Darling Companion (Embarcadero Center Cinema)

The story of a woman who loves her dog more than her husband. And then her husband loses the dog.

First Position (Embarcadero Center Cinema)

A documentary that follows six young dancers from around the world as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competition’s in the world. (Filmbalaya’s review)

God Bless America (Bridge Theatre)

On a mission to rid society of its most repellent citizens, terminally ill Frank makes an unlikely accomplice in 16-year-old Roxy.

Here (SF Film Society Cinema/New People)

Cartographer Will Shepard hits the road for his latest job: to create a new, more accurate satellite survey of Armenia. During his assignment, he forms a bond with an Armenian expatriate and art photographer.

Last Call At The Oasis (Embarcadero Center Cinema)

A documentary on the world’s water crisis.

Michael (SF Film Society Cinema/New People)

A drama focused on five months in the life of pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement.

Otter 501 (Presidio Theatre)

Otter 501 illustrates what we can do to contribute to the growing movement to protect the southern sea otter… and ourselves.

The Perfect Family (Sundance Kabuki)

A devoutly Catholic wife and mother has been nominated for one of the church’s top awards. She then goes about trying to prove she has the “perfect” family, refusing to accept them for who they are.

The Road (Presidio Theatre)

A 12 year old cold case is reopened when three teens are missing in an old abandoned road where a gruesome murder is left undiscovered for three decades.

to someone who grew up in england there’s a resignation about the rain.

to someone who grew up with a sense of adventure, the sight of a pink umbrella is like spotting a Kindred Spirit across a crowded room of people-in-suits – a Friend!

thank goodness there are Lots of Pink Umbrella people in manhattan ;-)

on the subject of Thanks:

we had an extraordinary moment yesterday where we suddenly (don’t you Adore Serendipity?) we saw the name of the person who first sponsored our Very First Visa to the USA – just there, in an innocent email – we had Quite forgotten them (we didn’t know them Very well as they were in Another Country for most of the time and we were charged to work on the Other Coast eventually – a long story – for another blog post – or perhaps another blog…)

anyway….

yesterday, we found their email address and said Thank You.

thank you.

and we invited them to Lunch (because they’re a business Chap and chaps-do-lunch – quite short lunches, but lunches nevertheless – however with the Lady – or more Cultured Executives and Glam Types we suggest Tea at the St. Regis because then there’s the Tantalizing prospect of cake. And Real teapots and china cups and cherubs and a grand piano and a harpist and Really Good Lighting – via a splendiferous number of Chandeliers…….business chaps don’t usually understand the Swoon factor of a Chandelier.  or cake.)

it felt great to say thank you.

then we said thank you to Kathleen Turner.*

it was a mid-week-oh-god-it-is-raining-and-we-are-tired sort of a feeling post-work-meetings so we took ourselves to the Cinema, because That Always Helps and saw The Perfect Family.

*we don’t actually Know Kathleen Turner – not yet, anyway. But we sent her a note to say thank you for making the movie.

what did we think of the movie?

well – it’s curious.

because the Trailer is cut (see – use of professional term alert ;-) to render the text (cue Academic treatise-style) as a comedic force.

but actually it’s a heart-warming, deeply serious look at faith, families and expectations and growing up with unbelievable pressures to conform and then – it being a movie – all hell (sorry, couldn’t resist) breaks loose and as the Original movie poster says “heaven help them”.

highly recommended.

a little slow in parts.

which was perfect for a wednesday – and the subject matter.

and yes – tears were shed somewhere around Act II.

so thank you to the Chap who sponsored our Original work visa to the USA – AND Kathleen Turner.

Wait!

one more…..

we’re Back At the Doctors this morning (no, not the surgeon’s office where we first heard about Tobias the tumor (before he had sisters and then there-were-three) but to the Other Doctor (it’s NYC – we have several – unlike England where we barely saw one our entire life until emigrating ;-)

this doctor is the one we said Thank You to as she (for tis a Lady Doctor) found the first lump.

don’t like the feel of this

were her exact words.

did you not notice this?

she said.

and we replied (Rather Wittily, we thought, despite the Great Fear of the word LUMP coursing through our Neuro-core at The Time).

gosh. no. um. that Is a Lump, isn’t it. Well, we don’t usually put our hands around our neck – or get into Those Kind of Relationships anymore so we didn’t feel it.

she looked sideways at us, was there a faint smile?

and then the World crashed in.

and you know the Rest.

so thank you.

to the Lady Doctor who-found-Tobias

thank you to the Chap who sponsored our first Work Visa to the USA in 2001

and a final thank you to Kathleen Turner.

for being Kathleen Turner – but also, most recently, making The Perfect Family.

which made for the Perfect Wednesday Night at the cinema.

a thousand thanks.

#delicious

a warm glow.

oh!

that Did Feel Good.

Earth’s Mightiest Marvel Superheroes team-up in The Avengers!

The Avengers is truly the DREAM FILM that all superhero and comicbook fans have dreamed of but NEVER IN THEIR LIFETIME thought would actually get made. The fact that Marvel has done it, and successfully pulled off the slow-build by linking each new superhero film to The Avengers via an additional end-movie scene, is absolute GENIUS. So far everyone I know who has seen it says it’s awesome and gives it high praise. Many said it was much better than they expected. CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IT!

