Lady In The Water

Some months ago, I commented on what I think is a tendency to judge Lady In The Water writer-director M. Night Shyamalan solely on the fact that he hit one out of the park early in his career. One of his first films, The Sixth Sense was an instant classic, and movie-goers couldn't help but compare his follow-ups to the "I see dead people" flick.

That's a shame. Because I think Shyamalan is the Hitchcock of our era.

Directors should be judged by how well they tell the story, and Shyamalan tells the story of Lady In The Water with a subtle grace and delicate pace. The story is about grace, after all, and finding one's purpose in life. Despite being told in what is essentially a children's fable format, I found the movie interesting and well developed, and taken to the level of near-greatness by the wonderful acting talent of Paul Giamatti.

Giammati's Cleveland Heep is a former doctor turned apartment superintendent. He works slowly and methodically, providing upkeep for the misfits who occupy his building. Heep is rather a misfit himself; after his family was murdered, Heep buried himself in obscurity and simplicity in order to hide.

From his emotions, and from his memories.

Story, the sea creature Giamatti finds in his pool one late night, is sent to inspire a writer (played nicely by Shyamalan, in yet another Hitchcock-like walk-on) who lives in the building. During the course of her mission she becomes endangered and is cared for by Giamatti, and many of the misfits who rent in his apartment building. Focused on a common goal, each finds the strength and resolve to assist Story in her journey back home to The Blue World.

Each figures out, as a result, his or her purpose in life.

Lady In The Water is based on a children's story Shyamalan told his own daughters. And it feels like a children's fable. But I think that's appropriate, given the premise. Children, in all their innocence and freshness, seem at times drawn to a purpose. Simplicity allows them to dream, and to aspire. Adults--heavily burdened by things like the Christmas season rush, boring jobs and overwhelming goals--too often lose our purpose. We adults forget, I think, to live. Shyamalan reminds us to live through Lady In The Water.

With grace, and with dignity. But always with purpose.

Clerks II

I've been a fan of Kevin Smith's work since the first Clerks, back in 1994. His movies aren't brilliant works of cinema. His best movie (Chasing Amy, in my opinion) his worst (that mall-rats-something-or-other) and all in between share several things in common: a community of common characters, each trying to figure out their identity, and their path in life; incredible dialogue which always stands out as the best part of the flick; and the simultaneous celebration of and poking fun at all-things-geeky.

Oh, and profanity! Lot of it, used in wonderfully funny, inventive ways.

The original Clerks spoke to a whole generation of people, many of whom identified with the characters Randal and Dante. We--especially we males--understood the relationship of the two friends, and what the witty banter really meant. Breaking balls is a guy's way to show affection for another guy, after all, and Randal, Dante, Jay and Silent Bob could break balls with style. We also identified with the more subtle parts of Clerks, like how the guys were stuck in a dead end job at the Quick Stop, working for low pay while day after day passes with little hope for a better gig any time soon. We men tend to compare our standing and our position to other men of similar age, even though we say we don't.

We do.

And we know when we're in a loser phase. Knowing it is the easy part; getting unstuck is much harder.

Clerks II is the movie where, ten years after we first meet them, Dante and Randal get unstuck.

It's another brilliant Kevin Smith movie. For an excellent review, check out Jackie's comments from when he saw the movie back in the summer. He's dead-on right about the flick.

Jackie points out the sentimentality of Clerks II, and I agree that it is much more sentimental than the first movie. And most of Smith's work, really. That's because the movie is about transition. All his other movies--hell, even Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back--was about being in the moment. Characters were trying to work through problems and relationships in the here-and-now, like good twenty-somethings should. Kids in their 20s are invincible, aren't they? Typically they have little reason to worry about the future.

At least they think so...

The 30s, though, brings it. And hard. The realization that the lives of others around you are changing. The awareness that you may be more than a bit behind your high school's valedictorian in education and achievement. The understanding that you will not always be able to hang out for hours a day with your best friend, goofin' on geeks and talking about chicks.

Life happens. Often before you realize it.

Clerks II is damn funny. The dialogue is tight and the peripheral characters--you know, Silent Bob, Jay, and all the guys like Jason Lee and Ben Affleck who always do cameos in Smith flicks--were used perfectly. Not overdone, but just enough. But, as Jackie pointed out, it's the sentiment of the film that makes Clerks II a real surprise.

It's The Reason For The Season

Santa showed up at the Film Geek's In-Law Christmas Get-Together last night. All the kids took a turn on his lap, and each had a well-detailed list of Christmas wishes.

Mrs. Film Geek also took a turn on The Bearded One's lap, late in the evening. I'm not completely sure, but I don't think Santa was prepared for her list of: "Matthew McConaughey, two cans of whipped cream and a 'Do Not Disturb' sign."

