Before the rain pooed on my parade and the poo rained on my parade at the Independent Spirit Awards Saturday, I had a pretty great time. The highlight for me was being "on set" for a series of interviews between Martin Short's Jiminy Glick and various celebs. I was just tipped off by the good folks at Netflix that those conversations have hit youtube, and if you're a fan of the character, you may want to check them out. Here's Jiminy with Matt Dillon, with a never foxier Illeana Douglas, with the always youthful Dennis Hopper (an interview that opens with a depantsing), with Ed Begley, Jr, with Juno director Jason Reitman and his father Ivan, with Aaron Eckhart, with John Waters, and with Allison Janney. They could all stand to be edited down a bit, but there's a lot of good stuff in there. If I had to direct you to the funniest couple of discussions, I'd recommend the Illeana Douglas and the Ed Begley, Jr, which contains graphic mouth-to-mouth.

I intended to run a live blog from the show, but the internet connection went out -- one of the dangers of doing a live show from a tent in the rain! I did get to see some cool people up close and personal. Philip Seymour Hoffman (a winner for Best Male Lead) charmed the little press room in a fun Q & A with Savages writer/director Tamara Jenkins (a winner for Best Screenplay) and it was a thrill to meet Scott Frank, a screenwriter I truly admire. He won Best First Feature for The Lookout, one of my favorite 2007 films. I always question what they deem "independent," but I do appreciate that the Indie Spirits have special honors -- like the John Cassavetes Award -- to honor the truly independent and low-budget films each year. Did anyone watch the broadcast? I know it's not the biggest awards show of the year (or even the weekend), but the show was really entertaining. Have favorite moments or disagreements with the winners?

Cinematical is live at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards! Our own Patrick Walsh will report back throughout the afternoon.

Just saw Forest Whitaker and his gorgeous wife, Jason Bateman and his gorgeous hair, and Julian Schnabel in what appeared to be pajamas. Now Illeana Douglas is telling Jiminy Glick how she "blew Lew Wasserman at age thirteen" to make it in the business. It's that kind of day. The crowd is screaming at a limo, it might be Angelina Jolie time, unless they're smuggling her in by underground tunnel. Oh snap, Steve Buscemi is here. That dude is one of my all time favorites, I'm going to go grab a photo or two.

Alright, now Glick is telling Mr. Pink how he'd "like to mount" Sienna Miller, a nominee today for Buscemi's Interview. Buscemi is talking about his heroes ("Robert Altman and John Cassavetes") and a production company he's starting with Stanley Tucci so they can make movies with their friends. He's been interrupted by the crowd chanting "Meg! Meg! Meg!" Yes, it's Meg Ryan. Not sure how she's involved with independent film, but always nice to see familiar face-lifts. Sorry, Jiminy's rubbing off on me. It's getting cold, and the skies remain foreboding. The Santa Monica pier amusement park rises bold and stark. Kids are huddled on the beach in the mist. I want to die with you Wendy on the street tonight in an everlasting kiss...

For more photos and coverage, head on over to Moviefone.

Honestly, all I need to hear is Jeff Goldblum and "mockumentary," and I am there, but just in case you're not as into the Goldblum as I am, read on. Over the past few years, the actor has been putting together the part-true, part-fictional mockumentary called Pittsburgh, celebrating the works of Christopher Guest, of course, as well as John Cassavetes and Robert Altman. Goldblum says: "It's not like we've discovered a new planet, but I thought the way we tried to skin it is a little bit different than anybody else. The tone we hit and somehow the way it came together and what we tried to do, I thought, was pretty nifty." Gotta love a man who uses the word "nifty."

Pittsburgh boasts a pretty interesting cast that includes: Ed Begley Jr., Illeana Douglas, Moby, Alanis Morissette, Conan O'Brien and Craig Kilborn. It follows Jeff as he takes on a role in The Music Man for Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera -- "out of love, both for the venerable musical and for his fiancee, Catherine Wreford, a Canadian actress who must get a job or risk losing her visa." How do the others fit in? Well, for one, Douglas and Moby play a couple, and the latter says that while he hasn't seen Goldblum's work, he is a film buff. Moby explains: "I like amateur porn." That should give you an idea of what the flick is like. (You can also check out video clips over at IMDb.)

Although Martha Fischer gave it a solid review from Tribeca last year, and The Hollywood Reporter speaks highly of it, the film isn't getting a wide release. Instead, you can catch it on Starz this Sunday, and on DVD next month. If you do check it out, let us non-Starz people know what you think!

For most of us, embarrassing personal moments and ill-advised decisions are relegated to the trash heap of memory, mercifully forgotten by all but ourselves, and a select unfortunate few who happened to be along for the ride. Or, if you're Jeff Goldblum, you make a movie, preserving the debacle for posterity.

That movie is Pittsburgh, a very funny, sometimes painful documentary(ish) record of Goldblum's 2004 decision to quit Hollywood for a few months and join his fiance Catherine Wreford on stage in a production of The Music Man in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Recording the process from start to finish, beginning with Goldblum's presentation of the idea to his friends and thoroughly disapproving agent, and ending with the show's triumphant opening night, the film serves a dual purpose. First, it is a way of (publicly) preserving for Goldblum a strange few months of his life. Second, it gives him a chance to experiment with the documentary form, and to play with the always-mediated version of reality that such films present.