Flipside The Film

The Documentary for "Flipside" is now available for streaming, download and DVD.

Based on the book "Flipside: A Tourist's Guide on How to Navigate the Afterlife."  This 90 minute documentary features interviews with renowned author and psychologist Dr. Michael Newton, a number of hypnotherapists that he's trained, as well as actual past life regressions and life between life hypnotherapy sessions.

Dr. Newton ("Journey Of Souls") spent 30 years of his life studying patients under deep hypnosis,and published his startling findings in 1996.  This is the first film dedicated to the study of LBL therapy, and includes the last interview that Dr. Newton says he will ever give on the subject.  Controversial, breathtaking in scope, this film explores what over 7000 patients have said under hypnosis about the afterlife - about reincarnation, about our choice to come to this planet, how the process works and why.  As a skeptic, award winning filmmaker Richard Martini ("Journey Into Tibet") decided to focus on what life between life hypnotherapy is about, as well as deciding to take the journey himself.

To purchase the film, follow the links on FLIPSIDETHEFILM.COM

Product Description

What happens after we die? 

Author and award winning filmmaker Richard Martini explores startling new evidence for life after death, via the "life between lives," where we reportedly return to find our loved ones, soul mates and spiritual teachers. Based on the evidence of thousands of people who claim that under deep hypnosis, they saw and experienced the same basic things about the Afterlife, the book interviews hypnotherapists around the world trained in the method pioneered by Dr. Michael Newton, as well as examining actual between life sessions. The author agrees to go on the same journey himself, with startling and candid results, learning we are fully conscious between our various incarnations, and return to connect with loved ones and spiritual soul mates, and together choose how and when and with whom we'll reincarnate. The author examines how "Karmic law" is trumped by "Free will," with souls choosing difficult lives in order to learn from their spiritually; no matter how difficult, strange or complex a life choice appears to be, it was made in advance, consciously, with the help of loved ones, soul mates and wise elders. Extensively researched, breathtaking in scope, "Flipside" takes the reader into new territory, boldly going where no author has gone before to tie up the various disciplines of past life regression. near death experiences, and between life exploration. In the words of author Gary Schwartz, Phd, once you've read "Flipside" "you'll never see the world in the same way again."

Praise for “FlipSide”

"Richard has written a terrific book. Insightful, funny, provocative and deep; I highly recommend it!" 
Robert Thurman ("Why the Dalai Lama Matters")

“Inspiring, well written and entertaining. The kind of book where once you have read it, you will no longer be able to see the world in the same way again.”
Gary E. Schwartz (“The Sacred Promise”) 

"Everyone should have a Richard Martini in their life." 
Charles Grodin ("If I Only Knew Then... What I Learned From Mistakes")

About the Author

Author and Award Winning Filmmaker Richard Martini has written and/or directed 9 indie films. A former free lance journalist for Variety, Inc.Com, Premiere and other magazines, a graduate of the Masters of Professional Writing Program at USC this is his debut non-fiction book on a topic that's been haunting him since the death of a soul mate. After a dream vision of visiting his friend in the Great Beyond, Martini went on a literary quest to find out what the prevailing science and philosophical opinions on the Afterlife are. He journeys into Tibetan Philosophy, makes documentaries in Tibet and India, and eventually is introduced to the work of the Newton Institute, founded by renowned author and hypnotherapist Dr. Michael Newton ("Journey of Souls"). The book contains interviews with numerous hypnotherapists who talk about past life regression and life between life therapy where they help patients examine their immortal identity. He documents some rather startling hypnotherapy sessions including his own, which confirms for him the research that Dr. Newton has pioneered. Touching upon quantum physics, near death experiences, the history of hypnosis and clairvoyant experiences, Martini connects them together with evidence that argues consciousness appears to exist outside of our physical selves, and is connected to our higher spiritual selves in an eternal, yet evolving manner. He discovers that life after death is a return to the source of all things, to the source of our existence, where we gather up the courage and fortitude to make another journey back to Earth with our loved ones, to examine another life where we can learn deep spiritual lessons. "We choose our parents, and together with our loved ones, choose what life we'll lead, whether difficult or not." He takes the reader through this remarkable journey in a clear, concise manner, making the trip enjoyable and easy to comprehend. As one critic put it to him recently, "This book isn't just fantastic, it's profoundly fantastic."

Where can I find this book? FLIPSIDETHEBOOK.COM will point you in the right direction.

It's selling at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble.com, Smashwords.com and other venues across the planet, available in Kindle, Paperback.

What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart

What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart

Well, there's life in the old girl yet.

I love that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has weighed in on her love for Amelia Earhart.

I think it's fantastic that Ric Gillespie and Tighar.org are going to mount yet another expedition to Gardner Island.  I don't think there's every been anyone with a track record as theirs, that has gotten so many bites at the apple.  In the film business, you make a film and you get no results - you find it harder to make a film.  This is around the 7th or 8th time Tighar is heading off to Gardner to find Amelia Earhart. Go figure.