What movies will you be seeing this weekend or seeing soon? It’s been a LONG TIME since I’ve been to the theater, I don’t have any money at the moment so I don’t know when I’ll be able to see a new movie, but I definitely must catch The Avengers in theaters!

NEW MOVIE DEBUTS – May 4th, 2012

The Avengers
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 142 Minutes
Metascore: 69/100
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-fi, Superhero
Starring: Robert Downy Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner
Director: Joss Whedon
Synopsis: Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki and his army.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 124 Minutes
Metascore: 61/100
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson
Director: John Madden
Synopsis: British retirees travel to India to take up residence in what they believe is a newly restored hotel. Less luxurious than its advertisements, the Marigold Hotel nevertheless slowly begins to charm in unexpected ways.

LOL
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Metascore: –
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Starring: Miley Cyrus, Douglas Booth, Ashley Greene, Demi Moore
Director: Lisa Azuelos
Synopsis: As a new year at school begins, Lola’s heart is broken by her boyfriend, though soon she’s surprised by her best friend, promising musician Kyle, who reveals his feelings for her.

First Position
Rated: NR
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Metascore: 72/100
Genre: Documentary, Comedy, Drama, Family
Starring: Aran Bell, Gaya Bommer Yemini, Michaela Deprince, Jules Jarvis Fogarty
Director: Bess Kargman
Synopsis: A documentary that follows six young dancers from around the world as they prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, one of the most prestigious ballet competition’s in the world.

The Perfect Family
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 84 Minutes
Metascore: 43/100
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Starring: Kathleen Turner, Emily Deschanel, Jason Ritter, Richard Chamberlain
Director: Anne Renton
Synopsis: A devoutly Catholic wife and mother has been nominated for one of the church’s top awards. She then goes about trying to prove she has the “perfect” family, refusing to accept them for who they are.

Last Call at the Oasis
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 105 minutes.
Metascore: 63/100
Genre: Documentary
Starring: Erin Brockovich-Ellis, Jay Famiglietti, Peter H. Gleick, Tyrone Hayes
Director: Jessica Yu
Synopsis: A documentary on the world’s water crisis.

A Little Bit Of Heaven
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 106 Minutes
Metascore: 14/200
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Starring: Kate Hudson, Gael Garcia Bernal, Kathy Bates, Peter Dinklage
Director: Nicole Kassell
Synopsis: An irreverent young woman who uses her humor to prevent matters from getting serious has a life-changing visit with her doctor.

Mother’s Day
Rated: R
Running Time: 112 Minutes
Metascore: 34/100
Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Starring: Rebecca De Mornay, Jamie King, Shawn Ashmore, Briana Evigan
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman
Synopsis: The sadistic members of a villainous family return to their childhood home to terrorize the new home owners and their guests.
Notes: Directed by the helmer of the Saw horror franchise and the maker of “Reop! The Genetic Opera”.

Meeting Evil
Rated: R
Running Time: 89 Minutes
Metascore: –
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Starring: Luke Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson, Leslie Bibb, Peyton List
Director: Chris Fisher
Synopsis: John is taken on a murder-fueled ride by a mysterious stranger that transforms the weak-willed, disillusioned husband and father into a desperate hero willing to go to any length to protect his family.

NOW PLAYING

Think Like A Man
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 122 Minutes
Metascore: 51/100
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Chris Brown, Gabrielle Union, Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy
Director: Tim Story
Gross: $61 Million
Synopsis: Four friends conspire to turn the tables on their women when they discover the ladies have been using Steve Harvey’s relationship advice against them.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Rated: PG
Running Time: 88 Minutes
Metascore: 73/100
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family
Starring: Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven, Martin Freeman
Director: Peter Lord, Jeff Newitt
Gross: $11 Million
Synopsis: Pirate Captain sets out on a mission to defeat his rivals Black Bellamy and Cutlass Liz for the Pirate of the year Award. The quest takes Captain and his crew from the shores of Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.

The Lucky One
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 101 Minutes
Metascore: 38/100
Genre: Drama
Starring: Zac Efron, Taylor Schilling, Blythe Danner, Riley Thomas Stewart
Director: Scott Hicks
Gross: $39 Million
Synopsis: A Marine travels to Louisiana after serving three tours in Iraq and searches for the unknown woman he believes was his good luck charm during the war.

The Hunger Games
Rated: PG-13
Running Time: 142 Minutes
Metascore: 67/100
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci
Director: Gary Ross
Gross: $372 Million
Synopsis: Set in a future where the Capitol selects a boy and girl from the twelve districts to fight to the death on live television, Katniss Everdeen volunteers to take her younger sister’s place for the latest match.

The Five-Year Engagement
Rated: R
Running Time: 124 Minutes
Metascore: 61/100
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Starring: Jason Segal, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt, Alison Brie
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Gross: $11 Million
Synopsis: One year after meeting, Tom proposes to his girlfriend, Violet, but unexpected events keep tripping them up as they look to walk down the aisle together.

