tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80722451784945660022024-03-13T12:49:41.906-07:00Dick Clark Screening RoomKnown as West L.A.'s best kept secret, the dick clark productions Screening Room is one of the most well-appointed, state-of-the-art screening rooms in town.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08598328075464519072noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072245178494566002.post-59082066314355242812016-02-28T16:47:00.001-08:002016-03-02T08:02:44.511-08:00The Return of Iñárritu<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-84688e91-296a-a698-f6f2-1a35f2f6faba" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38;">rev • e • nant</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38;">noun</span></span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">One that returns after a lengthy absence.</span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;">One who returns after death. </span></span> </span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222;">So sayeth the </span><a href="https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=revenant" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">and those two definitions make sense regarding Alejandro González Iñárritu<span id="docs-internal-guid-84688e91-29a5-7b86-9a3c-99aed565d0da" style="vertical-align: baseline;">’</span>s 2015 film </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The Revenant</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"> (although I<span id="docs-internal-guid-84688e91-29a5-7b86-9a3c-99aed565d0da" style="vertical-align: baseline;">’</span>m not sure why one </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">One</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"> gets a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">that</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">, while the other </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">One</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"> gets a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">who</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">—are there otherworldly implications there?). The AHD also provides a brief etymology: the term <i>revenant</i> derives from the French present participle of <i>revenir</i>, meaning <span id="docs-internal-guid-84688e91-29a6-997b-f2a5-7a7b907a14a9" style="vertical-align: baseline;">“</span>to return.<span id="docs-internal-guid-84688e91-29a6-cced-c7a9-5d5d525a1455" style="vertical-align: baseline;">”</span> The film<span id="docs-internal-guid-84688e91-29a5-7b86-9a3c-99aed565d0da" style="vertical-align: baseline;">’</span>s title, then, dovetails with </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">Iñárritu</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-84688e91-29a5-7b86-9a3c-99aed565d0da" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">’</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">s own return to the Oscars scene.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 22.08px;">Last summer in the Dick Clark Productions Screening Room, m</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white;">y <strike>girlfriend</strike> <i>fianc</i></span></span><span id="docs-internal-guid-84688e91-29ad-45f1-03df-44be644d61bf" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>é</i></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white;"><i style="color: #222222;">e</i><span style="color: #222222;">, Joanna, and I first became aware of </span><i style="color: #222222;">The Revenant</i><span style="color: #222222;"> via </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRfj1VCg16Y" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">its teaser trailer</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">. Having already finished the first season of <i>Les Revenants</i>, I was aware of the term and its </span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">“</span><span style="color: #222222;">return from the dead</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">”</span><span style="line-height: 1.38;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"> meaning. Also, I</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">’</span><span style="color: #222222;">d just finished teaching a literary analysis class in which the final essay focused on </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">Iñárritu</span><span id="docs-internal-guid-84688e91-29a5-7b86-9a3c-99aed565d0da" style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px; vertical-align: baseline;">’</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">s 2014 film </span><span style="line-height: 1.38;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i>Birdman</i>, which has a fantastical or magical-realistic or even numinous quality. </span><span style="color: #222222;">So after watching that teaser trailer</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">—</span><span style="color: #222222;">roughly two minutes that capture the pumping action and imagery of the film, without giving away its plot</span><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">—</span><span style="color: #222222;">I expected <i>The Revenant</i> to follow suit with <i>Birdman</i> in its sense of magic and mystery. With that, <i>The Revenant</i> became my top must-see film (well, alongside or just under <i>The Force Awakens</i>).</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;">Then </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZZt2xUbvMs" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">a fuller trailer</span></a><span style="color: #222222;"> came out and did what trailers often do: it over-explained. </span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white;"><i>TMI!</i></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial";"><span style="background-color: white;"> I thought. With the new trailer, I gained a clearer idea of the plot yet lost that earlier sense of magic and mystery. Would I</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">ñárritu</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;"><span style="line-height: 22.08px;">’</span>s latest be a straightforward revenge story? Perhaps. But even if the film turned out to be something other than what I initially expected, I was still in. After all, I<span style="line-height: 22.08px;">’</span>m a fan of <span style="line-height: 22.08px;">Iñárritu</span><span style="line-height: 22.08px;">’</span><span style="line-height: 22.08px;">s</span> films largely <i>because</i> they defy my expectation. Consider the director<span style="line-height: 22.08px;">’</span>s filmography, including <i>Amores Perros</i>, <i>21 Grams</i>, <i>Babel</i>, <i>Biutiful</i>, <i>Birdman</i><span style="line-height: 22.08px;">—</span>each one unique, each one masterful. All indications pointed to <i>The Revenant</i> being another masterpiece.