| TheSource4YM.com | |
 | Jonathan’s Resource Ezine |
Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
| In This Issue |
- Featured Interview: Jonathan Interviews Cameron Crowe, director of Elizabethtown, Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous
- Another Free Resource You Can Use: New Jerry Maguire Discussion Starter and Small Group Questions
- New Movie Reviews: Elizabethtown, Into the Blue, The Greatest Game Ever Played… and new rentals like The Interpreter, Kingdom of Heaven, Kicking and Screaming, The Longest Yard, Hitchhiker’s Guide, and Crash…
| If you aren’t a subscriber of this EZINE and would like to subscribe – it’s free – just pop on www.TheSource4YM.com and sign up in the upper right hand corner. |
| Featured Interview: Jonathan Interviews Cameron Crowe, director of Elizabethtown, Almost Famous, Jerry Maguire, and Say Anything |
October 10, 2005
From the movies Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous to the brand new film Elizabethtown (CLICK HERE for Jonathan’s review), Cameron Crowe has always captured the hearts of his audience with his true to life characters and captivating dialogue. I guess we shouldn’t expect less from a guy who was writing cover articles for Rolling Stone Magazine at 15 years old.
Maybe you’ve seen the story of his life in his year 2000 Oscar winning film Almost Famous, Cameron’s “love letter to music.” It’s a tale of a young boy whose love for music and writing led to touring across the country with a band, learning about life, love and the backstage lives of music icons.
I almost fell out of my cheap swivel chair when I saw the invitation to interview Cameron this week. I’ve enjoyed his work ever since the first time I saw Say Anything. Most of all I’ve enjoyed the way he makes his audience think about love, values and commitment.
You won’t always agree with his point of view or even his methodology. But I think you’ll find his opinion intriguing.
As we talked, Cameron shared about the time he posed as a high school student researching for his book (and eventually, his film) Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Cameron has always had his thumb on the pulse of youth culture, reading it accurately, and probably influencing it indirectly. He shares his perspective about youth culture today. He also shares what’s behind his value system and how that is transposed into his work.
Cameron’s new film Elizabethtown comes out this Friday.
– CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW –
JONATHAN: At 22 years old, you posed as a high school student to get a peek at youth culture and perhaps see how student life had changed since you had been there. That sounds intriguing. Tell us about that experience.
CAMERON: That was an extension of being a writer for Rolling Stone magazine where I had written a lot of profiles about rock stars and musicians that I loved. Then I started to interview their fans as well. I thought, at a certain point, the fans are as interesting as some of these musicians.
A friend of mine came to me with an idea for a book which was about what high school life was like from the inside out. My mom was a school teacher that had skipped me so I never had a senior year. So from there I went to visit with a principle of a school that I was interested in researching and he said, “Well, why don’t you come and sit in on classes”… and it began from that.
JONATHAN: Wow. Were you just sitting in on classes or did you enroll and attend everything, like an undercover nark officer …
CAMERON: He put me on the docket for the classes throughout two semesters. I went to dances, I went on outings and everything … and by the end of the second semester I had told a few people what I was doing. But a lot of them knew me, still even know me. I went to a semi-reunion event once and there were people that still only knew me as a fellow student. And you know, it was good in learning. It really did prepare… it was a kind of reporting that I think happens a lot more now, sometimes even with cameras, where you just honor teenagers for being people and full blooded humans and not just extensions of their parents. But I remember at the time it was kind of like “Nobody wants to read a whole book about teenagers” and “Nobody wants to see a movie filled with teenagers! They’ll never go.”
JONATHAN: That’s right… I mean Fast Times was on the edge of that.
CAMERON: That’s what they were saying. They said, “Well if you have American Graffiti where it’s teenagers that adults remember in a nostalgic way then you’ve got something.” But they were looking down their noses at teenagers saying, “They’ll never read a book and they’ll never go see a movie about themselves.”
JONATHAN: It’s funny how wrong our predictions are.
CAMERON: (chuckling) Yeah.
JONATHAN: Throughout your career you are a guy who seems to have always had your thumb on the pulse of culture. If you could pose as a teenager today… obviously I guess you’d have to get into a teenager body or something…
CAMERON: Lots of plastic surgery.
JONATHAN: (chuckling) …There you go; a lot of it…but if you were to research for a movie now, what do you think Fast Times would look like today?
