"We Bought a Zoo" Review

There has always been something special about Cameron Crowe in my life. Since I was a freshman in high school, I’ve had a love of two things: film and music. My romantic youth was defined by the films that I saw, and the actions that I attempted to emulate. What child didn’t grow up fantasizing about Phoebe Cates emerging from their swimming pool in slow motion while “Moving in Stereo” was playing? Epically staged action, such as standing in a driveway with a boombox blasting Peter Gabriel became the standard by which I believed I had to match in order to show affection to women. In December of 1996, I took a girl named Amber on our first date to see “Jerry Maguire” and visual moments like the two of them standing in the street as Bruce Springsteen’s “Secret Garden” begins to really kick in. Unrequited love, grandiose gestures, and the simplicity of the look in her eyes on a first date; these small things became pressure-trapped in me like bits of dust.

I was nineteen when I saw “Singles” for the first time, and for the first time I was made consciously aware of the impression that Cameron Crowe’s music had on my emotional attachment to various cinematic moments. One year later, my mind was forever blown open to the power of music, when I was given the opportunity to attend an advance screening of “Almost Famous”. That was the day that everything changed. That was the day that I realized how badly I wanted to be a writer, and how much I loved music, and the emotional connection it has with people.

The thing that Cameron Crowe has always done perfectly is give me characters that I can relate to and identify with. From Mark’s quiet yearning for Stacy despite her attraction to the bad boy who is just using her to Lloyd’s unfaltering commitment to Diane, no matter how much she pushes him away. I witnessed the good and the bad of young love, and I learned that sometimes too big of an ego could really be a person’s downfall. Finally, I learned the true power of music. Anyone who knows me, if I told you the number of times that I turned off the lights, and listened to “Tommy” with a candle burning – no one would be surprised by the number.

“Elizabethtown” seemed to build on what was originally touched on in “Jerry Maguire” and I further learned that no matter how badly of a screw up one may be – there are always bigger problems in life.

I only have one small blemish in my love of Cameron Crowe. My all-time favorite film is a Spanish film titled “Abre los Ojos” – which was remade into an American film known as “Vanilla Sky”. My all-time favorite film was being remade by my all-time favorite director. A director who had emotionally directed me through the majority of my life, and put me on a musical journey that has prevented me from listening to the majority of the Crap-Called-Music Post-1998. What could go wrong? Sadly, everything. So, If I have it in my heart to forgive George Lucas for the terribleness we came to know as the Prequel Trilogy, then I must have the room to forgive Cameron Crowe for a subpar representation of a film that I am obviously over-invested in.

That’s the short and simple version of my life inspired by Cameron Crowe, which brings us up to the fall of 2011, where I’ve been patiently waiting for five years for anything from the director who always knows how to bring me to a new emotional level. I got a great fill over the past two months. First, I got to see “Pearl Jam Twenty” a few times on the big screen, and have had multiple viewings at home since the DVD was released. I was always a fan of Pearl Jam, but not to the extent of many of my friends. I listened to their music, and I enjoyed it. It wasn’t until 2006, when David Sibley took me to my first Pearl Jam concert in Cincinnati that I truly saw the power this band had on its fans. It’s a show that I will never forget, and I was lucky enough that they performed “Baba O’Reilly” at this show. So, it was another perfect marriage. A band that I really enjoyed was being documented by favorite director, who just happened to be a guy that basically grew up next to them in the entertainment industry. It was enjoyable on so many levels.

So, when I found out about the month-in-advance screenings of “We Bought a Zoo”, I did everything in my power to make sure that I would be able to attend it – and I’m very happy that I did. Whatever bitter taste anyone may have had in their mouth after “Elizabethown” should easily be washed away with this well-made film.

Last October, I had just started back to work in the film exhibition industry, and within my first few days of work, I stumbled across an article discussing the casting of Cameron Crowe’s next film, and I learned it was based on a novel – “We Bought a Zoo: The Amazing True Story of a Young Family, a Broken Down Zoo, and the 200 Wild Animals That Changed Their Lives Forever.” – which I told myself I was going to read before I saw the film. As per usual, life got in the way, and over time I learned that Crowe and his co-writer had made some changes to the story and relocated it away from the British countryside into Southern California. It was at this point, that I decided to not allow my love of British and European culture to become conflicted with the vision of my favorite director – as it had previously happened with “Abre los Ojos”. Without any source material, Mr. Crowe had nothing to live up to in the expectations of my mind. I still found myself in a sad quandary, as my favorite film director was about to tackle one of my least favorite genres of film-making: The Bio-Pic. Ugh. Hollywood has became so overrun with unoriginal ideas, concepts, and characters that they are now forced to remake (ruin) everything from my youth or give me Bio-Pics of people that aren’t truly that interesting. I would very much prefer any documentary who would attempt to give me presentation of the facts, instead of picking and choosing what could best be used for dramatically purposes. It may easily be my least favorite genre, and there are very few of them that I actually enjoy. (Although, sidenote: I’m learning that Gavin O’Connor is the anomaly in Hollywood. I’ve very much enjoyed both of the bio-pics he’s directed, and hated his one scripted film, “Pride and Glory” – which sucks because it was written by Joe Carnahan…?)  [Author's note: It has been brought to my attention that "Warrior" was not a bio-pic.  This is a fact that I knew, however having recently just watched the film, I felt that it had the same look/feel/vibe that made it come across like it should have said "based on a true story".  So, even though I know it is not officially a bio-pic, it might as well have been.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed it, when I didn't think that I would.]

So, like it or not, that’s what Mr. Crowe was going to do and I needed to accept it.

Saturday night, I got to the theatre thirty-five minutes early, doing my best to guarantee that I had a prime viewing seat. Over the course of the next half-hour, I noticed the exceptionally large count of younger children entering the auditorium. Suddenly, it dawned on me that my favorite director had dropped his raw, rough, and gritty examinations of life and love through the eyes of wandering teenagers and mid-twenty drifters. He had made a family film. No longer was it going to be a man searching for the right way to prove his worth to woman, at no expense of humiliation. This was about a man who had already achieved that, and was now parenting his children. As the children came in waves, excited to see lots of animals in a film that was about a father moving his children away from their friends, I wondered what I was actually getting myself into.

Turns out, I was worrying over nothing. Every now and then, in life, there are moments that things just seem to fall into place. It’s like it was always meant to be. This was supposed to happen, so that later on, you would appreciate when this other thing happens.

The main plotline of the film deals with a man, who three months before the start of the film has just lost his wife. In the world of escapism relation, the world is coming up on the one-year loss of one of my best friends, and I know as the day draws closer, it’s getting harder for all of us. So, Matt Damon’s portrayal of a man – Benjamin Mee – who has lost something so important to him, tugs on my heart in ways that it might not to everyone who views the film. The emotional attachments that he has to every restaurant they ate at, and the correlation he puts on many of his personal items that invoke memories is very well handled in the first thirty minutes of the film. It’s very well handled, and culminates in a beautiful scene between Damon and the girl who plays his daughter. On an emotional level, the film dangled the remorse of loss in front of me, to get me interested.

Then, it hooked me with the relationship between Matt Damon and his son. Going back to my personal life, my father and I butted heads thousands of times in my youth. The two of us could just never see eye-to-eye. He was military and had demands, while I was an anti-authoritative adolescent who got put into my place more times than I can remember counting. Despite our rocky youth, I’m happy that over the past ten years, my father and I have managed to become very good and close friends.

Colin Ford, who plays the son in the film constantly impressed me with his subtle nuances that he captured. From the anger and defiance he shows in the presence of his father, to the quiet and defensive attitude he shows towards the girl he likes, while he pushes away all of her advances. Once we reach the moment where Colin Ford and Matt Damon have their “Come to Jesus” speeches with each other, it is such an emotional hurricane, that I was beyond impressed with their deliveries of dialogue, and just in awe of the raw emotion they were both able to draw from. It was probably my favorite scene in the entire film.

The love story is there, but luckily it is never really the main focus of the film. I enjoyed that, as they did a wonderful job building up how much he was in love with his wife, and I would have hated to see that so easily cheapened, by the simple fact that someone like Scarlett Johannson was suddenly in his life. Over the course of the film, as Benjamin Mee discovers just how far he can push himself, and how far people are willing to come with him, it’s nice to watch the glances of the eyes, the quick moments of physical contact, the hugs, the holding hands, the slow evolution of something that wasn’t the main focus of the plot.