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">And so it is. On the night after Christmas, Jo and I took our seats in the screening room. From the opening sequence<span style="line-height: 22.08px;">—</span>with its subjective, floating camera, and its gritty, epic feel</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;"><span style="color: #222222;">I knew we were watching greatness. After </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MouolRNd_A" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">the <span style="line-height: 22.08px;">“</span>Glass down the river<span style="line-height: 22.08px;">”</span> scene</span></a><span style="color: #222222;">, in which Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) hides from the Arikara tribe and then crawls frantically through the freezing river water, I thought, </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;"><i>He</i><span style="line-height: 22.08px;">’</span><i>s a shoo-in for Best Actor.</i></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;"> By the film</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">’</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">s end, I sat there with that satiated, blissed-out feeling you get when you</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">’</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">ve experienced something poignant and extraordinary. Something <i>beyond</i>. A masterpiece, yes, and an instant classic.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;"><i>Otherworldly. Numinous. Something beyond.</i> I have plugged in these descriptors because <i>The Revenant</i> does contain that magic and mystery I detected in the teaser. The film isn<span style="line-height: 22.08px;">’</span>t merely a tale of revenge; there<span style="line-height: 22.08px;">’</span>s more to it. Having been left for dead by John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), Glass does persevere; he fights to survive; he returns, becoming the revenant of the title. And beyond revenge, he is motivated by other revenants: the memory of his wife and son. They have died, yet in death, there is life. Several images make this point: an Arikara warrior wears a bison pelt to intimidate his enemies; a bird emerges from the shirt of Glass<span style="line-height: 22.08px;">’</span>s dead wife; Glass himself wears a bear pelt and sleeps inside his dead horse. Life inside death.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;"> Though Glass</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">’</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">s wife and son are dead, their spirits live on.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">Almost a year to the day, Jo and I met for our first date. We got coffees and went for a long walk, chatting about several topics, including the Academy Awards. At that time, I predicted a big night for </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">Iñárritu. And now? It</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">’</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">s </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38;">déjà vu </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">all over again. Here</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">’</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">s to another big night for </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">Iñárritu and crew.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;">Enjoy the Oscars, wherever you are<span style="font-family: "arial";">!</span><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.08px;"><br /></span>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244921013256614048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072245178494566002.post-72223586460810271492015-12-24T12:28:00.000-08:002016-02-28T11:43:29.455-08:00Congratulations, David!<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline;">Here’s to David Garonzik, the projectionist and manager of the Dick Clark Productions Screening Room. If you haven’t heard, David’s name appears in lights at the end of Alejandro González Iñárritu’s new film, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline;">The Revenant</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline;">.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Now for a little “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”: David Garonzik helped out with </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The Revenant</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio; Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro starred in </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">This Boy’s Life</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">; and Robert De Niro acted in </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Sleepers</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"> with—voilà—Kevin Bacon.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Way to go, David. You are now undeniably a part of pop culture. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Happy holidays, everyone. See </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The Revenant</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"> (imperative mode), and make some noise when David’s name appears.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244921013256614048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072245178494566002.post-82653006937046598022015-11-26T02:46:00.000-08:002015-11-26T08:17:57.095-08:00Think Different<div dir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-bb2e2751-431b-1f12-a19e-3dd430dde859" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.2;"> Much Madness is divinest Sense—</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px;"> </span>To a discerning Eye—</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px;"> </span>Much Sense—the starkest Madness—</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px;"> </span>’Tis the Majority</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px;"> </span>In this, as all, prevail—</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px;"> </span>Assent—and you are sane—</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px;"> </span>Demur—you’re straightway dangerous—</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="line-height: 19.2px;"> </span>And handled with a Chain—</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">A few weeks ago, I assigned this Emily Dickinson poem for my literature students to read. In our textbook, the poem appears in a section entitled “Conformity and Rebellion.” One student, familiar with Dickinson’s unique style and enigmatic works, liked the poem “because it reflects the poet’s slantwise mind.” Another student noted that Dickinson herself might have been “straightway dangerous” to “the Majority”: she did not assent; she demurred. She was an innovator, a rebel, a rocker of the boat. That idea opened the floodgates to a naming off of other innovators and rebels, a list that included Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Albert Einstein, Frida Kahlo, John Lennon and Jay Z. “What about Steve Jobs?” I asked. The class responded with oh-yeahs and uh-huhs.