God bless us, every one...

I Am The DJ

Eclectic Guy is asking folks how they would program an hour of his show, EclecTopia. If you could be guest DJ for the time, that is. Send your playlist to him, on his site.

I'm a DJ wanna-be...If this idea ever comes to fruition, I'm so there!

The Pursuit Of Happyness

Will Smith has one of the longest lists-of-hits in modern film, with more than his share of $100 million dollar blockbusters on his resume. He became King of Summer Releases with Independence Day, and cemented that standing with Men In Black.

This guy is so solid that people line up to see his duds.

So, he's made a lot of cash for the studios, and for himself in the last ten years. He's had lots of success. What he hasn't had, though, is a signature role that shows off his ability to carry a film alone, through the portrayal of a complicated and multi-layered character.

His role as Chris Gardner in the Pursuit Of Happyness gives Smith that opportunity. And he delivers.

Chris Gardner is a real life rags-to-riches story, a man who always had ambition and foresight but little means or opportunity. The movie opens as Gardner, his wife and son are facing an insurmountable financial crisis. His wife consistently works double shifts for low pay, and his sales job is hit or miss. And mostly it's miss. Gardner sunk his life savings into bone density scanning machines, and carries them from doctor's office to doctor's office on sales calls, but rarely sells one.

Gardner schlepping the bulky, over-sized machine from office to office is a terrific metaphor; the man has such a heavy load to carry emotionally, and does so with impressive grace and dignity. Workman-like, and methodical. Gardner simply tries to get by day by day, taking care of his family's most basic needs: optimistic about the future, while having no means to influence it.

When his wife has enough and leaves, Gardner and his son try to make it alone. Gardner soon realizes he's gotta take control of his own destiny and applies for an internship with a brokerage firm. His perseverance and sales skills pay off, and he lands a paid gig with the firm after an unpaid six month internship. The six months was difficult--he and his son lived in motels and shelters, and on occasion slept in public bathrooms--but the suits at Dean Witter never knew. They simply saw an under-educated guy who knew what he wanted, worked harder than everyone else and brought them in a ton of cash during a short period of time.

They loved him!

And, so did I. Smith's Gardner is a complicated character. Dignified, but humble. Strong, but sometimes unsure. Driven, while sometimes grandiose. Most importantly, though, he has an almost compulsive need to keep his family intact. His drive is less for his own success, and more about providing for his family.

Smith's acting is the best part of the movie. Thandie Newton, who plays Gardner's wife Linda over-acts and, because of that, doesn't connect with the audience. Characters peripheral to the story are never developed. And, there are a couple of plot twists that are just not that believable.

The movie is very good, but not great.

Smith is great, though. I hope he gets recognized for it on Oscar day.

World Trade Center

It's difficult still, in 2006, to watch archived news coverage or read personalized accounts of the tragedy that took place on September 11, 2001. The events of that day are just too personal; the attacks were designed to strike at the core of American culture, after all, and what might be described as American values. In that context, the attacks were as much on me and you as they were on specific individuals at the various sites.

That we didn't anticipate it coming is even more saddening, because it demonstrates that somehow we bought into the paradigm that we--our routines, and our lifestyles--were above insult and injury. We were safe.

In a single moment, we realized we were not.

Despite my apprehension, I waited a long while to watch Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. I was eager to see a tale of heroism and hope. So, I fixed the popcorn and settled in.

World Trade Center tells the story Port Authority officers John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage) and Will Jimeno (Michael Pena) as they react to the initial act of terrorism and go to the site to provide assistance, only to ultimately become trapped in the rubble caused by the collapse of the towers. Only 20 people were found alive in that rubble, and Pena and McLaughlin were numbers 18 and 19. It was a desperate and tragic several hours after the initial act of terrorism, with most emergency responders working by instinct only. No one expected or planned for the events of that day, so responding to the crisis in a planned effort was really impossible.

McLoughlin and Pena survived--while their colleagues didn't--by staying focused on their families. They ignored the pain by talking about their kids. They staved off their thirst by recalling their love for their wives. They held out hope they would be saved by New York's Finest, even in the darkest of moments.

Stone's film is a memorial to that hopefulness. WTC is not a typical Stone film; conspiracy theories are abandoned, profanity is nearly absent and the action is subdued. The message of the movie is, clearly, that the human spirit can overcome seemingly insurmountable odds when challenged.

The true story is remarkable. The movie, though, is not.