The music is – as always – top notch. I proudly own the soundtrack to every film that Cameron Crowe has made, and I’m very disappointed to learn that the official soundtrack for this film is nothing but the music of Icelandic artist Jónsi. Whose music was fine, but I was hoping for an album filled with Temple of the Dog (whose song is played during a really enjoyable scene where Benjamin is getting introduced to the lives of his employees), Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend, and The Rolling Stones. Although, the more I think about it, after a second viewing of the film, I could probably write down all the songs, and will be able to create this mix CD from music I already own. There may be a few tracks I’ll have to buy from iTunes, but Crowe’s musical selections are often already in my own personal library.

The only downside to the film is that does feel long – and with a running time of two hours and fifteen minutes, there’s legitimate reason that it feels so long. The sad part is that it does reach the point where I consciously became aware that it had taken a long time to get to this point – and there was still a significant amount of resolution to get through. I never actually looked at my clock, until the film was over, and that was just to see exactly how long the film was running. However, despite what I just said, I can’t think of anything that could have legitimately been cut from the film. The true test will be the second viewing. After I am no longer engaged by what is coming next, and what I am listening to, but just watching the story unfold. It will be at that point that I can actually determine if there is any fat to be trimmed.

I believe that overall the film will play with audiences, families, and even children. One great part about the script is that there are numerous sight gags – many including Patrick Fugit (“Almost Famous”) and the Capuchin monkey – which had the children in my auditorium laughing at a lot. To some much more subtle “adult” themed humor from the hilariously loud and over-the-top character played by Angus Macfadyen. There’s a nice blend of humor that hits both age groups and it was a pleasure to observe the reactions of everyone in my screening. The majority of the time, I enjoy the solitude of screening films either alone, or with an extremely small group of people – but in this case, I’m very happy that I got to enjoy the film with a crowd.

Love, loss, life-changing decisions, financial and economical troubles, commitment to a concept that turns into a dream, and the power of dedication, determination, and devotion are all topics that are interwoven in this simple tale about how the irrational purchase of a dilapidated state-run zoo changed the lives of everyone involved. It’s emotional, and I’m not just talking about over-dramatized family disputes, I’m talking about the emotional connections that are made between the characters and the animals, and the ability it has to cross-over the fourth wall and force the viewer to make those same connections. It’s tough. I can think of three separate, specific moments in the film where I was forced to wipe tears from my eyes. Part of it was the script, part of it was the acting, but another part of it was amazing ability of Cameron Crowe to make me love and care about anything that he wants me to.

The film ends in a way that many of my favorite films do. “The Usual Suspects”, “Primer”, and “Another Earth” all wrap up their main plotline, they resolve the issues of the journey that you have taken with them, and everything seems to be over. Then, each of these films tacks on one last scene at the end. One last, “before you go” moment. One final glimpse at the lives of you just came to know. The final scene of “We Bought a Zoo” may feel a little out of place, and a little forced, based on what the general plot was. But, on an emotional level, in a wonderful bookend moment, it brings to light the emotional meaning of the journey, which is what the entire film truly was.

One of my new favorite quotes comes from this film, “Sometimes, all it takes is twenty seconds of unbearable courage.” I don’t know if that quote came from Benjamin Mee’s book, or if Cameron Crowe wrote it himself – but those are words I can believe in. Because I’ve been there, as has everyone else. That one moment, where you are scared out of your mind, but you suddenly summon the courage to do something, say something, ask someone something, or just be something. The moment leading up to the eventual decision is probably the hardest and scariest – but you never know what will happen after it.

I highly recommend the film “We Bought a Zoo”. Does it get higher praise because of Cameron Crowe? Possibly. But, despite my “fanboy” moniker, I truly believe this film has a great story of triumph, family bonding, and personal introspection that anyone and everyone can – and should – enjoy.

“We Bought a Zoo” hits theatres on December 23rd. You should check it out.

Kicked Out Another Chapter

I was able to write Chapter 33 tonight at work.
It's NOW ONLINE.

It's a short (1,606 word) chapter that addresses the trouble that David is in, in the alternate timeline. It's kind of a mini-cliffhanger, because we won't be back in that timeline for a while. The next few chapters will be in the original timeline dealing with Dominic and Noah, and I'll finally be bringing Drea back into the picture, as the whole group ends up in The Centre, and everyone in the novel learns their true capabilities.

It's going to build up nicely to the big cliffhanger, and I'll get to kill off a couple of more people before that chapter. Then, it's all off-line writing until the end of the year.

Been focusing on this novel so much this week, I need to squeeze in some more time to finish the "Grinchby" outline and start writing that. I've just been really happy with the flow of "Perfect Life..." this week that I wanted to keep it going.

We'll see what I'm in the mood to work on tomorrow afternoon...

The Decennial Anniversary: My Story

According to my parents, everyone in America remembers where they were on both November 22, 1963 as well as July 21, 1969.  Those were some pretty significant moments in the history of this country, I’m sure if I had ever asked my grandparents where any of them were on December 7, 1941, they would have instantly been able to recall their situations.  The first similar moment I can remember was on April 19, 1995 when I was sitting in Freshman Health and an announcement was made that teachers could turn on the televisions.  Mrs. Dunham did, and we all got to witness the aftermath of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.  Six years later, I would become witness to the most destructive act of terrorism on United States soil and I, like every other American on planet Earth can remember exactly where I was that day, and what I did.  So, this is my account of how I lived that day and how it affected me.

In the fall of 2001 I found myself recently back in Indiana after a failed attempt to live in California.  I was jobless, and going through the first of many claims of “I’ll never take another movie theatre job again.” 

(By December was proven false, when I was offered two different jobs and chose the one on the south side of town, due to the girl I was dating at the time.  Granted, it was probably the better job, and I love the friends I made over my five years there, but as far as my reasoning went, we all know how poorly that turned out.) 

I was living up my youth by living at home with my parents, lounging around the Castleton Arts theatre, getting the Broad Ripple scene out of my system, and endlessly playing pool with Zach all night at P.S. O’Rourke’s.  It was a pathetic blur of an existence, and I can’t even seem to recall how I would make ends meet.  I’m sure my parents were covering my bills, and I know Zach took good care of me while we were hanging out.

For me, the morning of September 11^th started a few minutes before 9:00am, when I got up to use the bathroom, and when I walked out, I noticed the television was on.  This was an odd occurrence, seeing how both of my parents should have been at work and my brother at school.  I entered the living room, saw no one, and called out, “Hello?”

My brother popped his head over the railing of the loft and informed me that there was testing going on at school, and he wasn’t to report until 11:00am.  I glanced at the TV and saw a building on fire, but without my contacts in, I couldn’t read the captions or process what I was seeing.  I just assumed it was some movie that Scott had on.  I didn’t pay attention to the words of the newscasters, as my only goal was to get a few more hours of sleep.

So, I went back into my room, crawled back under my covers, and turned on WZPL to listen to the morning show as I went back to dreamland.  It was at this time that I began to discern comments about a plane crashing into the World Trade Center.  It took a solid minute for these words to actual sink into my brain and for it completely process into fact.  At 9:01am, I put on my glasses and rushed back into the living room, yelling at my brother, “Hey! Do you know what’s going on?”

I looked up to the loft and saw him standing in the same place he was two minutes ago when we were talking, blankly staring down at the television.  I remember my eyes looking up at him, and then back down into the living room at the exact minute that the second plane hit the South Tower.  I sat down on the couch, with my eyes glued to the television.  I don’t remember how, but suddenly my brother was sitting next to me and we made that couch our home base for at least the next four hours.

Like the majority of America, we were fixated on the television and the information coming in.  Everything so far had been so surreal, was this all really happening?  Suddenly, there were reports of the Pentagon being hit, and minutes later there was live coverage of it burning.  At that moment, it became clear that we were under attack in a way no one ever could have seen coming.  By the time the reports of the plane crash in Pennsylvania came in, it was almost impossible to feel shocked anymore.

Scott and I eventually watched in complete disbelief as the first tower collapsed, followed by the second.  Even while the buildings were burning, I had never considered the possibility that they would fall.  They were hit so high up, that I believed the base structure would remain intact – well, I was proven terribly wrong.

In this modern digital media technology age, it’s hard to remember the fact that I watched every minute of this live on television and listened to the radio a lot that day.  I didn’t have Twitter to follow or a Facebook newsfeed to get me the latest news.  I was at the mercy of whatever channel of news I was watching, local, CNN, MSNBC, whatever.  I knew there was a lot of channel surfing going on, to make sure that one network wasn’t scooping something that the others were missing.

Around noon, I received a phone call from Jason L. Maier.  The vast majority of my days were spent hanging out with him at Castleton Arts, while we talked movies and ideas for scripts.  If I’m not mistaken, at this point we were kicking around ideas for a “Consternate” sequel.  (What else were we going to do?)  Jason’s phone call was to let me know that Castleton Arts was going to be closed that day.  Dione had called him and asked him to make sure I knew this, so that I didn’t show up that afternoon – like I did almost every single day, even if Jason wasn’t working.  So, I wasn’t going to be spending any part of the day there.

