Twofer

On Sunday afternoon I went to the Geffen Playhouse to see Sam Shepard's "The God of Hell," an over-the-top absurdist satire about exploiting patriotism to accomplish political goals.

Unlike most of the audience, I really enjoyed this show about a Wisconsin farmer at his happiest feeding his heifers (cue the mooing) and his wife obsessed with cooking bacon and watering her houseplants.

An old friend comes to their house so radioactive (literally) that his handshakes set off sparks. Pretty soon a government agent (brilliantly played by Bryan Cranston -- best known as the Dad on "Malcolm in the Middle") shows up bearing American flag cookies and this Wisconsin farmhouse is turned into a modern-day red, white and blue torture chamber.

Ironically, Shepard wrote this play (which premiered in New York City in 2004, a week before the Presidential election) before America had seen the disastrous photos from Abu Ghraib.

Even though you'd expect otherwise for a liberal West Los Angeles audience, folks were bailing during the show and many nearly ran down the aisles as soon as it was over. The lady in front of me starting checking her watch less than 10 minutes after the show began.

No wonder wrapping yourself in the flag is such a good tactic.

Tonight I went to a screening of a new movie, "Park," starring William Baldwin, Ricki Lake and Cheri Oteri.

Many members of the cast, including Lake and Oteri were in the audience and answered questions after the screening.

And I'm kicking myself for not bringing my camera.

The movie is kind of a comedy "Crash" in that it's about several Angelinos and how their lives intersect in a park over a lunch hour (specifically the California State Baldwin Hills Park.)

The writer and director, Kurt Voelker, said he was inspired to write the movie from his experiences writing in a park, one of his favorite places to work. He said he watched the comings and goings (people getting into and out of vans, etc.) and he started thinking of stories to explain what he was seeing.

During the post-movie Q&A, of course, Oteri was the funniest. The cast members were asked where else they can be seen. Each one dutifully named their next movie or play or other project until Oteri brought the house down by saying, "I'm appearing next in a park."

Oteri is tiny -- even wearing high heels. And Lake looks terrific -- very svelte!