PUB

The Veracity Project is a group of artists from Southern California committed to advancing God’s Kingdom through film and video production. Their latest production is a documentary called PUB, about three musical groups from California who take an unusual mission’s trip to the pubs of Ireland. Yes. That’s right. It’s a documentary about musicians traveling to Irish pubs in the name of Jesus Christ. Through the documentary, we meet the musicians, and Irish pastors who welcome them, and we also hear their reasoning about meeting the Irish people at local watering holes. We learn statistics about the church in Ireland, the conflict there between Protestants and Catholics, and we meet several Irish youth and their perspectives about the church and Christianity in Ireland.

Not for little children, this documentary does have some swearing by Irish youth in it, and drinking. Yet, to understand a little out of the box Christian thinking, and to see how one group reached out to Ireland in Jesus name, then go towww.theveracityproject.com and order your own copy oftheir documentary PUB.

My Two Cents on The Da Vinci Code

Higher Love or Basement Sex

Called “The Morning Star of the Reformation,� John Wycliffe preceded Leonardo Da Vinci by 100 years, and Martin Luther by nearly 200 years. Gaining prominence and notoriety while teaching at Oxford University, Wycliffe used his position to challenge papal authority. Eventually expelled from Oxford, he lived his remaining years translating an English Bible from the Latin Vulgate – the first European translation accomplished in over 1,000 years. His influence so infuriated Rome, that forty-four years after Wycliffe died, the Pope ordered his bones exhumed and burned.

With such heinous evil exercised by the established church over a man and his subsequent movement (The Protestant Reformation), it is no wonder that many people consider the claims of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code plausible. Unfortunately, the abuses of the historical Catholic Church have not helped the spread the true message of love and liberation in Christ. Because the early Catholic Church practiced such egregious errors in theology, it is wise to ask, “Isn’t there something more to this Christian faith?�

And the answer is a resounding “Yes�! Real Christian theology esteems the “truth� setting people free. Real Christian theology and practice esteems women. Real Christian theology endorses sacrificial love. Yet, the Church hasn’t always recognized this.

Consider the alternatives promoted by the Da Vinci code – secret meetings and societies, goddess worship, and bizarre sex rituals.

Hmmmmm. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather believe in a God that teaches me to love one another with a giving love than worship a secret goddess that tells me I need to wear a mask and meet in basements to practice bizarre sex.

Goddess worship isn’t necessary when God says to women, “I made you in my image.� Goddess worship isn’t necessary when Jesus befriends the adulterous woman and says, “You are forgiven.� Goddess worship isn’t really needed at all in light of true religion as practiced in the Bible. Unfortunately, the early Catholic Church (and secret societies) somehow hid or twisted Scripture for their own unholy goals.

Let’s say the Priory of Sion is right. Why hide any information if it’s true? Let it stand up to scrutiny in light of actual historical truth. Truth will set people free, even if it’s contrary to what is normally accept. I don’t believe Jesus had a sexual relationship with Mary Magdeline and produced offspring, but even if he did, would that diminish the positive, beneficial words and influence he gave to the world through His word as we know it? The transforming, redeeming power of Christ can stand up to the challenges presented to Him.

The early Catholic church may have had a nefarious agenda, but don’t think the Priory of Sion, Illuminata, Masons and other secret societies are pure as the driven snow. All abusers and secret keepers have their junk. Only the light of Christ exposes darkness in the heart of men, and burns that darkness away. Only Christ can heal and restore broken hearts to wholeness. (What? You think goddess worship will set you free?)

If The Da Vinci Code causes people of faith to inquire more deeply into the actual early history of the Christian faith, I say “great.� Talk with art teachers, historians, theologians. Ask them questions. Seek out the truth. Don’t let the claims of The Da Vinci Code merely frustrate you and pull you away from the faith. A book that challenges you to “love you neighbor as yourself’ and “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength� should not be dismissed merely because a fiction writer creates a “plausible� alternative explanation for the life and meaning of Christ.

