AGELESS NORTH SHORE » Movies

Ageless at The Oscars: The Boomers and the Bombs

Don — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:20:48 +0000

At last night’s Academy Award presentation, there was an uneasy juxtaposition between the affable and funny hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin and Oscar winning film, Hurt Locker.

Martin and Dan Aykroyd. "Two Wild and Crazy Guys"

Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross, "Now do I have your attention."

Evidence of their baby boomer bona fides is their hosting of Saturday Night Live. Martin has hosted 15 times. Baldwin 14. Since its debut in 1975, Saturday Night Live helped a generation make the transition from passionate idealism in the 60s to the reality based irony of today.

The men portrayed in Hurt Locker are Army volunteers defusing bombs in Iraq. There is little irony in searching out roadside bombs amidst a hostile if not combative populace.

The interpretive dance version of the nominated musical scores included a hip-hop, break dancing tribute to Hurt Locker where a lots guys fell down highlighted the chasm between the text and the subtext of the film. Hurt Locker became part of the award season spectacle and thus is another to squeeze viewership from its brand.

In Katherine Bigelow’s acceptance speech, she spoke about fellow producer and screenwriter

Katherine Bigelow, the first woman, to win Oscar for best director.

Marc Boal’s courageous script. Context is everything. And the pen may be more powerful than the sword, but they both get blown up by an IED. Gracefully both Bigelow and Boal thanked the troops and Bigeolow included hazmat workers and firemen.

Of course, the Academy Award history is replete with the awkward juxtaposition of the elation of award winners and the decidedly tragic subject matter of the winning films. This cringe-inducing reality was best expressed by Ricky Gervais at the 2009 Golden Globes, when he congratulated Kate Winslet for winning the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as a Nazi prison guard in The Reader.

“I told you, do a Holocaust movie and the awards come, didn’t I?”

2009, Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais to Kate Winslet ‘I told you, do a Holocaust movie and the awards come, didn’t I?

Winslet went on the win the Oscar for best actress in 2009 and her speech was professional and thankfully unmemorable.

As a devoted Oscar fan, (I watch every year and bet on each category), I acknowledge that I buy into the hype and the nature of this most prestigious of “pseudo-events.” Daniel Boorstin’s profound analysis of American culture, “The Image,” characterizes a “pseudo-event” as follows:

1. It is not spontaneous, but comes about because someone has planned, planted, or incited it. Typically, it is not a train wreck or an earthquake, but an interview.

2. It is planted primarily (not always exclusively) for the immediate purpose of being reported or reproduced. Therefore, its occurrence is arranged for the convenience of the reporting or reproducing media. Its success is measured by how widely it is reported…. The question “Is it real?” is less important than, “Is it newsworthy?”

3. Its relation to the underlying reality of the situation is ambiguous. Its interest arises largely from this very ambiguity…. While the news interest in a train wreck is in what happened and in the real consequences, the interest in an interview is always, in a sense, in whether it really happened and in what might have been the motives. Did the statement really mean what it said?

4. Usually it is intended to be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The Reality

And now today, TV, newspapers, blogs, radio, and social networking sites will cluck and chatter and comment on dresses (what’s up with Tina Fey?) and add their own spin to one of the grandest of the “pseudo events.”

And this year, I thank my blog platform software for giving me this opportunity to join in the mess.

Less is More: Jeff Garlin loses weight and stays funny

Don — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:58:40 +0000

Jeff Garlin at Temple Jeremiah

Well yeah. I was just sitting here, eating my muffin, drinking my coffee, when I had what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity.~ Jules Winnfield, Pulp Fiction

For Jeff Garlin, his moment of clarity came from seeing a photo in the Living XL catalog.

“But here’s the moment that might be the real bottom for me: I turn the page and look at the model who’s displaying the Cabin Comfort Inflatable Pillow—and who do you think he looks like? That’s right, he looks like me.”

On Tuesday March 2, Jeff Garlin, a star and co-producer of Curb Your Enthusiasm, read from his new book My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World at Northfield’s Temple Jeremiah.

One night returning home after seeing Wall-E, Garlin

Jeff Garlin's fat doppelganger from Living XL catalog

who played the inspiring Captain McCrea in the film, decided to act on his desire to lose weight. A desire that had been with him for nearly 30 years. As the Captain in Wall- E says, “I can’t just sit here and…and…do nothing! That’s all I’ve done!”

Garlin writes, “Later on that night, as I lie in bed with my mind racing, the full idea hits me. I’ll write about it. And just like in WALL-E, I’ll go green, too. I’ll lower my carbon footprint as I lower my personal footprint.”

