooting, rather than a falling, star,
His older (adopted) brother Caros Fodor quickly shot down Ben’s untruth about spending 11 years in an orphanage, and also physically fought him (and beat him) in an MMA cage match for money. Ben Fodor in costume is an imposing presence, but this documentary makes it clear that he is a very troubled one, despite his charm and charisma.
FREEDOM FODOR
Perhaps the most sane and well-adjusted person to appear onscreen is Ben’s young son Freedom, whom Ben obviously loves very much. Freedom says, of his father, “My dad is a person who really cares and is really damaged, and I saw that. Ben Fodor has extreme trauma.”
Son Freedom traced some of his father’s more recent trauma to the death of a young woman from a drive-by shooting that Phoenix Jones and his rag-tag band of vigilantes were attempting to police. They had gathered to fight crime in the streets of Seattle, headed to 5th and Spring, the old federal courthouse, to “confront what was going on,,” when Nicole was shot. Phoenix said, “We just stood there and watched her die.”
The cinematographer documenting the superheroes fighting against crime, Ryan McNamell, filmed the exploits of Phoenix and his band of crime-fighters from 2011 to 2012 and called the death of the young woman “fucking terrifying.” (The film is dedicated to Ryan, who recently died.)
SUPERHEROES
The list of people—-“dorks all” according to one of them who called himself “crime interventionist, Midnight Jack” (“I’m one step away from homeless”)—who have donned costumes and turned out to fight crime is lengthy: The Watchman, Mr. Sticky, Knights of the Night (“The Office’s” Dwayne Schroot’s name for one), El Caballero, Purple Reign (who was married to Phoenix at one point) and L.A.’s Rock Hard. The list of superheroes—or poseurs pretending to be superheroes—would fill a novel; their stories are complicated and suggestive of severe, persistent mental illness.
Phoenix says, “I was fine before I did this. I’m not fine now.” He also admits “I think my life is just sort of out-of control.”
DENOUEMENT
Ben Fodor became the subject of an undercover police drug investigation on November 5, 2019, which led to his arrest for selling Molly and cocaine (2 lbs.) to an undercover agent at the Silver Cloud Hotel.
Phoenix’s supporters from “the old days” of 2010-2013 are struck by the ultimate hypocrisy of his arrest, since Phoenix Jones frequently railed against drug dealers and drug dealing. On January 29, 2020, Fodor pleaded guilty in a Seattle court and was fined $500 and time served. He retired from crime-fighting and announced that he was going to go to college to study criminal justice and business and then run for Mayor of Seattle. He did ask his attorney about the consequences if he didn’t pay the $500 fine.
His progress towards those lofty goals may be hindered by the fact that there are currently two warrants out for his arrest, for driving without a license and not paying the $500 fine handed down during the (furtively filmed) drug sentencing.
Director Bayan Joonam at midnight during the Q&A following the showing of “Phoenix Jones: The Rise and Fall of a Real-Life Superhero” at SXSW on March 17, 2026.
This was a very thorough and thought-provoking film that made me aware, once again that some people are much better liars than others. (See “Chili Finger” review.) I couldn’t help but think of the wasted potential of a personality as magnetic as Ben Fodor’s. How much of his crime-fighting was about sincere love for his community and how much was just someone desperately the limelight? Was it all just a focus on self-mythologizing and enjoying the spotlight that social media provides?
At this point, as reporter Jason Rentz said of Phoenix Jones, “People clearly do not trust you,” so there goes the political career—or does it? There are some personalities who lie repeatedly and their actions clearly contradict their words, yet devoted fans sycophantically continue to sing their praises in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. You won’t have to think very long or very hard to come up with a list that goes all the way to the top.
CONCLUSION
A thoroughly enjoyable 105-minute look at modern social media’s effects and the messed-up folks who live and die by it, as well as a thoughtful look at vigilante justice and the societal problems it presents.
“Birth Is for Pussies” is TV pilot at SXSW 2026.
Hannah Healy—actress, filmmaker, and doula—brought a TV pilot “Birth Is For P*ssies” to SXSW. The series focuses on giving birth and is based on Hannah’s ten years of experience as a doula in New York City. Hannah is an actor, writer and director based in NYC and London. As an actor she most recently appeared as Charlotte Astor in season 3 of HBO’s “The Gilded Age”.
Producing the TV pilot with Hannah is Celine Sutter, a writer, director, and producer born and raised in New York City. Celine recently earned her MFA in Writing/Directing from Columbia University. The original score was provided by King Princess.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
The synopsis of the first episode shows a rookie doula (Hannah Shealy) thrust into her first birth with a mother she’s never met. After a rocky start, she quickly learns that supporting women through labor is messier, funnier, and more profound than any doula training could have prepared her for.