Let's see. So far they found her shoe. Well, no, turned out to be a man's shoe.  So they said "she was probably wearing men's shoes."  Sorry, wasn't her shoe. They found a piece of plane. They had it analyzed. Not from her plane. ABC financed a few of these trips.  Last year they "found her bones!"  Well, might have been her bones - actually, Ric said in a moment of candor, it's "either hers or a turtles."  The results were "inconclusive."

Oh my God! Now he's got the US State Dept heading off to Gardner isle with him.  I can't believe it. I'm either incredibly jealous (most likely) or incredibly amused.  One of the two. One tiny small bit of detail that they're overlooking.

She was never there.

How do I know that? Well, let's stack up the columns.  On their side, they say the Gardner was on the line that she was traveling when she missed Howland - true - it's about 225 miles SE of Howland.  So far so good.  She could have gone that way.  There's no eyewitnesses to that fact.  And none that saw her or the Electra there after she disappeared.  So that's on the minus side.  On the plus side - tighar.org maintains the most extensive, up to date, excellent site about what happened to AE prior to her disappearance.  I have no qualms with the quality of the sight, and the information there - it's brilliant.

But she didn't go SE to Gardner.

How do I know?  I have read accounts of over 200 eyewitnesses who claim they saw her or Fred Noonan in and around the Marianas after her disappearance.  This is not some theory.  This is not some hair brained notion. These are written and videotaped accounts by islanders who saw they saw her, the Electra, or some version of a white female flyer that looked like her in and around the Marianas. They claim her plane came down in Mili Atoll. (the Queen of the island claimed that along with other folks.)  People discount that she could have made it to Mili - it's 400 miles NW of Howland.  But then why are these islanders saying she landed there, and that the Japanese picked up her plane there?  there's a new theory that proves it possible - it's the time line theory that shows that if Noonan miscalculated the international timeline in his navigation,he would have been 200 miles NW of howland when they were lost.  That means she only had 200 miles to continue on to the Marianas.  Either way - to me, the fact that a number of people saw the plane come down, saw troops arrest her, saw the plane transported - trumps how she got there.  She deserves credit for an amazing feat - landing her Electra on an atoll.  They claim her ship was taken by Japanese barge off the shore and transported to Majuro where it was put aboard a Japanese ship that the US was told was "searching for her" and later that it was far away.  But I have eyewitnesses who place the Koshu Maru in Jaluit - and with the Electra on the back of the ship.  I have an eyewitness who went aboard and saw her and Fred Noonan - attended to their wounds.

Why isn't this well known?

I don't know. Because he's an islander? Because he was half Japanese?  I have no idea. But he isn't the only one.

Then we have the people on Saipan who saw her in her cell on Garapan, we have numerous accounts of her incarceration - and her and Fred's execution a number of years later.  All eyewitnesses.  Then we have the US Marines who found her briefcase in a safe on the island, who then found her plane, the Electra in a hangar on Aslito airfield.  I have 5 of them on film telling their story.  They didn't know each other - and amazingly, they were witnesses to the same events.  And they watched as the US forces destroyed the Electra.

Why?

I have no idea. I don't really care either.  Because I'm not trying to prove anything - I'm just looking at the eyewitness reports and conveying what they say.  I'm sorry it isn't what tighar.org has thought happened to her - it would be infinitely more appealing to imagine her and Fred on a deserted island instead of sitting in a dark cell (where if you go to Garapan prison, they'll give you a tour of their cells - they're still there.)  What happened to her body? It was recovered by a US Navy man who was tasked to find her - he recovered her briefcase, recovered her body (also reported in the Stars and Stripes in 1944 for anyone who's looking), and oversaw the destruction of her plane. I have a positive ID of this man by a US Marine who swore to me "Beyond a shadow of a doubt, that's the man that I saw destroy Amelia Earhart's airplane."  That's a US Marine.  Not a faded photograph of some ship parked off Gardner island that may or may not have some engine part in the background.  My God.  I can't believe I'm still trying to tell this story.

For those of you who think you know this story better than anyone, I'll ask three simple questions.
1. In her book "Last Flight" AE reports of an evening spent with Thai pilots where she reveals to them that she's ignorant of how to work a very important device that's on her plane.  Can you name that device?
2. During World War II, George Putnam was in the Army Air Corps.  He was stationed on an island in the Pacific and he put in for leave for two weeks where he visited an island nearby that might have revealed everything he didn't know about her disappearance.  Can you name either island?
3. According to a Navy mechanic interviewed by two authors, (who later became a California Highway Patrolman) he installed two objects in AE's Electra for gathering information.  It was around the time that she was quoted as saying "Imagine me, being a spy." Can you name the devices?

I've been at this as long as Mr Gillespie.  So I applaud him for gaining the support of the State Dept. But I wish, truly wish, he'd stay open to the possibility, however faint it might be in his mind, that perhaps these stories about her winding up on Saipan might have some truth to them. Because the truth.. will set you free.