Safe
Rated: R
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Metascore: 55/100
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Starring: Jason Statham, Catherine Chan, Chris Sarandon, Robert John Burke
Director: Boaz Yakin
Gross: $8 Million
Synopsis: Mei, a young girl whose memory holds a priceless numerical code, finds herself pursued by the Triads, the Russian mob, and corrupt NYC cops. Coming to her aid is an ex-cage fighter whose life was destroyed by the gangsters on Mei’s trail.

The Raven
Rated: R
Running Time: 111 Minutes
Metascore: 44/100
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Starring: John Cusack, Alice Eve, Luke Evans, Brendan Gleeson
Director: James McTeigue
Gross: $7 Million
Synopsis: When a madman begins committing horrific murders inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s works, a young Baltimore detective joins forces with Poe to stop him from making his stories a reality.

Chimpanzee
Rated: G
Running Time: 78 Minutes
Metascore: 57/100
Genre: Documentary
Starring: Tim Allen
Director: Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Gross: $19 Million
Synopsis: A 3-year-old chimpanzee is separated from his troop and is then adopted by a fully-grown male.

The Three Stooges
Rated: PG
Running Time: 92 Minutes
Metascore: 56/100
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Sean Hayes, Chris Diamantopoulos, Will Sasso, Jane Lynch
Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
Gross: $37 Million
Synopsis: While trying to save their childhood orphanage, Moe, Larry, and Curly inadvertently stumble into a murder plot and wind up starring in a reality TV show.

The Cabin In the Woods
Rated: R
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Metascore: 72/100
Genre: Thriller
Starring: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz
Director: Drew Goddard
Gross: $34 Million
Synopsis: Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

But then everyone seems to humor Eileen. A religious dinosaur roaming a modern world, for much of the film she is the one who requires tolerance. Shannon is five months pregnant and set to marry Angela (Angelique Cabral), a union everyone but Eileen accepts, including Angela’s brassy Latina mother (Elizabeth Peña). After her poor reaction to this news sends Shannon to the hospital (a soap opera move that happens twice), Eileen goes into charitable mode, bestowing kindness on the sinner but continuing to hate the sin. Frank Jr. gets stricter treatment, but then he is leaving a wife and kids for a manicurist (Kristen Dalton); the suggestion of vaguely defined unhappiness in his marriage is meant to instill sympathy.

The plot hinges on the anticipation of the Archbishop of Dublin’s arrival, when he’ll forgive everyone’s sins and decide who’s the Catholic-est of them all. Eileen’s main competition is a supercilious church groupie and longtime rival named Agnes (Sharon Lawrence). Agnes is open about her hypocrisies, where Eileen keeps up a tight social front. That she doesn’t seem to have a problem lying about her loved ones opens the quality and function of Eileen’s faith to question, but the script (by Paula Goldberg and Claire V. Riley) falls short of matching Turner’s game performance with a character study that teases out the complications of a self-identifying good Christian.

Instead the tone hovers between mild satire and soapy melodrama. Launched into the space between those two modes, a line like “I don’t have to think, I’m a Catholic!” — Eileen’s response to an accusation of closed-mindedness — falls flat. Especially when compared to the recent Natural Selection, in which a woman stifled by a dogma-driven life goes rogue, The Perfect Family seems to resist introspective pit stops, cruising toward its tidy resolution with a host of missed opportunities in its wake. Even Eileen’s climactic confession feels like a clockwork bid for empathy. At critical moments Renton’s direction feels a couple of seconds off the beat; often the dramatic center of an obviously dramatic scene (Eileen’s home interview with a church delegation and Frank Senior’s sudden flight from the marriage are two examples) never quite materializes.

It’s still a kick to watch Kathleen Turner don a housedress and trade soothing pieties with Richard Chamberlain. The Perfect Family feels like it could have been more than that, but I suppose counting its blessings is the more Christian thing to do.

Follow Michelle Orange on Twitter.
Follow Movieline on Twitter.

On today’s podcast: Sound of My Voice, The Perfect Family, and Marvel’s The Avengers. This week, the boys talk almost good movies, films vs source material, and what the highest opening weekend of all time being a superhero movie means for Hollywood. Enjoy! Contact us @feedback@lastfilmstanding.com. Follow Brandan (@lamardiablo) and Z (@lastzstanding) on Twitter. Become a fan on FaceBook. No seriously, become a fan! And tell your friends we’re on Stitcher and iTunes or you can stream it below or right here!

Image via Wikipedia

Kate pictured her husband in his hospital room, he had emailed her a photo of his face with all the tubes attached, the IV in his arm, his pale face grim and anxiety ridden. He honestly thought she would like to see a picture of him the night before his procedure all wired up before he went to sleep. Little did he know how much she hated that picture that was now forever burned in her brain.

He had died after the surgery, the hospital called her at four a.m. to tell her the news.  People should know that there is no such thing as good news at four a.m. Ever. Her parents were over so they stayed with the children while she raced to the hospital in her faded pink bathrobe and running shoes, sobbing hysterically. “She needed to identify the body,” the hospital said.

