Film - Creative Writing Post

So I was supposed to do this post quite a while ago but was so swamped that it slippped my mind. As a mini assignment for Creative Writing, we are to blog about a subject that we studied. I was assigned film...

I guess anyone is qualified to blog about this subject but I wont lie and say that I am a diehard film buff like some of my friends in the program. I love watching movies but that is pretty much it. I rarely watch them more than once and don't often analyze them afterwards. I will use this post to identify my top 5 favourite movies.

5. The Awful Truth - This is a really old 1930s romantic comedy film feature Carey Grant and Irene Dunne. It is not well known by much of our generation but is highly regarded and AFI selected it for preservation in the registry or whatever it is called.

Carey Grant is one of my favorite actors and is spectacular in this film, which is often considered his coming out party. This comes from an era for romantic comedies were actually good and not the worst movies of all time. Check this one out. You won't regret it.

4. Goodfellas - Suuuuper cliche I know but this is a really fantastic movie that cannot be ignored. Everyone knows the story but I think it is the set that really works best and the way it is shot is great.

De Niro is unreal and this is Joe Pesci's finest hour. Ray Liotta is great to before he fell off the face of the earth and ended up in films like Youth in Revolt...

3. The Godfather - Considered the best movie of all time by many, it comes in at number 3 on my list. I have seen it probably 50 times at least and it never gets old for me. It is really breathtaking and so perfectly cast, as many of the film's actors were unknown at the time but went on to become big stars (Pacino, Caan etc.)

The film where Michael shoots Sollazo and McCluskey is probably the best of all time, in my opinion.

2. Raging Bull - This movie is close to perfect. De Niro has been in a billion great movies but this is the very best.

The story of boxer Jake La Motta, the film is a character study and done perfectly. It is so dark and so raw and you fall in love with La Motta while loathing him at the same time. De Niro's acceptance speech for the best actor award was magnificent and Martin Scorsese is a genius.

What a movie.

1. The Godfather Part II - "I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart." For me, this is the most memorable line in the history of movies and this is the best film ever made.

It's awfully rare for a sequel to be better than the original but this is a rare case. The seamless movement between Vito's past (surprise, surprise its De Niro again) and the current story with Michael is just magical. De Niro in his prime, Cazale, Keaton and Duvall are brilliant, Strasberg is inspired as Hyman Roth and this is easily the best performance in the illustrious career of Al Pacino (honourable mention to his role in Dog Day Afternoon which almost made this list).

There you have it, those are my top 5 movies of all time. I'm sure many will disagree and there are tons more that could have made it...

So I guess I do analyze films after all...

Last Day tomorrow.

Today was our last full day of CreComm first year.

It's such a weird feeling and I am not sure if I should be happy or sad. Either way, its good to be done our Ad and PR exams. They went fairly well and certainly could have been worse.

Looking ahead to a summer of IPP, cutting grass and of course, partying.

The fun times start tomorrow at the Kingshead. 

Be there.

Or be square.

keith

Don Wittman Award

This evening I will be attending the Creative Arts Dinner to accept the Don Wittman Memorial Award for sports journalism.

The award is a major honour for me for a couple reasons. First off, it is for $1000 and I have no money right now so thats a huge help but more importantly, I get to recieve an award named after a real hero of the sports broadcasting industry.

My grandpa said he met Don Wittman in Saskatchewan back in the 60's just before Wittman came to Winnipeg to work for CBC.

Through the years, I can remember him having the mic for a number of really famous events in Canadian sports history. He worked on Hockey Night in Canada and did a lot of football but he was probably best known for his work on Track and Field at the Olympics.

Wittman's best call was, without a doubt, his famed "Saturday nights in Georgia" line after Donovan Bailey won the 100m dash at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Bailey shattered the world record and Wittman did an almost perfect job at encapsulating the joy being felt across our country.

Watching the video still gives me chills and it will be with great honour and also a heavy heart that I accept his award tonight.