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">A while earlier, David had shown Danny Boyle’s </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Steve Jobs</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"> in the Dick Clark Productions Screening Room. I’d been excited about the film, mainly because of Danny Boyle’s direction and Aaron Sorkin’s writing. Those two heavy-hitters are consistently knocking the ball out of the park. I wanted to see what they could pull off together. As far as I’m concerned, it’s another home run.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">First off, there’s the structure. Whereas the 2013 biopic </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Jobs</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"> (starring Ashton Kutcher) follows a more typical formula, unfolding chronologically (except for the opening hook) and hitting the big points in Jobs’ life, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">Steve Jobs</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"> (starring Michael Fassbender) is structured around three major product launches: the first for Apple Macintosh (1984); the second, for NeXT Computer (1988); the third, for the iMac (1998). The film opens with Jobs putting out (or adding fuel to) fires as the clock ticks down to the first launch. That sequence’s frenetic and claustrophobic feeling works for the film, keeping viewers riveted. With five minutes before Jobs must take the stage, Boyle seems to stretch time. Then the act ends, and we viewers can breathe before the lead-in to the second launch.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">During the messiness that goes on behind the scenes—the complications and distractions that pull Jobs in a dozen different directions—there is also Sorkin’s dialogue, sometimes slick, sometimes tumbling out, always crafted. If I’m flipping through channels and hear characters speaking Sorkinese, I will stop and watch, transfixed. Take, for example, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">The Social Network</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">, another story about a real person—an often difficult-to-work-with person, according to the film—who changed life as we know it. Through his words, Sorkin sculpts out Zuckerberg’s character, and he does the same here with Jobs’ character. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">Then Fassbender takes those words and brings the character to life. Fassbender is as engaging as ever; he </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline;">is</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Steve Jobs. The rest of the cast is solid, as well: Kate Winslet as marketing executive Joanna Hoffman; Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple; Jeff Daniels as John Sculley, the CEO of Apple, 1983-1993. Three different actors play Lisa Brennan, one for each launch, and Jobs’ changing relationship with his daughter reflects his character’s maturity.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">The father-daughter dynamic is one of the film’s nice touches. Others include the witty repartee and one-liners (Sculley ribbing Jobs about the actual skinheads that appear in his “1984” commercial; Jobs, after one of his many heated discussions, saying, “It’s like, five minutes before a launch, everyone goes to a bar and gets drunk and tells me what they really think”); the giant image of a great white shark projected on the screen behind Jobs, as he tears into Wozniak; Lisa’s Sony Walkman and the scene on the parking garage, in which Jobs tells her, “I’m gonna put music in your pocket.”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline;">That line reminds me of my dad, a civil engineer with an inventor's brain. I remember a conversation we had way back in 1983, when I was a big eighth-grader, and when compact discs had just come out. I was talking up the CD, amazed at that new technology. "How can it get any better?" I asked. "It will," my dad said. And then he described a small device</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19.2px;">—much smaller than a Walkman</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19.2px;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.2;">that held hundreds of songs. "All people will have one," he said, "listening to music wherever they go." I just scoffed, still thinking, <i>What can be better than a CD?</i> I couldn't know then that he was predicting the future.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.2;">"Much Madness is divinest Sense," Dickinson wrote. "Here's to the crazy ones," Jobs said. Those words begin his 1997 "Think Different" commercial, and they, too, have a sense of the poetic. I'll leave you with Jobs' message in his own words.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244921013256614048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072245178494566002.post-18448017715396277282015-09-28T05:09:00.000-07:002015-09-28T13:33:08.441-07:00Because It Is There<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><img height="640" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/LrEU4qFwHdF99NiHUCQgbfb60yLzrzC5Dw8NIMIHzMdGDaZ7mFd_8TvFyNiM_uVHTZi4ufYeY3F7P6wIbf1NjMg3FlGDugkFsthjNzFQCsmAs3DkQlJuIGybvSR4gD46=s1600" style="border: medium none; transform: rotate(0rad);" width="404" /> </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In September 1998, I moved to Japan to teach English at Urawa Tandai Junior College (now Urawa University). I lived in a fourplex subsidized by the college, and the three other residents were also </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">gaijin </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">instructors. The teacher I replaced had left behind stacks of books, and one night, lying on my </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">futon</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I cracked open Jon Krakauer’s </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Into Thin Air</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I couldn’t put the book down and finished it that night.</span></b><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Into Thin Air</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> came out in 1997, and in it, Krakauer gives a detailed account of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, of which he had first-hand experience. Krakauer was one of the climbers who set out on May 10, 1996, to summit Everest, and while he did make it to the top and back, eight other climbers lost their lives that day and the next.