Remember, would you rather worship a knowable, loving God that serves creation, or worship an unknown goddess that seems to promote selfish, sexual pleasure? We Christian worship a big God with a big heart, who has enough forgiveness and love in His heart to accept, redeem and heal all. Love your friends who buy into The Da Vinci Code. Give them some slack as they seek out the truth. And, if you are one who is checking out its claims, realize that Dan Brown wrote a book of fiction.

Leonardo Da Vinci and the early Catholic Church, I’m sure, muddled with the truth. You have the benefit of access to all history. You also have access to God. God was there at the beginning and He witnessed the church during its dark times. He saw it all. Seek Him to know the truth, but don’t be surprised if He merely says, “Peace. I love you my child. Don’t fret over what you don’t know. Seek me. Worship me. And, I’ll take care of you.� Sounds a lot more comforting and true than bizarre sex in a basement, don’t you think?

THE SHAGGY DOG

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Tim Allen)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

Bow wow wow! It’s not because it has a Buddhist subplot. (KUNDUN and SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET were beautiful films.) It’s not because it’s a remake. (The recent PINK PANTHER induced quite a few laughs.) And, it’s not because the stellar cast can’t cut the mustard. (The line-up of Kristin Davis, Danny Glover, and Robert Downey, Jr. sounds like the latest cool indie pic.) But, Disney’s remake of THE SHAGGY DOG is a flea-bitten, woofie, mongrel. I kept waiting for the laughs to come, but I could only muster a few chuckles.

Tim Allen tries his hardest doing all the dog-gone routines including panting with a large tongue, lifting his leg to use the toilet, and chasing cats and knocking over old ladies on all fours. He’s a District Attorney who has time for everything but for the people who need him the most: his family. After he is bitten by a 300-year old sheepdog, he himself transforms into a representative of the breed, and learns in the process, what it takes to be a real man to his wife and kids.

As a dog, he benefits from “fly-on-the-wall� powers. He can hear what his family says about him because they (like many families, don’t you think?) talk out loud to their dog about their troubles. It’s like confession or therapy but without the high fees. Anyway, they don’t think a dog can hear or understand, but as their dad in canine form, he can. He learns their needs, wishes, and desires and learns he has a place in meeting them.

Anybody who has a dog knows that man’s best friend indeed can teach us many lessons. The Bible asks us to consider the ant, but I think dogs should be included too. Their loyalty, love, compassion, listening ear, and uncomplaining voice all can show us how to live better, more godly lives.

Ecclesiastes 9:4 confirms canine value with this statement: “Anyone who is among the living has hope —even a live dog is better off than a dead lion!� So, if this shaggy movie can teach you a thing or two about priorities and loving your family, long live this dog!

— Overview

Aquamarine

—1. Overview
—2. Cast and Crew
—3. Photo Pages
—4. Trailers, Clips, DVDs, Books, Soundtrack
—5. Posters (Current Films)
—6. Production Notes (pdf)
—7. Spiritual Connections
—8. Presentation Downloads

Everybody in the pool! That means you mermaids too. Take the old Tom Hanks/Darrel Hannach movie SPLASH, mix in a dash of THE LITTLE MERMAID, throw in a trio of cute girl actors, and then just add water. Presto! You got yourself a genuine tear-jerker for the tween girl set called AQUAMARINE!

Here’s the basic premise. Clair (Emma Robets) and Hailey (JoJo) are best friends near Tampa Florida. They live at an old fashioned family resort on the ocean and pine after buff kite-boarder/lifeguard Raymond (Jake McDorman). They dread the end of summer, because then Hailey and her marine biologist mother will move far away to Australia. One night, they pray to the gods of the hurricane’s to come and change the mind of Hailey’s mom. A wicked storm brews up, and in the morning, the girls find a genuine teenage mermaid girl in the resort pool named, what else, Aquamarine (Sara Paxton.)

