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THE AFFAIR OF THE FAIR AT THE FAIRE
It’s mid summer in Colorado, and the dog days are finally upon us. The sun beats down, hammer hot, raising temperatures to levels more akin with L.A. or Austin. Everyone is trying to beat the heat. The lakes are full of windsurfers and paddle boarders, and the creeks full of inner tubers drifting downstream. Halle and Greg are casually splitting our work between the studio and our Dino Hotel, while also squeezing in a little summer fun.
Lots of smaller projects are unfolding on the Collywood side of things. We watched and discussed a few audition tapes for “Crime In the Vines.” We processed a steady stream of boxes arriving from Amazon for the studio, each package holding additional gear. We held a few meetings with industry colleagues to discuss pre-production. Halle is beginning to curate the color palettes for “Crime," and is thinking of an homage to a certain Hitchcock film it’s based on.
Greg noodled on a new scene for his script in development, using a modified Pomodoro Method. He would write for thirty five minutes; then unpack a few vestigial moving boxes left over from us consolidating households. Then repeat the cycle with a timer on his phone. He made great progress on both the script, and making additional room for the studio. One small organizational step for a man.
Another small organizational leap for woman-kind occurred Tuesday. Halle lead the charge to find a small bookshelf to hold all her books. This was quickly resolved with a trip to The Brass Armadillo, West Denver’s favorite antiques barn. Halle discovered a real gem of a 1950s enamel grey kitchen shelf for $45, along with other assorted thrifting essentials like a crystal duck and a rhomboid amber ashtray. The difference of that shelf was small but remarkable. It’s amazing how putting things up on display renders them actually visible again. Greg is eager to work his way through The Power of the Actor, as well as An Open Book, John Huston’s memoir. Halle highly recommends if you can get a copy of the latter, get one.
Saturday, we took one of our cameras out for some field tests to the natural habitat of all gingers… a Renaissance Festival. In this case, the Colorado Renaissance Festival in Larkspur. Sooo many gingers. A Red Sea of Meridas and Ron Weasleys and Annas and even Princess Fionas from “Shrek,” all rapidly frying in the sun. The Renn Faire was very hilly, very crowded, and very, very hot. Way too hot for lightly-complected people who by all rights should be living under cool, mossy rocks, in the forest… in the fog.
Halle and Greg walked 3.5 miles in 100 degree heat, somehow uphill both ways. Which felt like 6 miles. Even though we both pounded electrolytes and water like crazy, we woke up Sunday morning still feeling like beef jerky. Speaking of which, the actual teriyaki beef jerky at the festival was excellent. We didn’t run out of gas; thank you lady who told us to turn “left”, we didn’t run out of patience with each other, and we had lots of great tunes and AC on the car ride home, blissfully away from the faire. It took a solid three hours for Halle’s core to finally cool down, and Greg’s wonky ginger core even longer. Sunday was for Animal Crossing, and Civilization V.
In this week’s JFC film review, Halle furthered her evil agenda of exposing Greg to all Adam Sandler movies by plopping him down to watch, “50 First Dates.” Sure, he’s twenty years late to the party, but Greg’s still got some thoughts. Spoilers, but seriously you’ve had enough time to watch this movie, so read on.
Directed by Peter Segal and released in 2004, this rom com reunites Sandler with his “Wedding Singer” co-star Drew Barrymore. The Sandler - Barrymore chemistry proves alive and well in “50.” But the overall humor outside of the romance is more on the dumber end of the Sandler comedy scale - i.e. walrus bazooka barfs and making fun of women’s appearances, and his own. These sophomoric touches don’t make this a meaner movie than “Wedding Singer.” But it does make “50” a little less clever. When the story gets over the “Waterboy” rowdiness and settles into its central premise, it becomes kind of sweet, or creepy if you don’t turn off your brain for a bit.
Sandler plays Henry Roth, a marine veterinarian in Hawaii, and Barrymore plays Lucy Whitmore, a woman suffering from short-term memory loss due to a car accident. Every day, Lucy forgets the events of the previous day, leading Henry to devise creative ways to make her fall in love with him repeatedly.