My memory is a little hazy on my parents.  I’m pretty sure my mother’s work closed down early and sent people home, and the fact that my father works in a government building makes me believe that I remember them being evacuated at some point.  Nonetheless, by mid-afternoon, I know my entire family was sitting together in the living room, watching the news coverage.  By that point, there really wasn’t any new information – as the attacks were over – but rather, we were in awe of the aftermath and the destruction.

Later on in the afternoon, I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom, listening to WZPL and they had already taken audio bites from that morning and cut them together with various songs.  Most memorable to me was Collective Soul’s “The World I Know” – which specifically mentions walking around the streets of New York City.  I am certain that buried in a box in my parent’s basement is cassette tape that recorded that afternoon of many of these songs.  Days later, they made them all available as MP3 downloads on their website, which I snagged them all and burnt a CD titled “9/11 Tribute Songs” which is in a box with all of my other CDs.  I got that CD out today (Saturday) and started listening to it.  It brought back a lot of memories and emotions, listening to the voices of reporters, callers, and emergency workers.  Here is the track listening for the songs that had dialogue spliced in with them:

1.            Faith Hill – Star Spangled Banner

2.            Lee Greenwood – Proud to be an American

3.            Collective Soul – The World I Know

4.            Live – Overcome

5.            John Lennon – Imagine

6.            U2 – Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of

7.            Enya – Only Time

8.            Jewel – Hands

9.            Sarah McLachlan – Angel

10.          Blessid Union of Souls – I Believe

11.          U2 – Peace on Earth

12.          Eric Clapton – Tears in Heaven

13.          Sarah McLachlan – I Will Remember You

There is also a fourteenth track, which is all instrumental, and sounds very familiar to me, but I can’t place it.  I’m thinking John Williams of Hans Zimmer, but I don’t know for a fact.  The last track is very dialogue heavy, so it makes it a little more difficult to figure out.  I’ve actually ripped all fourteen of these track and placed them in a public folder on Google Docs.  You can go and download them all RIGHT HERE.

Sometime after dinner, Zach hit me up and asked if I wanted to go to P.S. O’Rourke’s.  Basically, the entire world had shut down.  The movie theatres were closed, the mall was closed, and almost every business was closed.  So, when he asked I was reluctant, assuming that they too would be closed.

“If nothing else, I just need to get out of the house and drive around,” Zach said to me, and that was enough of a selling point that I was game to take a break from the mass media frenzy and get some fresh air.  So, the teal green Dodge Shadow rolled down the street, picked me up, and whisked me away to the land of P.S. O’Rourke’s.  There were barely any other cars on the street, it was almost like a scene from an apocalyptic film.  Castleton was dead silent, and I don’t recall ever seeing the mall parking lot so barren.  When we finally pulled up to P.S. O’Rourke’s, there were almost no indicators that the place was open, but when I jumped out of the car, I was shocked as I pulled the door and it swung open.  Inside we found Sloan and only two other patrons.  When we asked Sloan why he went ahead and opened the bar, his response was simple enough, “This is where I want to be, and I want to give other people a place to gather with me.”

We sat and talked, we played some pool, and after 8:30pm, a few more regulars had strolled in and about ten of us were all sitting at the bar, watching George W. Bush give his speech on the tragic events of the day.

I woke up on September 12^th with a passionate rage going on inside of me.  I swore up and down that I was going to join the Army.  I was going to go out on the front lines and kill as many “bad guys” as I could in retaliation.  As I said, I was a jobless twenty-one year old wayward soul with no direction in life who had just recently been forced to give up on his dreams.  What else was I going to do?  I had no job, no girlfriend, and no passion to do anything else.  Suddenly, I was consumed with this desire to follow in the footsteps of my father and grandfathers, and serve our country.  In the end, I never followed through with it.  Some days I wish that I had, just to have saved me from so many terrible emotions over the past ten years.  However, I also look at the fact that I would not know many of my closest friends that I have right now.  It’s a terrible Catch-22, that I can never possibly know which path would have been the better one.  But, I do regret never making the decision to serve my country, like so many of my family members did before me.

Over the next few weeks, I collected a number of newspapers, magazines, and comics to remember the tragic events of that day.  I had political views, pop culture views, and sports-related views.  Until recently, none of these magazine have seen the light of day.  They have been sealed in a manilla envelope that was placed in my parent's safe and only recently removed.

I remember the impact that the event had on Hollywood, and the two major poster changes that resulted.  First was “Sidewalks of New York”, which originally had the twin towers in the background.  Second was the teaser poster for “Spider-Man” which originally showed the towers reflecting in Spider-man’s eyes.  I need to double check, but I believe I still have a copy of this poster in my collection at my parent’s house.

I also remember the original teaser trailer for "Spider-Man" in 2001, which was very quickly pulled from theatres on September 12th.

I remember being outraged when I heard the film “Serendipity” was going to digitally remove the twin towers from the film.  Personally, I found that to be distasteful to the memory of the buildings, and erasing them from a period of time when they did exist was ludicrous.  I was very happy that Cameron Crowe refused to remove them from his film “Vanilla Sky”, and to this day I enjoy seeing the towers in the opening credits and establishing shots of the TV series “Friends” as well as in the film “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”, which I watch more than once during the holiday season.

If memory serves me properly (which I don’t count on these days), My brother visited New York City a number of times before he started getting the itch to move there.  Eventually, by 2006, through some mutual friends and connections, he was able to move in with Jason’s future wife Letha for an extended period of time, allowing him to live in a city that he was very passionate about.  I’m not sure how much the impact of September 11^th had on him and his love for the city, but it was definitely there, and it was nice to see him get to live out that dream.  I did not get to take my first trip to New York City until 2006, and to this day it is always going to be a regret of mine that I never got to stand at the base of the towers and look up at them to see them curve.  As a child, it was one of those things that I always knew I would get to do one.  Like going to the Walk of Fame, or the Arch, or Times Square, or walking the Tower Bridge in London.  In my youth, I never imagined a day when I couldn’t finally go see the towers.  My second trip to NYC was during Christmastime of 2006, and one day while Letha was at work, Jason was able to take me down to the site, we were only able to stand outside of fencing, and look into a giant empty pit, where two massive buildings once stood.  It was a moment of disappoint, that was put into perspective as I realized that I was standing where thousands of people’s lives were ended.  It was a very eerie feeling.  As we walked around lower Manhattan, on our way to the Statue of Liberty, we ended up passing by a memorial which included a piece that was recovered from the lobby of Tower Two.

I hate and loathe Brett Favre, because of the media.  I despise Tickle Me Elmo, because of the media.  By 2008, I was sick and tired of the yearly media coverage of September 11^th.  In no way was attempting to dishonor everything that happened, I merely felt that the media – and by this time social networking – were abusing the entire situation, and only spinning it all for personal gain.  In a society that claimed they were trying to protect people, it felt like they were picking at, and tearing open a scab each and every year.  The media acted like they wanted to help people deal with their loss, by annually rubbing it in their faces and making a mass spectacle of the recurring situation.  I was over-saturated with it all.  Therefore, when I got my tax return and planned my vacation, I specifically chose to be out of the United States, and in England on September 11^th, hoping that I would be far removed from the media coverage that I so despised at the time.  This decision ultimately resulted in a huge backfire.  Fire, I woke up on the morning of September 11^th, 2008 and turned on BBC News to find them talking about…  The seven year anniversary of the attacks.  I rushed out of my hotel to enjoy what was supposed to be my last day in London.  The next morning I was on the Chunnel from St. George’s Cross to Paris.  I ended up in a pub for lunch, and hoped to catch some football or rugby, only to find more news coverage.  As I waited for my food, I lamented to my bartender about how I was attempting to escape all of this media, by coming to Europe.  I explained that I didn’t know they would be featuring it so heavily in their country.  By midday on this September 11^th, something else began creeping into news coverage.  One of the trains from Paris, coming into England via the Chunnel caught fire, which essentially shut down the Chunnel for the next 48 hours.  IN THIS ARTICLE, it mentions the 30,000 travelers who were stranded because of this, I was one of them.  Thousands of people were taking buses and trains to Dover, in an attempt to take crowded ferries across.  It was an uncertain fate that I was not willing to gamble with.  If I had larger funds available to me, to spend multiple nights in Dover, or stranded in France, I may have shrugged my shoulders and go on an adventure.  However, being on a tight budget, and only plans for one night in Paris before moving onto Munich, it threw my entire vacation into disarray and I eventually flew straight back to the United States from London two days later.  I chalk the entire experience up to "cosmic irony".  God (Or Gods, or High Powers, or Supreme Beings, or whatever you believe in) was trying to make a point to me that day: I took that vacation for the wrong reason, and I deserved to be personally affected for my escapist intentions.