Anyways, watch the video. See for yourself.  I worked and was credited on the film "Amelia" as well as Diane Keaton's version - I've done everything in my power to get producers to take a look at the real story - she deserves to have her story told.  She was more of an American hero than we think she was, more than we know - she died in service for her country.  And no one has stood up to salute her for it.

Filmmaking in Rome

The class I'm teaching at the Rome Center this summer is open for enrollment.  Minor detail; you have to sign up through Loyola Chicago. Its a lot of fun and people can sign up at any level - it's for amateurs and professionals - we all make short documentaries, or participate in making one large one:  Here's the sign up details: http://www.luc.edu/rome/studyinrome/courses/summer2012courseofferings/

Here's a legible link to this poster which has recommendations included: http://www.luc.edu/media/lucedu/rome/pdfs/IFMS%20263%20flyer.pdf

Here's an example of one of the films our students made during my last class:

Flipside Documentary on Life between Life Hypnosis - YouTube

Flipside Documentary on Life between Life Hypnosis - YouTube:

Flipside the Radio Interview

I did a radio interview with Lillian Cauldwell last week. It's a 45 minute journey into the Afterlife with yours truly working as a tour guide. RADIO INTERVIEW

Working on the documentary version - will post a link as to what's going on with it as soon as possible!!!!

Check this pic taken by John Glenn Photography - Ed Bradley, me, the Maestro Francis, Dean Tavoularis at the NO Jazz Fest.  Later John and Francis hitched a ride together, John told the driver "You know who this is sitting in your back seat? One of the most famous directors ever!" the woman looked in her rear view mirror at FFC and said "I ain't into movie trivia." FFC had a big laugh.

Rich

Appearances for Rich Martini

Appearing this week at Flying Saucers talking about my book and documentary.

https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=242600715777058

New film clips on youtube.

Added some clips to the Martini Ouevre.  Oover?  Ovray.

Coffee and Chatting in the Afterlife

Wednesday

FLIPSIDE: A Tourist's Guide on How To Navigate the Afterlife

First Public Talk!

The crazy coffee fiends over at FLYING SAUCERS in Santa Monica have invited yours truly to come and pontificate about the Afterlife!!!  The date is 9-22 at 8 p.m.  I'll have some copies of the book for those who desire them.. or you can find it here:

Okay, maybe share some research and chat a bit about what I've learned.. it's all here in my book:
https://www.createspace.com/3594949

Or you can find reviews and a kindle version here:
http://www.amazon.com/FLIPSIDE-Tourists-Navigate-Afterlife-ebook/dp/B004RJ12R0

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

What happens after we die?

Author and award winning filmmaker Richard Martini explores startling new evidence for life after death, via the "life between lives," where we reportedly return to find our loved ones, soul mates and spiritual teachers. Based on the evidence of thousands of people who claim that under deep hypnosis, they saw and experienced the same basic things about the Afterlife, the book interviews hypnotherapists around the world trained in the method pioneered by Dr. Michael Newton, as well as examining actual between life sessions. The author agrees to go on the same journey himself, with startling and candid results, learning we are fully conscious between our various incarnations, and return to connect with loved ones and spiritual soul mates, and together choose how and when and with whom we'll reincarnate. The author examines how "Karmic law" is trumped by "Free will," with souls choosing difficult lives in order to learn from their spiritually; no matter how difficult, strange or complex a life choice appears to be, it was made in advance, consciously, with the help of loved ones, soul mates and wise elders. Extensively researched, breathtaking in scope, "Flipside" takes the reader into new territory, boldly going where no author has gone before to tie up the various disciplines of past life regression. near death experiences, and between life exploration. In the words of author Gary Schwartz, Phd, once you've read "Flipside" "you'll never see the world in the same way again."

Praise for “FlipSide”

"Richard has written a terrific book. Insightful, funny, provocative and deep; I highly recommend it!"
Robert Thurman ("Why the Dalai Lama Matters")

“Inspiring, well written and entertaining. The kind of book where once you have read it, you will no longer be able to see the world in the same way again.”
Gary E. Schwartz (“The Sacred Promise”)

"Everyone should have a Richard Martini in their life."
Charles Grodin ("If I Only Knew Then... What I Learned From Mistakes")

My Kickstarter Campaign

Getting to the end, running low on fuel...

Some friends have suggested I reboot my campaign and start from scratch - a little at a time.. makes sense. Meanwhile, here we are:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/467782699/earharts-electra-eyewitnesses-to-what-really-happe

Flipside: Reviews are in...

Hey all, I've been posting on a FB page about Michael Newton's work.. here's a few posts for you,with regard to my book "Flipside."  Enjoy

My son spontaneously began doing those movements before going to bed one night - sitting in a lotus position, moving his arms in the air in circles.. I call it "mudra" the term for those movements, so every now and then we'll ask him to do his mudra - and he does all these elaborate movements with his hands, and arms,and then lays flat on the ground, gets up and shakes it out. He's 6 now, been doing it for 3 years. (but only after he's watched his sponge bob,to keep it in persepective.) If you're read "Flipside," then I'm repeating myself, but when he was 2 he told me he had been a monk in Nepal. Then one day, he was watching a Victoria's Secret model dancing on tv,looked at me and said "I want that!" I laughed and said "I thought you were a monk." He said "Not anymore!"


