My honey’s niece heard an interesting story about me last Thanksgiving and asked if she could interview me for a project for her college Social Justice class.

Here is the result:

YouTube LINK

Bully, a documentary, opens on March 30th.

Flying from Chicago to Salt Lake yesterday, I had a nice conversation during the 4-hour heavy snow delay and subsequent 3-hour flight with my seat mate, who I later found out was Daniel Karslake, director of the Sundance-nominated documentary, For The Bible Tells Me So.

He was very unpretentious and simply mentioned that he was a filmmaker and that he lived in Newark, New Jersey, after having moved there a year ago from the city.

He had said early on that he was meeting a friend for dinner in Salt Lake last night and during the course of the conversation mentioned that his friend had a house in Orem, which he pondered aloud after I grimaced, “I wonder why he lives there…”. He then said that his friend was a philanthropist and I said, “Oh, Bruce Bastian?”.

He laughed and asked how I would know that and I said that there are only two philanthropists that I am aware of in Utah and only from Utah County. The other is Jon Huntsman, Sr.

Good guy and a nice conversation.

I feel like I paid some cultural dues and watched Citizen Kane this afternoon. It’s one of those movies that everyone should have seen (or read, like Moby Dick), but that no one really has. In its 70th anniversary year it still makes the top of every film list, so I rented it on iTunes and intended to watch it on the flight to or from Brazil this last week, but never did.

I accidentally clicked the ‘play’ button today on my iMac and in spite of stopping it upon realizing my mistake, was not quick enough to pause the 24-hour countdown clock. With 16 hours left, I found some time this afternoon to watch it.

It was a shorter movie than I had anticipated (it seems that “great” = “long” for many classic films), and while I was already familiar with story, its history (William Randolph Hearst, anyone?) and the denouement, I enjoyed it.

I think it was so unique for its time due to artistic camera angles, lighting, film overlays, fades, cuts and a team of stage actors in their first movie. It was like a film made by a team of people who had never actually seen one, but had access to the equipment, so were not constrained by Hollywood standards for the time.

This was not a subtle piece. Drawbacks for me were the laughable ‘old age’ makeup and a bit much stage drama at times. Both stemmed from the aspect of a stage audience not being able to see the closeups or to hear the script in the back row. I can almost hear director Orson Welles telling them to “tone it down,” as they played key scenes that did not require the thespian touch. I suspect the makeup was state-of-the-art for the time.

It was well-directed and most of the actors seemed more natural than many Hollywood productions of the same era.

I enjoyed seeing Agnes Moorehead as Charles Foster Kane‘s mother and Joseph Cotten in a somewhat homoerotic role as his best friend. I could’t figure out who Kane’s first wife was until the credits rolled, and then recognized the name Ruth Warrick, a soap opera star (All My Children, 1970-2005).

Best film ever? Hardly

Overall, an entertaining film with good actors and a decent story. Worth a watch — even if just to say you have seen it!

Our annual foray into the wilds outside of Thermopolis, Wyoming. This year, held June 24-26th.

I watched a very heart-warming and yet chilling documentary last night. Dear Zachary tells the story of Andrew Bagby, a young doctor who was killed by his ex-girlfriend. She turns up pregnant in court and his parents fight to gain custody of their soon-to-be-born grandchild.

This film is a visual letter to that child, Zachary, about his father from the perspective of dozens of his closest friends, family and co-workers. It also covers in great detail the legal battles and the love his grandparents had for him.

Well done, poignant and thought-provoking about the impact that a life — and death — can have on so many.

I watched the movie Kick-Ass on my iPad (via Netflix streaming) over the weekend and absolutely loved it. Action, violence, good music and an adrenaline rush made the experience top-notch.

I then thought, “If this was so good on my iPad, it would be really, really good on Blu-ray and in HD”. So I ordered the BD and watched some key scenes last night in DTS 7.1 surround. Wow.

I’ll never think of Elvis’ rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic in the same way.

I loaded the Netflix app yesterday and ended up watching a couple of movies on my iPad (Zombieland anyone?). Even as big of a geek as I am, I was still amazed that something just seems to work—with no fiddling, no settings and no grief.

I also watched one on my big screen using PS3 as the streamer. Blockbuster—you are toast.

8: The Mormon Proposition trailer

This sounds like a movie worth viewing.

Movie review: Crying ‘Outrage’ against hypocrisy in D.C.
Documentary puts heat on gay pols who vote against gay issues.
By Sean P. Means
The Salt Lake Tribune

Hypocrisy is as easy to find in politics as American-flag lapel pins. Just think of the average member of Congress, railing against pork-barrel politics — but making sure his or her district gets its cut of the federal pie.

But the special sort of hypocrisy filmmaker Kirby Dick exposes in his powerful documentary “Outrage” is especially insidious: politicians who are gay and closeted, but — in part to keep people from uncovering their secret — support laws that deny gays and lesbians the right to marry, adopt children, serve in the military and otherwise be treated like full-fledged citizens.
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