Have a look.

Mike McDermott

Conventional wisdom holds that there are two kinds of people in life, those who dream, and those who do. Then there is Mike McDermott, who does both.

“Anyone can be successful if you take something you want and actually go out and do it, success is there for everyone to grab,” said the thirty-year-old skateboarder who went professional in 2008 with Ohio based Habitat International.

After living in Vancouver for several years and working for major skateboard companies like Supra Distributions, McDermott returned to Winnipeg last year to open Green Apple Skateboard Shop. While he calls this the logical next step on his “skateboarding odyssey”, McDermott admits that he didn’t always see himself ending up on this path.

He says he started skating at age 11 to copy his older brother, who gave him his first board. While the learning curve was steep, McDermott soon developed a deep infatuation with the sport.

“When I first started, I just wanted to learn how to ollie. I could barely stand up on the thing. I took small steps but eventually I realized I had a pretty heavy passion for it.”

The love affair was almost cut off once McDermott turned 18 though as he worked in a mailroom while taking classes in marketing.

“I kind of quit skateboarding to try and move up the ladder, I didn’t think I could take it any further,” he says.

 

After a while, he realized that playing it safe in formal education wasn’t his thing and made the decision that changed his life.

“I sold everything I had and decided that I had a goal. I wanted to try and become a pro skater,” he said with a grin.

McDermott says the process of becoming a professional in skateboarding is much like it is in any business, a lot of work.

“It’s all about making yourself known and building a resume. You have to get out there and meet people,” said McDermott, who added that it was a crazy ride, with skating basically becoming his whole life.

“I just kept skating and skating until the right people knew who I was. I mean, let’s just say there wasn’t a lot of sleeping. Lots of partying, but no sleeping,” he said, as if to confirm it wasn’t all work and no play.

On returning to Winnipeg to open the shop, McDermott says it wasn’t something he had always planned to do but rather it had manifested itself out of another one of his dreams.

“Sometime when I close up I just think ‘wow that’s really cool that I created this’ but then I realize it really created itself because I wanted to do it. I set a goal and now here it is. It’s that simple.”

Montage Fest

Today, instead of studying or watching the Habs game, I am going back to school.

I know what you're thinking, but there is a reason for this. I am going to the first CreComm Montage Fest.

Im pretty stoked to watch everyones work and see what they did and it's this kind of stuff that makes me proud to be in the program.

Everyone should be psyched about what they've done and I can't wait to see it.

Ps. Habs and Canucks win tonight.

keith

MSA Blog

For my IPP next year, I am doing a promotional/reporting blog on the Manitoba Soccer Association. 

As you may know (haha), I love soccer and I am excited to see how the blog goes. 

I am meeting with their reps tomorrow to further discuss the blog and see how we can make it really work.

Does anyone else have suggestions on how it could work best? Let me know.

keith

Beautiful Day

Just got home from a sweet round of golf at Tuxedo. It's a beautiful day and I want to head back outside so i'll keep this post short.

Two out of three wasn't bad last night.

I think the Caps and Canucks win tonight. Both by big margins. Bank it.

keith

Oh Canada.

It was a great night for the two Canadian teams in action last night in the NHL Playoffs. It looks like there might be some hope that we'll see a cup come back north of the border for the first time since 1993.

Montreal shocked the world by beating Washington in overtime and, although they may not have deserved it, they fought hard and got their reward.

The first period was ugly and it looked like Montreal were little boys playing against Washington's men but they steadied the ship eventually, mainly thanks to Jaro Halak who was spectacular.

Full marks also to Scott Gomez and Brian Gionta who were great in leading the team. The fourth line also played really well and earned some big time minutes in the third period.

For Washington, Alex Ovechkin was brutal. I don't know what it was but he looked lost out there and didn't even get a shot in like 27 minutes of ice? If he doesn't wake up, the upset is possible.

Meanwhile, the Canucks are sweet, period. Big overtime win against a plucky LA team who played hard.