After reading from the prologue and the first chapter, Garlin answered questions from a packed house of

Curb Your Enthusiasm fans, Garlin’s relatives, and friends of Garlin’s relatives. It is no coincidence; Jeff’s brother Michael Garlin, is the Executive Director of Temple Jeremiah. At the book signing, Garlin’s mother Carole was “kvelling” (sort of an untranslatable Yiddish expression of joy and pride generally reserved for parents and grandparents).

Jeff Garlin and brother Michael counting the house

Michael Garlin displayed some of his own comedy chops. Jeff asked for some water and was handed plastic bottled water. Jeff seemed dismayed as bottled water does not fit into a “green lifestyle.” So Michael walked away and returned with a pitcher of water and a glass. After putting the water down and walking off, Michael said (off stage), “you can pour it yourself.”

Carole Garlin, Jeff's mom, kvelling

Garlin was happy to answer questions.” Not thrilled,” he said, “I don’t love answering questions. I love my mother. But I’m happy to answer questions.”

When asked “who makes him laugh,” members of the audience threw out answers before Garlin did. Susie (Susie Essman who plays Garlin’s screachingly funny and foul-mouthed wife on Curb) was an audience favorite. As was Garlin’s mother. “You see,” said Garlin, “that’s what’s great about a room full of Jews, they answer the questions for you.”

Garlin went on to list his comedy favorites, “Jack Benny, Phil Silvers, Albert Brooks, Richard Pryor, South Park and Modern Family.”

When asked if Susie Essman’s insults about his weight bothered him, Garlin said “It’s pretend and I get paid.”

Garlin was frank and funny about his celebrity friends and acquaintances. Jay Leno is a nice, funny guy, “but lacks character” and Garlin “would never appear on his show.” Larry David is not neurotic as he appears on Curb Your Enthusiasm and is a wonderful guy–though David says, “tell them that I’m just like I am on the show.”

When asked what it’s like to work with friend Richard Lewis, Garlin says that with Lewis says the manic behavior is not all an act. “Richard is f@#king out of his mind.”

Jeff Garlin signing My Footprint

Garlin warned his family and friends that in his upcoming show at Park West (March 4@8:00) he does swear. “You can’t do stand-up for all ages.” He didn’t let his older son watch Curb Your Enthusiasm until he became a Bar Mitzvah at age 13. Garlin was uncomfortable when his young (4 to 5 year old) co-stars of Daddy Day Care told him that they were “Curb” fans.

Which brings us back to family. One of Garlin’s cousins reminded him of some of his earliest material. “Remember doody balls?”

Garlin’s reply, “Doody balls. Doody is always funny.”

Garlin was asked if he’d had an “aha” moment regarding show business. “When I was 8 years old, my parents took me to the Palmer House. What was the name of that room? (crowd answers for him, ‘The Empire Room’) We saw Jimmy Durante. In the car on the way home, I asked my parents if that was a ‘job.’ They said that it was. I said I want that job.”

In the prologue, Garlin tells of the Cuban revolutionary poetry (and author of Guantanamera) Jose Martí once said that a person should do three things in his life, ” plant a tree, have a son and write a book.

Garlin has two sons whom he adores (he wants them to be comedians, ‘the world has enough doctors and lawyers’) and now he has written a book. All that’s left is to plant a tree. And he’s already got the tree. It’s a fig tree, “I don’t like figs but my wife does.”

When asked what three things, Garlin wanted to do with his life, he said, “open a chain of lingerie stores,
sell Old West collectibles for at least what he paid for them, and change his name to JoJo.”

Garlin turned serious, briefly, when there was a question about his weight loss. “I am a food addict. For me cookie is like a glass of whisky to an alcoholic. I haven’t eaten sugar in a year.” While the book is not a “how to” book, the advice is pretty direct. “Either make the commitment to lose weight or stop whining about it.”

Jeff Garlin will be at The Book Stall at Chestnut Court, 811 Elm St. Winnetka on Wendesday March 3 at 7:00 Pm and Thursday, March 4th at Park West.

Six Man, Texas @ Lake County Film Festival March 4-8

Don — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:00:53 +0000

Last Game for Three Way High School

Tile maven and artist Ted Lowitz tipped us off to the film Six Man Texas playing at the Lake County Film Festival. The festival runs from March 4 through March 8. Venues include College of Lake County and Gurneez Diner. Click here to purchase passes to the festival.