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite its tragic, cautionary-tale aspects, the story can stir awe and wonder in us adventure-seekers. The summer after reading </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Into Thin Air</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I climbed Mount Whitney (14,505 feet), and the year after that, Mount Fuji (12,389 feet). If those heights look like a long way up, consider that Mount Everest (29,029 feet) is twice as high as Whitney. That’s where the awe and wonder play in.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two weeks ago, having just watched </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To Sir, with Love</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, members of the DC Crew were chatting in the parking lot outside of the Dick Clark Productions Screening Room, when David asked, “Any interest in </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everest</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">?” I had an interest, but it was Jo who </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">really</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> wanted to see that film. (Driving home, I asked her why. In a nutshell, Jo likes man-versus-nature stories because they show how characters react in extreme situations. Also, she’s something of an adrenaline junkie.) </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the screening drew near, my interest in the film grew. I wondered how Icelandic director Baltasar </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kormáku</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0466349/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">r</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> would handle the story, which involves several players. And how closely would the film follow Krakauer’s book?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On Sunday, September 20, Jo and I took our seats in the screening room, ready with the stylish 3-D glasses that David provides for special screenings. (On that particular night, we noted, the 3-D glasses resembled mountaineering goggles.) “Never let go” is one of the film’s taglines, and for the next two hours, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everest</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> pulled us in and didn’t let go.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everest</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> works on several levels. It has crisp scenes, a riveting score and stunning, realistic visuals. Early on, Base Camp’s colorful tents and flags, set against the snowy terrain, make you want to be there. Later, especially farther up the mountain, once the rogue storm hits, it’s the last place you’d want to be. Depicted in this way, Everest becomes a character, which transforms from tranquil beauty to punishing beast.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Although the story involves several players—including Adventure Consultants expedition leader Rob Hall (Jason Clarke), Mountain Madness expedition leader Scott Fischer (</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0350453/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t23" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jake Gyllenhaal</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">), climber Beck Weathers (Josh Brolin) and journalist Jon Krakauer (Michael Kelly)—the film rounds out its characters and makes them visually distinct (with Rob in red, Scott in turquoise, Beck in black and blue, etc.). The characters and action are easy to follow.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Another plus: </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Everest</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is not the film version of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Into Thin Air</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I loved the book, but it is a personal account, and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Kormáku</span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0466349/?ref_=tt_ov_dr" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">r</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> made a wise choice in presenting the story as an ensemble piece (although </span><a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-jon-krakauer-everest-into-thin-air-20150925-story.html" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Krakauer may not think so</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One part of the ensemble that stood out to me<span style="line-height: 22.08px;">, </span>while reading the book and again while watching the film<span style="line-height: 22.08px;">, </span>was Beck Weathers. What a name, similar to Pamela Dare's character name: each contains a verb, and each defines the individual. The difference is that one is a fictional character, while the other is a real person. Beck Weathers<span style="line-height: 22.08px;">—</span>and he does. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the end, it was another top-notch time in the Dick Clark Productions Screening Room. David was in peak performance, as usual. Jo and I left the place feeling elevated. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />I'd like to leave you with this apt line of dialogue, spoken by Russian guide </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anatoli Boukree</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">v </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name">(Ingvar Eggert </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="itemprop" itemprop="name">Sigurðsson)</span>: </span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The last word always belongs to the mountain.”</span></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-48494eab-137d-aeb5-803b-4ee8dd7af772" style="font-size: xx-small; line-height: 22.08px; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-48494eab-137e-7c62-79d6-d573114aee7c"><span id="docs-internal-guid-48494eab-137d-aeb5-803b-4ee8dd7af772"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-48494eab-137e-7c62-79d6-d573114aee7c"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jason Clarke and the real Rob Hall.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RcMmUC8Llgo/VgklNxc7a_I/AAAAAAAAAEs/wb5aSFztOXg/s1600/DCP%2BScreening%2BRoom1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="114" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RcMmUC8Llgo/VgklNxc7a_I/AAAAAAAAAEs/wb5aSFztOXg/s320/DCP%2BScreening%2BRoom1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 17.94px; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;">Jake Gyllenhaal and the real </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 17.94px; text-align: start;">Scott Fischer.