It had only been three months since he died. She buried her head into her freezing hands and wept, she was alone in their old house tonight. Her sobs wracked her body until she curled up on the old, soft, green couch and lay in the fetal position. She never thought she would be alone so early in her life; she was now a widow at the age of 46. Her children, Alec, 10 and Zoe, 8 were fatherless. ‘How could she handle this’ she thought? ‘How would they get by?’ She honestly had no idea; she knew she had to ‘make an effort for the children,’ that’s what everyone said but she didn’t know how to do that.’

Their cat, Sam, jumped up to the couch and lay beside her. David had been the one in the family who had wanted a cat, maybe the cat was mourning too; he almost never came to Kate. With another night of sleep eluding her Kate tried imaging the years that she and David had dated, how they danced under moonlit stars in their fancy outfits from company parties. She remembered her auburn hair done up in a chignon, and wearing fabulous silver high heels, David, in a tuxedo looking dapper. They traveled all over the world together before they had kids, Istanbul, Rome, Ireland, Amsterdam. They would walk together in a foreign city at all hours of the morning, dancing in deserted streets, streaks of brilliant color from ever-changing skies, holding hands. They would laugh loudly after drinking flutes of champagne. Their lives revolved around each other, having fun, eating at elegant restaurants and living in a romantic dream world.

They married in a small, elegant wedding a year after they returned home and two years later, they celebrated birth of their son Alec. Two years after that they welcomed with love, their daughter Zoe into their family. They moved from an apartment in Manhattan to a small house in Connecticut on a tree-lined street with gardens and small patios. They went from the “ideal couple” to the “perfect family” that’s what people said.

‘What about now?’ Kate cried into the dark night. She didn’t know what to do. She grabbed a bottle of whiskey hidden under the sink and poured herself a generous glass. She tried to drink it all down at once but it made her cough and sputter so she stopped and tried again a few moments later. Everyone expected her to be perfect, to be strong and able and to magically utter those famous words “life goes on.” She couldn’t do it. She tried to tell people but they insisted ‘she could.’  She did not want to be in this world alone without David anymore. That she knew without a single doubt. Yes, she loved her children dearly but she could not function without her husband, the other half of herself.

Kate knew it was just a bad night, a really bad night. She decided to take a hot bath and a few sleeping pills and relax. While drawing her bath she sipped at her second drink and calmed down. She would make it through; she had no choice. No, it was not easy but leaving her children without a parent was unconscionable. In a sudden burst of energy she threw away all the alcohol she had in the house and all the pills. Betraying her children would be like betraying her husband David and she couldn’t do it. She was ashamed of herself that she even had thought about it.  After her bath she was very tired and slept for a long time. She dreamed about their past, dancing in the streets, walking up on the beaches to spectacular sunrises, making love in secret.

She awoke to terrible banging at the front door, her head throbbing with pain. With her hand covering her head, she lurched to the door to open it and was greeted by her two children, hugging and kissing her. ‘This is why she was alive’ she thought. ‘This was her purpose’. She would try hard not to look back but try to stay in the present for these two miraculous children, the result of their love and all they had been, together.

This year we wanted to try to send the typical American Family Christmas Letter.  Let’s see…………..

Greetings to you all!  It has been another perfect year for us, The Perfect Family.  Keith is doing so well at work that he receives daily promotions.  He became Grand PoohBah of The Loyal Order of Water Buffalo this fall.  Daune, once again, has received blue ribbons for everything that she has cooked.  Greeting the kids each day after school with home baked, warm cookies from the oven along with fresh milk is her joy.  She and the kids sit for hours enjoying deep conversations about every detail of their days.  Miller, at the tender age of 13, received a full scholarship to Yale and has been asked to join the 2012 Olympic Swimming Team—even though he has only trained for 6 months competitively.  We are so proud.  Michal has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.  We know, hard to believe—only 11 years old!  It is a world first!  Sage has now mastered yet another language.  This will be her 7^th language spoken fluently.  Since beginning to read at the age of 2 months there has been no stopping her!  We continue to receive “Yard of the Month”, as we have for the past 15 years.  We can only wish that your year has been as perfect as ours.  If it hasn’t, we are sure that you wish you were us:  The Perfect Family!

OK, OK, we tried it—-and it just doesn’t fit! <a lot like Daune’s wig!>  Besides, we only send cards to people that really know us-we’ll never get away with it.  So, we will just come to you authentically us—without the masks.  We read an article that described The Perfect Family and it listed these important attributes:  1)  Perfect Families are made up of parents who don’t disagree or quarrel. <huh?>  2)  Siblings in Perfect Families are always cooperative with their parents and willing to help each other. <We are rolling on the floor laughing.>  3)  Perfect Families are harmonious and without conflict. <Rolling out the door laughing>  and 4)   In Perfect Families parents have total control over their children, including everything they do. <Would you like to roll on the floor and laugh with us?>  In our home hangs a sign that reads: “ In this Home -  We do second chances.  We do grace.  We do real.  We do mistakes.  We do I’m sorrys.   We do LOUD really well.  We do hugs.  We do family.  We do love.”