Most of my problems with this movie are simply minor annoyances in how the story is told. For example, the pacing of the film is very slow even in the beginning, before the men are trapped in the rubble. Cage and Pena walk to the police van that takes them to Ground Zero, talk casually about the damage on the trip there and sort of meander through the ground floor of the Towers when first arriving on the scene. There was no sense of urgency. Sure, they were unsure what to do. There was confusion, and uncertainty about what to do. But their actions came across less "uncertainty" and more "disconnected".

It was odd.

The same casual pacing occurred in the rescue scenes. There was no urgency, no frustration shown at failed efforts, no high-fives and yelling when the men were finally freed. The characters carried out their efforts in a methodical, focused and workman-like manner that was just plain odd.

I'm hesitant to compare the film to United 93, another movie about the events of that day. But, I suppose, a comparison is inevitable. United 93 showed that urgency and the intensity of people feeling powerless, yet working together in overcoming that fear. United came across as more believable--and was far more entertaining--than World Trade Center because of it.

Please, Make It Stop: Part 10

C'mon, Rosie. You gotta be kiddin':

i am sorry it hurt u
i didnt think of it the way it was taken
i will b more sensitive
promise.

Not only is this a terrible apology, it's a God-awful haiku.

We Are Marshall

I knew nothing of the tragic plane crash that took the lives of so many Marshall University student-athletes and community members when I entered the college as a freshman in 1983. I was five years old when it occurred, and I simply don't recall hearing the story until I moved to Huntington that summer.

There was something unique and special about the community, though. That much was obvious. I attended football games where the team lost--and lost, and lost again each year--but the fans were faithful. Incredibly close-knit, like family.

I simply didn't understand it.

Football is about winning, isn't it? And Marshall wasn't. Why did the fans keep coming back each week, and how could they be so accepting of something-less-than mediocre?

Years later--it probably took me too long to figure it out, actually--I realized that this is something that victims of grief and trauma do in order to heal. Remember. And participate. Become actively involved, and turn mourning into production. Turn trauma into inspiration.

And do it with family. A sense of community is vital for healing.

It was with that sentiment that I expected McG and the cast of We Are Marshall to struggle when making this film. How does a director--especially an outsider, who never experienced that level of grief-- translate a highly subjective, emotional experience onto a tangible screen in a way that each movie-goer can experience it?


It was an overwhelming chore, I thought, and not one I truly expected could be successful.

But it was.


McG uses each character as a metaphor for the community and university, and how both struggled immediately after the tragedy. Marshall University's President Dedmon, played wonderfully by David Strathairn, is timid, insecure and uncomfortable with anything but the status quo. Coach Red Dawson-- in whom actor Matthew Fox seems to have found a soul-mate-- struggles with communicating emotions, and ridding himself of the responsibility he feels in causing the deaths of so many people. Kate Mara's Annie Cantrell can't overcome the guilt she has from wanting her life to move on after her fiance dies in the crash. And Paul Griffin, the character played by Ian McShane, just wants all the pain to go away. He tries to end his grief by quietly working to abolish the football program so he can stop being reminded of his son, who was The Herd's quarterback.

And then there's Coach Lengyel.

Matthew McConaughey's crazy-like-a-fox Lengyel seems to have a paternal nature that nearly compels him to go hard after the Marshall coaching job. The film never says it, but one gets the sense Lengyel was (or, maybe is) the sort of guy who is always evolving as a person. The reflective type who learns more about himself than others when teaching. That guy who is always pushing himself to be a better human being.

The film is successful in making the viewer connect these characteristics to the university, and to the town. The community suffered pervasive grief, and struggled daily with anger, hostility and confusion. Like these characters, Huntington evolved. Because it persevered, it healed. Like the blue collar workers that made up its citizens, Huntington showed up day after day.

And after the fog of grief lifted, it was a better community because of how it handled the trauma.


We Are Marshall isn't a perfect film. There are some filming techniques that were sort of dizzying to watch, and I wish it had been a tad more serious in tone (the comedic aspects were funny, I just didn't expect so many). But there was so much right about this flick--the performances were inspired, the emotional aspect of the film was evident and the soundtrack was successful in helping set different moods and emotions throughout.

And for the locals, it was nice to see Huntington on the screen. McG said in interviews that the town is as much a character in this movie as the cast. He's right, and it deserved it's spotlight too.

Whew...What A Night

I'm typically not a guy that likes to hang out in crowds. But a Hollywood-like premiere doesn't roll through our little town very often. I attended the benefit showing of Rain Man back in the late 80s, so I sort of expected the premiere of We Are Marshall to be similar.

It wasn't, in neither style or substance.

This shindig was better. Glitzy, and with a whole lot more planned pizazz than the classy-but-subdued 80s gala. There was the green carpet, Hummer limos, national media and a handful of big-name stars. Stars who seemed genuine about their affection for this story, and for this town.