 In Michael Newton's books he talks about the marriage or banding together of the spirit ego and the human ego to make a lifetime. Both terms to describe self awareness - consciousness. In western philosophy, or in our culture lets say, it's come to mean "Me." As in "you've got a big ego - you've got a big sense of yourself there." It came out of psychology - Freud and Jung used it quite a bit - so it's easy to say that the meaning gets cloudy depending on who you ask. The Indians, or ancient Indians anyway, talk about "atman" the individual self or the eternal soul - but as we can learn from NM (I'm taking to using Michael's initials backwards so I don't keep tying "Minute") there are two egos involved. (This place in my head is getting noisy!) I mention in a previous post this Latin phrase that came to me in a dream - vanum populatum - literally "annihilate vanity" - but Vanity is things of the ego that influence it (through fear, desire, other add ons) that don't have any inherent meaning. You can argue they come from past life experience, (karma) or you can suggest they come from a life choice which is dictated by beauty, or the desire to learn from being beautiful, or rich, or anything else that is not pure spirit. Buddhists like to define it by not defining it - or describing what it is not - and point out that the human condition is always changing - fluctuating, and that at our core is a spirit, more like a wisp of smoke - that travels from lifetime to lifetime. We know from Michael's research that's not the case - that our spirit between lives is fully conscious and capable of making free will decisions - but their philosophy holds up in terms of what is happening on a day to day basis. We get affected by desire and fear (turn off the tv and breathe) - we think we're always the same person, but we're ever changing, always growing. And as I like to point out to my Buddhist friends, we are also ever growing in the spirit world - never the same, as we continually grow spiritually, just at a much slower rate than can be measured in Earth terms (or at a great rate, for example by going through a tragedy). As one person put it in an LBL, "We can go through 5000 years of spiritual growth in one day on Earth, depending on the experience, as opposed to reincarnating on another planet where nothing of great drama or conflict occurs." So to answer your question - it's been debated for, oh, just about forever here on Earth, and for my mind, ego is not something to overcome - rather it's something to examine, understand, and be mindful of.


Just a quick comment - I interviewed a therapist in Colorado, she wasn't aware of NM's work, she had a client who met a guy who she felt was her soul mate, she left her husband, he didn't leave his wife - she was devastated. During her PLR she saw they had been together many lifetimes and had agreed NOT to be together now.. so they could learn and grow. There are many people in our soul group - NM says the average is 15 - so it could also be someone from there, or someone from an affiliate group you've had other lifetimes with. Honor the fact that you were born to meet your husband and if you examine it, you'll see the sacred in that original meeting - it's no coincidence or mistake you came together. (and of course people part, for many reasons, but that doesn't change the agreement you made to connect in this life). Scott de Tamble suggests a connection that defies logic, from a spirit level, may mean you're meant to become friends with this person - not on a physical level - but a spiritual one. Our energy has been around quite a bit, it makes sense we'd run into people we've been connected to before, or that we can communicate telepathically to. And the internet helps facilitate that, of course. In my session I was told "the people who know you will find you." But then, I think we can all communicate telepathically, we just don't practice it.

•  Sometimes we walk around the sacred mountain, aren't aware we're doing it, and then later, we see benefits from it. I had the same answers in my council - although I didn't find their answer "You already know the answer to this question" negative. Rather it's a confirmation of your ability to intuit answers to deep questions. Take the ego out of the answer, as they say, and see it for what it is. You do know why you're in Kentucky once you examine it - and the lives you've touched. (there's no choice of place on the planet that can be a negative.) You do know the answers to these questions, and they know you know the answers, and are trying to tell you to trust yourself a little more. Your daughter's spirit guide is her own, yours is your own, I should probably scan thru the answers before replying, someone else has probably mentioned it. Everyone gets their own. And if you're fortunate enough to eventually become a spirit guide, you'll get one too. 16 lives is a few lives? When you consider that you might have paused between them (sometimes its hundreds of years between lives) that would put you back quite a bit - and would account for the darker color (older color) of your spirit. But some people are here for the first time - its pretty funny that you would be chagrined at being here so many rich and wonderful times. Couple of observations - listen to the tape again. Usually our conscious mind takes over and spends a bit of time talking us out of it - "must have made it up" or "I didn't really go anywhere" - Then when you're making up your list of questions, try to ask some that you know for a fact you know nothing about. Or ask your facilitator to go deeper and ask specific questions - in my case, I asked both of my facilitators for each session for names, dates, cities, and to not let me get away with dodging the question. When you've made such a long journey back, and assembled your team to be present and available to answer your deepest questions - well, I had ten questions I'd ask God if I got to him. Sure, I got a few "You already know that answer" answers, but that didn't prevent me from asking them. I'll give you an example. I asked "What's the meaning of Vanum Populatum?" It came to me in a dream, I had googled the answer, but I knew that no one outside of me would know the answer to the question. So when I asked, my lead council member showed me an imagine of ME lying on a couch, sitting next to my facilitator. And with a point of his thumb, he said "Richard already knows the answer to that." I laughed. But in that answer, I learned a couple of things: 1. He could have said "You already know the answer to that," but didn't - confirming that he was addressing my eternal self, and that my latest temporary self, Richard, was on the couch. And the second thing I learned, was that I saw that it was my eternal self who had whispered "Vanum Populatum" in my ear two years previously, knowing that I love puzzles, that I would google the term eventually, and be startled by the answer.
• It means "Destroy Vanity." I wondered who would be telling me to do that - I hadn't heard of Michael's work at this point - I thought "Why would someone speak to me in Latin, a language I don't know?" and "Why would someone tell me to destroy vanity, when I live in LA and I wouldn't know where to begin?" But then I realized it was close to the Buddhist "Destroy the ego," or "destroy the self" through meditation on emptiness - but I saw it more clearly as "destroy the things of the self that have no meaning but are all vanity" - money, fame, looks, etc. So I was startled and puzzled as to who had whispered that in my ear - and in the council session, I saw that it was my eternal self (that clever fellow) who had put into motion a 3D puzzle that would only be solved two years later, after I'd discovered Michael's work, after I'd flown to Chicago to interview him, and during my LBL session where I would see clearly how that puzzled had been laid out in advance. I got quite a chuckle out of the council over it... and the answer "You already know the answer to that question" becomes more deep and profound the more you meditate on it. And it may not come to you today, or in your session, but the seeds for those answers have been planted in you, and they will surely come to bloom.