This year we have set off on several new adventures.  Our family now has a teenager – low grunts, ‘I don’t know’, and ‘Nothin’ DO constitute deep conversation some days.  We also have a preteen girl – adding tears, giggles, and daily life altering circumstances to those deep conversations.  Miller is now taller than Mom.  He began swimming competitively this year—and at age 13 and size 12 feet we refer to him as “Phelpish”.  He is doing super in his first year of home school and is a pleasure to teach—lots of fun!

Michal can be seen at any given time in the yard clad in a princess crown, snow boots, pistol, and holster – accompanied by her CD player.  (By wearing all these items at once it enables her to switch characters more quickly.)  We’ve had to clean out her room because upon waking one day she felt that there were too many things that were “babyish”.  <parental sigh!>  She continues to keep us balanced and teaches us new things each day about ourselves and what is really important in life.   She has an amazing heart.

Sage continues to take the world by storm.  She writes prolifically and loves and protects anything living.  (We are not even permitted to kill bugs in her presence.)  She’s working on a novel and we try to be very careful so we don’t end up in it!   She feels that the only thing missing in life is naturally curly hair.  Her spirit and enthusiasm are contagious—we love it! <However, we are considering prescription strength vitamins for us.>

So, even though Donna Reed, Ward Cleaver, Beaver, or Marcia Brady don’t live here—-we feel our family is just perfect for us.  And, even though we occasionally have a weed or two in the garden, ground the kids for life when they misbehave, siblings argue (on purpose) with siblings, throw the occasional fit, and lock ourselves in the bathroom while yelling “Don’t come near the door unless there is blood—and paper cuts DON’T COUNT!”  we would rather BE than to SEEM.  Iron sharpens iron, right?  So, that means anyone who hangs around in an Imperfect Family will end up a super, razor-sharp instrument!    There’s hope for us all!  What an adventure.  Whew!

We are wishing you this Christmas a season TO BE rather than TO SEEM——so take off any masks and have………………………..

A PERFECTLY IMPERFECT CHRISTMAS AND COMING YEAR!!

(© Daune Pitman, 2008)

Only a few more years to go….and we’re all caught up!

The Green: a drama starring Cheyenne Jackson (30 Rock) and Jason Butler Harner as a couple who move to small town Connecticut looking for a simpler life. Unfortunately, things spiral downward when Butler’s teacher character is accused of “inappropriate conduct” by a student. The film also features Julia Ormond and Illeana Douglas.

Longhorns: this is a wacky 80′s sex comedy involving Texas frat boys starring Dylan Vox (The Lair) and Jacob Newton.

Ecupid: it’s a sweet romantic comedy where an online dating site begins to manipulate one gay man’s life, and it features Morgan Fairchild!

Mangus!: newcomer Ryan Boggus stars as the title character, a young man who just wants to play Jesus in his small Texas city’s production of Jesus Christ Spectacular. However, an accident throws him off course where he encounters a bevy of crazy characters played by the likes of Jennifer Coolidge, John Waters, Heather Matarazzo and Emmy winner Leslie Jordan.

Absent: in this sexy Argentinian drama about obsession and repression, a 16-year-old pursues his swim coach and must deal with forbidden desire and the repercussions of his actions.

Mary Lou: In the latest film from Etyan Fox (Yossi & Jagger), a teen and his best female friend yearn for the new boy in school set amidst the music of Israeli pop sensation Svika Pick.

And finally, I’m very excited to see my friend John Lavin’s directorial debut of the documentary Hollywood to Dollywood. The movie follows the gay Lane Twins, Gary and Larry, as they travel cross-country to Dollywood in the hopes of delivering a script to the iconic Dolly Parton that they have written for her. The movie features great appearances from Beth Grant (Sordid Lives), Leslie Jordan (again), my friend Chad Allen, Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black and 15 of Dolly’s signature tunes. It looks great. For more on the film, head to their website here and check out this great promo reel for Hollywood to Dollywood.

Hollywood to Dollywood.

Ronan. My heart is still heavy. My mind is still a mess. I didn’t cry today though. I have no doubt that my pillow will be soaked tonight when all is quiet and the memories of you trickle in. Night time is hard. I fall asleep and wish for you to wake me up with one of your famous, “Good morning, Mom!” You were always so excited for our days. Back when you were healthy I would pretend I was still asleep just so I could listen to you run to my room after you had woken up to give me a kiss and tell me good morning. It was one of my favorite things in the world. You would never want to get in bed with me and cuddle; instead you would demand that I get up to make your breakfast and wake up your brothers for school. I was always happy to do this for you. Everyday with you was the best day of my life. I can’t believe I will never have that again. I would give anything for you, Ronan. I remember how when I would take you out, how many people would stop me to tell me you were the most beautiful boy they had ever seen. I used to joke with Tricia that I felt like I was with a celebrity when I was with you. We called you our mini Brad Pitt baby. You had an impact on everyone even before you were sick just because of the beauty that people saw from the outside. They didn’t even know the beauty you possessed on the inside. I still can’t believe you aren’t mine anymore. I still don’t understand why you had to leave. I asked Dr. Maze if he thought that you heard me as I was talking to you before you went… those last few minutes when I told you it was time to go. When I told you to come with me, because we were getting out of this place. He says he thinks you did, as many people say a persons hearing is the last thing to go. I wish I would have said more to you. I wish I could have told you everything I was feeling in my heart but that would have been impossible. I know you know how much I love you. I will never get over the fact that I alone couldn’t save you. I’ll always think that I let you down because I couldn’t fix you. I know there was nothing I could do as your disease was so uncontrollable but that guilt will never go away. I am so, so, sorry Ronan. I would have traded my life a million times over for yours. I think about this every single day.

