THURSDAY, July 6, 2006
This, that and the other thing …
Three things to gab about:
1. Had auditions for "Trio" a couple Saturdays ago. As we were the last time we had open audition 5 years ago for "Bra," we were blown away by how many talented actors there are right here in River City. Now it's on to call-backs to assemble a trio of actors with the perfect chemistry.
2. I got my first paid producing gig! I got my first paid producing gig! Was co-producer for a commercial Tara Veneruso of Flaming Angel Films shot for my alma mater Missouri Western State University in St. Joe, MO. I put it on my resume and everything.
3. I love Meryl Streep more than ever after seeing her diversely different comic turns in "A Prairie Home Companion" and "The Devil Wears Prada."
She can deliver the goods no matter the role. I remember when Clint Eastwood chose her to play Francesca over a list of actresses (Susan Sarandon, Cher) arm-chair critics thought should portray the Italian immigrant Iowa farmwife in "The Bridges of Madison County." He made some sorta comment about seeing only one woman in the role - the best actress around, Meryl Streep. He got her, she made the movie, nuff said.
LINDA
MONDAY, June 19, 2006
Babes looking for mighty fine actors …
This is completely self serving: We’re auditioning male and female actors in their late 30s-early 40s for short film I wrote and will be directing this fall.
Check out info on "Trio" and the audition, and then contact me to sign up for the audition.
LINDA
TUESDAY,
June 6, 2006
Hey,
ladies …
One of the many hats I wear on KC film scene is content editor for the Independent Filmmakers Coalition of KC. Besides noting film-related events in KC, I’m on a mission to give a shout out to every single frickin’ feature film (60 minutes or more) that a greater KC-area filmmaker has in pre-production, production, post-production or in some sorta current distribution or screening.
So far, I’ve tracked down 34 feature films. 34! It’s great news for KC, but look closely at the article. You’ll note that only 5 are being helmed by women. While it’s encouraging to see that those 5 all fall under the IFC’s PanicButton program providing fiscal sponsorship (yea, IFC!), it’s rather disheartening to know more women aren’t finding the means to make their feature films. (Yeah, that includes us, but we ARE still working on our full-length screenplays.)
Our good friend Tara Veneruso has been on a greater mission than mine – she wants to change the status quo. Not only is she planning 2 feature film projects – a narrative and a documentary to be filmed in KC and St. Joe – but she has spent countless hours on the Movies By Women project. The group has a website (www.moviesbywomen.com – with a link to all women-directed movies since 2000), sends a First Weekenders Group e-newsletter (informing folks of women-directed movies opening in theaters the coming weekend), and puts up a “Startling Statistics” billboard in L.A. during Oscar weekend informing the industry of the sad hard facts - i.e. in 2005, only 7% of the top 200 films were directed by women, only 3 women directors have been nominated for Oscar, and no woman has won a Best Director Academy Award. More stats are on the site.
Now, it’s not that Tara, Sharon and I don’t love all the guys out there, we do indeed. It’s just that we want to see women realize their potential and not be afraid to take the helm, as well as encourage the powers to be to hire more women for their film projects. So, cheers to Tara and the local women directors we know – Rossana Jeran, Lisa Marie Evans, Carol Burns, Abby Dix, Aimee Larrabee, Paula Smith, Sally Cummings and Misti Boland – who are proving they’ve got what it takes to make their visions come to cinematic life.
LINDA
MONDAY, MAY 29, 2006
Sometimes, a movie is only a movie …
Only after I went to see “The Da Vinci Code” this weekend did I check out the mostly negative reviews on RottenTomatoes.com and the 2-1/2-star review from my favorite movie critic, Chris Hewitt of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. (The Babes’ good friend Mary Divine works with Chris, but I have a feeling she never passes along my stalkeresque gushes, such as “Tell Chris I love him and want to have his baby.”)
My review? The “Code” is an entertaining work of escapist entertainment. My gripe with the critics? Stop it already with comparing the movie to the book in your reviews.
Don’t get me wrong. I respect critics and value their opinions. I myself used to be a newspaper theater and concert reviewer, and I’ve felt the sting of those I reviewed negatively. But, dang, if “The Da Vinci Code” had been an original screenplay rather than adapted from a mega-dega blockbuster, I’m sure the reviews would have been more kind.
As a moviegoer and lay critic, I’ve learned to put aside all thoughts of books, plays or even previous cinematic incarcerations when I see adaptations. As any good English major is wont to do, I’ve read a small library of fiction in my lifetime. I’ve seen many of these books in their film versions. But no matter how much I love the book, I strive mightily to take the movie for what it is – even if the story is condensed, characters are left out or combined, and the ending is different. Movies are their own entities, and good works are good works.
