Not Just A Hat Rack

Slumdog Miracle in Striped Pajamas

The visit of Grandma & Grandpa 'Hat Rack (Happy Birthday Dad!) allowed the Mrs. and I to get out of the house to see Slumdog MIllionaire last week.  I didn't know much about the movie going in - other than it won some awards, almost wasn't distributed and was set in India.

The movie was not like I imagined - much more layered and complex - and takes viewers on a bit of a roller coaster.  It's well worth the ride.  Considering the six months I spent trying to promote travel to India, Slumdog juxtaposes high-tech and slum life in modern-day India.  And it's memorable.  Go see it!

My parents wanted to see Miracle at St. Anna, but we couldn't find it during their stay here.  A couple nights later, Mrs. 'Hat Rack and I found it - and immersed ourselves into the 160-minute Spike Lee war epic. It's set in Tuscany - clearly the reason why Grandpa 'Hat Rack wanted to see it.  The movie makes reference to a town called Colognora - which is where the Pierangeli side of my family comes from - but I'm not sure if it's the same town or another of the same name.  Dad?  Well done, but too long.

 

Finally, we watched The Boy in Striped Pajamas last night.  The theme of the Holocaust's effect on children evokes Life Is Beautiful, but isn't done as well.  For the $1.07 that Redbox charges - it's worth your time (just 90 minutes) and money.

Zagreb means "Place where they grabbed water"

Here's a scene from Croatia, although not the new arena I was at in Zagreb, where 15,000 screaming red-and-white-checked-clad Croatians can make an awful lot of noise.  Easily one of the most impressive spectacles of nationalist sporting fever that I have ever seen.  They cheer loudly, sing 1992 Revolution Peace songs, war chants, pro-Croatia hymns and otherwise create an intimidating home court advantage.  Cool.  More later.

But on the plane rides over, I read more of Pico Iyer's book about the Dalai Lama, interspersed with reading about the Obama presidency in Time, chatting about handball and watching the movie, "Bottle Shock."

Bottle Shock is based on a true story where California wineries beat their French counterparts in a 1976 Bicentennial publicity stunt.  It was a "shock heard round the vintner world" moment - and apparently the result was repeated 30 years later when California wines again beat French wines in a blind taste test by French wine snobs.  True wine lovers who have grown up in/around Napa Valley should definitely watch this movie!

"Son of Rambow" Entertains

Happy Birthday Mrs. 'Hat Rack!

One or the other of us (or both) had been out of town on four consecutive weekends, so the only ambition we could muster to celebrate last night was a quiet date with a movie and a post-movie cup of coffee.  It was perfect.

We saw "Son of Rambow" - a cute British film about two boys who set out to make a movie in the Stallone-era Rambo tradition.  Set in the early '80s with a great soundtrack, the movie is a nostalgic romp with preppy teenagers, Madonna "Virgin" wanna-bes and a punk scene inspired by The Cure, et. al.  We find its hard to go wrong with independent films that actually make their way to the screens of conservative Salt Lake City, and this one was no different.

Afterwards, we sat at Salt Lake Roasting Company - easily one of the five most important spots in the city worth dropping in to on a regular basis - and recounted the films we've seen in the past two years including:

Kite Runner

Spirit of the Marathon

Black List

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium

Babel

Waitress

Once

Sicko

Hot Fuzz

Diarios de Motocicleta

All in all, not a bad list... we wish could make more... anyways... enjoy the new blog background.

Bull Durham Sequel?

Bull Durham ranks with Cinema Paradiso as my favorite movies of all time. They're both about old wise man mentoring young dude... ok, I guess the similarities end there. Imagine my surprise when I read this ESPN article suggesting the 21st century sequel to Bull Durham.

Is it baseball Opening Day yet? Are they really opening in Japan? Anyways, enjoy:
Whatever happened to Nuke Laloosh?

Secondly, thanks for Kali for posting this link on Marking the Referee. Sports Illustrated opening their archives? Very, very cool. Read about it here. If you're not a NY Times on-line subscriber, let me know and I'll post here.

Black List

Mrs. 'Hat Rack and I made it to Park City for a Sundance film for the first time in our four winters in Utah. (Supplemental draft? Times like this and I miss MLS absolutely not at all!)