I’m not sure what just happened…. except for while I am writing to you I am of course listing to Pandora. I have it on the Coldplay playlist. Right when the tears where pouring down my cheeks, this random song came on. One I have never heard before but here are the lyrics…….

Come thou fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing thy grace
Streams of mercy never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me some melodious sonnet
Sung by flaming tongues above
Praise the mount I’m fixed upon it
Mount of thy redeeming love

Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by thy help I’m come
And I hope by thy good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wondering from the fold of God
He, to rescue me from danger
Interposed His precious blood

O to grace how how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above

Whatever. I’m still too mad to think this is anything. But I will say that the piano playing this song was pretty. I miss you so much. I know I tell you this all of the time, but I will miss you for the rest of my life. I worry so much about you. I still cannot believe you are safe and happy without us. How could that be possible? I know I took better care of you then anyone. You deserve to be with me still. Your daddy watches me and the way I sit and am still with my thoughts. He knows I am tortured. I actually said to him that we made a mistake with your treatment. We should have done this, we should have done that, we should have been more aggressive. I know I am wrong about this. Nobody knew what was to come. Your daddy talked to all the best doctors and they all agreed with what we were doing. I told your daddy we should have had you scanned after every round of chemo. Nobody would have done this for us. But this is the only way we would have known that everything was spreading so rapidly. The day of your last scans, at Sloan…. Dr. Kushner’s face will haunt me for the rest of my life. He knew you were going to die. He couldn’t even look at me, Ro. Walking out of Sloan, they all knew you were going to die. But I wish they could have told me, instead of avoiding me and my tears. I don’t think badly of Dr. Kushner at all. If I saw him today, I would give him a great big hug and thank him for all he is doing to try to figure out this disease. I guess I’m just having a hard time because I feel like I didn’t get closure with him. I feel like he owed you more than the send off he gave us. But I also get that he is a man. A brilliant man and an amazing doctor. And I am sure he feels like he failed us and that is a hard pill to swallow. I get all that. But I also get that you deserved more, little man. Because you are going to change the world of this disease and I know someday he will be telling you thank you, Ronan. I will make sure of this. You will not be forgotten by him. And someday, I hope to replace a new image of him in my head from the awful one I am left with. I don’t want to carry that around with me forever.

I drew your name in the sand tonight while I was on my run. I went for a run on the beach in the dark. It is the only way I like to run now. In the dark, alone, where I don’t have to look at anyone in the eyes and I don’t have to see all the happiness surrounding me. All of that stings so badly. I don’t know if that pain will ever go away. We used to be that family. The perfect family that had it all. We had it all because of you. Now we are all so wounded, so empty. Although I did hear your brothers laughing today. I played with them all morning. I tried to stay focused on them, but my mind kept wandering back to how different everything would be about our day if you had been with us. Nothing about our day would have been the same; you changed everything.

G’nite my little man. Everyone is asleep now. Quinn is right next to me, all cuddled up with your blanket, GiGi. I’m going to cuddle up to him now. See you in my dreams, baby doll. I love you.

xoxo

Last Tuesday I went to the Tribeca Film Festival as you know it is an event organized by Robert De Niro each year in New York City and this was its tenth year.

I saw the film “The Perfect Family”. Directed by Anne Renton the movie was one of the favourites for the new yorkers but, in the end, it didn’t win.

Kathleen Turner interprets a devout Catholic that always wants to keep up appearances. She doesn´t want to accept that her daughter is a lesbian, the marriage of her son ended…and she is trying to appear that she lives in a perfect and traditional Catholic family.

One day she is nominated  for the Catholic Woman of the Year, title at her local parish. She has to introduce her family to the Church committee…and the hidden problems start.

I am Catholic but I accept criticism. For this reason I recommend this movie. It is a wonderful comedy with a little bit of drama.

I hope that it arrives at the commercial cinema circuit (and if it´s possible to Spain too) because it´s a great film.

David Torija

davidtorija@hotmail.com

Film Synopsis from tribecafilm.com:

“Suburban mother and devout Catholic Eileen Cleary (Kathleen Turner) has always kept up appearances. When she runs for the Catholic Woman of the Year title at her local parish—an award she has coveted for years—her final test is introducing her family to the board for the seal of approval. Now she must finally face the nonconformist family she has been glossing over for years. Her gay daughter, Shannon (Emily Deschanel), a successful lawyer, is about to marry her life partner Angela (Angelique Cabral). Her unhappily married son Frank Jr. (Jason Ritter) is cheating on his wife with the local manicurist. And Eileen’s own marriage to a recovered alcoholic is pulling at the seams….