My Kickstarter Campaign

Hi all,

Well, I've finally posted a link to my Amelia Earhart Doc - through Kickstarter.  If you have a couple of bucks in your pocket burning to be free, sign up and donate!!! It's for a good film.

Best,

Rich

FLIPSIDE: A Tourist's Guide on How To Navigate the Afterlife

I've finally published my Kindle book about my documentary about reincarnation.  Here's the Kindle book:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004RJ12R0

Here's a link to a ten minute promo for the documentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9gTU1j0imY

Charles Grodin Live!

Friend and mentor Charles Grodin has been doing hilarious, insightful commentary on CBS radio in NY for awhile now.  Could it be ten years?  Maybe more.  I've had the privilege of knowing Chuck for about 30 years now, and every time I talk to him on the phone or see him in person, I come away feeling lighter, more energized, seeing the world in a different fashion.  He's got a unique vision, and is hilarious as well.  Here's a link to his website in NYC.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/audio-on-demand/charles-grodin/#

You'll hear the past two months of his commentaries about life in the city, life in the country, and life in general. Enjoy!

Here's a picture I found recently, taken on the set of "Movers & Shakers" - Charles invited me to be the dialog coach on the set - meaning I got to spend time helping actors rehearse their lines.  Walter Matthau had an amazing memory, and could memorize huge sections of text in a few hours - his secret was that he recorded all the lines on a tape recorder and kept it playing around the house.  So in this case, I was his tape recorder, and would follow him around on the set, helping him with his lines. What a delight.

Anyways, here's the picture, with the gentlemen pointing out I've spent too much time around the craft table.  Enjoy Chuck's commentaries above!

Limit Up

I made this film in 1989.   The other day, a technician at a lab and I were chatting about it, and he asked to see it.  He's 26, African American, grew up in the projects and made his way to LA.  I gave him a copy and he raved about it; he wants to show it to his church, he wants to show it to his pastor father in law; he wants everyone in his life to see it.  Needless to say, I was moved.  Twenty years ago, a group of people came together to make a little fable about capitalism, about how hard it was for a woman to become a soybean trader at the Chicago board of trade, about racism. The cast includes the amazing Danitra Vance (Colored Girls on Broadway in the 70's), who plays the guardian angel of Nancy Allen.  Ray Charles plays God.  It's a paean to Chicago, an homage to the soybean pit where my brother toiled for many years.  The original cast was Daymon Wayans and Sharon Stone, but the producer wouldn't let me cast them.  Either way, it's a PG13 family flick, Brad Hall, Ron Howard's dad Rance are hilarious - Dean Stockwell, Nancy Allen are a hoot - "cornball" as Ebert puts it, but hey, something to be said for the only film ever made about soybean trading.. I still have no idea why anyone would hate this film.  Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+ - but sadly, it's disappeared into the great cinema vault in the sky.

Here's a clip I put on youtube of Danitra and Ray in the final scene, sadly, both not on the planet anymore:

Here's a clip from the ending with Danitra and Ray:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhQzQ3opivE

Here's the Entertainment Weekly Review:

VIDEO REVIEW

Limit Up (1990) B+

Reviewed by Cynthia Grisolia | May 04, 1990

Who would have thought that someone could make a feature film about a subject as unsexy as soybeans and it could turn out to be as charming as this.

Limit Up stars cherubic Nancy Allen (who shifted from sexpot to Kewpie doll somewhere between Dressed to Kill and Robocop) as Casey Falls, a ''runner'' on the floor of Chicago's Midwest Grain Exchange, where traders, in a wild jitterbug of coded hand signals and general pandemonium, control the output of America's No. 1 cash export: soybeans.