Earlier this year, I read the novel “Love Monkey”, written by Kyle Smith, it was the basis of a TV show that I really enjoyed, so I always wanted to read the book, and I finally ran across a copy at Half-Priced Books.  Aside from the fact that the television show was a vast departure from the original novel, there was a chapter late in the semi-autobiographical book that dealt with events of September 11^th.  I don’t know how much is fact, and how much Mr. Smith embellished for the narrative, but nonetheless it was a fascinating read of what the main character went through on that day, as he attempted to get a hold of his friends, after standing on a street corner in lower Manhattan and watching the buildings collapse in front of him.  As a reader, I got the feeling that Kyle Smith actually lived something similar to what Tom Ferrell went through in the novel, as it was told with such detail and emotion.  (And I do know that Kyle Smith has been a long time resident in NYC).

Tonight, I sit here on the eve of the tenth anniversary.  I’ve spent the last four days writing this article, which I hope someone actually takes the time to read, and perhaps enjoy this one tale of where I was when my generation changed forever.  I did not know anyone who was killed on that day.  I didn’t have any friends that I was worrying over.  I’m not constantly haunted by the images depicting the demise of a friend or relative.  So, when I sit here and imagine how much my life was changed ten years ago, I can’t even begin to imagine what tomorrow is going to be like for those whose lives where directly impacted and forever altered because of the terrorist’s actions that morning.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been ten years.  It's crazy to think about all of the changes in society and security due to the actions of a few men.  Life was a lot easier, a lot more simplistic, and honestly a lot more enjoyable back then.  The oppression of the government has gone way up and there are thousands of conspiracy theorists nut-jobs coming up with the mast asinine ways to blame our government for everything bad that has happened.  The world really isn't a fun place anymore, and maybe it's just a realization that I'm coming to as I've hit thirty, but I do remember how things were before that fateful day.

As I’ve written this, it’s been a very interesting trip down memory lane.  Remember where I was in life ten years ago, and looking at everything I’ve done between then and now.  Seeing the dreams that I’ve failed, and the new ones that I continue to strive for now.

I will proudly be participating in multiple moments of silence.

"One Day" Review

On June 30th, I WROTE A BLOG about the five films I was most looking forward to, in the remainder of 2011.

Now, I have been able to cross of Numbers One and Two, and I felt like writing a little bit about each one of them.

#2. "One Day".
Friday, July 15th, 2011 was a Pay Day for me. I had just recently finished reading the novel "Love Monkey" by Kyle Smith, and was looking for something new to read. A few nights earlier, I had been at a screening for the final "Harry Potter" film, and the preview for "One Day" came on. I geeked out, as two weeks previous I had named it #2 on My List, and had been loving the preview for a couple of months - specifically remembering how the OneRepublic song "Good Life" would stick in my head for hours after watching the trailer.

As I perked up and leaned forward in my seat, my friend Heather leaned over to me and asked if I had read the book. I told her that I had not, and she informed me how much she loved it and believed that I would too. Two days later, on the aforementioned Pay Day, I purchased the book (NON-movie poster cover) and brought it to work with me that night. I read Chapter 1 quickly, and as I began reading Chapter 2, I noticed "July 15th, 1989". I flipped back to the first chapter - knowing full well the premise - and saw "July 15th, 1988". In a bizarre twist of fate, I actually purchased the novel on the exact "one day" mentioned in the title. That could have been the first sign that I was destined to love the novel, but it was not the last. Watching the evolution of these two characters, and their times together, their times apart, their missed opportunities, their fights, and everything else that made them friends - was perfection. It was some of the best writing and storytelling I've ever read. Coming off the heals of "Love Monkey" which I felt was a novel very close to where I am at in life today, to read this novel, felt like reading a novel about how I too had stressed/ruined some good friendships.

On July 15th, 1988, Dexter and Emma have both just graduated from University, and they drunkenly find themselves awkwardly undressed in Emma's flat. From this moment on, the two of them agree to remain friends. The film then checks in with them on each subsequent July 15th. What makes it so wonderful is that it's not a gimmicky "Let's always agree to hang out on the exact same day" type of lame plot device. Instead, some years they are hanging out together and some years they are not. Dexter and Emma are close friends, best of friends, and therefore it's not completely out of the grasp of reality for them to at least talk on the phone each day. Prior to the internet and social networking - the masses of people would at least check in with their friends via the home phone on a regular basis. So, even the years that they are not together, it's nice to see their conversations, or their missed attempts to speaking to each other that day.

Over the course of the years, we see Dexter as he rises in popularity as a TV Presenter, while we witness Emma being stuck in the rut of a dead-end job with a lack of motivation and low self worth, only to see how the charm of Dexter can bring a smile back to her face. In later years, we see (in a PG-13 version of Dexter's drinking/drug life) how he grows to annoy Emma and eventually take her for granted so many times that it pushes her over the edge of what she can take from him, telling him that she no longer desires to be his friend. While Dexter is spiraling out of control with drugs and his popularity with women, we get to watch as Emma focuses on purposes in her life. She begins teaching, and directing children's plays, and eventually publishes a children's novel. (A subplot in the book that works really well, but was sadly eliminated from the film...)

Years later, we catch up with them again, and we as an audience are reminded that it is our closest friends who most often annoy and upset us and we always hold them up to higher standards, but they are also the people that we can never completely write out of our lives. As Dex & Em reconnect, we see their thirties begin to take control and shape who they are to become. Life is painful, it's not pretty and everyone is often compromised in numerous ways. This story does not pull any punches, it shows a lot of the bad that everyone is faced to deal with. Children, marriage, infidelity, divorce, bad friends, mistakes, and emotions are all addressed as our two star-crossed friends eventually come to point in time that feels right for them both to finally cross the line of friendship into a territory they have both wanted for so long.

The great thing about the story is that it's not a typical, boy-meets-girl, boy-woos-girl, boy-screws over-girl, boy-tries to win back-girl because he can't live without her kind of lame plot that requires misunderstandings to create drama and push two people apart. Instead, the story of Dex & Em is about two people, whose lives are just never harmoniously at the same point for them to get what they truly desire from each other, or for them to feel like it's the right time to pursue anything beyond friendship. Over the years we get to see the foundation being built, so that when the time is right, the two of them can finally make each other the happiest. The story is a wonderful look at growing up, making mistakes, taking your friends for granted, acting arrogant only to have life beat you down into humility, settling for what is given to you, and the endless pursuit of dreams. It's a love story, that covers a million other emotions.


The film is a very good representation of the novel. It's flawed, and it's a double-edged sword. If you have read the book, then you can fill in some of the gaps of what is missing, based on what you remember reading. It's like the "Harry Potter" franchise, when I would discuss some of the issues I had with people, they would inform me, "Well, the left out this part... blah blah blah," which did help things make more sense. The same is true here, there are some small details that are overlooked and I believe it makes the film story a little weaker.

However, if you have not read the book, and you are just going by what is presented to you on the screen, I believe it to be a good representation of the surface of Dexter and Emma's friendship/relationship. Sadly, it's just the surface, and so many emotions are missing. A letter that Dexter writes Emma and then never gets to mail is completely eliminated - I admit, it would be hard to have included, however in the narrative of the novel, as Dexter writes it, it's one of the most touching moments for his character, before he begin to despise him. Emma is involved with a married man at one point, their stressful relationship is completely avoided, despite the fact that it shows Emma finally attempting to be more selfish, as the man claims he wants to leave his wife, and Emma tells him not to, because she doesn't want to be with him. Dexter's hard-core partying and drug use are never touched, which makes his revelation of getting married not as powerful. You never get the full feeling of how much of an influence Sylvie had on his life, forcing him to quit drinking and doing drugs, and basically suppressing him like a puppy dog.

Again, the film is a sad Catch-22, were I don't want to tell you to wait on watching it, because it's really enjoyable. However, at the same time, I think anyone would enjoy it more if they had read the book and were able to grasp the full emotional impact these two people have on each other.

David Nicholls wrote the novel, and I am very happy that he was asked to adapt his own work into the film version. I always had faith this would prevent the film from feeling like a bastardized version of such a great story. While a few of my favorite scenes and moments are eliminated from the film and other scenes are slightly changed, I still feel like the film works very well on its own, and was a pleasure to watch. Both Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess did wonderful jobs portraying the wide range of emotions required for the various years. The make-up department also did a phenomenal job of aging the characters each year. Wardrobe and the art departments also did wonderful jobs with clothing, and props, and the movies on the marquee at the cinema. It all made the experience so much more enjoyable.