This heartfelt dysfunctional family comedy boasts a memorable performance from Academy Award nominee Turner as the conflicted and comical matriarch, alongside a bright ensemble cast including Richard Chamberlain and Michael McGrady. Newcomer director Anne Renton keeps the pacing taut and crafts an honest, modern family tale. Writers Claire V. Riley and Paula Goldberg infuse just the right amount of seriousness and levity into their script, reminding us that family is never truly perfect. –Genna Terranova”

Sharon Lawrence also shares her thoughts on the film on her Facebook page:

“Director Anne Renton and writer Paula Goldberg brought great commitment and heart to this independent film. As a leader in the Women IN Film organization, I am pleased to have been part of the project for by and about women.”

Source: www.tribecafilm.com

The Perfect Family follows the Davidsons, an average American family with a good life and they consider themselves lucky to have each other. Then their seventeen year old son tells them he’s gay and their world shifts. They have no idea what they will go through after Jamie’s disclosure: Jamie’s father Mike can’t reconcile his religious beliefs with his son’s sexuality. His brother Brian is harassed by his jock buddies and angry at Jamie for complicating all their lives. Maggie, his mother, fears being able to protect her son while struggling to save her crumbling marriage. And Jamie feels guilty for the unhappiness his disclosure has caused. Their story is full of both conflict and love, ending on a redeeming note.

I’m often asked why I wrote this book. I think I’ve been preparing to write it for a long time. When I first started out with Harlequin, I wrote a story about a suicidal teenager who needed the help of adults to get through a very tough time in her life. I’ve written books about getting girls out of gangs, about adults resolving potentially violent situations in schools by working with the kids, and also one novel about adults who were troubled teens in their youth and now help kids like the ones they used to be.

I like to write about adults helping kids. I think it’s because I know from personal experience how much a troubled youth can benefit from an adult’s interest. From a pretty dysfunctional childhood myself, I had two teachers in my life who showed me I was worth something, I was smart and I was deserving of their attention. They both helped me to become the person I am.

I’ve also seen the other side of it where, as a high school teacher, I was able to help many kids by giving them support, guidance and caring outside of the classroom. I’ve dealt with suicidal students, students who were raped, students who wanted to run away because of problems at home. As a matter of fact, one of those students, one I taught decades ago, recently read about The Perfect Family on a Facebook page and contacted me to say how much I affected her life.

 A major reason I wrote this book is because of the personal experience of having my own son come out gay. THE PERFECT FAMILY is fiction, but touches on some of the things my family went through during this process. Truthfully, I’d wished I had a book like this to help me understand what I would be dealing with. Everything hit us at once. Having grown up in a conservative small town, there had been prejudices ingrained in me. How was I to deal with them? How do I tell neighbors, friends, family? Will the school discriminate? There are horror stories about this. And, most of all, is he safe? Eight years later, I’m happy to report that these issues are resolved, except for the last one, which I don’t any parent ever gets over.

 Also, I wanted to portray the opposite of something I think is way overdone in coming out literature: a child coming out gay and his parents abandoning him. Instead, I wanted to show not all parents reject gay kids, but even the most loving ones have many difficult things to deal with.

And finally, I wanted to write a book is about acceptance. Most people want to be accepted. We join churches, community groups and partake in common activities to be with people who are like us and who share the same interests. We play on sports teams and become fans of athletes, TV shows and music stars. Participating with others makes us feel included, like our friends and neighbors, in sync. There’s nothing wrong with this at all. It’s how we manage to stay sane in a pretty alienated world.

What is wrong is when we’re not accepted for who we are, when people isolate us because of our religion, skin color, nationality, belief system or a sexual orientation. This happens in The Perfect Family. Jamie faces many rejections for who he is. But his biggest fear is rejection by his family. He has the most problems with his dad, and although they come through this process closer than ever, it’s a tough experience for them. Each learns to be more tolerant and understanding of the other.

 Jamie also has to deal with other people who are unable to accept him. His best friend from childhood tells him God doesn’t want her to associate with a gay person; his neighbor un-invites him to a pre-prom party because he’s going with a boy; even his brother has difficulty with Jamie’s sexual orientation.

 My wish for this book is that people read it and understand the need for tolerance, acceptance and unconditional love for those who are different from us. Overall, I hope my readers see an interesting family, a different kind of plot and some important messages about life.

You can contact me at Live Journal, Twitter and MySpace.

Kathryn Shay

 P.S. My son Ben and I have a gift for my readers. Ben is a singer/songwriter and made a CD in high school about “loving a boy” and other adolescent issues. We’re offering it free at this very website when you order a book from them at boldstrokesbooks.com.

www.kathrynshay.com

www.facebook.com/KathrynShay

http://kathrynshay.livejournal.com

http://www.myspace.com/kathrynshay

Q: Welcome to Beyond the Books, Kathryn.  Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?

As my bio says, I’m a published author of 37 books—so far!

Q: What was the name of your very first book regardless of whether it was published or not and, if not published, why?

Images. It was never published because it wasn’t good enough.  I was all over the place with point of view, plot sequencing and character development. I’m so glad it never saw the light of day.

