My Dialogue with Warren Beatty at The New York Film Festival

My Dialogue with Warren Beatty at The New York Film Festival

Wednesday evening (10/04/2006) I attended the 25th Anniversary screening of "Reds" at the New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. I arrived in my seat while the opening credits were rolling and did not hear NYFF Programming Director Richard Pena’s introduction of the film, and don’t know whether Beatty made any pre-screening remarks.

As many of you know, Reds is more than 3 hours long, and it is usually shown in theaters with an intermission. Although the film is about American Communists during the time of the Russian Revolution, my view of the film has always been that it’s more about political radicals and intellectuals caught up in a critical moment in history, and because I’m fascinated by and work in politics, I am very interested in films like this.

After the film ended at about 10:40pm, it turned out Beatty was indeed present for the showing and he stood up in the VIP box on the second level of Tully Hall and received a long standing ovation from the crowd. I applauded his artistry strongly as well while remaining seated but I seriously wondered how many of those standing and cheering in the audience were sympathetic to Beatty’s left-wing politics, and seeing the film again (for the fourth or fifth time) only rehashed my original questions about why Beatty made the film and what his thinking and motivations were in writing it.

After Beatty took his ovation, the Festival brought out a discussion table so it was obvious that Warren was going to come down and have a talk for the audience. There was a female moderator who interviewed him for 15 minutes and then they took questions from the audience.
Clearly, Beatty does not mind talking and interfacing with people, and he even said as much. "I can be exhausting, can’t I?", he remarked after a particularly long answer.

I finally was called upon to ask a question, and I was the last person who would do so. This is how my discussion with Beatty went to the best of my recollection:

Moderator to Nic Leobold: "OK, (You were next), Sir, I hope you have a brilliant question."

Nic Leobold: "Well, _I_ think my question is brilliant." (Audience laughter) "Before I ask my question, I’d just like to say that Annette Benning’s film "Valmont" is one of my all-time favorite films."

Warren Beatty: "Thank you for bringing up my wife! Valmont IS a wonderful film, and it’s also a great example of what I call the "Tyranny of The Release Date……."

[At this point I was looking up to see if Annette Benning had a reaction to my compliment and was looking at me from the box above. Beatty had previously announced that his "better half" was present, and Benning had also received enthusiastic applause.]

Warren Beatty: "Excuse me, are you looking at my wife?!" (joking)

NL: "Oh. Sorry." (joking)

WB: [Continuing] "As you may know, another film, also based on the book "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", ‘Dangerous Liaisons’, was released earlier than Valmont, the same year. However, I must say, objectively speaking, Valmont is the, uh, a, uh…….."

NL: "…..It’s FAR superior."

WB: "Yes, right…..That’s brilliant."

NL: "Actually, the DVD release of Valmont, unfortunately, has a crucial scene that’s been edited out of the DVD version."

Moderator: "Uh, Excuse me, I think we’re getting a little sidetracked with this discussion.. We’re supposed to be talking about Reds tonight. Please ask your question."

NL: "My question is, how did your personal politics influence you in making this film, and was it in your mind while you were making it that the U.S. in 1981, when you shot the film, had itself become extremely Socialistic as a country?"

WB: "Uhm--what, the U.S. Socialistic? Uh, I don’t know about THAT. Well, my politics influenced it of course….I’m a lefty liberal. That’s my politics. You know, I believe in a ‘mixed economy’, so in that sense, I believed in the film’s message to some extent. I guess that had a part in why I made it."

It was clear to me that my exchange with Beatty got him thinking, or surprised him, and the Moderator quickly ended the talk after he finished answering me. I don’t think Warren was totally thrilled with our little "conversation" (as he and the Moderator seemed to turn away from me during his last answer and attempt to avoid me), but I certainly found it entertaining, although I would have loved the opportunity to go into the VIP Green Room upstairs and question him a little more pointedly about his "Lefty Liberalism" (and chat with Annette, as well. I’ve always wanted to express to her how much I love "Valmont". I hope I accomplished that last night. I’d really love to meet Meg Tilly, of course, as well.), but I wanted to get home, so I called it a night.

It was raining outside Alice Tully Hall, so the air was clean and fresh, and I ran to the subway across from Avery Fisher and came home.

Mission Accomplished, I guess you could say, for my October 4th, 2006 Film Festival visit.

Nic Leobold

I just gave a Liberty Dollar brochure to President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela (from AGN, Sept. 20th, 2006)

I just gave a Liberty Dollar brochure to President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela

by Nic Leobold

(from AGN, Sept. 20th, 2006)

This is a true story.

I just got back from going to Barnes and Noble Bookstore at Astor Place in Manhattan. On my way there, we passed by the Great Hall of The Cooper Union, and suddenly we were surrounded by numerous U.S. Secret Service agents and foreign security personnel in suits. There were big black VIP SUV's all over the streets and sidewalk, plus an ambulance.

I asked one of the foreign suits guarding the back doors where he was from and who was there speaking. "Venezuela", he told me. "Hugo Chavez? President Hugo Chavez?", I asked. "Yes", he nodded.

I went around to the front of Cooper Union and asked the people on line how to get in to hear the speech. Unfortunately, they told me you needed a ticket and there were none left. So we continued walking to Barnes and Noble.

40 minutes later on our way back, I realized I had Liberty Dollar brochures in my pocket that I could ask the Venezuelan Secret Service to give to Chavez. 'Who knows', I thought, 'maybe President Chavez will be impressed with the spirit of free enterprise and liberty of the American people, even if he is a dictator.'

When I got back to the back door, there were two Venezuelan Secret Service agents and a Venezuelan Army officer in full dress uniform guarding the entrance. When I had reached for my brochures during my approach back to Cooper Union, I had discovered that I had made a fortuitous mistake: I had unknowingly taken Puerto Rican Liberty Dollar brochures from my desk brochure holder instead of my usual English ones. Luckily, the brochure I could now offer Mr. Chavez would be in his native language of Spanish!

I gave one of the Venezuelan Secret Service agents the Puerto Rico brochure and asked if they would "please give it to Mr. Chavez, it's from America. I would like him to read it." The agents promised me they would pass it to the President (and I believe they will. Incidents and contacts like these are very important to dignitaries and diplomats traveling in foreign countries. They are often grist for TV broadcasts, speeches, politicking and 'fireside chats'.) The Army officer was eager to see what it was and as I was walking away I saw him look at it while the agents were examining it.

Who knows what will happen now? Maybe President Chavez will ask for payment for Venezuelan oil in Liberty Dollars from now on. Stranger things have happened. After all, if he really wants to stick it to George W. Bush and his administration, 1 million barrels a day of light sweet crude equals a heck of a lot of $20 silver Liberties. I wonder what the U.S. Mint and the Treasury Department would say if that happened! Of course, if they needed to, I'm sure Liberty Dollar would allow George W. Bush and the Treasury Department and the major oil companies to become Liberty Merchants. That way they could get their Liberty Dollars at a discount and save money when they spend money, and the American people would save an immediate 15% on our Venezuelan oil imports (at today's Sept. 20th Merchant Rate).

This would be a good deal for America and a good deal for Venezuela. I have a feeling that despite being a devout Communist, Mr. Chavez knows the difference between paper dollars and real gold and silver-backed money, and President Bush should know it too. Maybe when Chavez asks for his payment in Liberty Dollars, President Bush will finally realize that the Liberty Dollar can save us money and restore value to America, and he will order the Treasury Department and the U.S. Mint to stop attacking us.

Nic Leobold