So first the “I’m not crying, you’re crying” parts of the movie… Lucy's father, Marlin Whitmore (played by Blake Clark), and her brother, Doug Whitmore (played by Sean Astin), go to great lengths to preserve Lucy's well-being and maintain the illusion of a normal life for her. Every day, they recreate the events of the day of her accident, including rewrapping her birthday presents and replacing a morning newspaper with the one from that day. Their dedication to Lucy's happiness is unwavering, even as they face the emotional toll of repeating the same day endlessly.
The people at the Hukilau Cafe, particularly Sue (played by Amy Hill), also play a significant role in supporting Lucy. They help maintain the daily routine and are protective of her, understanding the delicate nature of her condition. Their combined efforts demonstrate a deep sense of community and compassion, creating a supportive environment that helps Lucy feel secure and loved despite her memory loss.
Clark, Astin and Hill are the emotional pillars of the movie, who doom themselves to “Groundhog Day” out of love and concern for the well being of another.
Enter Sandler’s Roth, a skeevy pick up artist with a phobia of commitment so strong, he’ll hurl himself onto the back of a passing jet ski to avoid romantic entanglement. A trope that hasn’t necessarily gone out of style, but the dramatics have. Roth sees Lucy as a challenge, but really grooves on her when he realizes he has to work his charm on her every single day as if it’s their first encounter. If he doesn’t lean into absolute sincerity and tries to fake it or manipulate her, it backfires and he gets rejected. So he’s forced to a more and more authentic version of himself until, well, he develops the feels.
It’s this part that’s “awwww” on the surface, but maybe a little off-putting about Roth’s initial motives and desires. He gets to endlessly try to be a better version of himself, day after day. Until he actually is. This movie could easily take a very dark turn with a woman who can’t remember what happened to her yesterday, and a guy who’s initially all about the notches on his bedpost.
So many questions Greg has. Is the only kind of partner who is a challenge to Roth one who forgets him, every day? Is the act of no commitment what makes him committed, in the end? Can Lucy give consent? Or is Sandler asking for consent every single day like it’s the first time, the ultimate act of agency and permission?
Halle thinks Greg thinks too much, and it’s not that deep. Halle also thinks they went over this in multiple ways in the movie, because even SHE was concerned about the consent of a person taking on another person who requires such specific care. Halle also thinks it’s a classic trope, but a very goofy love story. A guy who’s good at the first date, gets to have infinite “First dates” with a girl-but really…she does. He’s enamored with her you can tell, and honestly…it’s not that deep. Halle also feels the walrus innards is excessive and is glad these “particular” type of comedy movies have seen their day.
Greg says: Dammit, a movie with Rob Schneider farting and Dan Aykroyd phoning it in should not leave me thinking so hard.
But in spite of some of its dumbness, “50 First Dates” left Greg with leaky eyes at its poignant moments and chewing over its central premise, as lingering as the film’s gorgeous Hawaiian sunsets. He just dreads what Halle is going to serve him up next.
A year ago, Greg was roasting his brains out in 100 degree weather in a silly costume making a pirate movie in California while Halle watched and kept all forms of electrolytes nearby. One year later, Greg was roasting his brains out in 100 degree weather in a silly costume on “Pirate Day” at a Renaissance Festival in Colorado and this time Greg kept all forms of electrolytes handy. So there’s been some growth… or at least a change of venue.
As things calm down from a hectic first half of the year, we are leaning into planning and quiet, creative endeavors.
Halle is writing again. And Greg is writing again. And we are sharing our scripts, with ourselves and our inner circle. These new works are gained through many moments sitting together in companionable silence, tapping away on our laptops.
Our mossy rocks in the forest in the fog are a climate-controlled townhome, lost down various rabbit holes while creating. But what good would be a summer’s day without a little bit of daydreaming?
Probably the commonality between two more recent movies, “50 First Dates” and one of Halle’s favorite movies “Perfect Days,” is that every day is a gift. Life is full of small moments worth remembering. And even a hot, dusty day can be a good one, with the right people by your side.
