Three sentence movie reviews: Thirteen

thirteen

I’ve been meaning to see this since its debut in 2003, because I knew it would be a good movie, but I also knew it would be a hard movie. And man, was it a hard movie, partially because it was written by a thirteen-year-old girl.  Super props for the mom character though, as she was well-rounded in a way mothers in film usually aren’t.

Cost: $11.00 (Half of the $22.00 POWFest double feature)
Where watched:  Hollywood Theater

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/2003/thirteen.html

POWFest: Catherine Hardwicke

Thank goodness I signed up for the Hollywood Theater’s newsletter, or this opportunity would have passed me by.  Two movies I’ve been meaning to see– Miss You Already, Thirteen–plus a conversation with the director, Catherine Hardwicke? Yes please!

IMG_5093

Hardwicke was interviewed by Melissa Silverstein, founder and editor of Women & Hollywood, the site where (among other things) you can sign up for a weekly email of movies about, written, or directed by women.

IMG_5091

Hardwicke told us some great stories.  Among them:

  • The movie treatment for Twilight was rejected by every studio.  Hardwicke thought it would be successful, given the online chatter.  She was told that the only market for a Twilight movie would be 400 teenage girls in Salt Lake City.
  • After having the #1 movie in the country (Twilight) she did not receive a car or a three-picture deal from the studio, as is common practice for male directors.  Instead, there were balloons and mini-cupcakes.
  • She was told that the 69 million Twilight made its first weekend was probably all it was going to make–that everyone who was going to see it had already done so.  Instead, it went on to make 400 million dollars.
  • Hardwicke had the option of directing the second movie in the Twilight series, but declined.  She assumed the studio would hire another woman director.  They did not.  The next four Twilight movies, all four Hunger Games movies and all three Divergent movies have been directed by men.
  • Movies made by women don’t get the advertising budgets that movies made by men do.   Hardwicke pointed out that we probably never saw an ad for Miss You Already.
  • She wrote Thirteen with Nikki Reed when Reed was 13.  They mostly wrote the script over six days while Reed was on winter break.
  • Hardwicke was also a production designer and worked on Tank Girl which she said was very fun.
  • To be a director with a project that goes, you have to have about eighteen projects going.
  • IMG_5097

This was a great program and I was sad to note that most of the seats in the theater were empty.  Why weren’t more people attending?  Then I realized that I’m interested in women’s voices in film, yet I’ve never attended the POWFest.  I also don’t tend to prioritize watching female created/centered films in the theater, but rather wait for them on DVD.  I’ve made a pledge to return to POWFest next year and to make more of an effort to prioritize women’s films.

Miss You Already

miss_you_already

Birth, death and other stuff, with two wonderful actresses we don’t get to see enough of.*  This movie doesn’t shy away from the cancer stuff, though it also takes a twist not typical of cancer movies.  Overall, a really fabulous film and unfortunately overlooked.

Cost:  $11.00 (one half of $22.00 ticket for the Catherine Hardwicke Double Feature at the POWFeset.)
Where watched: Hollywood Theater

*Plus Dominic Cooper, aka “Bucky” in Captain America.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/intl/uk/2015/miss_you_already.html
Good lord but I love Toni Collette’s necklaces!

McMenamins Hotel Oregon

McMinnville is further away than I thought, but we eventually got there.IMG_5070

I was hungry, so we walked up (and up, and up, and up) to the Rooftop Bar, which was great!  And is probably simply marvelous in the summer.IMG_5072

After we ate, we walked around outside and Matt posed for a picture with the pointy thing.IMG_5073

We went looking for the answer to the clue, which was “Kiss Me I’m Irish”.  This woodcut was not the answer, but I thought it was incredible.IMG_5074

I took a picture of this one because it was the most Irish one I had come across.  It was not, however, the answer.IMG_5076

Hey look! It’s a room named after Oregon’s most famous Suffragette.IMG_5077

This was the answer to the clue.  Tough one.  I’m not sure if Matt found it on his own (I tend to dawdle when looking) but I heard someone point it out to someone else.  I’m not sure if I would have noticed it on my own.IMG_5078

My completed page.  The Rooftop Bar guy stamped my first stamp in the wrong place. And then the Pub guy stamped that square in the wrong place.  So it got all messed up.  Matt’s was fine, however.IMG_5085

Our prizes.  I opted for the two magnets.  (An $11.00 value).  Matt opted for a sleeve for his pint glass.  Then he wondered why.IMG_5086

On the way back to the car we encountered this duo, who were dancing to Beyonce’s “Put a Ring on It”.  They were fun to watch.2016-03-05

SEI classroom signs

I’ve been volunteering with Minds Matter, and we meet at S.E.I. in what appears to be a math and science classroom. The signs on the wall amuse me, so I thought I would share them with you.

I just noticed this one today.  I’m not sure how long it’s been up.

IMG_5066

This fraction poster puts me at ease.  Look how nicely all the fractions fit together.IMG_5067

The kind of sign that always annoyed me as a student, yet I never could look away.  Notice how the letters are all color coded, so you can match them up.IMG_5068

I really like these hand-written statements about S.E.I.IMG_5069