You Can't Touch My Private Screening

So my friend from the BYU, Wagamama, and I were trying to pick a time that I could come stay a night with her in Santa Monica.

She suggested Tuesday night because she had tickets to a private screening.

"Oh? What movie is being screened?"

All I caught on my end of that call was something about Ira Glass and This American Life.

Oh, okay. So some documentary, I thought.

I show up in Beverly Hills at the venue with so much sweat in my clothes that I have that nice peed-in-my-pants look, in the front and the back. I find Wagamama, and we go inside.

We immediately take our seats, and as we are just settled in, Wagamama says, "Well, look over there. Look who that is."

I looked to my right. It was Tom Hanks.

I debated asking him to buy me a new car, cause stars are cool like that. I thought better of it seein' as how I had sweat all over my groin region.

So, I kept having to glance over to my right. Is that really Tom Hanks? That's really Tom Hanks. I'm in the same room with Tom Hanks. Does it get better than Tom Hanks? Barbara Streisand. That is all.

Then Tim Robbins enters. Yeah, that Tim Robbins. The Tim Robbins.

I mean, I've seen celebrities before, but these guys- come on!

Then in walks Weird Al. "Weird Al Yankovich?" you ask?  The same.

"Um, Wagamama, what is this movie we're seeing?"

She explains.

We're seeing the movie, Sleepwalk With Me (which Entertainment Weekly gave an A-).

I knew nothing of this movie before Tuesday night.  Mike Birbiglia, a stand-up comedian, developed the film over the last 2 years with This American Life's Ira Glass.

It was hilarious and refreshing and unique.  I hugely recommend it. It's about the deterioration of a relationship between Birbiglia and a real life former girlfriend.  It also shows how his career as a stand-up comedian took off at the same time things were going south with GF, with his agent played skillfully and subtly by Sondra James . The girlfriend was played by Lauren Ambrose.  Birbiglia's parents were played by Carol Kane and James Rebhorn, the two of which he said ended up mostly improvising their scenes like the magnificent seasoned pros they are.

The transitions between time jumps in the film are facilitated by Birbiglia talking to us while driving his car.  They just might be the most hilarious parts of the film, and the whole film is hilarious.  So what's that tell ya?  Huh?! Yeah! It's a dang, frickin' funny movie, you guys.

After 90 minutes, it was time for the Q&A.

Mike and Ira were introduced.  Then the mediator of the Q&A was introduced- only Joss Whedon.  Only the creator of  Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog. Only the screenwriter of Toy Story. Only the writer/director of Avengers.

Wagamama! Give a bitch a heads-up!

Well, she didn't really know either.

And just FYI, I'm done talking about Sleepwalk With Me.

In the Q&A, Joss told the story of adding the shawarma scene at the end of the credits after Avengers.  As a joke, he'd mentioned merely the idea of it.  Someone took it seriously and came to him saying that all the actors were in.  He was like, "Huh??" But then was like, "Cool!" And where he thought he was adding a completely meaningless scene simply for humor, he realized that the simple act of them grabbing dinner together after, you know, saving the world, showed that they were really a team.  And all us in the audience of the Q&A were all, "Woah...yeeeaaaaahhh...totally... Brilliant!"

Afterward was a reception with an open bar and cheeses and cookies. It just keeps getting better.  I'm stuffing my face.  Wagamama wants to meet the star of the movie and Ira and Joss.  She tried to get me to ask Joss if he wanted to go out for drinks.  I was like, "But what if he expects sex?"  Her reply was, "And?"

Wagamama just ended meeting Ira and Joss.  Birbiglia wasn't really into it.  He shook a few hands and couldn't peel himself away fast enough.