Most importantly, the narrative structure of the final few chapters was preserved for the film. It works so perfectly in the novel, and I hoped and prayed that it would be told the same way in the film - and it was. It was so perfectly inter-connected, that despite knowing everything, I still got tears in my eyes.

Finally, any film that includes Del Amitri's "Roll to Me" instantly gains bonus points for being awesome.

In all seriousness, I do suggest reading the novel. Preferably before you see the film, but if time is an issue, then I hope the film will interest you enough to pick up the novel afterwards, so that you can get the full experience of what these two amazing characters put each other through, and go through together. It's an amazing story of friendship and love.

RATING: 8.6/10

"Another Earth" Review

On June 30th, I WROTE A BLOG about the five films I was most looking forward to, in the remainder of 2011.

Now, I have been able to cross of Numbers One and Two, and I felt like writing a little bit about each one of them.

#1 - "Another Earth".
To quote Dione, "It's a good thing you liked the film, since you're exactly their target audience. If you didn't like it, they really screwed up."

I can agree with this statement, and I can be upfront when I say that this film was exactly everything that I wanted it to be. It delivered to me on every level, exactly how I was expecting/wanting it to.

The film begins at a party, where 17-year old Rhoda has learned that she has been accepted to MIT. Rhoda has always been fascinated by the stars and dreams of a life in astrophysics. On this specific night, Rhoda make a terrible teenage mistake, that results in the death of a mother and her child, leaving the father as the sole survivor.

From the beginning, we are given the juxtaposition of emotions ranging from elated jubilation of seeing our hopes and dreams in our future, to the shock and misery knowing what our actions have ultimately caused. The score for the first five minutes of the film really carry it well.

In an added twist of fate, this tragedy occurs on the exact same night that a bright blue star appears in our sky.

Fast-forward four years. Rhoda is being released from prison, and we learn that the bright blue star was actually another planet, which appears to be the exact same physical make-up as our own planet earth. And, over the past four years it's been getting closer and closer.

We only had a brief amount time of time to get to know what Rhoda previously was, but it seems fairly obvious that she is now a shell of herself. She seems to lack ambition, and asks her social worker to get her a job where she doesn't have to interact with many people.

At one point she finally goes to visit the site of her horrific accident, only to witness the widower arriving to leave a stuffed animal where his say was killed. At this point, Rhoda investigates the man - John Burroughs - and eventually gets up the courage to go to his house, in an attempt to apologize. However, she chickens out and makes up a lie about being sent as a trial-service to clean his home for him. Over the next few weeks, she continues to return under this guise, and slowly they begin to help each other out of their respective shells.

This is where the dramatic irony of the plot kicks into full gear, and works wonderfully. As their partnership evolves into friendship and more intimacy, the audience gets a wonderful look at how its troubling her psyche, and in relation to John, it's like watching a balloon fill with air, knowing that eventually it's going to explode.

A subplot to the film involves a mega-millionaire - I picture him as a fictional version of Sir Richard Branson - who has created a spaceship to travel to "Earth 2". Rhoda visits the website, which asks you to write an essay on why you feel that you deserve to go on the trip. I personally believe that (writer-director) Mike Cahill and (co-write/star) Brit Marling wrote a wonderful piece of voice over dialogue here, as Rhoda reads her essay as she composes it.

If you've seen the preview, it's no surprise to you that she ends up winning the trip (otherwise why would this film be about her?), however, before she embarks she finally makes the decision to come clean to John about who she is. It leads to two very powerful and emotional scenes between the two of them, where I found the tension and emotions very intense and honest. This emotional roller coaster you've been watching, hits some new lows.

The film then wraps up in a non-traditional, yet not-surprising twist that reminds us all that no matter how badly we've screwed up our lives, we have the chance to make amends for it.

Finally, the film goes one step farther, a la "Primer" and knocks the story out of the park! I compare this film to "Primer" in this simple way: When you watch "Primer", you sit through it, you witness the story, you learn the truth, and then the story feels like it's over. There is resolution. (In the case of "Primer" the resolution drives you to re-watch the film, to catch the clues you missed) THEN, "Primer" ends with one final shot, one final scene with no dialogue, but a simple reveal that opens multiple cans of ambiguity up for you to consider where the story could continue - and then the credits roll. The same is true of "Another Earth". The final shot of the film opens up many avenues of debate, questioning the hows and whys. And it works so well.

Personally, I believe I have it all figured out. I honestly think that I know the important pieces that were set up to explain the ending. I don't want to include spoilers in this write up, so perhaps I'll do another blog at a later time, or something. It's not as complicated as the ten-page essay of "Mulholland Drive". It's pretty simple, and what I believe to be correct.

In the simplest ways possible, the film is about heart and emotion. It's about mistakes and regret. It's about attempting to move on in our lives, even when we can't achieve the dreams we once had. The film is very well acted, and using some interesting cinematography that I believe aides in the realism of the piece. Brit Marling is beautiful to look at, but backs it up with some amazing acting talent. Along with Mike Cahill, she did an amazing job on the concept and story, and Cahill was able to perfectly capture the emotions of the story through the lens.

RATING: 9.1/10

Preface to My Next Post

When I first started this blog, so many moons ago, my first posting was a review of "Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith". From there, I reviewed a bunch of movies, sometimes just a few quick sentences, sometimes long, winded commentaries about why I loved them - and loved hearing myself talk/think/type.

Then, I got vocal about sports. Analyzing the Colts, Pacers, Bayern Munich, tennis, World Cup, blah, blah, blah. I just liked writing (and babbling on my soapbox) about topics I was passionate about.

Then, I wanted to be a media mogul, so every morning I would spend hours surfing my favorite websites and gathering all of the bits of news that mattered to me, and that I wanted to comment on - and then I'd compile them all here.

Then, I started working a day job where I spent 8-10 hours a day sitting at a computer typing and entering data. Once I got home, I wanted to be anywhere but in front of any computer screen or keyboard. That's when the lull in my blog first began.

Then, I decided to start writing my novel, and the only times I would post here was when I published another chapter online.

At some point this year - I can't remember exactly when - I was looking at my blog and on one hand, I was proud to have over 2,000 postings. Then, I just realized, the majority of them were nothing. Boring, pointless, insane rants without purpose. Links to random things that we're relevant anymore. I had tons of mobile updates recording Bayern Munich or Bastian Schweinsteiger goals.

Basically, I realized my blog was lame, and had LOTS of "fat" that needed to be trimmed off of it. So, at whatever random point (I honestly believe it took me three days to complete), I deleted around 1,800-ish blog posting to put myself at a much thinner 200-ish posts.

I kept all of my film reviews, because I do care about my thoughts and feelings on films, and I kept some other blogs that I feel like I actually took a lot of time to prepare and write, but I made a much more concise version of myself available online. [A number of my blogs were just intense/insane rants about things that I found annoying (usually people I didn't like) and I just wouldn't shut up. Blah, blah, blah, I'm just going to run my mouth because this is my forum to do so... It was lame.]

Recently, I've been writing a little more often. I missed my deadline of finishing "Perfect Life For Large Price" in one year, so I've set the goal at two years now. I'm over halfway, and I'm about ten chapters away from a cliffhanger, where I will stop publishing online, and try to finish it up, get someone to edit/revise it for me, and then try to find the best avenue to publish it.

While I don't force myself enough to make the time to write the novel, I do still want to write more often. I just know that each chapter I write has a lot of research to do, geographical and facts related to previous chapters. So, it's a lot more difficult than early chapters, where I was writing the continuity - now I have to make sure everything I write now fits properly. So, that's a wee bit of extra time when I write.

I've recently been having the itchy urge to write film reviews more often. However, not on the I-Want-To-Do-This-Professionally Level that I previously did, where I often felt like I needed to kick out a 2,000 word thesis on each film that I saw, while citing references to previous cinema. Instead, I really just kind of want to share some feelings on the flicks that I feel like devoting my time to writing about.

So, today, I'm planning on writing up some short (for me) pieces about "Another Earth" and "One Day". So, I'm going to go get started on that now.

I Need to Control My Storytelling ADD

I had one goal that I wanted to accomplish today: I wanted to map out the next five chapters of "Perfect Life for Large Price" because I wanted to help myself understand where I was going, and make help light the fire for me to complete the next chapter. After a conversation with my mother yesterday, I just really felt motivated to get moving on this project and get it finished after all of the time and work I've already put into it. There is no reason it shouldn't get completed.

So, what did I do? I decided that I wanted to create a file for "Waited on a Line of Greens & Blues" and get the chapter titles going and put in order. For that novel, each chapter will be a song title, for a song that I believe would be the perfect soundtrack to that particular series of events that occur in the chapter. It's also helping me organize the flow of the story a little better. So, it wasn't a bad idea, it just trumped my original idea.