The World Premiere documentary Black List did not disappoint. It's not often you can say, "starring Slash (the guitarist), Colin Powell (the cabinet member), Chris Rock (a really skinny funny dude), Toni Morrison (Nobel Prize winner), a museum curator, dancer, Negro Leagues baseball player and the Chairman of Time-Warner - for starters. Director Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and ex-NY Times movie critic Elvis Mitchell ("the interviewer") were on hand to introduce the film and take questions from the audience. Watch Keenan Ivory Wayans here:

Mr. Anschutz Strikes Again

I just discovered that the movie "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" (see previous entry) was produced by Anschutz' Walden Media. It was nearly 10 years ago when I first started hearing that my old boss, Phil Anschutz, was tired of the poor moral quality of Hollywood and started his own company to put family-friendly films back in the forefront. Between "Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe' and this film, I'd say he's on the right track. Thanks, Uncle Phil! You always back up your words with deeds.

"Wonder" never ceases

Happy Thanksgiving, friendly readers. Here's hoping the dry, cold Salt Lake City Thursday does nor portend more of the same or thanks will be in short supply this ski season.

We took a different approach to the holiday today. After helping Princess 'Hat Rack open a present at about 5:45am (eyes closed, fumbling with stupid packaging), today was all about family. She had received the Little People-brand "Noah's Ark" on Wednesday night as a reward for the end of diapers in the 'Hat Rack household (5 1/2 years, 3 kids and an estimated $4,000 later!) - but fell asleep on the way home from the store and slept right through to this morning, when she toddled into our room with the giant box.

With family scattered from Chicago to Washington state to Texas to Arizona, we kept it simple -- all the trimmings (stuffing, salad, cranberries, sweet potatoes, etc.) and barbequed steak -- instead of turkey. We took advantage of the window created by not roasting turkey by taking the little ones to see Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium - a positively delightful and thoroughly recommendable fable about a toy store, its 234-year-old proprietor (Dustin Hoffman), its manager (Natalie Portman) and one nine-year-old who believed in the store. The one review I read glowed that the film succeeded where the majority don't - it created a sense of wonder, in its truest form, in the eyes of children. In a complicated, too-busy-for-our-own-good world, who doesn't need a 90-minute respite to unleash imagination and be in awe of the magical and mystical? Need a fix of fun and dreams? Grab a kid and treat them to this movie. You'll be thankful you did.

What almost brought me to tears though, was a greeting from an RSL fan in the still-darkened theatre as we watched the credits roll (and the introductory and concluding credits are worth the $5.50 in their own right!)... A man named Tyler came up and thanked me for all the work I did on behalf of RSL, ever since the day he met me three years ago at the Clint Mathis introduction phone call. Many people have told me they appreciated all I poured into RSL, but for some reason, this comment on Thanksgiving day - in the same theatre complex where we launched the "Real Week" movie concept - struck a nerve in a warm place. Thank YOU Tyler. I remember a sense of awe and wonder when we introduced THE Clint Mathis in January 2005. Sometimes it feels like that luster is gone, long gone, from RSL, but I think if you allow yourself to believe, the child-like attraction of a sports team to its fans can always still be found. Thanks RSL fans, it was a great ride. I told Tyler I was glad that the job had brought me here - that my family really liked Salt Lake and that now I, "have a job where I get to take people to Mt. Everest."

That's plenty to be thankful for today. Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Pop, siblings and cousins 'Hat Rack - we are thinking of you today.

Now is it too much to ask for some snow?

Bright Lights Dashed

I emerged from the movie Waitress last night depressed. It's billed as a romantic comedy with a dark side (think Dixie Chicks' "Goodbye Earl"). It lived up to the hype it garnered at this year's Sundance Film Festival where it was an audience favorite. It's a likeable film about choices, loves and regrets in the lives of three waitresses in a pie restaurant in the South. So, why was I bummed?

Director, writer and supporting actress Adrienne Shelly is memorable as the "ugly duckling" of the waitress trio. She never learned that her film had been accepted at Sundance - she was brutally murdered in her NYC office just weeks before the Sundance committee announced its 2007 selections.

Shelly had just turned 40 and had reached one of the great milestones in her craft and in her life. And then her life was extinguished in an instant by a deranged downstairs neighbor who she had complained about making too much noise. Tragic. Her daughter's name is Sophie. Her memory lives here.

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So, the most prominent piece of artwork in Yellowstone National Park hangs above the 104-year-old dining room fireplace in the Old Faithful Inn Dining Room. It is an image of Old Faithful surrounded by three bison, painted by Paco Young in 2001. It seemed odd to me that a 6-year-old painting would hang in one of the most iconic places in America. So, I asked.