The mermaid tells them she swam away from her father because her father wants her to marry a boorish “blowfish� in an arranged marriage. Aquamarine doesn’t want to marry this merman, of course, because she believes in true love. Her father doesn’t believe in true love and so they made a deal. Aquamarine must find someone to tell her that they love her within three days, or Aquamarine must go back and marry the blowfish.

Aquamarine sets her sights on Raymond, and after initially balking, the girls agree to help Raymond discover Aquamarine and “fall in love� with her. After all, Aquamarine tells them if you help a mermaid, you get a wish granted. The girls figure they can get Raymond to fall in love with Aquamarine and then Aquamarine will somehow make it so that Hailey and her mom don’t have to move away.

After what begins as a dumb, trite, stereotypical dumb, girl friendly rom-com, complete with shopping montages, silly bubble-gum remakes of pop songs, and vindictive, rich-girl, snob villainesses, the movie takes an unexpected turn to depth and substance in the last fifteen minutes. The girls learn that love between friends is as powerful as romantic love. Clair and Hailey learn to sacrifice their dreams for the greater good. And everyone learns that in giving, you receive.

A whole paragraph must be devoted to the starfish. Aquamarine tells Clair and Hailey that the starfish, used as earrings, complement her, not just in appearance, but actually speak encouraging words in the ears of those who wear them. Aquamarine ultimately gives the starfish to the girls and she tells her friends, “The starfish might sound like they are saying sweet nothings, but they never lie.� The girls try on the aquatic accessories and hear such wonderful truths like, “You are as beautiful on the inside as on the out.� And, “You can do anything you set you mind to do.�

What could be perceived as just a simple throwaway sugary-sweet scene reveals itself to be a powerful symbol of the Holy Spirit’s work. The Holy Spirit is your encouragement and your strength. He speaks truth in a loving and kind way to you, always wanting you to bloom to your potential. (When the starfish said their magic, this old salty dog began to water up out of the sheer beauty of it all.)

Aquamarine will not go down in the annals as a great film, or even a great children’s film, but it stands apart from common tween fair for having its priorities right. It commands what is true and rebukes what is not, and leaves you feelings more encouraged and hopeful than when you left. And, perhaps a matinee of this kind of experience in late winter is just the prescription to beat the winter blues. Anyone care to go swimming?

— Overview

FROZEN STUPID - The Journal, Part Five - Final Entry

Note: This is the conclusion of my journal entries for the indie comedy FROZEN STUPID, where I was Script Supervisor. FROZEN STUPID will premiere in Michigan, Summer 2006.

Friday, February 3, 2006

Dog gone it! We do several shots with Windex the bloodhound today. We are at Tony and Lila’s house. The opening shot involves Windex peeing on Tony’s face as Tony sleeps. Windex however gets the jitters and doesn’t really cooperate. He won’t stand over Tony and wants to lie down or just get away. We end up putting some hot dog water on Joey’s face so that Windex will lick it. Windex doesn’t respond so his handlers put tripe, or cow stomach, around Joey’s neck and this does the trick. Windex goes after the tripe and then licks Joey’s face. The shot works well. The peeing is scratched. I think this will work just fine because some people would really get grossed out by a dog peeing on a man’s face. In the morning, Joey tells Rich that his voice is feeling a little scratchy, but you couldn’t tell that all day. Joey performs great. We do two other scenes with Michelle Mountain, who plays Lila, Tony’s wife. In one scene, she’s merely disappointed in Joey’s character. In other scene, she’s steaming mad, beyond mad and not only yells up a storm, but also beats Tony with several wallops. Joey endures it all valiantly. The last shot of the day involves Joey letting Windex out for a morning pee. Windex runs around, sniffs the ground, and does everything but pee. After the camera rolling about five minutes, he answers our prayers. He goes wee-wee. We all clap and cheer and wrap for the day. What trials we filmmakers endure.

