BY CYNDI GREENING, PHOENIX, USA — We spent most of the last week in Carmel-By-The-Sea. Known primarily for its white sand beach and proxity to Pebble Beach Golf Course, its also had a bit of notoriety because of its former Mayor (Clint Eastwood). We Phoenicians love Carmel because it is so dang COLD there. Tucked on the south side of the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel-By-The-Sea is about 20 square blocks of restaurants, art galleries, jewelry stores and novelty shops. In the image above, you can see the beach, the bay, the very pricey beachfront properties and a squirrel that has seen too many tourists (can you say eating disorder?)!
Carmel is really a “couples” vacation spot. There are relatively few families because, let’s be honest, how many kids want to visit 4000 art galleries or play on a frigid, wind-swept beach? Ironically, the town welcomes dogs! Many of the hotels and restaurants are dog-friendly. Menus feature dog entrees! Kayla loves THE BEACH (we can’t say that word in front of her right now because she goes nuts) and likes being able to go wherever we go. It’s so damn hot in Phoenix, I get the guilts when I put her outside now.
BY CYNDI GREENING. CINEMA MINIMA (PHOENIX, ARIZONA USA) — Uta Hagen, one of the most gifted acting teachers of all time, died January 15, 2004. While it is no longer possible to take a class with the Grand Dame of Drama in person, you can still learn from her on the Uta Hagen Acting Class DVD. I picked it up last week in the Samuel French Film & Theatre Bookstore in Hollywood. The two-DVD set was remarkably economical. I strongly recommend it!
Uta Hagen was born in Germany. When she was seven, her parents emigrated to the United States and settled in Madison, Wisconsin. Her father secured work as a professor at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. He established its Art History department. In the DVD, Hagen talks about how she used her relationship with her father to help her create her character in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” She tells wonderful stories about acting with both Marlon Brando and Anthony Quinn in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Among the actors who have trained with Hagen: Amanda Peet, Whoopi Goldberg, Laila Robins, Christine Lahti, Jack Lemmon, Jason Robards, Geraldine Page, Matthew Broderick, Marlo Thomas, Lee Grant, Maureen Stapleton, E. G. Marshall, Steve McQueen, Charles Grodin, Judd Hirsch, Jerry Stiller, Griffin Dunne, and Jill Clayburgh.
The most valuable portions of the Uta Hagen DVD include ten key exercises to improve your acting, and reworking troublesome scenes. Hagen’s explanation of destination, transference and substitution are powerful and immediately accessible. The reworking of scenes gives the vital “before and after” object lessons for aspiring actors (and directors). When Hagen directs Lindsey Crouse in a scene from “Uncle Vanya,” she draws the sexual subtext from the page to the stage! “Queer as Folk” cast member Robert Gant reworks a scene from Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew.” Hagen transforms the scene from an unintelligible mess to a thoroughly enticing and satisfying romp.
A few years back, I purchased a VHS tape, Michael Caine: Acting in Film. It’s now available in DVD as well. There several good techniques for managing the visual space of the camera. I tend to prefer tape and DVD over books because you experience the acting as it actually occurs.
I made my annual trek to
Carmel-by-the-Sea yesterday. Instead of shooting straight up Interstate 5, we took the scenic route via California 46 to State
Route 101. We passed through Cholame — a microscopic “town” at the juncture of CA41 and CA46 — that juncture is an obscure stretch of roadway that is the site where film legend James Dean died at dusk on September 30, 1955. Dean was en route to a race in his silver Porsche Spyder. Dean was only 24 years old.
He had just finished shooting his third and (obviously) final film GIANT. Starring Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor, GIANT was a tale of jealousy, oil and greed. When the film was released almost a year later, fans thought the studio was playing a sick stunt when they announced the young star (who was nominated for an Academy Award) was dead. His two earlier films, EAST OF EDEN and REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE were re-released and became instant cult classics.
It was sad passing through Cholame (the locals say it is pronounced CHO-LAM — rhymes with HAM or SPAM). There was a battered country store in the center of a gravel lot. The roadway was rough and the lanes were divided by concrete barriers. Ironically, we were driving through at dusk, about the same time the accident occurred. The brown hills rolled on either side of us. Black Oak and Live Oak trees dotted the hills and created stark shadows along the horizon line. The place had an eerie feeling to it but I was sadly disappointed that there was no prominent marker to honor Dean. Especially since we’re coming up on the 50th Anniversary of his death. I actually found a photo online of the Dean Monument in Cholame — apparently it’s actually a mile or more from the current 41/46 junction. They’ve moved the road since 1955. If you’re unfamiliar with Dean’s work, join NETFLIX today and rent the films. You’ll be amazed at what he accomplished in his short career.
“Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as though you’ll die today.”
James Dean (8 February 1931 – 30 September 1955)
American Actor
“To grasp the full significance of life is the actor’s duty; to interpret it his problem; and to express it his dedication. Being an actor is the loneliest thing in the world. You are all alone with your concentration and imagination, and that’s all you have. Being a good actor isn’t easy. Being a man is even harder. I want to be both before I’m done.”