Six Man, Texas is about community and commitment and survival. Set against the backdrop of shrinking rural economies, it is a story of tiny towns with schools too small for 11-man football. Can the rural towns of Six Man, Texas keep their schools open and keep playing the game that unifies and defines their small communities?

Ageless North Shore interviewed producer and director Alan Barber about the making of Six Man Texas. Barber is a 2nd act story for sure. He began Six Man Texas, his first film project, when he was in his early 50′s. The name of his production company: NEVERTOOLATE films.

Alan Barber films cotton fields in Whitharral, Texas

Alan Barber: But I do still have a day job (architerra.com). I always had an interest in film, but when I attended College in Texas in the early 60′s, film was not an option. I started in Architecture School but ended up with a BFA in Ceramics six years later. This project is what re-started my long-held desire to communicate through film.

Ageless North Shore: On your web site, you say that the film is inspired by an event in the 1960′s. What was that event? Why has it stayed with you?

Alan: It was a trip to Dallas for Texas/Oklahoma U football game in the fall of 1962 while attending Monterey High School in Lubbock. The route to Dallas from Lubbock in those days did not follow interstate highways so we drove through every little town along the way. On Highway 114 in Guthrie, my friend Jackie and I stopped at a restaurant for a quick lunch. The restaurant was empty except for a corner table of ranch hands in coveralls and cowboy hats having mid-afternoon coffee.

We finished our Plate Lunch Specials and were having the Dessert of the Day when one of the ranchers approached our table.
“Where you boys from?”
“Lubbock….”
“Yeah, go to school there?”
“Yeah, we go to Monterey,” we said.
“Monterey, it’s a good school. You boys oughta move here.”

But he went on to sell the virtues of Guthrie and its small friendly high school and friendly townspeople and the great opportunity we would have to make top grades in a smaller school. And, he added, …you could play football!”

We said that we were not jocks and did not play football at Monterey. He looked at us as if we had simply lied to his face.

After a few awkward seconds of silence he set the record straight, “It don’t matter, you boys’re big enough!”

I felt the need to be a bit more emphatic, “Thanks,” I said, “but I don’t see how we could do that, what would we say to our parents?”

He stared at me for a second, and then, ”Well.you boys think about it, we sure could use a couple more guys to make our Six Man football team this year.” Then he walked back and sat down.

“Jackie,” I said “…..what the hell is Six Man football?”

I never forgot that incident!

Ageless: When did you decide to make this film?

Alan: Almost forty years after that experience, I decided to take a film class in the fall of 1999. For a year

Colter Snipes of the Aquilla 2000 football team

or two previous I studied screenwriting and took some screenwriting courses and seminars. I pitched the idea of making a documentary about Six Man football in Texas. I still knew nothing about it, I just remembered that incident and thought it would be a unique, little known subject.

I picked up a traveling and shooting partner (Laura Toups, Co-Producer) and by the summer of 2000 we visited our first small towns and I started doing research. We saw the All-Star Six Man games that summer and I met some of the coaches.

In late August of 2000 we visited Sanderson in far west Texas and shot our first footage and interviews. Some of that footage and a piece of that interview actually made it into the final cut.

Ageless: What do you want Northerners like us learn about Texas from watching the film?

Alan: Folks in any city will see a part of Texas that is still alive despite the economic challenges. At one time in America, small towns were the lifeblood of rural economies. I hope the film will provide a small glimpse into both the human and economic side of these small places where some folks still love to live.

Ageless: Your film has been in numerous film festivals. What is the film festival circuit like?

Alan: The best moment for me was at AFI Dallas. After the world premiere screening to a sold-out house, and after the red carpet media interviews, Coach Vance Jones, veteran Six Man football coach put his arm around me, with tears in his eyes, and said, “You have truly captured the heart and soul of our communities, thank you.” At that moment I understood the reason I had done the film, and I considered it a success.

Here is a trailer from the film:

See Six Man, Texas at 6:15 pm, March 5, Room B159 or 3:00 PM , March 6 . Room B271
College of Lake County, 19351 West Washington Street, Grayslake, IL

Hangin’ with Bloomsbury Group at the Block Museum

Peggy — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:00:07 +0000

portrait of Leonard Woolf by Roger Fry

The Block Museum in Evanston currently has an exhibit of work by the Bloomsbury Group, a loose association of friends, colleagues and lovers that included among others, the writer Virginia Woolf (once portrayed by Nicole Kidman wearing a prosthetic nose in the movie The Hours, but perhaps better know as the author of Mrs. Dalloway) and her sister, the painter Venessa Bell, art critic Clive Bell, the economist John Maynard Keynes, artist Roger Fry, writer E.M. Forster and historian Lytton Strachey... and other interesting folks. The exhibit is free, and runs through March 14.