Quick was solid in the net for the Kings who surprised me with their toughness. Drew Doughty in particular kind of pissed me off with his lipping off at every whistle and I don't think Alberts should have been thrown out but, either way this looks like it will be a good series.

Oh, and Michael Samuelsson is a god.

Tonight the Blackhawks should hammer the Preds and I think the Pens even things up against Ottawa. The Sens used to be so likable but now they're just sort of annoying...

Devils, Pens, Hawks win tonight.

keith.

Dreams come true.

In the spirit of the hockey playoffs, this is a story I wrote for my journalism course a while ago at a moose game. It is an incredible story of a man from Winnipeg who got to work as an official at the Gold Medal Hockey game. Thanks to Gerald Andrews, the subject of the story, for being so great with me and telling the tale. Hope you enjoy.

Tuesday night’s clash between the Worcester Sharks and the Manitoba Moose at the MTS Centre was a unique home coming for American Hockey League off-ice official Gerald Andrews. It was his first game back on the job after what he calls the thrill of a lifetime working as an off-ice official for the men’s gold-medal game at the Olympics.

Andrews has worked for the AHL part-time for four years after being recommended by Wade Flaherty, a former Moose goaltender who lived with Andrews while playing for the team. At work, Andrews keeps stats on things like goals, assists, penalty minutes and plus-minus. He says, he saw the opportunity to work on one of the sport’s biggest stages and went for it.

“It sounded like a great opportunity so I started the process of a lot of interviews a couple of years ago and was lucky enough to get chosen,” he says.

“It was an incredible thrill, obviously, for a regular guy like me to get to basically help referee Olympic hockey. You just kind are shocked,” added Andrews who kept stats on face-offs during the Olympics in both men’s and women’s games.

Mid-way through the festivities, Andrews was told he had been chosen to work the final. He says that while it now ranks as a great memory, he was so caught up in his job that he was unable to be a true fan at the time.

“It was something that was pretty spectacular, obviously, but as you’re watching you have to be doing your job,” he says.

“Even when the winning goal was scored it was like it was just another goal. You had to do your job and record everything properly,” he adds before describing how he was sure to take tons of pictures of the celebrations afterwards.

Scott Brown, director of corporate communications & hockey operations for the Moose says the organization is thrilled to have guys like Andrews on their team.

“To know we have people who work that hard and are that good at their jobs, it’s something we are happy to brag about,” he says.

“Not a lot of people realize the work that goes on and the pressure these guys face to get stats out that people take for granted every day,” he adds.

Moose fans haven’t been able to take much for granted in this up and down season but Andrews was able to record a 3-1 win for the home team in this game, the second victory in a row for the inconsistent Moose.

Andrews story drew little coverage in major local media outlets. He says he isn’t surprised and doesn’t really care, happy to get back to his normal life.

“I don’t want to be famous or anything. As long as I know and my family knows and we can share these special memories than I don’t need anyone to know my name,” he says.

While this may be true, it’s clear that Andrews will never forget his time in Vancouver.

“It doesn’t get bigger than that. I mean, I was a part of history,” he said.

keith

Blog is Back.

This semester in CreComm has been so crazy that i've been neglecting this blog out of sheer lack of time to do otherwise. That is ending now.

I am doing a blog for my IPP next year and am determined to end this years blog with a bang. Besides, what better topic to blog about than the NHL playoffs which started yesterday!

First off, how did the Sens beat Geno and the pens? Someone forgot to tell them they were supposed to roll over I guess. Same goes for the Avs who...oh wait...they are playing the Sharks. I can see that noose tightening around the perennial choke artists' neck as I type. 

Anyway, tonight features two games that I am stoked about, the habbies go into Washington to try and take down Ovechkin and caps. After that, the Canucks start their march towards immortality (yeah I said that) against the Kings.

I smell a couple Canadian winners! Check back later for my thoughts on the games.

peace out.

Keith