Then, as I was trying to organize all of my Word Documents into folders based on the novels they are associated with, I came across the first two chapters (well, one completed chapter and one partial) and the character bios for a story I started working on in February of 2010.

"Forever Got A Lot Shorter" was a novel that I started working on, and only abandoned because I fell in love with my concept for "Perfect Life For Large Price", if not for that Sci-Fi Novel (which I still LOVE), I'd probably be twenty-eight chapters into "Forever Got A Lot Shorter" - instead of just one and a half.

So, THEN what did I do? I spent two hours re-writing and expanding the characters biographies and personalities and interconnections and events that happen to them and the group. Now, I'm sitting here with hundreds of ideas and concepts spinning around those characters. Which is cool, and great, and I'm happy that I spent today writing and being creative and productive - but in a sad way, I wish I would have just focused all of this energy on "Perfect Life For Large Price", so that I can get closer to finishing that product, which I REALLY love. "Forever Got A Lot Shorter" actually started as a script for a feature film I wanted to write in 2001. It revolved around a group of friends who all worked in a bar (a concept that is sort of being integrated into "Waited on a Line of Greens & Blues") who had to deal with the drama of their customers, friends, and relationships. Things got complicated when one of the men got involved with one of the girls, who was more of a free-spirit and didn't take things as seriously as he did. This caused ripples and rifts in all of their abilities to work together. This script was shelved in 2003, when I began writing and working on my film "Reunion", and it never really got looked at again, until I came up with the idea for the novel. Once you read the following summary, you'll easily be able to see the evolution of the project.

So, while it's fresh in my head, here's the quick plot summary for "Forever Got a Lot Shorter":

June 7th, 1996 was the day the film "The Rock" opened in North America. It was also the day first day of employment at Clearwater Cinemas for teenagers Michael McKenzie, Leslie Newbury, and Troy Dolan. On this day, they would be introduced to their manager Damon Nelson, their co-worker Claire Clark, and a quirky projectionist named Jackson Hunter. On this day, these six individuals, from varying backgrounds, begin friendships that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Fourteen years later, the entire group has been brought back together for the funeral of one of its members.

Through flashbacks, their friendships and relationships are exposed. From their college years to all of the times when they each left the Cinema only to eventually return to working there. The group will share their dreams with each other, and stand by each other as they fail. Resentment and betrayal tear apart some members, and put other friendships into resolved states.

However, in the wake of losing someone so important to all of them, the group puts aside their problems and issues, to spend another day celebrating the years of memories they have given each other. During this time, secrets are revealed. Some small and innocent, regarding secret sexual encounters or anonymous mischief that was achieved. However, the accidental discovery of a letter, changes everything and puts their friend's life and accomplishments into a new light. But, a light that has damaging effects on some people outside of their group.



The novel opens in 2010, at the viewing for the deceased friend. This "present time" is being narrated from the first person, thus denying the reader knowledge of who the storyteller is. This fact won't be revealed until halfway to two-thirds of the way through the book. This is to keep the reader unaware of which character is actually deceased. Gradually, main characters will show up at the viewing, and eliminating them from the reader's query, until it is revealed who has passed away.

Odd numbered chapters will be set in the "present" at the viewing, and then eventually the funeral and the gathering afterwards. Even numbered chapters will begin on June 7th, 1996 and progress in chronological order throughout the next twelve-ish years. There will be some gap between the last flashback chapter and where the novel picks up. However, the important events of these two years will be covered in conversations once the plot shifts to only the "present" which will likely be the final five chapters, or so.


So, YEAH. Now I've got these gears turning and I'm coming up with all kinds of ideas to continue this novel.

Sadly, all I really want to do is finish up "Perfect Life For Large Price", get a couple of people to proof it for me, make some revisions and get it out there and try to move a few copies. It would get me to my goal of being paid for my writing. And once I hit that point, and actually got a few dollars for all of my hard work on that novel, it would be much, much easier to knock out the next two.

I'm hoping I don't come up with anymore ideas. I think this will be a nice trilogy of novels under my name.

The Criterion Collection of Cathartic Comics

For five hundred and eight straight weeks, I was in the employment of four different movie cinema corporations between Indianapolis and Los Angeles. I was an 18 year old kid with no direction in my life, who just really enjoyed films, hanging out with cool people, and spending time in the booth of Castleton Arts writing my first film with Jason.

I first became aware of the webcomic Multiplex in the spring of 2007, when Jason L. Maier told me about it. I remember spending my entire shift that night at G14 in the manager's office, reading every single strip that was available. For a while, I did a good job of keeping up with them, but over time I completely neglected the strip. And once I parted ways with a certain theatre company in 2008, I considered it a wake up call that I was never again going to settle for theatre job again. Sadly, after dedicating ten years of my life to the business, and never achieving more than fourteen college credit hours, I found myself in the nightlife of the bar-tending industry, where I lasted for two years.

Which brings the story to October of 2010. With a total lack of career options, I was forced to return to yet another theatre company, finding myself back in the booth after seven previous years of management, and I was once again a lowly booth monkey to thread and start films, and change trailers. Previously, my life revolved around working Wednesday and Thursday nights for changeovers. I found that those services weren't even required at this theatre. I was seriously just there to fill some booth shifts, as a favor granted to me by some old friends from previous theatres.

It was a pretty depressing time in my life, and I was not in a very good mental place, but then one day I was on my iPhone and in the Apple Store, when I saw the Multiplex App available for download.

So I did. And within two booth shifts, I read all 528 comics in the library at that point. I can not even begin to describe the effect that it had on my psyche. It reminded me of how much I used to enjoy working in this business. For my first two years in the industry, I'm pretty sure I spent everyday of my life at either Clearwater, Castleton, or Eastgate - and watched at least one film almost everyday. It was a great time in life. Then, I was blessed with working for Mann in California, and had the pleasure to make some really amazing friends in the industry that I still keep in contact with ten years later. It wasn't until I returned from California and jumped into management, that I began to lose my love of this job. When I went to work for Kerasotes, it was the first time I went to work at a company that I did not have friends at, and coming in directly into management, I chose to keep a distance from employees and not make friends with them. And from then on, I just made friends with others in management. It was a career at this point, I started making good money and it wasn't about the love of the art, it was about a paycheck.

But reading all of the comic strips on my phone, it brought me back to a place that I had lost, and always loved. My first three years in the business were some of my favorites, and I remember that family of friends that we had, and all of the late-night screenings, going to Perkin's until 6am, and all of the hours we spent discussing and debating films. All of these wonderful memories were perfectly captured in the characters and situations of the strips. The characters were easily identifiable for me, and I related to almost every conversation that Jason and Kurt had in the comic - to conversations that I remember Jason (Maier) and myself having at different times. Reading those comics helped put me in a better place mentally and reminded that I really do love movies, and working in this industry isn't so bad after all. Those who know me, are very well aware of the extent of escapism that I have through films and novels. Now, I will always have the Multiplex comics to reflect on, and put multiple smiles on my face.

Which brings us to my recent purchase of:
Multiplex: Enjoy You Show (Book One) by Gordon McAlpin.

I am seriously so happy to now have it on my bookshelf, sitting next to the likes of Charles Schulz books, Gary Larson collections, and Kevin Smith trade paperbacks. The book just looks beautiful. At over 200 pages, it's a nice, thick book, whose bright green spine pops out and catches the eyes of anyone who it perusing through any collection. As you flip through the pages of the book, the colors pop brightly off the page and look really great.

Ninety percent of the time, when I buy a DVD, I buy it for the special features. If it's a movie I really love, I don't mind buying a bare-bones copy, but it's those "Special Editions" and "Collector's Editions" and "Director's Cuts" and the "Criterion Collections" that really get my attention. The bonus features, the behind-the-scenes documentaries, the interviews, the deleted scenes, and specifically: the director's commentaries. Those are what I want. It's those extra pieces that make the purchase worth it. Taking me beyond what I've already seen, and giving me more.

The Multiplex book gives me as much as I could have hoped for, and more. You've got a great collection of Character Bios that are just hilarious one page comics. You've got a ton of comic strips that are all drawn by other webcomic artists, which is really cool to see these characters as interpreted by another artistic mind. Then, you've got an amazing collection of additional comic strips that I had never seen before. And one of them titled "Context is King" is now my favorite strip of the entire run, as Jason and Kurt are exiting the film "Serenity" had Kurt tries to explain to him how it would have made more sense if Jason had watched "Firefly", and then he discusses the idiocracy of FOX - which is a conversation I've had over a hundred times in life. Reading that strip for the first time, it was basically the epitome of perfection in my opinion. Finally, the thing I love most about special editions are the director's commentaries. I love hearing the thought process and ideas that go through any artist's mind as they are creating their work. Almost every single strip in this book has some kind of comment following the final panel. Sometimes it explains a pop culture reference, sometimes it draws attention to something specifically put into the background, sometimes Gordon just tells you what was on his mind that lead to the joke/gag/concept of the strip. It's the icing on the cake, in my opinion. There's a wonderful Introduction by the Real Life Kurt, which reads great, and is then followed a great Foreward from Gordon.

