Proper Etiquette At The Globes

I missed watching the Golden Globes Live.  I was most looking forward to seeing the duo of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as co-hosts because I had this feeling they'd do a fantastic job.  How could they not?  Hadley Freeman of The Guardian wrote a stellar piece on the Fey/Poehler effect on the Golden Globes, calling it a "groundbreaking performance." Apparently, the two besties stayed true to themselves instead of morphing into the cardboard cut-outs of most hosts.  Awards shows can be genuinely funny?  Without forced laughter?  Who knew?

Since I didn't get to see the show in its entirety, I've had to catch up with the quips, the snarkiness, and the awkward moments on my own.  Luckily, between talks with friends, Youtube, and my own browsing on the internet in the name of research when I should be writing, I'm up to speed on the best moments of this year's Golden Globes. 

Case in point, the clip above.  Sure, everyone affiliated with the film was ecstatic that "Le Miz" won best picture (Comedy or Musical.)  However, what was Ms. Hathaway thinking?  No, you don't get more time to thank the people you may have forgotten in your acceptance speech from a prior award win.  Not only does it catch other people off-guard when you grab the mike out from under them (a la Kanye West) but it's just not cool.  Not to mention, it's particularly distracting to get cozy and overly affectionate with a composed, yet confused Amanda Seyfried while someone else is try to thank their people...without forgetting anyone.

Then, there's the domino effect.  He forgets, she forgets.  Someone's list is longer.  Another film has the maximum number of producers and they all want to make their thank yous.  Before you know it, we'll have nominees auctioning their leftover 'acceptance speech time' to each other via smart phones from the comfort of their seats.

©2013 by KLiedle

Lost On The Yellow Brick Road

I feel like a disgrace to my own industry.  I know it's officially Awards Season, but it's as though I'm lost on the yellow brick road.  The Golden Globe Awards came and went.  Oscar nominations were announced and I was only halfway interested.  I'm usually riveted to the screen come awards season, but this year... I hate to say it, but I just don't care all that much.

To be honest, I've had alot going on which precluded my ability to get to the movies much.  Due to that, I'm less informed about the Oscar-caliber films this season than I've ever been.  Of the nine films up for Best Picture this year, I've seen ONE of them... "Les Miserables," which I finally saw this past Sunday. Ironically, it was the reason why I missed watching the Golden Globe awards telecast. ( I can say that Anne Hathaway deserves everything coming her way for her exhausting and heartbreaking performance as Fantine in "Les Miserables.")

Despite my relative ignorance of sorts this year, I am excited to see films like "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Beasts Of The Southern Wild" getting recognition this year.  Both of those films have been on my buzz list for awhile; I just haven't gotten around to... well, seeing them.  I'm also intrigued by "Amour," a film written and directed by the Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke.  It's the type of small film about real life issues that rarely gets noticed, if it gets made at all.  "Amour" is about an elderly couple coming to terms with their changed lives when the wife suffers a stroke.  If not for award season buzz, I may never have become aware of it.  Now it's on my "must-see" list. "Amour" is up for both Best Picture and Best Foreign Language film at this year's Oscars.  (It won the Golden Globe for best foreign language film.)

I'm also glad to see Lena Dunham getting award recognition for "Girls," her show about young Brooklynites struggling to find their way in the world.  (I can talk about this with clarity because I have Season One on DVD.)  It's nice to see Dunham get a warm embrace from the entertainment industry since many have given her the cold shoulder for "flaunting her body" and writing storylines that center on the sexual topics of young adulthood, the things no one wants to talk about.  The horror!  San Francisco Weekly called the show, "Startling, uncomfortable, and incredibly accurate."

"I was wondering about the stuff that gets up around the sides of condoms?" Hannah inquires...     Nothing's taboo in Dunham world.  Love her or hate her, she knows what she's doing.  No, it's not perfect, but it rings more true to life than most shows about the battlefields of post-collegiate life.

By this year's Oscar telecast, I hope to have seen a few more titles, but if not, I'll be plowing through my "must-see" list now that I have a little more free time. 

©2013 by KLiedle

After A Movie Wraps

I just arrived home after being on-location for 4 months working on a feature called "Nebraska." 

When they make the final call, "That's a wrap!" everyone involved in the making of the film has mixed feelings.  Usually those feelings are a combination of elation, relief, and sadness.  I know this was true for me.  As a tribute to my fellow cast and crew members and to the collaborative process of it all, I wrote the following...

Cinema

An idea, a character, a journey

A writer wishes upon a star

A director takes the wand

We all come together now

Hoping to tell a story,

Bring it to life in all its glory

Mold a script into something

Everyone can see—

Beauty and reality,

Emotion and heartbreak,

Moments that matter,

Opportunities that scattered—

In dust along a gravel road

Costumes, Construction, Art

Locations, Casting locked,

Actors become characters,

It’s more than fiction now

Black and white we see—

The shadows and the light

Truth and human failings,

Relationships worth saving

Before we know it,

The journey for us ends

Now it awaits the theater,

Awaits the crowd,

This film to share—

That will make us proud

There’s no recipe to create—

A movie with a blessed fate

Worth the heartache and the pain

We did it all together

To create this story,

Told within the frame.