Q: For your first published book, how many rejections did you go through before you either found a mainstream publisher, self-published it, or paid a vanity press to publish it?

My first published book was a category romance called The Father Factor and was released by Harlequin Superromance.  I received over fifty rejections on that book and my first manuscript, Images. For my first contemporary single title book, only one was rejected and then my second sold.

Q: How did the rejections make you feel and what did you do to overcome the blows?

I was very upset by the rejections. I thought I’d never get published, wondered why I had even tackled this initiative and wanted to throw in the towel. But I didn’t.  I kept submitting and started a third book.  It was my second manuscript that sold.

Q: When your first book was published, who published it and why did you choose them?

Harlequin Superromance.  It turned out to be a great place to start out because they have a built-in fan base, they push new authors and they wanted a career from me, not just one book.

Q: How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

When I first got published, I was thrilled. I received a copy of The Father Factor on my birthday and in some ways it was like having a child: I cried when I saw it, I held it reverently, I checked its pages, cover and content carefully (like examining fingers and toes) and I couldn’t believe I created it. We celebrated by going out to dinner.

Q: What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?

I made postcards, bookmarks and took out an ad in RT Book Reviews.

Q: If you had to do it over again, would you have chosen another route to be published?

Probably not. Writing for Harlequin was great exposure.

Q: Have you been published since then and how have you grown as an author?

Yes, I now have 37 books out.  I’ve grown immensely as a writer.  My skills in point of view, characterization and plot construction improve with every book.  I think that’s exemplified in The Perfect Family, which I’d like to tell you about now. The Davidsons are an average American family with a good life and they consider themselves lucky to have each other. Then their seventeen year old son tells them he’s gay and their world shifts.  They have no idea what they will go through after Jamie’s disclosure: Jamie’s father Mike can’t reconcile his religious beliefs with his son’s sexuality. His brother Brian is harassed by his jock buddies and angry at Jamie for complicating all their lives. Maggie, his mother, fears being able to protect her son while struggling to save her crumbling marriage.  And Jamie feels guilty for the unhappiness his disclosure has caused. The story is full of both conflict and love, ending on a redeeming note.  I think this is the best book I’ve written so far.

Q: Looking back since the early days when you were trying to get published, what do you think you could have done differently to speed things up?  What kind of mistakes could you have avoided?

I was a high school teacher and started my writing career later in life. I think I would have started sooner if I knew what was going to happen.   The mistakes I’d avoid were worrying over reviews, over the next contract, over what future books would be about. I’d slow down and enjoy it more.

Q: What has been the biggest accomplishment you have achieved since becoming published?

Writing books which affect people’s lives. Those usually dealt with social issues.  I’ve written novels about teen suicide, date rape, battered women, neglected teenagers, gangs, school violence and being gay.  All along, I received letters from fans saying how much they could relate to my books and how meaningful they were.

Q: If you could have chosen another profession, what would that profession be?

A teacher, but I already was one!  I loved that profession and the kids I taught.

Q: Would you give up being an author for that profession or have you combined the best of both worlds?

No, and I didn’t have to.

Q: How do you see yourself in ten years?

Still writing. Still enjoying life with my own personal hero, my husband, and our kids.

Q: Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

Don’t give up.  It takes persistence and a thick skin to endure rejections, both before and after you’re published. Work hard to improve your craft.  Take chances with what you write and the people you contact.

Today one can see more of a mixed middle-class. From lower to upper class structure, the middle-class has been broken down over time. The world in which one lives in today has become less concerned about where one will lay within the confines of their societal class. The world has become smaller, thus becoming cultured. Babbitt lived during a time when the market growth of the economy was strong. A middle-class family of today fears another stock market crash or terrorist attack upon American soil thus conservation is a key for a successful future. Babbitt does not seek for a retirement pension that so many middle-class of today prepares for, however Babbitt looks at the current condition of his class and base his financial goals around the here and now.

Babbitt ironically enough can be compared to a lot of what is seen in today’s class. Though the middle and elite classes have sought to bring more culture within their society either by sponsoring local theatre or a symphony there is still a hollow feeling when one drives through a local suburban community of today. One who might drive through a current, established neighborhood of the middle-class can sense hollowness that Babbitt felt. The cookie-cut house of today is compared to those of Babbitt’s time. The lawns are perfected by the landscaper’s touch. For the art of manicuring a lawn is still beneath the majority of middle-class Americans.

 Divorce rates are now at an all-time high and business relations are cut short of the handshake that was a necessary means of an agreement during Babbitt’s time. Children of the middle-class are still concerned with appearance, and rightfully so as the entertainment industry thrusts its cosmopolitan beliefs upon them. To compare and contrast Babbitt’s middle-class life to that of today’s middle-class, one can note many comparisons. Ironically today’s present class still believes that the bigger the better. The contrasts lay now within how today’s class view themselves, and that the middle-class is not the elite of the society norm. A strive for the mansion that is mass produced within a matter of months is now considered the norm. However, they have brought culture to the middle-class with a cup of Starbucks and bottled water. And though art and moral values may be lost forever, the money driven middle-class will not.