Under the Big Top - All Comments

re: "Drillbit" Shreds the Point

Amy L. Geiger-Hemmer — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 14:21:55 GMT

And if you are really looking for clean-cut family viewing, check out "Horton Hears a Who". My children and I went to see it when the kids had a half-day off from school last week. It was wonderful.

re: "Drillbit" Shreds the Point

Katie Berggren — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 22:48:13 GMT

Hi Derek,

Thank you for your post.

If you're searching out a film while you're waiting for spring to arrive, heartily recommend the film "Juno." The heroine was courageous, and the film was charming. A must-see for teenage girls.

Katie

re: "Drillbit" Shreds the Point

Derek Navin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 21:10:30 GMT

Katie,

Thanks for the heads up, was planning on trying that one. With the rare chance to go to a movie I would hate to blow it on a dud.

re: "Drillbit" Shreds the Point

Katie Berggren — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:02:09 GMT

Ed,

First, welcome to the club, LOL! (I'm a charter member of playing the idiot.)

Second, you are correct!

Thanks for not guessing that it was an OLDER, tasteless franchise. Though I'm not sure if anything was particularly worse. At least I'm aging appropriately.

Have a good day.

Katie

re: "Drillbit" Shreds the Point

Ed Furey — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 17:54:55 GMT

You knew by the way you wrote it that someone would have to play the idiot(a position I'm overly qualified for) and ask. Was it Porky's?

re: "Drillbit" Shreds the Point

Jeff Blackwell — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:51:31 GMT

To make matters worse, it was written by a local boy.

www.gmtoday.com/.../03152008_10.asp

re: "Drillbit" Shreds the Point

Katie Berggren — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:16:46 GMT

Hi Jeff,

I'd be the first to congratulate anybody who achieves Hollywood recognition, and I sincerely wanted to appreciate the film and the actors. But when Drillbit, the main character, and his fellow teacher/love interest began using a classroom for you-know-what during the school day, not once, but several times, the proverbial "wheels came off" for me.

Simply, I put the characters' behavior in a real-life context: A man posing as a substitute teacher (Drillbit), and another high school teacher are having a fling in an empty classroom during the school day. Even in today's world of seen-it-all, heard-it-all, that behavior would make headlines.

Anyway you look at it, it's not funny.

Further, the film lacked what would have been necessary to make it palatable: A cartoonish "Land of Oz" distance. The recent film "Semi-Pro" starring Will Farrell, for example. Or pretty much anything starring Farrell. His films constantly hover on the edge of reality, which makes outlandish behaviors, or suggestions of them, understandable.

Also, I'm not saying that the way the film turned out is what the screenwriter intended. As any writer knows, lots of things can happen between what's originally proposed and what finally ends up on the big screen.

Thanks for your comment, fellow blogger.

Have a great day!

Katie

re: "Drillbit" Shreds the Point

Jeff Blackwell — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:01:55 GMT

I haven't seen the film, but found it interesting that the screenwriter is a grad from Oconomowoc High school.

re: All the World (Is!) a Stage

Katie Berggren — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 14:49:42 GMT

Hi Amy,

Thank you for your response to my blog post. I appreciate your input!

Yes, I also have observed this phenomenon. Electronic gadgets are compelling, and it's easy to become absorbed in them. While it isn't a bad thing, we can't overlook the human being who's sitting right next to us.

Have a great day (and I enjoy your blog, too.)

re: All the World (Is!) a Stage

Amy L. Geiger-Hemmer — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 15:27:15 GMT

I enjoyed your blog. I was going to post one very similar in regards to what you wrote about. Seeing as you pretty well nailed my own point, I'd like to summarize a bit what I would have written. Several months ago, our schools had a half-day off. Like most students, my children and I headed to local custard shop to eat lunch. While we waited at a table for our food, I had a chance to observe many middle-school students who were in the restaurant, too. Most had arrived with their friends and were seated at tables, either eating or waiting for their orders. In observing these kids, I noticed that most were either: on cells phones talking, texting, listening to iPods, or playing with hand-held games. Few, if any, were actually conversing with anyone seated right next to them! If this is what technology has gotten us to, I say we, as a society, really need to go back to the basics and just learn how to talk face-to-face to one another!

re: All the World (Is!) a Stage

Jeff Blackwell — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:37:54 GMT

Katie, welcome to the blogosphere! This is a very well-written piece, that should make us stop and think about the unconscious trade-offs we make when we use digital, rather than face-to-face communications. Is your play published? I'd like to read it. Thanks for writing.