Last November, I dropped Gordon an email, because I wanted to let him know what a positive influence his work had on me. We exchanged a few emails, we've exchanged a few tweets, and this is one of the coolest dudes I've talked to. He's down to earth, he's appreciative of support, and he's just the kind of dude I want to support.

Since I consider myself an artist, I attempt to do my best to support other artists who I enjoy. Thus, I try to tell people about the iPhone app, when a specific strip reminds me of a friend, I'll post it on their Facebook wall, and I implore anyone that I know who collects comic books to purchase this book and support a solid dude who writes some amazing stories set in a very fun place to work. Personally, this strip hits me on a deep personal level, and now I need and want Gordon to get as much publicity and sell as many copies as he can: because I'm craving Book Two. I've already made room for it on the bookshelf, and I can't wait to see and read all of the great bonus materials that will be included with that collection.

If it were possible, I would put in my application at the Multiplex 10, even if they would only hire me to run the projection booth. Because they are some great characters who I truly enjoy having in my life.

Top Five Most Anticipated Films for the Rest of 2011

1. "Another Earth". To quote Jason L. Maier, "If the film involves Time Travel or Alternate Realities, Shane is almost sure to love it." I don't deny this, and I think this film looks pretty interesting. The concept of the entire world knowing about a second mirror planet is pretty cool to me, and then the fact that they are going to send people to the second planet, makes me curious what happens. Can you run into your double? What would happen? Does your double come back to the original in your place? I've got lots of questions, and I want to see where it takes me. I'm hoping this Indie Sci-Fi is a gem like "Primer". Casting William Mapother (Ethan from "LOST") is also a nice bonus.



2. "One Day". There is something about this film that reminds me of the film "Reunion" that I wrote and directed in 2003. The concept of two people who can't seem to find the right time in their life to be together is something that appeals to me. I really like Anne Hathaway and I'm interested to see more of Jim Sturgess. The telephone scene in the preview always hits me pretty hard, probably because it's right after the scene of him carrying his mother. If I enjoy the film, I plan to pick up the book and give it a read.



3. "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" (Dec. 16th). J.J. Abrams' Bad Robot is once again producing, and this time they've got Brad Bird ("The Iron Giant") directing the film. As with the third film, I am going to have to attempt to remove the "Mission: Impossible" moniker from the film's existence. The third film was an amazing action film, but really did not belong in the "Mission: Impossible" world. Only Brian de Palma got it right with the first film, before John Woo pissed all over the franchise with the terrible second film. I really loved the third one, but wish it some other random action film, or it's own franchise. This one, again looks to be a lot of fun and cool action sequences. Add in the casting of Josh Holloway ("LOST"), Jeremy Renner ("The Town"), Michael Nyqvist ("Män som hatar kvinnor"), and Léa Seydoux ("Midnight in Paris") and I'm really looking to enjoy this ensemble.



4. "The Adventures of Tintin" (Dec. 23rd). I've enjoyed the realiztic motion capture the Spielberg and Robert Zemckis have been doing over the past 10 years. Add in the fact that this one is written by Stephen Moffat ("Coupling" and the BBC series "Sherlock") and I hope that it's going to be a lot of fun. I don't know much about the comic, aside from when Samantha Brown was in Belgium for "Passport to Europe". So, I won't be looking for much, other than a fun and adventurous story, and good visuals.



5. "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" - American Remake (Dec. 21st). I absolutely LOVE the Millenium Trilogy that Yellow Bird put out in 2009. I think they are all perfect, and the trilogy weaves together a great story about friendship, and abuse, and two lonely people who find ways to help each other through very difficult times. Steve Zaillian has admitted that he re-wrote the ending of the American version of the film, which I think is IDIOTIC. That's why this is dropped down to #5, because of the fact that I know they screwed up (and potentially ruined) such a great film. I'll still jump to see it as quickly as possible, and it's got A LOT of good things going for it, including Fincher, Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, and the rest of the cast.



Quasi-Number-6: "The Ledge" (on VoD currently, Jul 8th). Charlie Hunnam is enough to get me interested in the flick. It looks like a good psychological thriller, if it's done right. I really want to see the flick, but it's not super high on the list, because I'm in the process of getting my hands on a copy of the film to watch, most likely tomorrow night. So, I'm content in knowing I'll be (hopefully) watching it very soon.



BONUS INTERNATIONAL MENTION: "The Inbetweeners" Film (Aug. 12th). I have no idea if this is actually getting a stateside release. BBC America did play an edited version of the show, so it might? I truly hope they don't edit the film if it does show in the US. If it doesn't get an US release, I don't know when I'll get to see - basically, I don't know how long it'll be before a copy gets leaked online. I'm dying to see this film, and so happy they commissioned a few extra episodes that show the gang in college.



So, there's a lot of films that I'm planning on seeing and looking forward to. I really can't wait to see a trailer for Joss Whedon's "The Cabin in the Woods" - which might make it jump onto this list. But, of everything I've seen and read - these are the films that I'll be trying my hardest to see.

Some More Writing

If you've been waiting, I've finally written the next chapter in "Perfect Life For Large Price".
CHAPTER 28 is now online, I sincerely apologize for the wait, I have no excuse.  I've also failed at completing that novel within one year.  I'm hoping that it doesn't take two.  I'm trying to get re-focused on it.  I love where the story is about to go.  I'm getting close to the cliffhanger - which is where I will stop publishing the chapters online.  And it's going to be good, and BIG, and make your jaw drop.

I've already written the Epilogue, so I know how it's all going to end, and I can't wait to actually make the time to get everything in between written.  THANK YOU for those who are still reading.

And if the Sci-Fi world of "Perfect Life For Large Price" doesn't appeal to you, I've also started writing another novel.  Something completely different, something that will be around for times when I personally just need a break from writing Sci-Fi, and want to write something more personal and more humorous.

Here is the description I wrote for "Waited on a Line of Greens and Blues":

The chronicles of a thirty-one year old man, and his attempts to prove to a girl that he is far superior to her douchebag boyfriend. Set in the alcoholic bar scene of Chicago eccentrics, Adam McKenzie serves liquor to people he likes, as well as to people he hates. Eventually, Suzy Leibensperger walks into the bar he works in, and he falls head over heels for her. Night after night, Adam listens to Suzy's problems, and provides an ear for her. And each night, he is driven crazy by the knowledge that she is still going home to be with her douchebag boyfriend. What does he have to do to open her eyes to him?

Adam talks life, love, friendships, failures, pop culture, and music; as he attempts to figure out his small place in the world, and how to make himself happier.

So, if that appeals to you more, then you can read CHAPTER ONE: "The Beginning is the End is the Beginning".

'Age' Doesn't Matter, When You Want to 'Rock'

If you’ve ever been on a car trip with me, or if you’ve ever been with me at a bar when I’ve dropped five bucks into the jukebox; then you’ve got a very good idea of the kind of music I love. If you’re not lucky enough to know already, let me inform you: Anything from the 1980s and 1990s. Musically, my biggest regret in life was not being of age – or born yet, for that matter – to attend Woodstock. My second regret, would be the fact that I was too young to actually enjoy and appreciate the big hair metal bands and the pop-filled sappy love ballads of the eighties. Perhaps its an attempt to make up for that missed opportunity, that I constantly rock out to those iconic tracks, from some bands that I have really come to love.

In May of last year, I was in Boston hanging out with two of my NYC Theatre-savvy friends McNear and Samantha, when they told me about a show that they had just seen on Broadway, and that they knew was perfect for me. This was the first day that I had ever heard about “Rock of Ages”. When I finally got home, I made sure to get my hands on the album, and just from looking at the track list, I knew I was going to love what I was about to listen to. Well, let me honest, I didn’t love it. Not the first time, and not the second or third. I loved the songs, but the problem was that I couldn’t sing along with them because of the fact that they cut pieces from songs together and they changed keys and lyrics to fit together. Now, I enjoyed the creativeness of what they were trying to do, but it just made it hard to enjoy – because it was different from what I had been used to for so many years. Over time, I learned to like the album, but I never loved it.

Enter the Broadway Across America production of “Rock of Ages” at Clowes Memorial Hall. Seeing this production live changes everything, and I mean everything. So much is visually lost on the album, that I felt like I was seeing a completely different show. Of course, I had done my homework when listening to the album, and I knew the basic storyline that I was supposed to be trying to follow, while listening to all of these great songs spliced together into an attempt at a storyline.