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QU24zDTJVNs/VgklOSmINTI/AAAAAAAAAFA/MazglHU_KiQ/s1600/DCP%2BScreening%2BRoom3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="173" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QU24zDTJVNs/VgklOSmINTI/AAAAAAAAAFA/MazglHU_KiQ/s320/DCP%2BScreening%2BRoom3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 17.94px; text-align: start;">Josh Brolin and the real </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 17.94px; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;">Beck Weathers.</span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kSmQsbVb2EA/VgklNp7-cNI/AAAAAAAAAEw/-5hrQuKINO8/s1600/DCP%2BScreening%2BRoom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="100" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kSmQsbVb2EA/VgklNp7-cNI/AAAAAAAAAEw/-5hrQuKINO8/s320/DCP%2BScreening%2BRoom.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 17.94px; text-align: start;">Michael Kelly and the real </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 17.94px; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #222222; vertical-align: baseline;">Jon Krakauer.
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16244921013256614048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072245178494566002.post-16899542730580172812015-09-14T21:55:00.000-07:002015-09-28T10:07:42.361-07:00To Jo, with Love<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hello, world! Welcome to the first post of the blog for the </span><a href="http://www.dickclark.com/about/screening-room/" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dick Clark Productions Screening Room</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I am </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=AAIAAAAhxx8Bh_E2oU8Fl_eMhs6eWtvyxuyuWd0&trk=nav_responsive_tab_profile" style="line-height: 1.38; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">M.J. Hamada</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (call me Mik), a member of the DC Crew: a group of filmmakers and film aficionados who attend David Garonzik’s weekend screenings. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A little about David: He is the projectionist and manager for the Dick Clark Productions Screening Room. He’s a cool cat, a consummate professional, a down-to-earth guy, the type of person you feel you know immediately. David has a wealth of film knowledge and does a variety of impressions (which he’ll break into if you ask him kindly, and sometimes even if you don’t).</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As you may divine from the title, this first post doubles as an introduction to the blog and as a way for me to honor Jo (Joanna, my better half), who introduced me to David and the DC Crew. For our third date (our first dinner-and-a-movie date), we watched </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Something Wild</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.38; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in the screening room, after which we shared our first kiss. So you could say that the Dick Clark Productions Screening Room is partly responsible for the relationship we have now. </span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fMs8BnN5BuQ/VfefEYHGe9I/AAAAAAAAADg/y0bjldEng0I/s1600/IMG_1537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fMs8BnN5BuQ/VfefEYHGe9I/AAAAAAAAADg/y0bjldEng0I/s320/IMG_1537.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Mik and Jo in the screening room.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Since that memorable third date, Jo and I have viewed a dozen films together in the screening room. Most recently, on Saturday night, we watched James Clavell’s 1967 film </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To Sir, with Love</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and that screening was an extra-special one: sitting among the crowd was </span><a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002096/?ref_=tt_cl_t3" style="text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Judy Geeson</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">! In the film, she plays standout student Pamela Dare alongside Sidney Poitier’s new teacher, Mark Thackeray. (Her character name is telling: In an early scene, Pamela dares to ask Mr. Thackeray and Ms. Blanchard, another teacher, “Do you two shake?” And later, Pamela offers to carry a flower wreath to the home of her half-black classmate, daring to cross social lines.)</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5n2MqQ0pclI/Vfehjv8YDjI/AAAAAAAAAD0/5WETXyDgjxc/s1600/Dave%2Band%2BJudy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5n2MqQ0pclI/Vfehjv8YDjI/AAAAAAAAAD0/5WETXyDgjxc/s320/Dave%2Band%2BJudy.jpg" width="188" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Judy and David in the lobby.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To Sir, with Love</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is a great film, in the tradition of other inspirational teacher-student stories, such as </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Stand and Deliver</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dead Poets Society</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lean on Me</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dangerous Minds</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. If you’re a teacher, it’s a must-see. I like Thackeray’s approach. Initially rattled by the recalcitrant students, he eventually figures out how to connect with them: by tossing out the textbooks and treating the students as adults. My favorite bit of dialogue, though, is this early cutting remark Thackeray makes (when the students’ laughter eggs on the class clown): “lt’s encouraging that you have a sense of humor. It seems you know so little and are so easily amused, I can look forward to a very happy time.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After the screening, Judy Geeson answered questions and shared behind-the-scenes tidbits. We learned about the struggle to greenlight the film, about the casting process, about the wardrobe (Clavell had the young actors wear their own clothing), about the final dance scene. This last story stood out to me: both she and Poitier were nervous about doing the dance. You’d never know from watching the film. Pamela Dare </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">can</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> shake.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now it's time for me to shake on out of here. Thanks to Judy Geeson, to David and to the rest of the DC Crew for making Saturday night another "very happy time" at the Dick Clark Productions Screening Room. And thanks to you, curious reader, for tuning in to this first post. Check back later<span id="docs-internal-guid-177447d3-cf34-170a-07f2-bbc7493de01d" style="vertical-align: baseline;">—</span>more good stuff is on its way.</span></div>
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