Monday, February 06, 2006

The next to the last day of principal photography. This morning, we go to a restaurant filed with dead taxidermy stuffed animals. The opening shot involves Joey storming in looking for Lila. Rich decides to pan from a stuffed squirrel wearing glasses to Joey. Funny stuff. Jennifer Hughes plays the hostess with aplomb. She’s quite good and gave us quite a few emotional reactions to Joey’s plight. After snapping this interior stuff off, we head outside. It’s 25 degrees and the wind is howling. Joey has to strip down to his T-shirt and put on his dinner clothes. We are all freezing wearing our winter coats, so I can’t imagine what Joey feels like. Piling into the Limberlost Truck� or van, it sputters and acts like water is in its fuel lines. After putting in some new fuel, it revs up to normal speed and makes it to Lyman’s Bait Shop. There we meet a wonderful cast of characters, locals who work and hang out there. We meet a Chihuahua named Stains, but he doesn’t make it in the shots. The place looks great, filled with lures and ice fishing gear. Lyman’s is a character in and of itself. In the afternoon, Joey plays a scene with Will Young, who plays bait store owner Willaby. (Will played Louie Esch in BARN RED.) In this scene, Joey eyes a bottle of pickled eggs, buys four and eats one in the store. In reality, Joey hates pickled eggs and insists on eating a mere hard boiled egg (again). We accommodate his wishes, but we have a pickled egg expert on hand to encourage Joey to try it. But Joey doesn’t. The martini shot (last shot) of the day is another parade cheer scene. This time Will Young, Lyman and his crew, Andrew and I cheer on Joey. All these parade shots, however, don’t have Joey in them at all. It’s usually Holli holding up the slate and passing by us slowly. Our job is to look at the slate, pretend its Joey and cheer. We do and the day is wrapped. One more day to go!

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

Last day of principle photography. We are outside all day. I almost miss the bus and hop onboard the Limberlost van, which sputters and stalls its way to the KillKare Inn. Just outside this place is a boat ramp access site to the lake. There, we shoot a few scenes where a crazed stranger played by Kate Peckham approaches Joey in the Probe and tells him to scram. Kate puts in a funny, bizarre performance, which may either scare or delight the audience. Then Joey has to back into a truck tailgate, destroying one of the taillights in the probe. They can’t get the taillight to line up with the truck tailgate. They need the car to sink a little lower, so various folks hop on the trunk to see who has the proper weight. I hop on and am picked to be the man. I initially thought I was just going to sit on the back corner, while the car was backed into the truck tailgate. Oh no. I find out they want me to crawl into the trunk, and lie down out of sight while Rich’s son Colin does the stunt driving. We have only one take to make this right. Squeezed into the trunk, wrapped around fishing gear, the shot goes off flawlessly. Accept for this persistent nagging pain in my neck, I’m unscathed. (Kidding! I’m O.K. ) Then, we shoot a shot involving a very noisy monster truck and its cab full of drunken passengers. They drive up to the Probe, jump out of the monster truck and manually move it between two trees. The extras are having a ball doing this, and the shot looks hilarious. After lunch at the KillKare, we shoot one more hilarious scene with Guy Sanville, playing a tobacco-chewing, tow truck driver. After this shot, I run in for a potty break, but Rich is ready to shoot a quick scene with Guy waving to Joey on the parade route. I step out of the john, and the AD is yelling, “Kinne. We need you. Hop to it.� I run to the set as Holli playfully scolds me the whole way. Then we head over to the hotel for our lasts shot of the day. Joey takes Guy out onto the ice to see where the truck fell through. We set up a HMI, throw up a yellow gell to represent the waning hours of the day, and then fire it off. By 4:45pm, we are totally wrapped. Cold, tired, but strangely satisfied, we all give a big clap and head inside for what else….the wrap party!