I’m going to be honest, the plot of “Rock of Ages” is nothing to be praised. It’s simple. A small town girl, comes to Los Angeles in the 80s, meets boy, multiple misunderstandings keep boy and girl from getting together, boy and girl go separate ways, boy and girl finally get together. Let’s be honest, you already knew it was coming. The plot isn’t why you’re going to see this show; you’re coming for the music and performances, and the hope to be swept into a world of fond memories. The best thing about “Rock of Ages” is the fact that it doesn’t take itself seriously at all, it’ just a good, fun, rocking time to be had be the entire audience, as well as the cast who do a marvelous job of interacting with the audience during moments of well-played improvisation. You can’t expect too much seriousness from a show filled with ‘poop jokes’ and ‘no deep or complex characters’. I also shouldn’t forget to mention the STD jokes, numerous sex gags, wine coolers, jazz hands, and the perfect example of “The Friend Zone Trap” – all of these things are used in some genius comic manner. To further illustrate my point, as you walk into the show, they randomly hand out LED faux-lighters to guests, and throughout the show I saw a sea of LED, true flames, and cell phones being held up and waved to and fro.

The two most notable things about the show are these. First, all of the music is played live, on stage, by a four-piece band. No orchestra pit, no recordings. Instead, they put four very talented musicians in the background of the production, where you can watch them the entire time. It was great to see them get their moment in the spotlight, after the entire cast took their bow, it was a nice jam session for them on stage. The second thing about this show, is the fact that for the majority of the time, the background singers and dancers are girls walking around in bras and panties, for the most part. These backups are either cocktailers in The Bourbon Room, or strippers at The Venus Club. I can’t lie, when I say that their table/bar/pole/lap dancing provided some of the best eye-candy of any stage production I’ve ever witnessed. I felt like I was at a PG-Rated Kid Rock concert.

I don’t know if there was a better seat in the house, but I really enjoyed sitting where I did, as I was blessed to be in the row behind a group of mid-to-late fifty-something women. I knew I was going to enjoy my seats, when during the opening number Poison’s “Nothin’ But a Good Time” began playing and all six of these women started bouncing up and down in their seats. Moments later, when some of the dancers got up on the bar top and began dancing, I could tell from the looks that they all gave each other – that these women had been there before, in their youth. The appeared age-appropriate to have partied hard with their perms and neon clothing at a number of questionable dive bars three decades ago. Needless to say, their chair dancing and hooting/hollering didn’t stop with the opening number. This particular group of women were also in the large group of women who I felt were serenading me during Extreme’s “More Than Words” (which is wonderfully spliced together with Warrant’s “Heaven” and Mr. Big’s “To Be With You”).

Coming from the New Media/Digital Arts background that I once pursued, I’m always a fan of the integration of new media techniques into stage productions. “Rock of Ages” utilizes a collection of jumbo-LED screens above the stage to help convey various modes, tones, and settings for the production. I was originally captivated during the duet of STYX’s “Too Much Time on My Hands”, when a character on stage was on the telephone and interacting with the character on the video screen. In later scenes, like Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You”, the screen is used to show the streets of the city while Boy and Girl are driving, and once they reach their destination, it has a beautiful overlook of the City of Angels at nighttime. The lighting of the backdrop and the images on the video screens are a perfect piece of the show that does a wonderful job of setting the mood for each scene.

While it’s former “American Idol” star Constantine Maroulis who gets top-billing and plays the “boy” of the plot, I personally believe the entire show is held together by the Shakespearean style narration of Lonny, played in this production by very memorable Patrick Lewallen (http://www.patricklewallen.com). Truth be told, it’s Lonny’s constant breaking of the fourth wall to engage the audience, that keeps the plot moving from time to time. His ability to humorously pop in and out of scenes to provide comedic commentary are also one of the highlights of the show. You’re sure to laugh when he pops into a scene with the line, “Yes, you did”.

I haven’t watched any of “American Idol” since the second season, so I really have no familiarity with Constantine, aside from hear a lot about him. If Justin Bieber has all of the little teens going crazy, then after last night, I can only imagine that Constantine is the Bieber for forty-something women, because they were all going crazy for him from the minute he walked on stage, and every single time he played the audience, it was to massive “oohs” and “yelps” from the cougars in the audience. All I had ever seen was the media hype, and now I will be the first to admit that Constantine proved me wrong in my preconceived notions of him. I expected him to come out into the show and demand to be the center of attention. Within the first minute of the show, I realized that he was perfectly fit to play the quite, shy, loveable loser made popular in almost every John Hughes film. Constantine was cool, he did a great job evolving the character of Drew from an insecure struggling musician, to a corporate sell-out, back to a pizza delivery boy.

Seeing how I consider Steve Perry one of the greatest vocalists of my lifetime, I have always loved the inclusion of “Oh, Sherrie” in the production, and naming the lead female after this song was a treat. In this production, Elicia Mackenzie does a wonderful job with the transformation of a sweet and innocent little girl, into a reluctant stripper. Visually, Elicia rocks the stage when she gets the ever-clichéd opportunity to dance on the hood of a car. Vocally, Elicia is constantly great, however at the conclusion of Pat Benatar’s “Shadows of the Night” she really lets go and sound phenomenal.

The most flamboyantly entertaining character in the entire production is Franz, who was played by Travis Walker in this tour. I don’t even know where to begin describing how enjoyable this character was. As funny as Lonny is, I have to say that Franz steals the show in every scene he is in. Franz is the centerpiece of the greatest moment in the entire production, during the singing of Pat Benatar’s “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” – which from the uproarious amount of laughter, the entire audience agrees with me. But, brace yourself, because less than ten minutes later you’re going to be enjoying some more over-the-top Franz. Without a doubt, Franz has the greatest dance moves throughout the entire show. Travis Walker has some serious skills in that department.

The show also includes a great pair of hippies, still hanging around in the eighties. Dennis Dupree is the owner of The Bourbon Room, and was played by Nick Cordero to a stoner’s perfection. Dennis and Lonnie have one of the best duets, when they sing REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling” to each other – complete with photo montage on the video screen. Casey Tuma played the role of Regina, who is originally introduced as working for the corrupt mayor, only to end up as the leader of the protestors trying to prevent the demolition of The Bourbon Room. Her spunky attitude brings loads of comedy to the majority of her scenes.

I’m honestly curious how many hours of Bret Michaels footage was watched by Patrick Deiwick to create such a perfect rendition of him for the sex-crazed alcoholic douchebag antagonist of the production, Stacee Jaxx. Because from the minute the cowboy hat and tight pants strut onto the stage, it’s a perfect representation of everything I’ve ever seen of Bret Michaels. At this moment, not many of Stacee’s musical numbers are coming back to me, however a lot of his stage presence is. I remember the large number of gags he’s involved in, and his bathroom seduction of the starry-eyed Sherrie during Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is” is very enjoyable, and well played between the two of them.

I remember a few years back, when certain people were making claims about “crowd noise” being pumped into the RCA Dome. Had those people been at Clowes Memorial Hall last night, they most likely would have made the same asinine claims during the show’s finale, because it got LOUD. As the first few notes of Journey’s most popular bar song began to play, it was enough to get the entire audience on their feet, clapping, and singing along to “Don’t Stop Believin’”. It really made the finale feel like you were actually at a rock concert, and not a musical production.

Have you been paying attention to all of the name dropping that I’ve been doing in this review?
Poison, Extreme, Warrant, Mr. Big, STYX, Foreigner, Steve Perry, Pat Benatar, REO Speedwagon, and Journey. Well, let me just drop a few more from the show: Night Ranger, Damn Yankees, Whitesnake, Starship, Twisted Sister, Bon Jovi, and Asia. Aside from this show, and my iPod, I’m not sure where anyone can hear all of this great music together.

If you are looking for an amazingly fun and entertaining time, then you have to check this musical out. It’s one of the best times I’ve ever had going to the theatre. If you're older, you'll have a great time remember high school and college and rocking out to these songs in their prime.  If you're my age, you'll have fond memories from growing up and catching the coattails of the rock era.  And if you're a young thing, then you'll get the chance to be exposed to some of the greatest music you'll ever hear, and hopefully it'll gateway you into listening to more of this music.
 
If you haven’t heard the album, then I suggest you do yourself a favor, and go into the show now knowing what to expect, and soak in the entire experience first. Having now seen the production, I can say that it will make listening to the album much more enjoyable, as I’m reminded of the sight gags and character nuances that I was previously unaware of.  The only thing missing from the show is The Outfield's "Your Love". Now, please excuse me, I'd like to get my face melted, again.