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where faith and film are intertwined

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Richard dreyfuss

7.03 Debating Character in THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT

November 1, 2020 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

With the US Election ticking closer, ScreenFish turns back the clock 25 years to rewatch Rob Reiner’s THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT. When President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) meet impetuous lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening), he is instantly taken with her and pursues a relationship. However, their budding romance sparks questions about his character and his ability to lead the country in ways that threaten his re-election campaign. This week, we welcome back ScreenFish’rs Shelley McVea and Heather Johnson to talk about what we expect from our leaders, the nature of character and whether or not that matters more than policy.

You can also stream the episode above on podomatic, Alexa (via Stitcher), Spotify or Soundcloud! Or, you can download the ep on Apple Podcasts or Google Play!

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

7.03 The American PresidentDownload
BKA4CY THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT (1995) ANNETTE BENING, MICHAEL DOUGLAS AMPR 066

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Podcast Tagged With: Annette Bening, biden, Martin Sheen, Michael Douglas, Michael J. Fox, Richard dreyfuss, Rob Reiner, The American President, Trump, US Election

Comfort Films #1 – WHAT ABOUT BOB?

April 3, 2020 by Steve Norton 1 Comment

When times are tough, what stories do you turn to? Our new series, Comfort Films, is designed to look at the films that are important to us and why they help bring us up with everything feels down. In our first episode of this series, Ben Dower stops by to chat about one of his favourites, Frank Oz’s What About Bob?.

You can also stream the episode above on podomatic, Alexa (via Stitcher), Spotify or Soundcloud! Or, you can download the ep on Apple Podcasts or Google Play!

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Podcast Tagged With: Bill Murray, Comfort Films, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Frank Oz, Richard dreyfuss, What About Bob?

Listening to Love: 1on1 with Shelagh McLeod (ASTRONAUT)

July 26, 2019 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Written and directed by Shelagh McLeod, Astronaut tells the story of Angus (Richard Dreyfuss), a lonely widower who feels like his life seems over when he moves into a retirement home. Feeling worthless and alone, Angus’s enthusiasm is reignited when a competition is announced for a seat on the first commercial flight to space. Despite the fact that he’s well beyond the age range, Angus enters the competition and must battle against prejudice, his own failing health and time to win the ticket and take the trip of his dreams. Though the story contains elements of fantasy, McLeod insists that the seed for her film began firmly grounded in her own experience with the elderly. 

“My mom died in a nursing home in England a few years back. I loved my mom and I used to visit her almost every day,” she recalls. “In the nursing home gardens, there was an old man sitting in a wheelchair who was always staring up at the sky and he would literally never come in. He would be out there for all hours. One day, I went and sat next to them and said, “What is it that you’re looking for up there? What do you want?” And he said, “Another go”. I was very moved by that. I started thinking about what he wanted in his life, that he hadn’t achieved, what dreams that he had, what was on his bucket list… I realized that, for these men and women who were in the nursing home, that was really going to be their last place. I felt quite guilty putting my mom in a nursing home. She was a pretty feisty woman but she said it was fine and that’s what we did. I had this terrible sort of yearning in me to write something about this elderly man. I feel pretty passionately that the elderly are marginalized and very overlooked in society. I think that they should have a very important voice and be heard.” 

Asked what she feels the gentleman was trying to communicate with his simple plea, McLeod states that she thinks he meant that he wanted another opportunity to make a difference. 

“I think what that old guy was trying to say is that [he] wants to be back in the game.,” she believes. “I don’t mean that he wants to run off to space, but I think he was looking back on his life and his dreams [which] were literally vanishing like dust in front of him. This is in my head and, if I had been braver, I would have said, ‘What do you want to do?’ I wanted to collect them up and go on an adventure with them because we all know as human beings that you can feel really down about something but it just takes one to two instances to suddenly change that mindset and say things aren’t so bad. That’s what we wanted to do with Astronaut. We know that this film is not an edgy, hardcore examination of old age. We know it’s a slight fairytale with magical realism in it and (we hope) with an element of glee. We wanted the audience to come out feeling a little bit uplifted and that things could be possible. I think that that maybe ‘another go’ means, ‘Don’t forget me. Let what I want to say and what I want to do matter as much as a 20-year-old.’” 

With this in mind, McLeod argues that there is a dismissiveness towards the elderly in our culture that seems to negate the value that they offer to the next generation. In essence, as a result of our own impatience, she thinks that we tend to pass over all that they can pass on.

“We live in London but we go to Spain a lot and I’ve noticed that the elderly [there], go out as far as they can walk,” she points out. “No matter what age they are, they sit in the promenade, walk down the street for coffee, and they go out for evening. They’re more present. I noticed that, in London, it’s just a fast, fast world. I include myself in this by the way, I’m no saint. I just think we’re impatient. We’re impatient for things. We’re impatient for life. We’re impatient to move on. We’re impatient for our ambitions to be realized. I think that the nurturing that an elder can give to a younger person or to society is actually something that we’re really missing a trick here. I know that I was a typically troubled 20-year-old. It’s a funny age… But just to have an elder saying, “Listen, this is going to be okay because this is how it was for me” is something that I think we can transcend the generations and give hope and guidance to us. I think that would be great to see. I think it’s just our own impatience of what do we do with older people.” 

In order to change the manner that our culture views the elderly, McLeod contests that it begins with people remembering the value that they bring as well as potentially serving as their advocate as well.