"He died recently, that's all I know," said the tour guide.

Paco Young painted for 20 years - earning reknown for his works depicting the landscapes and animals of Montana, Glacier National Park, Yellowstone and a few other Western sites. The National Park Service commissioned Young to paint Old Faithful.

On December 3, 2004 he was diagnosed with leukemia. Just 363 days later, on December 1, 2005, he passed away holding the hand of his wife, Toni. His son, Graham, was 11. The website www.pacoyoung.com still talks about him in present tense. His wife's journal, through his sickness, his death and her grieving is poignant and touching here. Tragic, again.

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So, in 24 hours, I learn two stories of relatively young artists struck down at the peak of their careers. At least they lived full lives and fulfilled lifelong dreams. How their families must miss them.

Canadian Doctors, Dead Wrestlers, Deer Valley... Once

Wow, busy week - and I'm not even the one drving half the night to a small town in British Columbia.

Mrs. Hat Rack departed this morning - sent away with bg "good luck!" signs on the door, porch and car courtesy of some of her training friends. She flew to Vancouver via San Francisco... before a 250+ mile drive tonight to Penticton for Sunday's Ironman Canada race. Not to sound alarm bells, but she slipped on her suitcase at SLC Airport at 7am today and sprained an ankle ligament. Worried, and slightly distraught, she soldiered on. While she was on the ground in San Francisco, we found her a walk-in clinic to go visit in Penticton tomorrow - and then, even better, a walk-in clinic in Vancouver Airport, where she had 4 hours to kill waiting for LL, her traveling and racing companion. That's where we got the "only one ligament sprained" disagnosis... and she's flush with prescriptions, bandages, referrals and a glint of optimism. Unlike in the movie Sicko, however, the great treatment by Canadian doctors is hardly free. Anyways, one ligament can't stop my wife after a year of training and planning. Onward!

So I took the 'Lil Hat Racks up to Deer Valley tonight to hear a friend of mine from college, Mary Beth Maziarz, and her band Wild Honey. They performed at the Deer Valley bandshell - and I really liked her stuff. She sounds a lot like Mary Chapin Carpenter... I met her husband (another NU grad) and saw their little baby... MB and I chatted briefly afterwards and made plans to catch up in the near future. Very cool.

Two nights ago, we FINALLY saw a movie, ONCE, that has been on our list for two months. Sundance's Managing Director, Jill Miller, calls it her "favorite movie EVER" - and it didn't disappoint. It's a modern-day musical romance, featuring an Irish busker named Glen Hansard and a Czech flower vendor, Marketa Irglova, meeting and finding harmony in music on the streets of Dublin. It earns four stars in my book - but doesn't edge Cinema Paradiso as my "favorite movie EVER."

Ok, finally, the dead wrestlers story. Frank Deford had an eye-opening story about deaths in pro wrestling on NPR this morning... Take a listen.

Who's the Sicko?

A Utah attorney and physician invited more than 100 state lawmakers to a free screening of Michael Moore's movie, Sicko. (See my thoughts on the movie in this entry) All but three turned him down, but it's the comments of non-attendees Ogden Rep. Brad Dee and Herrimann Rep. Carl Wimmer, which cast a spotlight on the sorry state of political discourse in this country.

"Michael Moore's movies are full of lies and half-truths and I don't see how this will be any different," said Wimmer. "Until we have a firm grasp on the problem, I don't think anyone will be able to solve it."

Translation: If I bury my head in the sand and don't pretend to have a "grasp" on the problem, maybe some other enlightened person will solve it without any undue effort on my part. Wimmer's quote, believe it or not, is actually easier to stomach than this one:

"I don't wish to support a filmmaker cut from the same cloth as Joseph Goebbels. The solution to our health care system is not socialism, which has never been successful in the long run."

Joseph Goebbels? Does he really mean to say: "The filmmaker doesn't agree with me, therefore he must be intent on perpetrating the greatest crime of the century"?

Unbelievable. Read the whole story here in today's Salt Lake Tribune.

In an unrelated note, did you see today's article on the RSL Stadium that suggests the venue will now open on October 27, 2008? I wonder if they're planning a home playoff game, a friendly or a concert. Regardless, isn't Halloween a pretty frigid night in these parts?