FROZEN STUPID - The Journal, Part Four

Note: Sorry readers, no pictures available to post right now. Scroll down to see pics of FROZEN STUPID.

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

We are out on the ice all day. Daba and Grant are hilarious. They construct a “mule train� of shanty, beer cooler and sled. Short Daba pulls while tall Grant rides. Just seeing them makes me laugh. Local extras patiently wait all day for their quick moment on camera. In the afternoon, Kim and Joey work out on the ice and do a funny bit where Kim picks Joey up. She starts her machine with a big jerk, creating a whiplash effect. We finish our morning shoots a half hour early, so Rich gets the idea to do a “dream sequence� out on the ice where Joey drives, Kim rides shotgun and Daba and Grant sit in the backseat. They do “doughnuts� out on the ice while listening to KISS songs on the radio. The very last shot of the day, the sun sets. We pull out a father and daughter onto the ice. He hugs her in a very cut beautiful shot. At the end of the day, the shanty town set wraps never to be used again.

Wednesday, February 1, 2006

In the morning, Joey and Kim work the interior shanty set. What seems like a monster scene is broken up into smaller workable sections that make everyone’s job easier. In one scene, we need live perch again. But, one perch seems quite lifeless and doesn’t act well. He flops into the hole and doesn’t swim away. We shoot with livelier fish right after lunch. Right after lunch, I again get to do interviews. Joey makes some funny cracks about Will Harris, our sound man. Indeed, Will has proven to be quite the humorous fellow on set. I interview Kim and Joey on the set and then it immediately strikes. In the afternoon, Rich, Will, Holli, Nicole and I ride around in the suburban chasing Joey in the Ford Probe, Lila’s car. (Lila is Tony’s wife.) He does his scenes involving an approach the bait shop and eating a pickled egg. He refuses to eat a pickled egg and instead, opts for a mere hard boiled egg. He calls the pickled eggs, “gross.� These shots go off quickly and we wrap by 4:30pm.

Thursday, February 2, 2006

Groundhog Day! Did that varmint see his shadow? Don’t know. Too busy making a movie. Today, we shoot at Lila’s Mom’s house, a short drive away from the hotel. In the morning, we are all outside. Joey is hilarious, sneaking up to the house to get his keys. We also have a police dog named Axel who responds only to Dutch commands. Axel, a German Shepherd, sniffs out some pot they plant in Joey’s hat to get the animal to approach him. Apparently, they take out THC out of the pot to keep it all legal and above board. Joey also performs a hilarious ballet like move coming through the garage window. He’s light on his feet for a big guy. At lunch, we go to Coyle’s buffet. Lots of fried food but also lots of salad options too – a good hearty meal. In the afternoon, a fluffy cat named joins the cast. Nicole adds tuna fish to our big pike so the cat will lick it for the shot. In one take, Holli honks the horn to scare the cat off the hood, and now the cat doesn’t want to stay on the car for take two. After a little calming, the cat performs well again for a good take. Later in the same scene, Lila’s Mom played by Lucia Mercer does a scene where she comes out of the toilet and Joey gags at the smell. We do several takes each a little different where she adjusts her pants. What Craig suggested was that she strain and pause a little as if she was passing wind, but everybody was too embarrassed to tell her outright how to play the scene. Anyway, Rich has some options. We wrap again a little early – 4:45pm – not bad.

FROZEN STUPID - The Journal, Part Three

Note: Here is a picture of Joey Albright as Tony and Ernest Borgnine as Frank on the interior shanty set of FROZEN STUPID.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

