An Exceptionally Good Enough Film Character #thursday #atozchallenge

“...I’ve completely lost myself and I don’t mind, I can’t say no to you. Shouldn’t let you conquer me completely, now I can’t let go of this dream, can’t believe that I feel good enough, I feel good enough...It’s been such a long time coming but I feel good...and I’m still waiting for the rain to fall, pouring life down on me, cause I can’t hold on to anything this good enough, am I good enough for you to love me to?”

“Good Enough” by Evanescence song may refer to a person of romantic interest or maybe a friend. It’s slow and easy to get wrapped up in but despite Amy Lee’s strong vocals, “Men of Honor” starring Robert DeNiro and Cuba Gooding Jr. is the only movie I can think of that could fit the theme -- and this dramatic film is far from romantic!

In "Men of Honor,” a Cuba Gooding Jr. portrays a man named Carl Brashear who had to be more than good enough -- he had to “be the best” for the purposes of honoring his father's memory and also because that was the only way to overcome racial slurs, sabotage and related hardships that he endured while training to be a Navy diver.

One key takeaway that stands out in this film is, even though the main character was the best among those in this training program, most of his peers still did not consider him to be good enough for the Navy, in a society that thought he didn't belong. Respect, however, is what this character did gain, despite still not being seen as being good enough to befriend or socialize with in any other environment outside of the Navy.

Using the scene in “Men of Honor” where Carl Brashear has to assemble a flange underwater, as inspiration, host a Navy themed pool party where guests have to play an underwater scavenger hunt game -- call it “Race to be Master Chief” or something like that. Fill the bottom of your pool with toy fish or other toy sea creatures, treasure bottles and other nautical trinkets and then instruct party guests to enter the pool, in search for specific sea props within 60 seconds or less. You can choose a winner in either one of two ways:

 1. The “diver” who comes out of the pool with the most items in the least amount of time wins this underwater scavenger hunt game.

-or-

2. The “diver” who comes out of the pool with the most valuable items wins this pool party game. You will need to allocate a certain amount of points for each item that is placed in the pool in advance, for this option to work. For example: Plastic fish are worth 10 points, Sea Shells are worth 5 points and Starfish are worth 20 points, and so on. Therefore, the person who has the most points based on what he or she found in the pool is the winner.

Depending on what kind of items you use for this pool party game, you may also be able to allocate different point levels for a variety of fish or other sea life. For example: Plastic lobsters are worth 50 points, blue fish are worth 30 points, etc. Either way you do it, just make sure to designate someone to keep a tally of all of the points for each player.

Do YOU feel Good Enough?
If so, how did YOU come to this conclusion?
If not, what will it take for YOU to get there?
What exactly does Good Enough mean anyway; and is this meaning, indeed, good enough for YOU?

Deep Cover Partying with a Disney Twist! #atozchallenge

 

"Yeah, and you don't stop, 'cause it's 1-8-7 on an undercover cop..." 

"Deep Cover" by Dr. Dre is one of those songs that you can just sit back in a lounge chair or a car and bop your head to the beat. Introducing Snoop Dogg to the rap music scene, this tune was produced as the theme song for the crime thriller, “Deep Cover” starring actors Laurence Fishburne and Jeff Goldblum. The movie is about a uniformed police officer who infiltrates a drug smuggling organization to help the DEA prosecute the criminal network’s main boss and stop cocaine from being imported into their jurisdiction.

The movie plot in “Deep Cover” involves lot of corruption in various areas of the criminal justice system, from cops to lawyers. It got me thinking about the way cops are portrayed in the movies and more often than not, they are presented in a bad light. Our February 2012 King Dong, Denzel Washington played a dirty cop in “Training Day” and Keeanu Reeves was a corrupt police officer who did not play by the rules in “Street Kings.” Hollywood seems to thrive on story lines where cops are of low moral character and it appears to be rare for audiences to find a good cop on the big screen -- regardless of whether they are detectives, street cops or undercover police offers.

Good cops, just like movies with good cops in them, however, are out there -- as depicted in “Miss Congeniality” where Sandra Bullock plays an FBI Special Agent who goes undercover as a beauty pageant contestant to prevent a terrorist attack. So the next time you have a holiday party or other social gathering, try putting a positive masquerade type of spin on the whole undercover cop plot for some lighthearted fun. Host a masquerade party based on Disney's "Tinker Bell" movie, where your female guests are required to dress like Disney fairies.

