From: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com (aml-list-digest) To: aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: aml-list-digest V1 #866 Reply-To: aml-list Sender: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-aml-list-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk aml-list-digest Friday, October 18 2002 Volume 01 : Number 866 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 03:26:52 -0600 From: "Thom Duncan" Subject: Re: [AML] Lee Benson on _Charly_ >The truth is, this movie is speaking to people (as Kim Madsen's post about the effect it had on the teenagers in the car illustrates). We have been getting all kinds of emails and calls from people who have seen it and have had some deep, moving experiences. That doesn't mean a thing when it comes to whether a film, play, or book is good. There are objective qualities by which these things can and should be judged. Popularity should mean nothing. A poor film that speaks to people says more about the sorry state of the people who are moved by it. (Again, I have not seen Charly and offer no opinion as to its artistic integrity -- I speak generally). >The story and the characters are getting inside people's minds and hearts in a meaningful way. So I think the filmmakers did some good. After all, on some level it's about the audience, isn't it? (Now that's an artistic can of worms if there ever was one...) Only a film's popularity can be judged by how many people it positively affects. Popularity and actual artistic quality are two different things. Rarely, as in the case of Schindler's List, both exist in the same production. We Mormon artists should not settle for films or plays or books that are only popular. Thom Duncan - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 11:01:46 -0500 From: "Preston" Subject: [AML] "The Work and the Story" Check out http://www.theworkandthestory.com/ New graphics and taglines for "The Work and the Story" "Large egos. Big dreams. Small budgets." If there is any question that Nathan Smith Jones has a truly whacked-out, reality-bending mind, check out the macabre text in the movie graphic: "Richard Dutcher: 1964-2000 R.I.P." The founder of MORMON CINEMA is missing and presumed DEAD... And the race to take his place HAS BEGUN. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 11:02:52 -0600 From: "Brown" Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops Whoa! My bishop, Bishop Whitney in Hobble Creek Canyon here in Springville was a sheriff! THE WHOLE TIME. He was a FANTASTIC BISHOP! Marilyn Brown - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 13:58:12 -0600 From: "Clark Goble" Subject: RE: [AML] Single Bishops ___ | She said she saw Brigham City and could not take it seriously | from the very beginning because a sheriff would never be | called to be a bishop. ___ Hmm. I don't see why. My last bishop and his councilor were high up in the Springville police department. Admittedly we were a "BYU" singles ward. So perhaps we don't count. But still... - -- Clark Goble --- clark@lextek.com ----------------------------- - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 23:37:08 EDT From: LSWeber@aol.com Subject: [AML] Re: Membership Records (was: Single Bishops) In a message dated 10/16/2002 11:02:07 PM Eastern Standard Time, djdick@gsvms2.cc.gasou.edu writes: > Actually, the membership department gets fooled rather often. I've had an idea for a short story for some time. It's about a woman whose membership records get moved to a new area before she physically moves. Her name is not gender specific. Somebody from the new ward calls her and leaves a message on her answering machine and she realizes that they think she's a man. Somehow, there's a mistake in her records indicating that she's a male. She cuts her hair, dresses as a man, and shows up to church. I'm not sure how to get around the PH thing, but maybe she's a fairly new member, and is able to be ordained to the PH. I'm not sure if it should be a comedy or a drama. I don't know if I'll ever write it, let alone publish it, but I liked the idea. Any takers? Lloyd the lurker LSWeber@aol.com - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2002 23:53:55 -0500 From: "webmaster" Subject: [AML] Box Office Report Oct. 11 02 Feature Films by LDS/Mormon Filmmakers and Actors Weekend Box Office Report (U.S. Domestic Box Office Gross) Weekend of October 11, 2002 Report compiled by: LDSFilm.com [If table below doesn't line up properly, try looking at them with a mono-spaced font, such as Courier - Ed.] Natl Film Title Weekend Gross Rank LDS/Mormon Filmmaker/Actor Total Gross Theaters Days - --- ----------------------------- ----------- ----- ---- 23 Punch-Drunk Love 367,203 5 3 Actors: Stevens brothers 367,203 David Stevens, Nathan Stevens, Jim Smooth Stevens; Michael D. Stevens 29 Master of Disguise 217,517 846 73 Perry Andelin Blake (director) 39,751,057 46 Jack Weyland's Charly 51,645 28 17 Adam Anderegg (director) 247,342 Jack Weyland (book author) Janine Gilbert (screenwriter) Lance Williams, Micah Merrill (producers) Tip Boxell (co-producer) Bengt Jan Jonsson (cinematographer) Aaron Merrill (composer) Actors: Heather Beers, Jeremy Elliott, Adam Johnson, Jackie Winterrose Fullmer, Diana Dunkley, Gary Neilson, Lisa McCammon, Randy King, Bernie Diamond, etc. 48 Minority Report 47,905 76 115 Gerald Molen (producer) ~131,888,000 53 City by the Sea 41,116 85 38 Eliza Dushku (actress) 22,226,347 57 Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man 34,449 6 892 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 14,115,479 64 Possession 23,059 53 59 Neil LaBute (director) 10,103,647 Aaron Eckhart (lead male actor) 66 Handcart 20,000 18 3 Kels Goodman (director/DP) 20,000 David Greenslaw Sapp (producer) Mark von Bowers (screenwriter) Eric M. Hanson (composer) Actor: Jaelan Petrie, Stephanie Albach Chris Kendrick, Shannon Skinner, Gretchen Condie 84 ESPN's Ultimate X 5,198 8 157 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 4,181,801 91 China: The Panda Adventure 3,997 5 444 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 2,871,543 95 The Singles Ward 3,633 9 255 Kurt Hale (writer/director) 1,243,926 John E. Moyer (writer) Dave Hunter (producer) Ryan Little (cinematographer) Cody Hale (composer) Actors: Will Swenson, Connie Young, Daryn Tufts, Kirby Heyborne, Michael Birkeland, Robert Swenson, Wally Joyner, Lincoln Hoppe, Sedra Santos, etc. 98 Galapagos 3,336 4 1081 Reed Smoot (cinematographer) 13,730,519 110 Ziggy Stardust & Spiders from Mars 820 2 96 Mick Ronson (2nd billed actor) 115,669 116 Mark Twain's America 3D 361 2 1564 Alan Williams (composer) 2,273,678 117 The Other Side of Heaven 259 2 304 Mitch Davis (writer/director) 4,716,644 John H. Groberg (author/character) Gerald Molen, John Garbett (producers) KEENE CURTIS DIES - Prolific stage, screen and TV actor actor Keene Curtis died Sunday morning at the age of 79. You probably saw him on television on "Cheers" or as Daddy Warbucks in the motion picture version of "Annie". Curtis, a Latter-day Saint from Bountiful, Utah, won a Tony Award in 1971 for the Broadway musical "The Rothschilds." TOP STORIES AT THE BOX OFFICE: HANDCART AND PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE: Opening only in New York and Los Angeles, "Punch-Drunk Love" topped the per-theater chart with a truly astounding $73,441 per theater in 5 theaters. This means that the $25 million-budgeted film took in $367,203 at the box office in its first weekend. Raving critical acclaim and legions of Adam Sandler fans almost guarantee financial success for "Punch-Drunk Love." The surprisingly violent and profane, strongly R-rated P.T. Anderson feature film is partially set in Utah and features as Adam Sandler's nemesis 4 brothers from Provo, Utah (played by 4 LDS actors who are actually brothers). In the movie the main villain -- the businessman Dean Trumbell played by Philip Seymour Hoffman -- is also based in Provo, but there is no indication that he is LDS (and the actor is not LDS.) "Handcart" opened in 18 theaters, with a per-screen average of more than $1,000 per theater. Final numbers aren't in yet, but the movie grossed approximately $20,000 over the weekend. It opened across Utah and in Cardston, Canada. It will soon open in Idaho, Arizona and Nevada. Early reports are that audiences love "Handcart" and word-of-mouth should bring more viewers to theaters. Utah's major newspapers, the Deseret News and Salt Lake Tribune, both gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars. The company distributing "Handcart" is Media Partners, based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are the distributor for one other movie being currenly in theaters: "Road." A Hindi ("Bollywood") film being released simultaneously in India and the United States, "Road" was directed by Rajat Mukherjee and written by Rajnish Thakur. It stars Manoj Bajpai, Vivek Oberoi, Antara Mali and Makrand Deshpande. Media Partners is a new company that previously released "Kuch Tum Kaho Kuch Hum Kahein," directed by Ravi Shankar, in the U.S. -- on 28 June 2002. "Road" opened on September 27th and grossed $107,676 (in the U.S.) in its first 10 days of release, playing in 20 theaters the first weekend and 17 theaters the second weekend. "Handcart" opened in 28 theaters, and if it achieves figures similar to "Road", it might be on its way to being a financial success -- as "Handcart" cost only $300,000 to make and very little is being spent on promotion and advertising. NEW RELEASES GALORE: This was a VERY busy weekend for new movies, with at least 18 movies opening in nationwide or limited release: Handcart Brown Sugar The Transporter White Oleander Tuck Everlasting Knockaround Guys The Rules of Attraction Pokemon 4Ever Punch-Drunk Love Swept Away Bowling for Columbine Below Comedian Safe Conduct Andrei Tarkovsky Retrospective Ash Wednesday Sade Cuba Feliz "Handcart" is one of the best of these new releases. Based on what we've gleaned from reviews (check out RottenTomatoes.com)... Knockaround Guys, The Rules of Attraction, Pokemon 4Ever, Swept Away, The Transporter, Ash Wednesday and Sade are all dreck or worse than dreck. The African-American romantic drama "Brown Sugar", "White Oleander" starring an incarcerated Michelle Pfieffer, Disney's "Tuck Everlasting", Kels Goodman's Latter-day Saint-themed "Handcart" and Michael Moore's documenary "Bowling for Columbine" are the best movies that opened this weekend. HANDCART REVIEWS - Salt Lake Tribune's Sean P. Means seems to be the local reviewer that liked "Handcart" the most. He specifically wrote that he likes "Handcart" better than "Charly" or "The Singles Ward", and gave it a better score: 2.5 stars. Deseret News reviewer Jeff Vice gave it 2.5 stars as well. Not bad. "Charly" now shows up on RottenTomatoes.com (finally). These developments mean adjustments to the mathematically-computed "Top LDS Film Directors" list - you can find the most recent results on the bottom of our home page: http://www.ldsfilm.com EIGHT-COW FILM - The Polynesian-themed feature film "The Legend of Johnny Lingo," financed by Morinda, Inc., the Tahitian Nonie Juice Company, is currently in post-production. Principal photography began on July 8, 2002 in Auckland, New Zealand and then moved to the island of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Academy Award-winning producer Jerry Molen along with veteran producer John Garbett brought in the critically acclaimed Polynesian screenwriter Riwia Brown ("Once We Were Warriors") to write the script. The film will be the feature film debut for Latter-day Saint film editor Steven Ramirez. ECLIPSE: A GREAT NAME FOR A FILM FESTIVAL - The judges for the upcoming Eclipse Film Festival have been announced. They are Deseret News features editor (and former movie reviewer) Chris Hicks, feature film director Rocco DeVilliers, cinematographer T.C. Christensen and casting director Jennifer Buster. These are excellent, talented individuals. And a group of people quite capable of understanding and appreciating locally made films. Seriously, if you didn't submit your film to Eclipse, you should be kicking yourself about now. Latter-day Saint filmmakers who are past Eclipse winners include Bryan Lefler and Krisi Church. Find out more at: http://www.eclipsefilmfest.com/judges.html The full schedule for the Eclipse Film Festival has been posted on their site. There are Feature Film Q & A sessions with the directors, and screenings of the films, for T.C. Christensen's "Bug Off!" and Eric Hendershot's "Clubhouse Detectives". Krisi Church's "Shattered" (from last year) is going to be shown. Christian Vuissa's "Roots & Wings" is in competition, and is being screened twice. There's also Michael Buster ("God's Army", "Out of Step"), starring in the short comedy "Summer House." Plus Ryan Jensen's "Signal Strength" and the new Chet Thomas/Darrin Fletcher film "Simplicity." The awards ceremony will be hosted by KSL's Dick Norris. The post-award party features Jerone Wedig and Mystery Train. Plus tons of other films from all over the world. This is really an amazing lineup. You do NOT want to miss this film festival. VOLUNTEER FOR THUNDERBIRD - A wide variety of volunteer positions at the Thunderbird International Film Festival in Cedar City, Utah are available. Past winners at the festival include Richard Dutcher's "Brigham City" and Kurt Hale's "The Singles Ward." More information at: http://www.thunderbirdfilmfestival.suu.edu/contact.html MERRILL ON BENSON ON CHARLY - Lee Benson is a very good person and a nice guy. But we have no idea where his brain was when he dissed the movie "Jack Weyland's Charly" in his column a couple weeks ago. Evidently Academy Award-winning director Kieth Merrill wondered the same thing. He rebuked Benson in a letter to the editor published in the Deseret News: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,410018431,00.html Writing a negative review is one thing. We have no problem with that. But Benson wrote an all-out, ethnically-tinged assault. BRIGHAM CITY ON VIDEO - It's already out in DVD format, or you can rent the video, but word from Richard Dutcher is that the VHS version of "Brigham City" is now available, but only through the Excel Entertainment web site (www.clicktobuyonline.com) and LDS bookstores. (A shelf-full of the videos was spotted today in a Dallas LDS bookstore, so they're probably available across the country by now.) From the Excel Entertainment press release: "Richard Dutcher's hit motion picture BRIGHAM CITY will be available for purchase on VHS beginning today, October 15, EXCLUSIVELY at LDS Bookstores, and online at http://www.clicktobuyonline.com (Available everywhere else next spring.) Using the backdrop of a riveting murder mystery and a gripping final scene, this thriller sends a profound message of hope and redemption that makes repeated viewing a must." CHARLY SOUNDTRACK AVAILABLE at: http://www.clicktobuyonline.com/master.phtml?sb=0&page=det&prodid=480 Soundtrack CDs are also been available at LDS bookstores and related outlets for: "God's Army" "The Other Side of Heaven" "The Singles Ward." And "Welcome to Brigham" is the excellent CD featuring songs by Latter-day Saint artists inspired by the movie "Brigham City" although technically it is not a soundtrack. The "Out of Step" CD can be ordered online at LDHarvest.com and should be on store shelves soon. "Handcart" is the only Latter-day Saint-featured film without a soundtrack CD available. SHAMELESS PLUG: Film composer (and LDSFilm.com co-webmaster) Thomas C. Baggaley also wants to remind you that if you're in an LDS bookstore Brigham City, you should be able to find a copy of his CD, "Spirit of the Sabbath." It probably won't not be on the shelf next to "Brigham City," but we imagine the CD section isn't too far away.) SOMEONE WAS WATCHING - Latter-day Saint filmmakers Mark Goodman and Lee Groberg's new feature-length drama "Someone Was Watching" recently went on sale on DVD and VHS at LDHarvest.com. We have previously announced that this movie won the "Best Feature" and "Audience Choice" awards at the SLC Film Fest a month or two ago. But we just learned that "Someone" has garnered top honors at the Columbus Film Festival (in Ohio) as well. The movie won a coveted Chris Award. This is one of the biggest--and most important--festivals in the U.S. Note that the DVD release has a number of special features, including some deleted scenes. By the way, Mark Goodman and Lee Groberg, the award-winning team behind the PBS documentaries "Trail of Hope: The Story of the Mormon Trail" (1997), "American Prophet: The Joseph Smith Story" (1999) and "Sacred Stone" (Nauvoo Temple documentary), as well as the award-winning drama "Someone Was Watching", are in pre-production on their next feature, based on an original story by Goodman. It's a coming-of-age story set in a small town during the tumultuous 60's. Like "Someone Was Watching," this is a fairly low budget production, but if investors are interested in participating financially, it's not too late to contact them. Frequent Goodman collaborator James G. Jordan is also one of the producers of "Someone Was Watching" and the new project. CALL OF STORY - BYU Creative Works is now selling Latter-day Saint filmmaker Sterling Van Wagenen's new documentary "Call of Story" - go to http://www.creativeworks.byu.edu/catalog/index.cgi?userid=102-1034309054-868 &KB844=Video to find out more. SEA ANGEL - Jaelan Petrie (lead actor in "Handcart") is the lead in Paul Green and Dave Skousen's newest film with the working title of "The Sea Angel" and is now two days deep into principle photography. The short film is set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 23:23:38 -0400 From: "Eric D. Snider" Subject: Re: [AML] Movie Death Wish Scenes Eric Samuelsen, on "The Singles Ward" (the movie, not the ward): > > But doesn't the fact that a story is told in the medium of film suggest that it's aiming for, at least at some level, something resembling a broad popular audience? If the intended audience for Singles Ward was solely Wasatch front Mormons, then it's unlikely, it seems to me, to be particularly profitable. Watching "The Singles Ward," I can't imagine the filmmakers having any hopes of pleasing anyone OTHER than Mormons. The jokes, plot and culture portrayed in the film simply wouldn't appeal to non-Mormons. They not only wouldn't get the jokes, but they wouldn't "get" the culture, either. It's a very, very inclusive film. In this case, being inclusive didn't matter. The film reportedly cost $400,000 to make (and to look at the film, someone must be walking around with $398,000 in his pocket, but that's another matter). It has thus far grossed about $1.2 million, and that's before video/DVD sales. It's a box office success, for sure -- not a $100 million blockbuster, but in terms of turning a profit and being popular among its target audience (Wastach Front Mormons), it's succeeded. And that galloping sound you hear is the four horsemen of the apocalypse, coming to herald the end of the world. Eric D. Snider - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 09:21:28 -0500 From: "Rose Green" Subject: [AML] Kimberly HEUSTON, _The Shakeress_ (Review) The Shakeress Kimberly Heuston Front Street, Asheville, NC, 2002 hardcover, 207 pages ISBN 1-886910-56-1 US $16.95 While interested in all kinds of LDS literature, my main interest at the moment is that which is published on the national market by Latter-day Saints. The other kind of literature I find myself reading a lot of these days is young adult; sometime when I don't have three preschoolers at home anymore I plan to flesh out all the half-finished scenes and plots filed away and produce a YA book myself. So, when I found this book on the new YA shelf at my local public library, I of course immediately checked it out. I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. The _Shakeress_ works as both a mainstream YA novel and also as a work discussing religion. The Library of Congress gives it a variety of classifications: 1) Shakers-Fiction, 2) Mormons-Fiction, 3) Orphans-Fiction, 4) Self-realization-Fiction, 5) Spirituality-Fiction, and 6) New England-Fiction. Quite a lot to accomplish in 207 pages! The story begins in 1828 with almost-13-year-old Naomi, who has recently lost her parents and baby brother in a fire. She and her remaining siblings are living with their crabby Aunt Thankful, who plans to send Naomi off to work in a mill to help support them. To avoid separation, Naomi decides to take her family and join the Shakers, an orderly community happy to accept children, since they do not produce them themselves. There she and her siblings become a part of the group, gradually finding a place there. By age 16, however, Naomi finds that she cannot totally embrace Shakerism, and the last half of the book sees her in Vermont in the early 1830s, trying to earn her keep with her knowledge of herbs and medicines. Although she is known as the Shaker girl, she begins to have experiences that bring her in contact with Mormonism. Her character is well-drawn, and her progression through the Free Will Baptists and the Shakers to the point of interest in the Latter-day Saints is both believable and complimentary to the faiths she leaves behind. This is a major strength of the book; for an LDS-themed book to do well in the national market, it helps to present other views in a well-balanced light. Not only does it make such a story more appealing to a mainstream audience, it also makes the character seem more complete and more solidly motivated. It certainly does not detract from what is quintessentially an LDS novel--the conversion story. For all that, Heuston does not try to provide all the answers to every problem. Instead, she focuses on the most important questions of one individual, and does an admirable job of showing these kinds of answers in a very personal way: "Feeling a little foolish, she closed her eyes and bowed her head, trying to open herself up to a still place of deep listening. Dear Lord, do You have a favorite flower? Mine is violets. "The answer came quickly, not in words but in a parcel of images that together suggested an understanding and acceptance of Naomi more complete than anything she had ever experienced. In her mind's eye she saw the pressed violets in the family Bible to mark her mother's favorite scripture. What was it? Romans 8:35-39. 'In all these things we are more than conquerers through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life...nor things present, nor things to come...shall be able to separate us from the love of God.' Naomi felt as though she had come home to a warm and cheerful kitchen after a long journey. Violets. Of course. What else could it be?" And so opens her prayer to find out the answer to that one most important question, whether or not she should accept Mormonism. The book works very well as a whole. The only complaint I might have pacing. One or two jumps over large chunks of time can pass unnoticed, but once Naomi was in Vermont, they seemed to be unnecessary and frequent. Other than this, I enjoyed the book and will be looking out for the next book by Kimberly Heuston. Rose Green _________________________________________________________________ Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 22:42:42 -0500 From: Justin Halverson Subject: RE: [AML] Johnny Lingo Eric Samuelson wrote "For best film, there were several candidates, including Man's Search for Happiness and Windows of Heaven. Worst film, hands down, was Johnny Lingo, with Cipher in the Snow a distant second. Students almost universally found it tremendously sexist and more than a little racist. (Girls hated it a lot more than boys did, I found)." Craig Huls wrote: "I have counseled LDS youth with low self-esteem issues and you cannot believe how often "Johnny Lingo" and "Cipher in the Snow" have kept me working and pleading for divine intervention by the peers of those youth to come to their aid. I have used CITS in teaching youth and I have seen it touch and change the lives and relationships within a quorum. It is still IMHO a tool of value. Get a SS class into a discussion of what the objective of JL was and how it was addressed and soon the methods are less important than the issue that was being addressed." Long time listener, first time caller. I'm guessing that the main reasons Eric Samuelson's students voted Johnny Lingo one of the worst LDS films have little to do with their production values or methods--Man's Search for Happiness and Windows of Heaven are not, IMO, any better in this category. The latter are superior, however, in that they get their message across without denigrating anyone the way Johnny Lingo openly does. If JL is about self-esteem, it certainly isn't Mahanna's self-esteem. I can tell that she's terribly objectified, and I'm not even a feminist (how's that for objectification?). She's got what, two lines in the whole film? To quote Jeff Bridges as "the Dude" (not in Johnny Lingo, BTW, in case you were wondering if I found some bootleg copy): "He treats objects like women, man." The name of the film is indicative of who the central character is and what the movie is really about. I'd like to see a film where Mahanna has some say in who she becomes, where her self esteem depends on more than the whim of a wealthy bachelor. A film that might better help Craig Huls get through to girls and boys who aren't so lucky. Justin Halverson - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 21:10:11 -0700 From: "jana" Subject: Re: [AML] Diversity in Mormon Literature Neil Aiken asked: > 1) Where are the writings of faithful Mormons of other ethnicities and > cultures? My husband's short story, Ojiichan's Funeral, might fall into this category. It's about a Japanese/American missionary who attends his Japanese grandfather's Buddhist funeral. Look for it in the next issue of Sunstone, which should be out any day now. Jana Remy - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 18:31:49 -0400 From: Tony Markham Subject: Re: [AML] Mormon Villains in Movies I don't know if these films have been discussed on this list prior to my joining it or not, but they ought to have been: SLC Punk, and Stranger Than Fiction. Both are set in and prominently feature Salt Lake City. SLC Punk doesn't have a villain, other than ennui, but Stranger Than Fiction has a kind of twisted, chilling murderer at its heart. You watch these films and just assume the characters are Mormons without their ever having to say so. To my mind this is progress. With the release of Handcart making so much of a splash, I'm reminded of a film I worked on years ago, fresh out of BYU film school based on the Martin and Willie companies. Called "Perilous Journey," written and directed by John Linton in Sandy, UT. He was a bishop and a High School science teacher. Linton had made a few other films, but Perilous Journey was my personal intro to the nitty-gritty of filmmaking. It was hard work. The script was flawed, but I think we got a lot of bang for our buck. I've done web searches for John Linton and his film, but nothing. Does anybody know this guy? His company was 7-Star Productions? The villain in this movie was cold and hunger. If PJ were re-released today, I'll bet it would do well. Tony Markham - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 00:14:28 EDT From: OmahaMom@aol.com Subject: Re: [AML] Single Bishops You know, there's a wealth of story potential in the foibles and hangups we get as a collective group (not that every individual has them, of course--but they're common enough that we recognize them...) There's the childless couple and all the stories that could be developed around that. And the reactions of those around them--the wannabe grandparents, the busybodies trying to poke their nose in (like the nurse who was chastising me for waiting so long to have my first child at 27--excuse me, I've just been married a year--I couldn't have done it much sooner.) The single coed--who's a BYU senior (heaven forbid) and nary a prince in sight. The missionary stories are wide open--spiritual things, funny things, growth of individuals, growth of the contacts... The stories that could be told by the Primary presidencies, the YW, the YM presidencies... If we get off our hangups about the stories we can or cannot tell, there's lots of stuff out there. Some of the stories will be humorous, some fluff, some intensely moving. But there is a time and a place for most kinds of literature. Karen [Tippets] - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 23:15:57 -0500 From: Justin Halverson Subject: Re: [AML] Satire in BYU Freshman English Amy Chamberlain wrote: >I really like my Monday class. And I like the fact that some Mormons = >really do "get" satire. Even the young ones, who tend to be highly = >conservative.=20 I'm glad to hear this. I taught _Catch-22_ in a BYU GE class last year and had a mixed but overall good experience with it. Satire has always been one of my favorite genres, especially degenerative satire, like Heller and Pynchon et al, but I struggle with where it might fit in an LDS context, in LDS writing. My dad bought me a copy of Catch-22 when I was probably too young for it and it's haunted me ever since; my mission seemed sometimes to be narrated by Yossarian and populated with the grandchildren of the fighting 256th squadron (I'm PFC Wintergreen's snotty grandkid), and I was faced with situation after situation that screamed to be written about in this vein. When I try, though, I find myself going down roads I don't particularly want to tread. I'm wondering if there's a place for this sort of satire in LDS lit. I'm not talking about Kirby's stuff, which to my mind belongs to a different genre, one that pulls us together (hopefully), ultimately builds consensus by showing us how we all screw up from time to time. It's healthy, really fun (if slightly painful at times), and serves a great and needed purpose in our (and probably any) culture. I asked a friend of mine what he thought, whether satire that pulls everything down and asks us to look at even the activity of language itself as potentially (or inherently, depending on the writer) violent could be written faithfully--and if it can what its "uses" might be (I know that's a problematic term in and of itself)--or whether this type of satire and faith are mutually exclusive. He suggested that the only solution he'd been able to come up with was to separate his more academic/intellectual interests from his participation in religion, which seems an unsatisfactory answer for me personally. Any experience with this? Any writers I should look at? I'm sorry to be so vague, but I know I wouldn't sit through a fireside length post on this... Justin Halverson - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 21:49:04 -0700 From: "Jeff Needle" Subject: Re: [AML] Johnny Lingo There was a Sunstone presentation some years ago that featured the worst LDS films ever made. "The Bridge" was one of them. One of the most guilt-inducing things I've ever seen. - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 23:11:42 -0600 From: "Gae Lyn Henderson" Subject: RE: [AML] Johnny Lingo Way back in the early seventies, when I was an undergraduate at BYU, my roommates took to screaming out at odd moments "Mahonna you ugly!" quoting of course the father's curse placed on his daughter that Johnny's blessing deconstructed. In some ways my roommates repeition of that phrase, over and over, reflected the anxiety that young Mormon girls feel in a culture that bases their ultimate success as a person on their role as wife and mother. What is one to do if one is unchosen? Well we get all kinds of talks from church authorities telling us that our prince will come in the millenium, but frankly I believe that is cold comfort. My roommates and I recently had a reunion for 50-year-old birthdays. Our conversation still ran to worry about being overweight, looking old, being single in a married world, how to continue as a single unchosen woman to repress sexuality when it is necessary to be virginal to be worthy and acceptable in church culture. I heard again the scream "Mahonna you ugly!" Some things never change. The film doesn't offer much reassurance because, let's face it, it was fairly obvious that the gorgeous Mahonna hiding behind her hair could be recognized by us viewers as no slouch in the looks department, and Johnny was just smart enough to see her behind that hair hanging down in her face, still choosing based on looks. I think sexist as the little film may be, it does bring up some interesting issues that are very relevant today, just as in the 70s, about how a women is valued in Mormon culture. Gae Lyn Henderson > - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 23:14:22 -0600 From: "Jim/Laurel Brady" Subject: [AML] RE: Sherriff as Bishop a sheriff would never be called to be a bishop. - -- Church policy, according to her, says there's a conflict of interest. I tend - -- to trust her since she knows all sorts of secret things as a church employee. Delurking for just a moment because I couldn't let this one go by. I'm assuming that "sheriff" is being used here kind of generically to mean not only a sheriff, but any police department head (i.e., chief, commander, director, etc.) If there is any such church policy (which I doubt) it's evidently not very carefully enforced. I've worked for three police departments over the past twenty years during the tenure of (I think) seven police chiefs. At least three of those were bishops at the time. I remember very clearly a conversation with one of them in which he recounted going to the home of a ward member to arrest a young man for murder. When he arrived, the young man's mother greeted him with outstretched arms saying, 'Oh, Bishop, we're so glad you're here.' He said he'd never forget how he had to turn away from her without a reply and begin reading her son his rights. I've known lots of police officers - chiefs, a state police commander, captains, lieutenants, sergeants, lowly patrolmen and even a couple undercover cops - who have been bishops (and stake presidents) at one time or another during their career. (One undercover officer used to have his own bishop pick him up on a street corner somewhere late at night for his temple recommend interview. They'd drive around town while the bishop asked the questions, since the officer couldn't risk being seen going into a church.) I don't know anybody better qualified to be a bishop than someone who's seen it all from both sides and has a deep, genuine understanding of - and compassion for - real human trials and tragedies and triumphs. And now, as for "Brigham City" - the first time I saw it (with my husband who happens to be a prosecuting attorney) we both kind of chuckled at some of the early scenes that - ahem - stretched the boundaries of credibility a bit. But the scene where Wes breaks down was so real, so genuine, and so full of pain both of us had a hard time with it. And then, that final scene...I still can't get through it without sobbing along with the whole congregation. The little indiscrepancies, the "poetic license" so to speak, all fades away and is forgotten. All I know is, someday I'd like to have written something as powerful as that. Laurel Brady - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2002 22:21:09 -0700 From: "LauraMaery (Gold) Post" Subject: [AML] Re: Single Bishops RE: Brigham City plot points: >BTW, no one has ever answered my question about >how that character could be a bishop now that he's >single. Am I wrong to think that bishops must be >married? Last I checked there was still a thing called eternal marriage. Can't think of any doctrinal reason it should matter whether the bishop's wife is currently wearing a body. Being widowed doesn't make Mormons single. (And technically, neither does divorce.) - --lmg - --------- OUR NEWEST WRITING PROJECT: Homeschooling Step by Step, Prima Publishing, Spring 2002. Everything you need to know about how to homeschool legally and effectively! How does your state rank? What's your child's learning style? What about college? Find teaching tips, teaching strategies, and more than 100 solutions to homeschooling's toughest problems! - --------- A message from LauraMaery (Gold) Post Web site: E-mail reply: - --------- . - -- AML-List, a mailing list for the discussion of Mormon literature ------------------------------ End of aml-list-digest V1 #866 ******************************