Sometimes I have fun with a one-two punch of book-movie. I remember the summer Spielberg’s “Jaws” came out – I first read Peter Benchley’s book, then saw the movie, screamed, re-read the book, saw the movie again, closed my eyes and listened to the screams. Seems I couldn’t get enough of the shark.
And if the books I truly revere are made into movies that don’t get glowing reviews (see, I do respect critics), I just refuse to see the movies. Such is the case with John Irving’s “The World According to Garp,” John Berendt’s “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” and Philip Roth’s “The Human Stain.” Then again, I’ve seen many movies I’ve loved and have never read the books from which they’re adapted.
I had the experience this past March of seeing the Broadway musical “The Color Purple.” As a fan of the book and of the movie, I wasn’t afraid I’d like the musical any better or worse than previous versions of Celie’s story. I took it as it is and enjoyed the heaven-sent soaring voices of the cast as the beautifully designed production breezed by.
LINDA
MONDAY, MAY 15, 2006
William Claude got it wrong …
So where’s the best place to get spontaneous hugs, folks clamoring to sit beside you, and a jumping up-and-down recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance?
A pre-school, that’s where.
Last week I was my 5-year-old nephew Nolan’s show-and-tell at his Platte City class. The show part consisted of the Babes’ first test screening of a rough cut of our short “The Lost Kid.” The tell had me showing the youngsters behind-the-scene photos of the shoot, pointing out the talented people with their equipment who made up our crew, and giving a filmmaking tutorial geared toward short attention spans.
The screening was a hit. The kids watched the film twice, and it got laughs both times. And Nolan – the film’s title character – got to be the center of attention as I interviewed him in front of his classmates about the day of the shoot. “Was it hot that day?” Nod. “Did you have fun?” Nod. For a kid whose at-home-with-the-family personality is all rough-and-tumble boy with an adorable loud raspy voice that makes him sound like a 5-year-old George Burns, his public personality of the rather shy, well-behaved angel is always startling.
Watching the rough cut – which I plan to finish this year – brought back happy memories of last summer’s shoot. Yes, it was hot, but the amateur actors – my nieces and nephews Josh, Shelby, Jerrad, Collin, Nolan, Kora, and Shelby’s friend Kayla – were all such troupers as they took direction, hit their marks and improvised as needed.
With apologies to W.C. Fields, the Babes have found it rewarding to work with animals and with children, as we’ve done on 4 of our films. We have no qualms about writing in characters under 4-feet-tall or walking on all fours. In fact, both our full-length screenplays we’re working on either have kids or cats.
So, here’s a special shout out to “The Lost Kid” kids, Chelsea, Levi and Yoda. It’s been a pleasure working with you.
LINDA
WEDNESDAY, MAY 3, 2006
A kiss is just a …
Blame it on spring, but my thoughts are on kissing – not just in search of the perfect kisses but of the perfect bit o’ dialogue that captures what kissing is all about.
As I toy with a line for a screenplay I’m writing (“Kissing you is like getting intimate with a caterpillar, all furry and soft and wiggly” – uh, scratch that), I’m inspired by these memorable movie lines. Hope you will be, too - whether you're writing or puckerin' up (xoxoxo).
Cabin in the Cotton (1932):
Bette Davis as Madge Norwood
– "I'd love to kiss you, but I just
washed my hair."
Screenplay:
Paul Green
Gone With the Wind (1939):
Clark Gable as Rhett Butler – “No, I don't
think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly.
That's what's wrong with you! You should be kissed and
often, and by someone who knows how.”
Screenplay:
Sidney Howard
Casablanca
(1942):
Ingrid Bergman
as
Ilsa
Lund – “Kiss
me. Kiss me as if it were the last time.”
Screenplay:
Julius J. Epstein,
Philip G. Epstein and
Howard Koch
AND
Dooley Wilson as Sam – “You must remember
this. A kiss is still a kiss. A sigh is just a sigh. The
fundamentals things apply as time goes by.”
Lyricist: Herman
Hupfeld
Bull Durham
(1988):
Kevin Costner as Crash Davis – "I believe
in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days."
Screenplay:
Ron Shelton
Batman Returns (1992):
Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman – "A kiss
can be even deadlier if you mean it."
Screenplay:
Daniel Waters
Never Been Kissed
(1999):
Drew Barrymore as Josie Geller
–
“You know, that moment when you kiss someone and everything
around you becomes hazy. And the only thing in focus is you
and that person. And you realize that that person is the
only person that you're supposed to kiss for the rest of
your life.”
Screenplay:
Abby Kohn and
Mark Silverstein
LINDA