© 2012 by KLiedle

All rights reserved

End Of Days: As The World Turns

 "What people forget," writes Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, "is that we're not without control over the decline of our society.  Nothing ever gets as bad as the apocalyptic people say it will.  There is a restoring force that brings it back to the middle.  And nothing ever gets as utopian as people suggest.  People are not that visionary.  We're somewhere in the middle, disappointingly so."

According to the Mayan calendar, the world was supposed to end today.  Of course, we thought that was going to happen at the new millennium back in 2000.  That didn't happen either, but I remember people being more panicked about it.  Not because the "world was going to end" but because of the supposed catastrophic effects of Y2K.  God, that was scary, wasn't it?

Humans have been predicting the end of the world since well before scientists came up with the big bang theory.  But today?  I woke up this morning.  You woke up this morning.  We didn't vaporize into oblivion.  And when I looked outside my window, the world was indeed still here.  In fact, the sun was shining.  If the world was going to end today, it was going to end in fire.

Enjoy the extra few billions years, the sun has left for us...

If you want to add a thematic element to movie night tonight, I recommend watching Armageddon or Mel Gibson's 2006 Mayan epic, Apocalypto. You could also hunker down and read, The World Without Us.
http://www.worldwithoutus.com/index2.html

And here I leave you with one of my favorite Robert Frost poems:

FIRE AND ICE

Some say the world will end in fire, 

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favor fire.

But if it had to perish twice, 

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

is also great

And would suffice.

~Robert Frost

Copyright 2012 by Kliedle

Quotes Reference:

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of Hayden Planetarium, as quoted in the book, "The Movie That Changed My Life" by Robert Hofler

Robert Frost, "Fire And Ice," originally published in 1920 by Harper's Magazine.

'Half Emirati' Receives Attention At Dubai

In many parts of the world, people believe that mixed marriages pose a threat to their country's cultural heritage, traditions, and culture.  Children of mixed marriages are often treated differently.  Many of them have a hard time adjusting.  Being 'in-between' two cultures, they don't feel like they're a part of either one.

Recently, I had the opportunity to interview Amal Al-Agoobi, an up-and-coming documentary filmmaker from United Arab Emirates.  She is the director of the documentary short, Half Emirati, which recently screened at the Dubai International Film Festival on December 9, 2012.

Half Emirati  discusses the social implications of mixed marriages for natives of the United Arab Emirates, a nation where the local population only makes up about 10-15%.  This is a personal subject for Amal Al-Agoobi; She is half Emirati and half Syrian.  Although she is from UAE,  she grew up in Belgium which gave her a very European upbringing.  She had a very strong sense of who she was, much due to supportive parents who made sure she got Arabic lessons, religion (Islam), and learned good morals.  Being immersed in European culture gave her both perspective and interest on the subject of mixed marriages in her native country. 'Half Emiratis' are often bullied in UAE and Al-Agoobi wanted those individuals to share their stories. 

When I asked her what statement she'd like to make with her film, Al-Agoobi said her hope is that people will come away from the film believing that "being a part of two cultures, two worlds...is a positive thing."  It allows one to become more open-minded and more understanding. 

Half Emirati is getting a lot of attention at this year's Dubai International Film Festival.  I was surprised when Al-Agoobi said that she didn't encounter many conflicts making her film.  I felt that being a female filmmaker from a Middle-Eastern country while tackling this subject matter would bring bring many obstacles.  On the contrary, she said that people were amazingly supportive.

"An Emirati male director had loaned us the space and optix digital media supported us with post-production.  My producer was very spot on and because I'm a woman, I actually get more attention and more care.  It's no secret that women in the UAE are beginning to drive the country forward in all sectors of every industry."

Some of the subjects she interviews heard about the film and wanted to take part.  Others she knew personally.  Only a few documentary subjects backed out, saying "they were ashamed of their mothers or fathers... and didn't want people to find out they were 'mixed.' "

 Amal Al-Agroobi is shocked at the amount of press she's been getting. 

"I've been interviewed by national TV channels and international news channels because they all feel it's a big step coming out with a film like this."

I wish her the very best of luck as she moves forward. 

© Copyright 2012 by KLiedle

Dubai International Film Festival

Happy Holiday!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! 

Today, I am thankful for being able to spend Thanksgiving with my family for the first time in a very long time. I'm also grateful to have a few days off because I really needed the break.  Work's been exhausting and non-stop these past few weeks, but at the end of the day, it's still a job. 

Friends and family and good food and conversation are LIFE...and that is something to be very thankful for.

Copyright 2012 by KLiedle

Solitude With Nature

Recently, I went to South Dakota to do some preliminary work for our filming there next month.  Although I had quite a bit to do, I welcomed the opportunity to bond with nature.

It's easy to get burned out while working on a film.  The hours are long, there's constant pressure and the work seems never-ending (and often is.)

That's why I appreciate the moments when I can stop what I'm doing and marvel at the beauty of the world around me... trees, fresh air, wildlife, and my own solitude.    Those few days were a nice getaway from production.

With the holidays coming up, I'm thankful that this film has brought me closer to the place where I grew up.  I'll get to spend Thanksgiving with my family which hasn't happened for quite awhile.  I get to hear the crunch of fallen leaves beneath my feet and witness the changing of the seasons which doesn't happen quite so dramatically for us on the West Coast.

©2012 by KLiedle