In a facetious bending of the Faust tale, Casey sells her soul to a delegate from the devil (Danitra Vance, in a role undoubtedly written for Whoopi Goldberg), and soon is rolling in high-protein dough.

If you're thinking of stopping here because you've heard this before, don't. Limit Up may have an oddly misleading title (''limit up'' is commodity-trader jargon indicating prices are frozen and trading has stopped), but it's really a splendid comedy with just enough corkscrew turns and wry jokes to make thisfaux Faust pretty sprightly.

All the elements are here: good cast, good script, tidy direction, and an ending that's sunny but not so much that it will make skeptics gag. And Allen is particularly delightful as the ambitious trader forced to make a tough decision when her marker comes due. Also, look for Ray Charles in a small but significant role and a cameo by Sally Kellerman.

Another Tibetan tortured for being Tibetan

A Tibetan Political Prisoner's Life Under Threat: Report 

[Thursday, 30 December 2010, 6:07 p.m.]

---

Jigme Gyatso/File Photo

DHARAMSHALA: A Tibetan political prisoner named Jigme Gyatso serving a 17-year long prison sentence in Chushul prison near Tibet's capital Lhasa is in critical health condition due to severe torture, according to a report received by the Central Tibetan Administration.

In 1996, the Intermediate People's Court in Lhasa levelled alleged charges of counter revolutionary activities against Jigme Gyatso along with a group of Tibetan residents of Lhasa. Jigme Gyatso was subsequently locked up in Drachi prison to serve a 15 year jail term with hard labour.

While in prison, Jigme raised slogans of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's long life which resulted in a 2-year extension of his incarceration. Nevertheless, he remained firm in his resolve for which he was severely tortured and beaten up rendering him physically very weak.

The severe beatings continued after he was shifted from Drapchi to Chusul prison and presently his survival is on stake due to the debilitating health condition.

Jigme was born in 1961 in Sangchu in Tibet's Amdo Province.

He used to live in Lhasa before the arrest and his mother passed away two years after he was arrested.

He was one of the first Tibetans who worked for the just cause of Tibet in Sanghcu, Ladrang in Amdo Province. During his stay in Lhasa he joined Tibetan friends and dedicated sincere efforts in number of activities for Tibet.

Notwithstanding physical weakness caused by beatings under the Chinese government's captivity, many Tibetans like Jigme have kept up their spirit of determination and courage to brave the repression. 


FOR SOME EXCERPTS FROM MY DOC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g9PurojxAU

MartiniLeaks

Hmm.. could there be a trend here?  Just thought it sounded funny.  After a couple of Martinis, who doesn't leak? Or feel like they're leaking?  "I am Spartacus!"  "I am a wikileaks!"  Find their mirrors here: http://wikileaks.info/

I was in India some years ago, and they had this t.v. show called "Tehelka."  And it was basically the same thing, but with video - and they caught these govt. guys robbing the country blind.  I watched as the Indian Defense Minister was caught on camera taking these huge bribes - and huge in India means stacks of rupees that are stapled in the middle - suitcases full.  And this guy was sitting there in front of a hidden camera, piling these stacks of cash in front of himself, promising the guy behind the camera that he was going to approve the Defense contract he was bribing him for.

A went back a couple of years later.. and nothing happened. Nobody got fired. Nobody got nothing. Same Defense Minister, they had a "commission" look into the details.. but basically; nada.  So, despite all the hoopla over Wikileaks revealing our state secrets (and to their credit, they had local journalists redact any names in the documents that might have cause problems with local contacts), we're able to get a glimpse into the darkest corners of our state secrets.  It's just about the biggest thing that's every happened to the Fourth Estate, and if you're behind the maxim from the Bible that says "The Truth Shall Set You Free..." --

which by the way, adorns the entrance to the CIA --

you must be for truth in all endeavors.  Julian Assange is merely a figurehead for thousands of journalists who are working behind the scenes to "keep 'em honest."  I'll predict that in ten years, there'll be a "wikileaks" t.v. channel, ala "Tehelka" in India.  Unfortunately, I also predict NOTHING will change.  Figures lie, liars figure, and everything will go into another closet.  But in the meanwhile, enjoy the holidays and the show!!!


"May you live in interesting times." Old Chinese Curse

Rich (my two cents)

Martini On The Rocks CD

Okay, after waiting 20 years, I've finally posted a smathering of my tunes.  Still waiting for itunes to put them online, but in the meantime, Amazon.com has put them up here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_seeall_1?rh=k:rich+martini,i:digital-music&keywords=rich+martini&ie=UTF8&qid=1290469417

Apologies for the off key notes, the clams, and the other obvious mistakes that I've made compiling this songbook, that dates back to when I was 18 and playing piano at the James Tavern while attending Boston University and had to write some tunes for my weekly gig.  Later, I wound up playing these songs in pubs and bars around the planet - so if you want to experience them the way you normally would - have a couple of cocktails and put some peanuts on a napkin.  I was the Piano Man for a certain portion of my life, and the songs reflect it.  I think you can sample them for free, so enjoy.  There are ballads, and instrumentals, and a recurring blues riff that I put in the movie 'Cannes Man.'  There's also the great Craig Cole, making an appearance from the Great Beyond on a couple of tracks.   But over the years, people would ask me for a cassette, and later a CD.. so here you go.  If you can't bear to part with the buck, email me and I'll send you a sample track.

best,

Rich

You Can't Hurry Love

You Can't Hurry Love is finally available.  While being released as the second film on a two bill  - with some other Love title, I found a place where you can get the title by itself.