BACK TO LIFE. BACK TO REALITY. (SORTA)
It’s the week after the Fourth of July. Summer in Colorado means pool parties, hot days, mountain hikes, and trips to our neighborhood gelato shop. And with Halle and Greg fresh off our wedding ceremony, we are busy processing the loot from our registry, where we asked our friends and loved ones for film gear. (Hey, we’re filmmakers. We don’t need no stinkin’ tea towels).
Halle and Greg have some small updates for our mystery comedy, “Crime In The Vines:”
Greg delivered a final script to Halle this week, which includes a smaller, new character to pad out a scene or two. Halle will begin a breakdown of said script to be able to determine the exact budget and length of the shoot schedule. Crucial things we need to know before locking in our shoot window.
There’s a lot of casting choices to be sifted through, as well. From new reels and resumes submitted, to reviewing our hundreds of Backstage submissions from last fall.
Greg is also halfway done with a new audio play he started last year, that he set aside to focus on the holidays and his Dino Hotel.
Suffice to say, it’s a work-life balance between enjoying our summer, assimilating our camera kit, and fully gearing up for pre production.
On the very last post at our legacy Wedding Journal at TheKnot, we discussed briefly reviewing movies that at least one of us hasn’t seen yet. Because our normal reaction to this cultural illiteracy is, “JFC! You haven’t seen what?!?”
This week, JFC stands for “Just For Comedy,” a perfect mindset as we prepare for our own comedic feature. And the lucky film viewed is, “The Wedding Singer,” that 1998 rom com directed by Frank Coraci, with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.
Greg has to admit, he has actively avoided most Adam Sandler movies because he found him annoying. But Halle has overcome his dislike of all things Sandler. With its perfect nostalgic blend for both 1980s pop culture and 1990s movies, Greg sheepishly admits “The Wedding Singer” is a perfect example of its genre. Sandler’s character, Robbie Hart, is sweet and relatable. Sandler’s range is far more than just the silly songs and hoarsely yelling guy from “Saturday Night Live.”
Halle grew up watching this movie. Halle does in fact think video killed the radio star and because of this movie discovered The Cure. The idea of being Mrs. Halle Tally made her laugh every time because of Barrymore’s character narrowly missing becoming Mrs. Julia Gulia (we’re keeping our own last names).
As a fellow actor, Greg greatly admired the wonderful performances. The night club scene where everyone is not connecting, awkward, miserable, and/or bored or drunk, showcased four actors performing at the top of their game (Sandler and Barrymore, along with Christine Taylor and Matthew Glave).
Also a shoutout to two of Sandler’s fellow SNL alums, whose parts are small-yet-mighty. The goofy comedic turn of Jon Lovitz, as he slowly draws the stage curtain, as well as the straight man, humorless banker role for Kevin Nealon, as he points with one finger for Sandler to get lost - both had Greg chuckling.
And Allen Covert, a longtime Sandler collaborator, nearly stole the movie as the smarmy limo driver Sammy. Sammy balanced his overconfident pick up artist schtick with his vulnerability and insecurity at ageing out of the dating game, and existential fear over never meeting his true match.
Fresh off our own wedding, the movie’s messages of love and belonging and finding your person really resonated. Watching Robbie and Julia navigate their feelings and overcome the obstacles created mostly by other people, reminded us of the joy and challenges in our own journey to the altar. Sandler and Barrymore left us both laughing and reflecting on the absolute possibility of finding true love, as well as staying connected through life's ups and downs.
Not much more to this week. But it is important to mention that Sunday was Halle’s Mulligan Day, or her do-over half-birthday. She spent it napping, laughing on the phone with friends, eating a nice dinner out, and yes, playing virtual mini golf together on our Occulus headsets.
Our movie making magic is on a slow simmer, and soon will boil over as we head into fall. In the meantime, it’s gift-sorting and gelato runs. And lots and lots of summer movies.
iN love & Film
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