“I think… it comes from us not forgetting, caring and it comes from us shouting,” she begins. “We have to shout at to the government. I live in the UK and to try and get a parent or a grandparent into a good nursing home was a battle. It was so expensive. I use my own experience in the film but I wanted to do it with a light touch because I didn’t want to be banging over [the audience’s] head. I wanted it to be placed in a sort of fairly delicate way but it was there. I’ve got lots of friends of mine with parents of that age and they ask me the journey what do we do? because it’s so confusing. Imagine trying to do that as an old person. Imagine not knowing how to cope with technology.” 

“My brother worked in a bank, so years and he said that, when the millennium happened, they called all the old guys in from retirement because they thought they was going to be a computer crash. They were just uncertain. These old guys were the only ones that knew how to fix the machine because they were the ones that have programmed them in first place. It’s just an example of how valuable an elder can be in society still.”

Though the film features an incredibly talented cast, it’s star Richard Dreyfuss that shines most brightly. As Angus, Dreyfuss sparkles with humility and vibrancy within the film. Knowing the incredible talent they had acquired when he accepted the role, McLeod beams about her lead actor, arguing that his brilliance extends offscreen as well.
“I think he should be working [more]. It’s through his own choice and he chooses his projects carefully, as he should. He’s earned accolades and we were just so lucky to get him. Really. We almost fell off our chair when he said yes. [laughs] I think Jessica Adams, my really clever young producer, and I were in a state of shock for about a week. He’s a brilliant, brilliant human being and he’s a wonderful actor. He just rose to the challenge. He said to me that the script is full of melancholy. And I said to him that ‘The point is that [Angus] has that journey. He goes from being depressed and looking… through the wrong lens because that’s the way society is generated. We think ‘They’re old. They’re done. They’re history. They can’t drive anymore.’ Then, the walls close in. But he gets this second wind of a dream that [he’s] wanted all [his] life and [he’s] got to go after it.’ [Dreyfuss] just bought such life to Angus, and such humanity and a warmth to him.” 

Given his dreams to reach the stars, Angus is a man of vitality whose greatest passion is to matter, despite his ageing body. Discussing what she supposes he would want his legacy to be, McLeod reasons that it would likely have to do with others being willing to listen to the voices of the elderly.

Says McLeod, “I think he probably would have wanted in his way to have felt that he’s left some worth behind. That his saving the day for the space plane was something of value and that he would have perhaps left some traces of hope with the remaining residents of the nursing home. I think his fight to go becomes a fight to get these space guys to listen. I suppose his legacy would be to say, ‘Don’t forget us. Listen to us because you think we’re all good but we know the problems. We know what can happen and you’re not listening to us. So maybe his legacy would be, ‘Please listen to us.’” 

Astronaut launches into theatres and VOD on Friday, July 26th, 2019.

For full audio of our interview with Shelagh McLeod, click here. 

Filed Under: Film, Film Festivals, Interviews, Podcast Tagged With: Astronaut, Richard dreyfuss, Shelagh McLeod

Astronaut: Late to the Launch

July 26, 2019 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Astronaut tells the story of Angus (Richard Dreyfuss), a lonely widower who feels like his life seems over when he moves into a retirement home. Feeling worthless and alone, Angus’s enthusiasm is reignited when a competition is announced for a seat on the first commercial flight to space. Despite the fact that he’s well beyond the contest’s age range, Angus enters the competition and must battle against prejudice, his own failing health and time to win the ticket and take the trip of his dreams.

Written and directed by Shelagh McLeod, Astronaut is one of the more touching and endearing films of the year. Based on an interaction she had with an elderly man in a nursing home several years ago, the film is a true celebration of life and speaks to the value of everyone, regardless of age. Though a cast with the talents of Colm Feore and Graham Greene is already stellar, it’s Richard Dreyfuss who shines brightest, bringing humanity and vibrancy to a man who wants to bring his dream to life despite his own expiring clock. Though he’s chosen to work less in recent years, Dreyfuss’ performance as Angus continues to serve as a reminder of his ability to instill a mixture of joy and empathy into his characters. 

Time features heavily in McLeod’s film, as Angus fights for his dreams against a body that has begun to fail him. Clasping his pocket watch with glee, Angus is a character who appears to believe that he has time in the palm of his hands. Despite the fact that he struggles to walk great distances and his heart is weak, he truly believes that time is on his side. His youthful spirit yearns for one more adventure and he knows he has more to offer the world.

However, as the world around him seems to have passed him by, Angus feels silenced. Unheard by his daughter, the space program representatives and the well-meaning (but at times oblivious) nursing home staff, Angus becomes viewed as the ‘crazy old man’. He is loved… but he is not listened to. As such, the film also becomes a love letter to the elderly by emphasizing the life and wisdom they still have to offer. Throughout Angus’ journey, the other residents of the nursing facility find a new vitality and voice. Although quietly unheard by others, Angus becomes an example to his elderly friends—not to mention his own family—that they still have time to live lives that matter. 

Though Astronaut will likely not be a film that you hear much about in the latest box office reports about superheroes and CGI animated fare, it is well worth looking for in your local cineplex. McLeod’s charming script and endearing cast help elevate Astronaut from the screen into the stars of our hearts.

For audio of our interview with writer/director Shelagh McLeod, click here.

Astronaut begins its journey in theatres and VOD on July 26th, 2019

Filed Under: Film, Film Festivals, Reviews Tagged With: Astronaut, Colm Feore, FantastiaFest, Graham Greene, Richard dreyfuss, Shelagh McLeod

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