Oh! And local women wearing lots of fur. On a 60 degree day.

It's a sign of wealth, I suppose; however, wearing full-length fur (even faux fur) on a warm day under heavy floodlighting is, to me at least, more a sign of goofiness.


Mrs. Film Geek, our daughter Maddisen and I were a bit discouraged when we arrived on the scene and found this line waiting for bleacher seating to the pre-flick carpet walk. Considering we were about 750 people back, getting bleacher seats didn't look promising.



Mrs. Film Geek spotted a friend who was working as an usher. He noticed us from across the street, walked up and very quietly pulled us from the line. After he said: "Follow me," I overheard the woman behind us complain: "Where do they think they are going?" We weren't sure, but followed Phillip anyway. We figured it was better than where we were.

And it was!

Phillip put us on Press Row, alongside the green carpet and right beside a crew from ExtraTV.


Huntington native and ExtraTV reporter Katie Joel (who also is the wife of Billy Joel) was to our immediate left. She was very sweet, and pretty generous with the crowd. I suspect as a native Huntingtonian, she knew how cool this night was for 10-year-old girls from Appalachia. She went out of her way to make the night even nicer.



Then, after the $1,000-per-ticket-folks walked down the carpet, the stars lined up for interviews with Katie. Because the Film Geek Family happened to be on Katie's immediate right, we were treated to the whole scoop.


McG seems genuine in his affection for this movie, and for the story it tells. This movie was important to McG mostly, though, because it allows him to reinvent himself. He was labeled from the start as an action-film director, and I think he wants to be taken more seriously as an artist. We Are Marshall is a step in that direction.



Kate Mara, who plays Annie Cantrell in the movie, attended the premiere. After her interview was over, I said very quickly: "Hey, you rocked in Brokeback!" She turned to me, smiled and said: "Thank you so much!"

My heart skipped a beat.



In every interview I've seen with Arlen Escarpeta, he's shown affection for Huntington. This ExtraTV interview was no exception. He seemed honestly affected by the small town charm, and the friendship of Young Thundering Herd QB Reggie Oliver, the real-life Marshall football player he plays in the movie.




Matthew Fox and Red Dawson, the real-life coach Fox plays in the film, arrived together. They talked about developing a life-long friendship, and Fox announced in his interview they liked to "sit around, drink beer and shoot the shit." I doubt that makes the ExtraTV report. Fox is my daughter's favorite actor.
Her heart skipped a beat.



I accomplished my mission of seeing Coach Jack Lengyel. He was really gracious in his interview, and spoke with great affection about his time at Marshall. He's been back to Huntington many times over the years, so I know he loves the town and the university. He seems to be such a great man.




The place went crazy for this guy. To his credit, McConaughey really worked the crowd hard. Event organizers had to pull him along in order to meet their time schedule. He seemed to really enjoy meeting people, signing autographs and mingling. During the interview, Mrs. Film Geek's heart skipped a beat. Or three.


UPDATE: USAToday provides this video of the California premiere that took place Thursday, December 14, 2006. McG, Matthew McConaughey, Josh Halloway from Lost and others are interviewed in the 1:59 second video.

Preparing For The Premiere: Part Two

I trekked downtown to check out the shindigs and goings-on for the We Are Marshall flick, which premiers tonight in Huntington.

My first encounter was with a WOWK reporter, where this embarrassing exchange took place:

Me: "Hi. Looks like you guys are settin' up. Can I take your picture?"

Her: [enthusiastic and interested] "Yeah, sure. Who are you with?"

Me: [confused] "I'm sorry?"

Her: "Who are you with?"



Me: "Uh... I'm not with anyone. This is just for, ummm, my own, you know, my own... uh. It's for my own personal blog."

Her: [no longer enthused] "Oh..."





The green carpet looks pretty cool.

I expect later tonight 4th Avenue will be lit up with floodlights to show off the bling--not the bling of the stars, but the bling of the Huntingtonians who shelled out as much as $1,000 per ticket to hang for the evening with Hollywood.


If you spend a grand per ticket for one evening of fun, you gotta bring out the bling.


A big-screen has been set up to show off the festivities. It's two way, meaning that folks standing on the backside of the screen can see the images as well.

I hope they have some close-ups of Mathew McConaughey!!






As I left 4th Avenue, I overheard workers setting up the bleachers commenting that the number of bleacher seats has been reduced from 1,000 to about 600.

Looks like I may not get as close to the bling tonight as I'd hoped.


Update: Word on the street--and on the local radio, and in some shops downtown--is that Matthew McConaughey invited George Clooney, Lance Armstrong and Oprah (damn it!) to tonight's premier, and they are in town. I can't confirm any of that, but it's a really strong rumor around town.