All of the fairies don't have to be based on a fairy who is in the movie, which provides more flexibility for your guests to choose one based on who they like and/or the costumes that they can easily put together at a moment’s notice. Bess, for example, would be my personal choice despite the fact that she's only in the books since this particular Disney Fairy appears to be the only one whose favorite color matches a party mask that I already own. She and I also seem to have a lot in common -- go figure! She likes to paint. I like to draw. She likes blueberry pie. I like blueberry cobbler. She is messy. I tend to not only be messy but also very unorganized -- have you even seen my non-alphabetized movie collection?! Case closed.

 

During your party, provide all guests with a pencil and pieces of paper to write down who they think is under the mask during a fun guessing game. The object of this game is to try to figure out which guest is posing as what Fairy. Now, how is THAT for a little no-so-private investigation where the scene is more colorful and no one is at risk of getting shot or arrested?!!

Did you know? - Late actress Brittany Murphy was originally selected to play Tinker Bell in the Disney movie, before the role went to Mae Whitman!

If YOU (or your wife, girlfriend, daughter, etc.) were to attend a party dressed as a Disney Fairy, which one would you pick (or recommend to the female in your life) to go undercover as a masked fairy?

 *Disney fairy costume photo by Maryssa.

Creating Around-the-Clock Cinemas #atozchallenge

“Confusion never stops, closing walls and ticking clocks...am I a part of the cure or am I a part of the disease?”

"Clocks" by Coldplay is a groovy song that I listen to during moments of relaxation or times when I need a pick-me-up. Since I don't know what this song is about, however, let's talk about the seconds, minutes and hours in a day, instead -- particulary as these elements pertain to shorts.

Wouldn’t it be cool if movie theaters that only show short films existed? As it stands, film festivals and special one-off screenings are the only places where you can usually find short films to watch. If there was an independent theater or cineplex that opened to screen short films exclusively, this could probably be a nice little market that catered to audiences who sought convenient forms of entertainment in the middle of their busy day. Consider this, there are times when you may not have enough time to sit through a two-hour long movie -- especially when you factor in movie previews, pre-shows, corporate advertisements and all of the other onscreen junk that many cineplexes screen before the scheduled showtime.

Case in point, last month I went to a popular sports bar for dinner with a friend and we had to wait more than 45 minutes just to get a table. Although we managed to pass the time by checking out the games at Parx Casino in Bensalem, PA, an estimated hour and 30 minutes (yeah!..and the food wasn’t even that great) is a hell of a long time to wait around for dinner. We could have watched several short films within that time frame. However, if we went to a movie theater to check out a feature length film such as Tyler Perry’s “Good Deeds,” we would have wasted an extra hour and possibly missed our table call. Imagine if there was a movie theater where you could go and check out a film instantly, knowing that it will be over in like 10 or 15 minutes -- wouldn’t that be a more enjoyable way to spend your time in certain circumstances?

 While you ponder that idea for a moment, consider turning your home into a private movie theater the next time you host a birthday party or other social event. Tell guests to RSVP for tickets to see different films that are scheduled to play at your house at different times of the day.

You can rent films that neither you nor your guests have yet watched from places like Blockbuster, pull out some home movies to reminisce about or host a screening of independent films. The latter can be done by contacting the filmmakers directly or participating in international DIY film festivals such as Future Shorts, Secret Cinema or Couch Fest Films.

No matter how you select films to play at your makeshift movie theater, make it an all day marathon event, complete with a midnight awards ceremony where "The Academy" (made up of guests at your party) nominate and select winning films based on what they saw at your house. The guests who voted for those winning films get to "Win" their party favors and give an acceptance speech, therefore let them know at the beginning of the party that they have to vote in order to get party favors. Give the guests who voted for losing films different party favors than those of winning films.

What occasion would prompt YOU to turn your house into a movie theater?

Which movies would be on YOUR DIY cinema marquee?

Who would you invite to come visit YOUR spontaneous DIY home theater?

Would YOU buy tickets to see short films as a way to pass the time before doing other tasks such as waiting for a table at a restaurant, picking someone up at the airport, etc.?