The cultural impact this group had on the art, literature, decorative arts and in Keynes’ case, economic theory, of the first half of the 20th Century in the English-speaking world and beyond, is hugely significant in retrospect. In their own times, the various members of this community were thought to be highly controversial. None of the Bloomsbury men served in WWI, choosing to be Conscientious Objectors instead. Many in the group had what were unconventional lifestyles for their times. (That means they were gay and/or slept around and often did not have regular jobs and sometimes wore funny clothes. )

In 1910 Roger Fry organized an exhibit called Manet and the Post-Impressionists (a term he coined), featuring work of Gaugin, Manet, Matisse, and Van Gogh in England, bringing their art to the public’s attention. The public was not universally appreciative; some of their reactions are in one of several video installations that are part of the Bloomsbury Group exhibit.

The Waves by Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf and her husband biographer and essayist Leonard Woolf created a small press in their dining room, an enterprise that eventually evolved into a commercial venture, but not before they’d hand-published works by various members of their circle, as well as works by Sigmund Freud, Christopher Isherwood, and the first UK book edition of T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land in 1924.

Roger Fry founded a decorative arts artists’ cooperative called the Omega Workshop; Vanessa Bell and friends painted decorative designs onto the walls, windows, and furniture of the Charleston Farmhouse where she and Virginia and others lived for a time before WWI; and of course, Virginia Woolf wrote brilliant novels that have become part of our literary canon.

"sitting room" at the Omega Workshop

The Block Museum has a whole slew of films and lectures about various characters and aspects of this remarkable group; you might want to combine a visit to the exhibit with a viewing of the documentary The War Within: A Portrait of Virginia Woolf, Saturday, January 30, 2 pm, or attend a gallery talk and exhibit tour at 6pm on March 11. There are also lectures, family workshops, Merchant-Ivory movies and more. Check out the full listings here.

OUTSTANDING TALENTS, OUTRAGEOUS LIVES! Fred Astaire and Vincent Minnelli @The Wilmette Theatre

Don — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:00:16 +0000

The other day at the Highland Park Poetry Open MIC, we were discussing the importance of meter and rhyme. One gentleman suggested, “that popular music is all about meter and rhyme. Like Cole Porter.”

Fred Astaire stars and Vincente Minnelli directed this 1953 classic

Some believe the Porter’s productive years of 1934 through 1956 were the golden age of popular music and popular culture. If you were around to enjoy this era, or just want to learn what it was all about, Susan Benjamin presents programs on two giants of the time: Fred Astaire and Vincent Minnelli. Both programs will take place at the Wilmette Theatre.

Benjamin, after a distinquished career as a public high school teacher and school administrator – including English Department Chair at Highland Park High School and Assistant Superintendent at Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools, now presents “musical biographies” in a series called, “Shout Hallelujah Come On Get Happy: Musical Theatre Legends.”

Through the use of video clips, recordings, and Benjamin’s very engaging style (as a teenager, Benjamin began her performing career at Tenthouse Theater in Highland Park), Benjamin provides her unique and entertaining take into the works and lives of these well-known stars.

Fred Astaire: Top Hat, Top Dancer

Fred Astaire defined the outstanding American dancer for much of the 20th century. Charming and debonair on screen, he was the ultimate workhorse behind the scenes. With several film clips, this two-part program explores the star’s motivations as he created the model of the suave, sophisticated dancer and singer.

Benjamin is also an expert on Gene Kelly, so let the Astaire-Kelly debate continue!

Wednesday, January 13th @ 10:30am
Wednesday, February 3rd @ 10:30am

Vincente Minnelli: Dreaming in Color

An innovative film director, Vincente Minnelli turned the Hollywood musical into a colorful

Vincente, Liza and Judy (1948)

extravaganza. Using his knowledge and passion for visual art, he lit and costumed his actors to bring out their best qualities. His ability to accentuate the finest in characters was especially true with his star and wife, Judy Garland. This two-part program contains examples of several of his best works including Cabin in the Sky, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Band Wagon, An American in Paris and Gigi.

Not just Liza’s father!

Wednesday, March 3rd @ 10:30am
Wednesday, April 7th @ 10:30am

GENERAL ADMISSION: $12
GROUP RATE:
(10 or more tickets) $10 each
(20 or more) $8 each
SERIES TICKET: $40
Tickets available online at www.wilmettetheatre.com or call Box Office at 847-251-7424

Here’s a great scene from The Band Wagon: