__________________________________________________
"In Poverty and Strife, Women Test Limits"I suppose it's not surprising that news and public interest about Afghanistan has been low in the midst of a presidential campaign, but it's likely that attention will soon return to the war-torn country. The U.S. is sending additional troops as the Taliban regroups, and the poppy growing business is going gangbusters.
Which is why it's interesting to find a story about the province of Bamian, where women are regaining their identity after years of mistreatment and abuse. I feel like there is a story of hope in this similar to "The Kite Runner", which aside from being one of the most popular novels of the last decade, also made for one of the better movies of last year.
Story Potential: Moderate
Project Possibilities: Feature length film (based on novel); documentary short
__________________________________________________
"1 Man's Goal: 50 Jobs, 50 Weeks, 50 States"Remember Christopher McCandless, the young nomad idolized by Sean Penn in last year's Into the Wild? Daniel Seddiqui doesn't appear to be as irresponsible or even as interesting a character as McCandless, but his story is still unique. Having "failed" upwards of 40 job interviews, the 26 year-old Californian (he holds a degree in economics from USC) set out to work 50 different jobs in 50 different states, holding each position for one week. At the time of this article, he had just finished up working as U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist in Colorado and then a rodeo announcer in South Dakota.
At its best, this could be an inspirational goofball story, something like Forrest Gump. At its worst it would just be like any of the hundreds of reality TV shows that profile random jobs. Either way, let's hope Seddiqui has improved on his job interviewing skills by now.
Story Potential: Limited to Moderate
Project Possibilities: Feature length comedy; feature length documentary
__________________________________________________
"Sixth foot washed ashore in Canadian mystery"The most tragic aspect to this story from last summer, aside from people actually having lost their lives, is that it's probably going to be picked up as a "C.S.I." episode long before it's made into a film. I'm not a fan of horror movies and I generally don't like to let my imagination run wild about how people die, but the circumstances around this care are too bizarre to forget: six feet wash ashore near Vancouver, British Columbia. Five of them are right feet, one of them is a left foot (I believe this last one was recently found out to be a hoax). All of them were wearing tennis shoes, and no other body parts were found. What happened?
Even though there is no proof these deaths were the work of a serial killer (the theories are wild and the identities of the victims are unknown), I'm imagining something along the lines of Zodiac.
Story Potential: High
Project Possibilities: Feature length film
__________________________________________________
"Indian beggar gets bank account"Pretty much what the title of the article says: Laxmi Das, a beggar in north Calcutta who was disabled by polio four decades ago, has opened a savings account at the Central Bank of India. During those years of desperate poverty, she collected over 200 lbs worth of coins - it took bank employees three days to count the change.
Beyond the incredible fact that Ms. Das was able to physically secure so many coins for so long, her story illustrates the brilliance of that archaic ideal known as "saving". What's the average American's credit card balance? $5,000 or something outrageous like that? Our economy is in the tank and we can't afford our previous vacations and TVs and commercialized holiday gifts this year.
Hmm, maybe we should pay attention to the story of woman who has so little but has saved so much. I hear President-elect Barack Obama is accepting applications for Treasury Secretary...
Story Potential: Limited
Project Possibilities: Feature length documentary
__________________________________________________
"Siblings accused of killing Andover man"
Perhaps the most disturbing story of this Reel Life installment comes from my own backyard (not really, but Minnesota at least). It's the horrific tale of two grown siblings accused of murdering their estranged older brother in cold blood (using weapons including a crossbow) and disposing of his body in a bonfire. The motive? Money, of course - an inheritance.
Actually there's no way I would ever want to see this movie, but there's something horrifyingly intriguing about the dissolution of family bonds that lead to something like this. It's impossible for me to understand how people can deliberately murder their own flesh and blood.
Story Potential: Moderate
Project Possibilities: Feature length film
__________________________________________________
"Obama wins history-making election..."Seems like it was right out of a Hollywood movie, doesn't it? Well, not yet at least. It's extremely premature for me to promote the idea for a movie about Obama, but it seems like an appropriate follow up to my MLK, Jr. biopic.
The questions is when, not if, a movie will be made about Obama. Personally I hope it's not for another few decades, but considering the timing of Oliver Stone's W., who knows how soon we might see it?
Story Potential: High
Project Possibilities: Feature length film; feature length documentary
YES! You keep the series going. I would love to watch the The Beggar's Bank Account and wouldn't hate a Dirty Jobs sort of show for that 50 Jobs guy. Seems pretty interesting. Keep it going! Keep it going!
ReplyDeleteAlso, the Obama biopic will kick as much ass as he does!
Thanks, gringo, for your enthusiastic comment. I'm glad you like this feature and I remember you mentioned it at your place. As with everyone else, I'm just desperately trying to keep up - so many blogging ideas, but too many movies to watch...
ReplyDeleteI love The Beggar's Bank Account, too! Great idea.
ReplyDeleteAs for an idea I have, this tragic story has been going on so long, it's got a Wikipedia entry: Female Murders in Ciudad Juarez.
This could a serial killer horror story, except that would make it seem like these guys aren't quite real, and they certainly are.
It's official, Laxmi Das is getting her own movie. Somebody start "saving" for production costs...get it..."saving" ha ha. Ha.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestion, Marilyn. It's absolutely a worthy pick, but I think there have already been two movies just in the last few years about those cases. One is The Virgin of Juarez (here's the article), and the other is the J-Lo starring Bordertown.
But I've seen neither. Since we're mentioning older stories, I was going to include the story of Rick Rescorla because it received renewed attention on the 9/11 anniversary, but his story has already been made into a documentary called The Man Who Predicted 9/11 or something like that.
I didn't realize the subject had been filmed. I never heard of either of those films.
ReplyDeleteLike I said, I haven't seen them and they didn't make a big splash. I only know about them at all because one premiered at the San Diego Latino Film Festival when I was living there. I think the Minnie Driver one was panned. The J-Lo version (which also starred Antonio Banderas) has a raving review from Richard Roeper, according to RT. So take that as you want to, I suppose. You must be much more familiar with his taste than me.
ReplyDeleteRaving reviews? Yup, that sounds like the Richard Roeper I know and loathe.
ReplyDeleteAmusing to look at his track record on RT. Just in the last few months he's approved of Hell Ride and Righteous Kill, both of which received otherwise abysmal ratings.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason the Canadian foot story has David Lynch written allllll over it.
ReplyDeleteSign me up.
Indeed, Lynch or Fincher. Or even some no-namer who won't overproduce it. I'm telling you, it's going to be on a stupid TV show in a matter of months.
ReplyDeleteYeah, total CSI material as you say...which is too bad.
ReplyDeleteTerrific idea, this Reel Life thing.
ReplyDeleteBut, Daniel, as you hated Changeling, one must admit, sometimes films "based on true stories"... suck. :-)
That said, the goofiness of the 50 jobs/50 states/50 weeks fellow sounds like a possibly great idea, something of a blending of Forrest Gump, Being There and Catch Me If You Can, perhaps.
Thanks, Alexander. I have no idea what you thought of Changeling as I have yet to read your review, but let's just say I found myself saying that exact same thing to my girlfriend about Changeling. Just because it's a true story doesn't mean it's a good movie.
ReplyDeleteI totally forgot about Catch Me If You Can - good thing you're the resident Spielberg expert here!
My friend, an Obama senior staffer, has informed me that a documentary about the President-elect is already in the works.
ReplyDelete"Having worked in quite a few states, I can attest that they were everywhere during the campaign. They followed young organizers from state to state, they were all over Iowa, they had interviews with senior staff. It is going to be magnificent if they do it well. I might actually be in the climax of the film which sounds like it will be a scene from Iowa on New Years Eve when we we knew the final Des Moines Register poll was coming out and we were all crowded around a computer pressing refresh until it was posted."
Sounds good to me. I wonder if my brief meeting with Obama last summer will also be included. Better yet, maybe it will be in the biopic version - I'll play myself!