James Dean (1931 – 1955)
American Legend
When your film festival is featured in two popular television shows, CBS reality show THE CUT and HBO’s ENTOURAGE, it is very difficult to ask indie film folks to “ignore the hype” and just focus on the films and filmmakers. Gregg Kilday reports for Reuters on Sundance’s struggle to maintain its indie purity in when “a veritable carnival of hustlers, from desperate young actors to smooth corporate PR types, now pitch camp up and down Park City’s Main Street. (Check out the videocast from Main Street at Sundance 2005 on the Podcast vCast Index). Article on indieWIRE Insider. [blogs.indieWIRE.com: Independent Film]
Mark Frauenfelder (BoingBoing): A while back, Cory posted something about interesting cloud formations. Check out these incredible pictures of mammatus clouds in Nebraska from last year.
Information on the clouds can be found at the LINK at HPRCC.UNL.EDU
(Thanks, Joseph!)
Podcast on Thursday, July 14, 2005
Posted from Phoenix, Arizona
Show Details
Direct download link
Podcast feed
Cinema Minima Weblog
Personal Weblog
Email
Screenwriter/Producer Jim Meyers talks at length about the
process of making and distributing his independent film HER
MINOR THING. A romantic comedy starring eight terrific comedic talents including
Estella Warren, Christian Kane, Michael Weatherly, Rachel Dratch, Victoria Jackson,
and Kathy Griffin. Among the things Jim discusses
- Casting information and key talent of HER
MINOR THING. - Film Festival circuit beginning with Seattle
International Film Festival - Role and value of Producer’s Reps in distribution cycle
- Value of working as a studio Reader and Reading
Unproduced Scripts - Working with a co-writer and character emphasis
- Challenges of having Editor, Producer/Writer and Director in different cities
during editing process.
Jessica Condon, Editor of
DOPAMINE also edited HER MINOR THING
Charlie Matthau, son of
Walter Matthau and director of HER MINOR THING - Shot in Sacramento give film unique location and new visual backdrop rather
than common LA sites - Support from citizens of Sacramento and financial investment by Sacramento
Jim cites common script errors for beginning writers:
- Uninteresting or unlikeable main character
- No real main character, story not told from main point of view
- Second act is weak, long, and/or languishing
- Scripts not developed well enough
- Writers rush their scripts into production
Jim’s recommendation for producing a successful film:
- Learn as much as you can from everyone else
- Write a wonderful script; write a commercial script
- Attract funding with commercial script
- Get terrific, known, name talent to attract audience
One of the best films at the 2000 Telluride Film Festival was Kevin Macdonald’s powerful documentary ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER. You may recall that during the Olympic games, Palestinian terrorists stormed the athletes’ quarters of the Munich Olympiad and took Israeli athletes hostage. By the following evening, 11 Israelis and five of the eight terrorists were dead. Macdonald brings remarkable research to the film. He has managed to obtain interviews with most of the key figures who are still alive, including the one surviving terrorist, Jamal Al Gashey, now in hiding. He talks to an Israeli athlete who escaped, the son of another and the widow of a third, to Israeli coaches and security experts, to German generals and police officers, to journalists who covered the event.
Director Steven Spielberg is now filming the Untitled 1972 Munich Olympics Project. Spielberg’s film takes up where the documentary leaves off. In the film, Eric Bana plays a Mossad agent who tracks the Palestinian terrorists who assassinated the Israeli athletes at the games. So, to prepare yourself for the film, you might want to view the documentary first to have the full backstory of the film.
Speaking of Spielberg, I saw WAR OF THE WORLDS this weekend. The special effects were amazing. Dakota Fanning was fabulous. I wanted something else from the story. It just wasn’t quite satisfying. Alec said he wished they’d told the story from a different point of view. Telling the story from the blue-collar, delinquent dad, self-absorbed gearhead POV limited the dramatic power of the story. What did you think?
Two NYC Indies Make a Wright: Vachon, Schnabel Team Up for Biopic. It looks like the unusual life story of New York model-turned-photographer-turned-acclaimed children’s book author Dare Wright is on its way to the screen at last, with Christine Vachon producing and Julian Schnabel directing. Variety reports today that Vachon’s Killer Films is set to produce. (Read more at The Reeler). [blogs.indieWIRE.com: Independent Film]
Reporter Jailed After Refusing to Name Source. Judith Miller, a reporter for The Times, was sent to jail after a federal judge declared that she was “defying the law.” By ADAM LIPTAK. [NYT > Home Page] Now that Deep Throat has finally been revealed, I can’t believe the Courts no longer protect the right of the confidential source. I realize we are also post 911 but there are so many questions about how we went to war, I am stunned that Judith Miller was sent to jail. It’s a sad day for America.
“What you risk reveals what you value.”
Jeanette Winterson (1961 – )
English Author
JW Book Interview (AUDIO)
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
T. S. Eliot (1888 – 1965)
U.S. Dramatist & Critic (British born)
I was shocked to hear that Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her retirement today. An Arizona native, Justice O’Connor was inspiring for a number of reasons. A few years ago, I was completing summer courses at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Justice O’Connor was on the return flight to Phoenix. I had the chance to speak with her for a brief time and it is one of my fondest memories. She was quiet and unassuming in demeanor yet brilliant and clever in conversation. I am terrified for the fate of jurisprudence in America with the retirement of O’Connor and ill-health of Justice Rehnquist. Linda Greenhouse has a summary of Justice O’Connor’s pivotal role in the New York Times.
Speaking of the conservative zealots who blindly follow single-issue politicians, there was an amusing link to a Flash “Liquid Man” who single-mindedly pursues your mouse across the screen. Give it a whirl!