Here it is:

YOU CAN'T HURRY LOVE




starring David Packer, Scott McGinnis, Bridget Fonda

with appearances by Charles Grodin, Sally Kellerman and Kristi McNichol.

Enjoy!

Remembering Paul Tracey

I ran across the eulogy I gave at my friend Paul Tracey's funeral in Phoenix seven years ago. I'm a fan of honoring those odd incidents that occur in your life in some way, and so I'm reprinting it here.  In light of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" debate, it bears repeating that gay people are part of our families... funny how archaic this debate will seem in 5 or 10 years. Like the Civil Rights or Women's Rights debate.  Did we really debate that stuff?  Seems silly now. But here's to you Paul, enjoy. 

Dave Patlak and Paul, circa 1985.

Paul’s Eulogy from Feb. 2003

For years Paul and I would argue over whether or not he’d come to see me in Santa Monica, or whether I’d come and visit him in Arizona... - oh what lengths you would go to win an argument, Paul!

Last time we spoke was a few weeks back.. Told him how he’s going to be an uncle in a few months as Sherry and I are due to have a baby girl.. We laughed about that, and then I complained about his complete inability to use email - something I’ve been after him to do since they invented it.. And I’m amazed to say that in the past ten years I’ve gotten a total of one email from him. And I think he sent that by mistake. He was a phone person - .. We spoke often, more frequently than I do with other friends who live nearby - and every one of our phone conversations was as if we’d just finished up the last one mid-sentence. I fully expect the phone to ring at some date in the future, and Paul and I will pick up where we left off.

Kathy Delaney, Paul, Janet Tuzzolino and Me
freshman year in High school

Where did we leave off? Well, the conversation started in 7th grade. He’d moved to Northbrook with his family and we met on a football field. Paul was a natural athlete, fast, our halfback, I was a guard - I can still remember in glorious detail the “40-cross” that we ran against St. France in a Championship game - Billy Meyer in the backfield, Dave Siebert at my side playing center, 40 cross meant I took Dave’s guy and Dave too mine -and number 40, that was Paul, would take off.. I’ll never forget looking up from the mud to see Paul running for the touchdown that won the game. Silly as it sounds, I’ll never forget that moment. He was poetry in motion. It was our sophomore season that he went into the hospital - as I remember it, he didn’t have to, but had an operation so he could play again - little did we know what the staph infection would do to his hip and keep him from being the athlete he was. Not to say that Paul was such a fan of football, but I know he loved the camaraderie and friendships we had on the field.

Dave Siebert, Kathy Kearney, Paul circa 69

We also traveled together a bit. In grade school during spring break, Paul and I had the brilliant idea to take a Greyhound bus to Florida to visit his grandfather in Deerfield Beach. We thought we were pretty cool, smoking cigars on the way, until we both turned green from the smoke. We got to Florida and burned ourselves to a crisp in a day - and since we spent the next week indoors, got in so many raging arguments that his grandfather, sick of the bickering, actually bought us both plane tickets and sent us home. We were both shocked that his grandfather actually thought we were serious, and laughed about it on the plane home.

But Paul and I spent most of our time laughing. I imagine it was that same sense of humor that inspired me to get into making comedy films. I paid homage to Paul a couple of times - In “Three For The Road,” Charlie Sheen’s character was named after Paul, and I even got him to do a cameo in my film “Limit Up” - he happened to be in LA for the day, stopped down to the set, so I threw him into a scene, which, of course, he nailed in one take. I asked him if he wanted to stick around and watch the filming and he said “I’ve already got my close up, what would I stick around for?”  Sue Bodine sent me an email expressing her condolences; she wrote “All I can think about it Paul the raconteur, standing at a table or piano with such humor and timing, engaging everybody in his earnest story. What does Renee Zellwegger say in that film? “You had me at hello.” He was like that. You loved him before anything happened. He just didn’t know that. We love you Paul.”

Paul, me and Dave Patlak describing the pizza at Numero Uno's in Chicago

It was indicative of the kind of person Paul could be when he gave it some effort. When he put his charm and ability in front of him, he made everything seem effortless.. I know that didn’t prevent him from finding ways to make his life full of effort instead of effortless. I only mention it because we talked about that too, his inability to conquer his demons and the stress it put on those around him. At one point, he was furious with the love of his life Carlos over the fact that Paul had bought him a motorcycle and for whatever reason, Carlos wasn’t able to make the payments… Paul was raging that he couldn’t reach Carlos and wanted to repot the motorcycle. I suggested that in actuality, Carlos had put so much time and effort into their relationship that if you put a dollar figure on it, Paul was into Carlos for much more than the bike was worth. He thought that was hilarious, and promptly sent Carlos the title to the bike and a note telling him the motorcycle was his.  I think Carlos sent him the full amount after that, but my point is that Paul had his own logic of how things and people should be and at his core, he cared deeply about other people’s feelings.

