"Love in the Time of Money"

I went. I saw. I met Steve and his lovely wife, Jo. Here's the full report. I'm going to start with a few mundane details, but bare with me. I believe they are relevant to the story and will serve to give those of you who have never been to The Big Apple a taste of what the city is really like. New York City is more than just a place. It is a tangible, almost living, breathing entity. It is teeming with activity and noise almost to the point of suffocating newcomers with over stimulation. It has a definite personality -- sometimes friendly and welcoming, sometimes hostile (just try to cross the street at Herald Square and you’ll know what I mean). New York undoubtedly holds a very special place in the hearts of many. Those I've met who live there, like my brother Michael and his girlfriend Kathy, claim it's the best place on earth. They would never leave willingly. It obviously has a similar importance to Steve and his family. In addition, the city. more than just a backdrop, served as a character itself in the featured event of the trip -- the east coast premiere of Peter Mattei’s "Love in the Time of Money". Mattei, the director, admitted during the Q&A following the feature that his film is not only a collection of love stories but also a tale of his (as well as the story’s characters') love of New York and the unique relationships it fosters.

I arrived in Penn station via the Acela Express late Tuesday evening. Following a group of people who seemed to know what they were doing, I was able to locate a cabstand on Seventh Avenue. After giving the cabbie the address of my brother's apartment, I was surprised when he turned and asked me how to get there. I replied in bewilderment that I didn't know, but I thought it was in or near Union Square. Was he a new arrival, too?

After some frustrating verbal volleying with the doorman at my brother's building who appeared to be either half asleep or not completely familiar with English, I managed to procure a key. I was slowly catching on to some rules for survival in New York. #1) Pretend you know what you're doing, even if you don't. #2) Smile and nod knowingly when someone is speaking to you, supposedly in English, even if you have no idea what they're talking about. I suppose those first two rules can be combined into one. When necessary, fake it. When I stepped into my brother's apartment, I learned rule #3) New York is not for the claustrophobic. While their apartment was perfectly charming, a dizzying array of modern, industrial furniture, tasteful upscale knickknacks, unique architectural elements like translucent suspended flooring and somewhat triangular floor plan, it immediately called to mind a scene from such surreal films as "Being John Malkovich" or Terry Gilliam’s "Brazil". My sleeping quarters were to be in the second bedroom upstairs, however the steep spiral staircase didn't lead me to a full second story but rather a half. Their apartment was 1 and 1/2 stories. Luckily, I am only 5'5" tall and in certain spots could actually stand upright before taking another two steps and bonking my head on an overhang. (One morning while making breakfast, I swear their kitchen attacked me, but that’s another story.)

All right, all right. I'm getting to the good part. Don't worry. So Michael and Kathy returned home later that evening, showed me around a bit more, tried to feed me at every conceivable opportunity, yadda-yadda-yadda. The next day, my bro had to return to a job site in Rhode Island and left me in Kathy's capable hands. She entertained me with shopping, eating and touring Nolita (north of Little Italy) and Soho – in her words, a fancy outdoor shopping mall. I was tempted to try to find the firehouse for Engine 55 where Steve worked as a firefighter for four years in the early 80s, but didn't. The gourmand of the family, Kathy suggested a lunch at 11 Madison Place, an upscale eatery that was excellent. Evidently there is a special deal going on in the city where you can get a 3-course gourmet meal for $20.02. It was superb. The chef came to our table, introduced himself chatted for a while and then gave us free copies of Zagats. Free stuff. Cool.

Then we went back to the apartment to wash up and get ready for the main event. Unfortunately, neither Kathy nor Mike was free that evening to accompany me to the premiere. So, in his place Mike arranged for a stand in, a friend of his named Adam who is a management consultant by day, a film producer on evenings, weekends, whenever he can fit it in basically. He produces short subjects with the hopes of making the leap into features in the future. We were scheduled to meet at the theater at 6:45 PM, 45 minutes before the curtain was supposed to go up.

Here's a helpful tip for you. Don't attempt to walk 60 blocks through Manhattan wearing high-heeled boots no matter how gorgeously they might complete your ensemble. Yep. You guessed it. Like a fool I walked almost 4 miles up Broadway from Union Square through the dreaded (and rightfully so) Times Square up to the Lincoln Center Loews Theater.

I was late.

Well, not late for the show, but late to meet my brother's buddy. But like a trooper, he held a place in line for me and we were eventually ushered in. Upon entering the theater, I saw off to the left they had an area set up with two directors chairs a backdrop and a cordoned off area for the press. Keep in mind that I never had confirmed information that Steve would be attending. It was just a hunch. Well, my hunch paid off. After getting ourselves some prime seats, I returned to the lobby to wait. I found the perfect area against a wall adjacent to but not actually part of the press area. Slowly, the VIPs started showing up.

The first one I spotted was Peter Mattei, the director. A cacophony of flashbulbs went off as the paparazzi had their turn with him. After exiting the press area, he started walking toward me and took a place right next to me on the wall to receive all his well-wishers. I was hanging out with the director. Nice! And in the minutes following, several other stars from the film started showing up. First Vera Farmiga arrived. She plays Greta, the first-day-on-the-job prostitute (pun intended). Then entered the adorable young Adrian Grenier who plays Nick. After he had done his turn in the press area, he walked right up to where I was standing and asked Mattei if he could use his cell phone which he did. Then I spotted Malcolm Gets, Robet Walker in the film and one of Steve’s scene partners (photo below). Tick-tock tick-tock. Where was Steve?

