blogtastrophy

Doug Rees and I went to see Moonlight Mile tonight, and although in the long run I think we had similar thoughts on how good a film it was, our reactions were vastly different. I ended up being disappointed in it because I went in with expectations of it based on what I knew was the source material, and my admiration for all of the actors involved; I just thought the movie "went Hollywood" when it could (and should) have been a study in how people deal with loss. It seemed the director/screenwriter felt the need to force a "conflict" to move the story along, which I thought was manipulative and superfluous. So I was disappointed.

Doug, on the other hand, was furious.

I've never seen anything even remotely like it. This movie so angered him with it's whole "hollywoodization" that he was, at one point, talking back to the movie, fuming and getting visibly frustrated... cursing out loud at the screen. I was completely taken aback. I guess it wouldn't be unreasonable to say that Doug is really passionate about movies and really doesn't like it when they take the easy, "hollywood" way out.

His criticisms, by the way, were pretty spot on.

By the way, I managed to finally post the pictures from the Renaissance Festival; I think you'll enjoy them. And it felt good to get them up and done with. This week was the last one I've had without a day off since the beginning of my time at the festival. Getting the pictures up for all of my friends there seems like a nice way to "put it to bed," as it were.

I have to admit, I'm going to miss a lot of the people with whom I've been working for the past four weeks - particularly Dave Flick and Doc Dixon & his wonderful wife Bethany, who were kind enough to let Dave and I crash at their place one weekend. They were really great - Doc shared the Loggia Stage at the festival with Dave and I, and Bethany manned his little booth selling magic tricks, which was nearby, so we all spent a lot of time hanging out together, which gave me the chance to get to know these really wonderful people.

Though we all talked about it, I'm not sure I'll have the strength to do the Renaissance Festival again next year - and that would, of course, depend on whether or not Seth would return or not. Well, it would depend on a lot of things, actually. But that's another day, as it were.

Speaking of next summer... I got an e-mail from Andrew Paul (the Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Irish and Classical, you'll recall) asking if I might be interested in doing Stones in His Pockets next August - another two-hander in which two actors play tons of characters. That's gonna require some serious thought, frankly. To do it would be bucking the plan to which I feel rather strongly I should stay committed.

Stay tuned for more information...