Like when he called to tell me he was ‘coming out of the closet.’ At first he hesitated - his ex girlfriend Nancy Covington had told him I’d never be able to accept Paul being gay, and that my family would freak hen they heard the news. Of course, this coming from the girl who’d sailed to Greece to propose marriage to Paul and was devastated when her proposal was met with the truth - indicative of how honest Paul could be when he wanted to. I had just been to see him in San Francisco, living on his boat “The Endorphin,” and I had gone with Luana, my old girlfriend, who adored Paul up until her dying day - but Luana noted she felt something about Paul was different.  I should have had a clue when his dad looked at me and joked about Paul always having to iron his socks. I was clueless.

My dad, Paul and my mom

So Paul called, “Richard,” He said, with a seriousness unlike I’d heard before - “I have something important to tell you.. And I really don’t know how you’re going to react.” Hmm.. I thought, what could this be?  He said “I’m gay.” Stunned, - I chose the position I always chose when arguing with Paul - that I knew more than him about anything we ever discussed. I said “Like I didn’t already know that!”  He breathed a sigh of relief, I resolved that nothing Paul would ever tell me would be something I couldn’t handle or rather, wouldn’t be something I’d convince him I’d already considered and had a full blow opinion about.  My family’s response was equal to mine - we’ve always loved Paul, having always considered him part of our family - a fifth son - Paul was at just about every wedding and funeral in my family - but when I told my mom that Paul had ’come out of the closet’ she said, “Why can’t he just go back in there with a flashlight?”


I was weighing how to tell my mom the news of Paul’s passing. My dad’s got Alzheimer’s, she’s taking care of him at home - which is stressful as you can imagine - and I didn’t want to add any stress.. So I asked her what she thought happened to a person after they died. She said, “Well, I think they go to a wonderful place.. When you die, it’s beautiful, and you see people you love, and you feel better physically and don’t have any problems.. A place where you’re perfectly happy in the best of health, and all the worries and woes of this life are behind you.”  It was then that I told her that our dear friend Paul had left this planet, and that I thought he had perfectly described where he is now, and how he’s feeling.

A photo of Paul on The Endorphin next to his ashes

I know how much he loved all of you. I know because I haven’t seen most of you in 20 years but he kept me up to date with pride - Hope’s wedding - to which I replied, “Hope, married? Isn’t she still 12?”  About Peter’s job and family, Jack’s living her with his family - Susan the hippie rebel and Pam the practical professional - what you guys have been up to, even hilarious tales of Aunt Rhea - and especially his mom and dad - he was so impressed that his dad is Lance Armstrong senior, riding a bike every day for umpteen mils and how his mom was, as I’ve heard it, winning just about every bridge championship in the country. Maybe he was making it all up, I’ll never know, because you see, Paul and I saw the world we created. I’m sure he’s finding it hilarious to see us all here celebrating him - Dave, Mark, Billy, Dave and Maryanne - I’m sure he’s enjoying this.

Bill Meyer, Mark Caplis and Paul's
red Maple, growing with the help
of some of Paul's ashes.

Finally, we talked a lot about travel - using his sky miles to go somewhere - lately he had a passion for Ireland - He’d sign up with a new long distance phone service every week and get huge chunks of air miles - last year we were swearing we’d go to Ireland.. Something about the lure of the home country called to him, something deeper in his spirit that he longed for, I imagine.. I’m sure he’s here with us today, but I’ll be happy to spread some of his ashes on the Emerald Isle for him if the family would like me to.

I’m hoping one day Paul and I can continue our conversations, maybe in my dreams, and maybe after this life.. I may even admit to him that he’s right now and then.. But my phone’s been ringing this week and there’s no one there, so I’ll assume it’s Paul, but he’s at a loss for words. Thought I hardly think that’s likely. Paul, we’re all going to miss you very much.

Windy City White City

In light of the brouhaha over Muslims v Christians, I've posted my two part documentary "White City/Windy City" - the film was made at the behest of Layalina.tv., and organization created by former Ambassadors Richard Fairbanks and Marc Ginsberg to foster understanding between cultures.  In this case, I chose Chicago and Casablanca as Sister Cities that exhibit tolerance - the documentary was made with the idea of creating a series that would eventually be broadcast in the middle east and the U.S., featuring various Sister Cities and what they have in common.  Either way, I think it stands on its own, if only to hear both Mayor Daley and the Imam of the largest mosque in Casablanca say the identical things, word for word.  Enjoy.  For more info on the film, go to www.layalina.tv

http://sistercitiesdoc.blogspot.com/