At last, I was almost knocked over by the shock of seeing Steve, Jo and Steve’s brother, Michael, blow right past me through the door, literally inches away from where I was standing, and directly over to the press area. Pop, pop, pop. The flash bulbs were going off wildly now as Steve clutched Jo to his side like a life-sized security blanket. They were done in seconds and turned around to walk (luckily) in my direction. I knew that this was my chance. I immediately positioned myself in their path and blurted out as fast as I could, “Mr. & Mrs. Buscemi could I please take a picture of the three of you for my website?” I was hoping to also get Michael in the shot, but he scampered away. There was also another fan photographer standing right next to me who had the same idea. Steve and Jo graciously complied and posed for a few photos. I fumbled with my camera (which hates me and always acts up at the exact wrong moment) but eventually was able to get a shot of the striking couple. Boy, did they look good. They seem to almost always wear black, which they did again that evening, fairly casual with Steve in a sweater and Jo in a twin set.

As they were getting ready to move on I again seized the moment and handed Steve a business card with the name of this website on it saying simply, “Can I give you this?” He took it, but his attention was being pulled in 20 different directions at once as person after person came up and shook his hand and said hello. So that was it… I thought.

BUT, all of a sudden I saw Jo heading over to me making eye contact and smiling. I almost looked over my shoulder to see if there was someone behind me she was coming to talk to, but it was me. She said something to the effect, “You have a website? Which one is it?” Now, you’ve got to understand that at this point my heart was racing I was sweating and could barely think. I can’t give you exact quotes, but the conversation went something like this.

I told her that my website was indieking.com. She said that both she and Steve had seen it and they thought it was great – in her words, “the best one out there.” (Blush). She said that she had wanted to e-mail me, but didn't (I can't remember the reason why). She did note, however, that there were a few factual errors pointing out that she and Steve did not meet while working at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut but actually earlier than that. I asked how long she and Steve had been married. She said 15 years. (They have Pieter and I beat by 4 years!) I tried to get the story of how they did meet, but Jo implied that Steve thought there were certain things the fans did not need to know. He is right, of course. Jo then commented on how she was grateful that I did not have any photos of their son, Lucian on the site. I replied that I actually did have one on the bio page, but it was older and only showed part of Lucian’s face. She said that she didn’t mind that one, as long as it wasn’t current. I still felt badly about it and removed it when I got back. (Jo, if you are reading this, please let me know if there’s any other info I need to correct or delete.) I then asked what Lucian thinks about having a celebrity for a dad. Jo said something about Liv Tyler and how she never thought of her dad as a rock star. He was just Dad. I told her that I did know a little bit about kids of celebrities since I was a nanny for Bette Midler’s daughter. Jo then turned the tables and started asking me questions. She wanted to know why I created the site adding that she was aware that it must have taken a lot of work. I explained how I really enjoyed creating, designing and researching. It is fun for me and more of a hobby than anything else. Like an idiot, I forgot to point out how much I enjoy Steve's work and how I want to share that passion with other fans. At that point she said, “I have to introduce you to my husband.“ I was thrilled, but seriously thought I might pass out. Oh, I forgot to mention that at some point during the conversation with Jo I told her how happy I was to have met them and asked her if I could give her a hug. She said, “Sure.” So I did. Jo is awesome.

Jo then caught Steve’s attention and introduced me. I shook his hand. This is where it all gets kind of fuzzy. It seems my camera isn't the only thing that fails me under pressure. My brain, immediately overloading, blew a fuse. I remember the same sort of thing happening when I worked for Bette. She'd introduce me to Lainie Kazan or Debbie Reynolds. Next thing I know, my brain shuts down while my mouth continues to run on autopilot. I think I must have told Steve how glad I was to meet him about a hundred times. At one point, I asked him about the possibility of an interview with him for the site. Long pause. He said, “I’ll have to think about it.” I think my face must have fallen to the floor. He said, “I have your card.” Then I told him how great it was to meet him (again). Shook his hand one more time and bolted toward the theater. I had hoped to get my picture taken with him, but I didn’t want to press my luck or overstay my welcome. I thought we might catch up with him at the after party, but it was so darn crowded and noisy, Adam and I ended up leaving after one beer. Gen Art did, however, give us more free stuff from Target and Skyy Vodka, the companies sponsoring the event which was cool.

When I got home and told my kids, "Guess who I met?" They are well aware of my fascination with Buscemi's work. After relating the story, my 10 year old, Kyle, said, "Are you sure it wasn't a stunt double?" Then my 5 year old, Noah, said, "I want to meet Steve Buscemi, too!" Then he paused to think a minute. "Wait," he said, "Nah, I'd rather meet Tony Hawk! He rules!"

Now on to the movie. **WARNING SPOILERS**

For all you die hard Buscemi fans out there… This one is a must see. You are going to love it. Steve’s acting is top notch (as always). He is funny, daring all the things we fans look for in a quintessential Buscemi performance.

Steve plays Martin Kunkle a renegade artist who wants his bad paintings to “enter the art world like a virus and crash it.” With a sexual preference that is ambiguous at best, Steve’s character has interludes with two of the other main characters, Robert Walker played by Malcolm Gets and Anna, a voluptuous young receptionist, portrayed brilliantly by Rosario Dawson.

My only complaint about the film (which is minor) was the inconsistency of the production value. This movie is one of several features in which Steve has recently participated that were shot in digital video rather than 35 mm film. The others being “13 Moons” and “Spy Kids 2”. While DV is new and hip and cutting edge, etc. It is still virtually impossible to achieve a finished product that rivals the look of film (unless of course you are George Lucas and have an enormous post-production budget, I guess). One benefit, however, is that DV is great for close-ups and extreme close-ups which can be a treat when used in moderation as they were in this case.

This film completely captivated and charmed me. I was thoroughly entertained from beginning to end and I am happy to give it the highest recommendation. “Love in the Time of Money” will be released this September. Please go out and see it. You’ll be glad you did. I sure was.