I found Hannah Shealy very sympathetic in the role. I also loved the Tribeca penthouse where Hannah visits a pregnant couple (Danny Defararri and Madeline Wise), an apartment which had a jaw-dropping view. I’m not a New Yorker, but I was in town when JFK, Jr., tragically died on July 16, 1999. Residents of New York City were leaving flowers in front of his Tribeca building. I wondered if this location might have been near where young John F. Kennedy, Jr. lived. The view and decor were opulent.
CONfLICT
For me, Madeline Wise had already distinguished herself in the SXSW film “Chili Finger.” She was equally good in this as the pregnant wife who doesn’t want her spouse to know about her herpes diagnosis. That might set up some conflict to come (during delivery) but conflict has to be there. If I learned anything at all from the University of Iowa’s Writing program it is that. Conflict is not as prevalent as I think it needs to be in a series about giving birth.
While Hannah was lovely and the mother-to-be in a less-ritzy part of NYC was as stressed as you would expect anyone would be if they were in labor, the conflict quotient for the brief episode I saw was slim. I’m no expert on giving birth ( as the line goes, “I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ no babies”) but this series needs a serious elevation in the conflict levels or I fear it will be DOA.
TREND
Hannah Shealy.
On the plus side, I do think that Hannah and her producing partner Celine Sutter are on to something in the zeitgeist. For decades the United States was one of the civilized nations whose birth rate was holding relatively steady. Then Donald J. Trump began his anti-immigrant ICE raids. His daily quotas of picking up citizens and non-citizens on the streets of cities nationwide and ejecting them from the country has certainly contributed to statistics that show the nation’s birthrate — that is, the number of live births per 1,000 people in a given year — is down by more than 25 percent since 2007, when the decline began.
“We spent decades shaming women for having kids under the wrong circumstances, for not having their ducks in a row,” said one expert. “Now they are holding up their end of the bargain.” Almost half of the country’s 30-year-old women are childless.
“SIXTY MINUTES” DID A PROGRAM ON THE IDEA OF WAITING TO GIVE BIRTH
Putting off having children in order to finish school or establish one’s self or simply to live life a little before “settling down” has become the norm. As one expert said, “It used to be that the only people who put off having kids were college girls from more privileged backgrounds. But now it’s everybody, with teenagers and less educated women leading the charge. “
Women in their early 30s now have the highest birthrate of any group. A woman in her early 40s is more likely to give birth than a teenager. It’s too early to say whether those pregnancies will be enough to help the U.S. reverse the ill effects of a falling birthrate. The number of children born to women by the time they turn 44 hasn’t dropped at all.
BIO
Celine Sutter
In my own case, my mother gave birth to me at 38, which was considered quite old for the times. Mom was a working woman who supported herself until she married at age 30 in 1937. Given the fact she was born in 1907, that means she was way ahead of the working woman trend. Also ahead of “have children later in life” current trend.
We can assume that the birth control gains of the sixties and seventies (now being reversed by the GOP) which gave women control over their own bodies has contributed to women deciding not to give birth as soon. Maybe they were too young. Maybe they were unemployed or alone. Maybe their own mothers were struggling to give their daughters the future they never got to have, because they got pregnant in their teens. “Biology was destiny” for years—until the 1960s and the advent of the birth control pill.
CONCLUSION
I gave birth to two children, a son and a daughter born 19 years apart. I was pregnant at 22 and 42. My youngest, a daughter in her thirties, is now hoping to give birth in the immediate future. She and her partner actually lost a baby to a rare anomaly very recently. The odds of a re-occurrence of that are astronomically high.
She has had the opportunity I did not have to travel the world, find herself, and figure out what she wants from life, thanks to the birth control pill and the hard-fought Roe v. Wade right to a legal abortion, (which I fought for in the seventies.) Now legal abortion is state by state. The blue states are often being selected by the more educated citizenry (doctors, lawyers and other professionals) since those individuals want, for their wives and daughters, the rights that women enjoyed for fifty years, until the conservative stacking of the Supreme Court.
MOTHERHOOD ON FILM
I’ve noticed that recent films and TV shows—like “Night Bitch” or the upcoming “Margo’s Got Money Troubles” on television—are depicting a more realistic side of motherhood—one might say “warts and all.” There was also the Charlize Theron 2018 film “Tully.” “Birth Is for P*ussies” might fit right into that trend.
I’m all for informing women about the process of giving birth in a way that is more realistic than the one depicted in films like 2007’s “Knocked Up.” Perhaps “Birth Is For P*ussies” will educate us all. I’m all for informing women about all aspects of their sexuality.