This morning we shoot another scene in the shanty set. This is the one where Joey catches the monster pike. The first challenge is to fake a line going out, being “pulled by the pike.� Norm takes the end of Joey’s line and starts running with it down the hall. Effect #1 completed. The second challenge is to actually have Joey catch the fish. We decide to cheat. The fish, a foam rubber dummy, is too big and will not go through the hole, but instead be launched by grip, Cory Blackmer, from below the platform. (Platform sections remove easily for just such an occasion. Other grip, Andrew Bedinger, crouches under the platform with a water bottle to slosh up into view when the fish emerges. Cory launches the fish into the shanty and Joey does a very physical performance wrestling the beast into submission. He finally calms it with a few choice blows to its head. In the afternoon, we all bundle up and head outside to quickly beat the setting sun and film Joey and Kimberly Norris Guerrrero outside their shanties. Kimberly’s shanty has a sexy zebra stripes. The sun is low and shadows are tall. We run back and forth to keep our shadows out of the shot. A whole parade of screaming snowmobiles screams past during one take involving Joey. This inspires us to capture “Wild Sounds� of a snowmobile, so that last work of the day involves recording Cory racing back and forth at various speeds. Then, we all pile into the Limberlost shuttle to eat dinner at, where else, the Limberlost. Yummy!

Friday, January 27th, 2006

We are outside all day. This morning, it’s just cold enough that people without proper winter clothes will freeze their toes and other extremities. Our first AD, Holli Bremer confesses to frozen feet and during a scene break, runs inside and not only changes footwear but also drops in those “just-expose-em-to-air� foot warmers. We are in and about shanty town. The first scene we shoot involves about 20 extras from the area including students from college, where our sound man Will attends. Here’s the scene: two yahoos with lots of bravado and testosterone challenge each other to a snowmobile race. When they take off, the crowd cheers. Along the way, one guy’s snow machine starts to smoke. Then one ski falls off and he smashes into Joey and Ernie’s shanty. The snow machine rage and race scenes are funny. A splinter crew piles into Rich’s Chevy Suburban and we lead or come alongside our racers. In the afternoon, it warms up and gets very sloppy. Kimberly’s character eats “smelt� but we can only find fried smelt. We take off the breading and she humorously munches ‘em down. She’s good at spitting out the heads. This is Ernie’s last day and he’s anxious to wrap. We do two quick scenes while the sun pokes in and out of the clouds. (Michigan winters?!) Before Ernie leaves the set, Rich asks me to interview him for the “behind-the-scenes� DVD extras. Ernie obliges but calls Houghton Lake, “Hooten Lake�, and snowmobiles buzz all around. I don’t know what we can or can’t salvage out of that but I’m sure we can pull out a few good lines.

Monday, January 30, 2006

Today it was tough to get back into swing of things after the weekend. This morning, we filmed a very long scene in the ice shanty set with Wayne David Parker a.k.a. Daba (who was also in Rich’s movie BARN RED) and Grant Krause. These two guys are hilarious. Grant looks and acts like Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame. The scene is that they are looking at a monitor involving a camera they drop down into an ice hole. They see a sunken snowmobile and then they see the big monster pike who inhales Tony’s cell phone that falls into the hole. Just before lunch, Tony drops the phone into the hole, but we discover at lunch, he has dropped it “open.� And when we see it on the lake floor, it is closed. Hence, there is a major continuity problem. Rich and the team say this is a “Matt Kinne� problem, and every time since in the afternoon, all problems are called a “Matt Kinne� problem. Sheeech! But, the problem is easily fixed. We shoot it again just after lunch. And then we do a quick follow up scene without trouble. Then we go outside to the Houghton Lake Cosmetology School and shoot a parade scene with Daba, Grant and Kimberly. Quick, painless and we’re out. But, it’s snowing and some “driving around shots� won’t work. They won’t match continuity wise and Rich decides to scrap it until later, which is OK because we are ahead of schedule. Instead, we shoot the scene where the monster pike trashes the shanty. It takes a little longer than expected and we wrap at 6:15pm. We still eat dinner just fine, but right after dinner, we go outside and shoot the shanty out on the ice as the snow is flying. That takes awhile to fire off and we do a final wrap at 8:15. So, it’s a very, very long day, and we are all pooped and I will stop writing.