CAMERON: The original Fast Times would be quaint in comparison…
JONATHAN: I agree. So what would today’s version of Fast Times look like?
CAMERON: Sadly, I think today’s Fast Times experience would be up to date in a sometimes jarring way. I think drug usage has gone up. Gun and weapon abuse has gone way up. It’s a much more dangerous time to be alive.
When Fast Times came out there were people that were up in arms saying “We’ve got to find out where this school is, where this “stoner” roams the isles!” You know, “freely and not under arrest” and all this crazy stuff. And now it looks like old fashion ice cream.
But I just think it is everything I have always written about: characters. And whether they’re teenage or whether they’re… you know, we have all kinds of ages in Elizabethtown and it’s just, when you put something real up there, particularly if it kind of celebrates life in some way, people respond. And young people respond too.
JONATHAN: I like the way you asked a question in your Francis McDormand interview-you said “OK. Can I get your personal reaction to having made these movies?” then you named a bunch, and she gave quick thoughts on each. I want to do the same with you with the films you directed. Can I get your personal reaction to having made: Say Anything?
CAMERON: Just an incredible experience falling in love with directing. A lot of that courtesy of John Cusack who really connected so well with the Lloyd Dobler character.
JONATHAN: Singles?
CAMERON: Not entirely thrilled with the casting of Singles but I have fond memories of making the movie and want to do a DVD of it where I get to use some of the unreleased stuff and the concert sequences too.
JONATHAN: Jerry Maguire?
CAMERON: You know, start to finish a magical experience.
JONATHAN: Well said. How about Almost Famous?
CAMERON: Labor of love and the movie I get asked about the most. And the thing I’m proudest of about it is it captures why people fall in love with music. (pause) Hopefully. (chuckling)
JONATHAN: It does! Vanilla Sky?
CAMERON: A fever dream in which the entire story takes place rattling around the head of a guy. Filled with pop culture and a desire to be more human. A polarizing experience … and I’m also really proud of it.
JONATHAN: (chuckling)
CAMERON: (chuckling) A polarizing cinematic experience that I am also very proud of.
JONATHAN: That was the answer that I was going to be the most curious about is what you were gong to say about Vanilla Sky. Because you hear so many people say so much about it, I wondered what you thought of that one.
CAMERON: No reaction in the middle from the very beginning, Jonathan, it was like, nobody ever said, “Yeah, cute movie.”
JONATHAN: Yea, it was either, “That was the worst…” or “Oh, magnificent! Brilliant!”
CAMERON: Yeah, yeah.
JONATHAN: Okay, Elizabethtown?
CAMERON: Another movie from the heart. A tribute to my dad and it actually achieves what the goal was, which was to end the story with an adrenaline burst of feeling like, ‘this is what it’s like to be alive right now.’
| Another Free Resource You Can Use: New Jerry Maguire Discussion Starter and Small Group Questions |
Looking for some curriculum or “discussion ideas” for your weekly program? Check out this new “video clip idea” from the movie Jerry Maguire. With this ready-made guide, just rent the movie, cue up the scene and we’ll provide the rest: the introduction, the discussion starter, the small group questions, the scripture and the wrap up.
Attention Grabber: Movie ? Jerry Maguire
This is a fantastic Cameron Crowe movie about Jerry Maguire, a sports agent (Tom Cruise), who in the beginning of the movie discovers the immorality in his job. He ends up losing his job and tries to survive as an honest agent with the help of a very loyal colleague. Unfortunately, there is some language and two sexual situations (one of which has some nudity), which ruins the idea of watching the movie with the family or youth group. But the following scene is a great clip to show:
Clip Introduction:
“We’re going to watch a scene from Jerry Maguire. In this movie, Tom Cruise is a great sports agent who has made his way to the top by lying and manipulating athletes. But now he wants to do what is right and be honest, and he has lost his job for it. This is the scene where Jerry Maguire is leaving the office, asking anyone to stand alongside him in following what’s right. Anyone who goes with Jerry will be doing the right thing, but will lose their job and even their friends from work. Let’s see what happens.”
Clip: Who’s coming with me?
This clip begins with Jerry Maguire leaving his office just after being fired. He has a new change of heart and wants to be completely ethical in his business, and is now pleading for any other ethical person to leave the company and come work with him. At the end of the scene, just when it looks as if no one will go with Jerry, Dorothy from accounting stands up and says “I will go with you.” While all eyes are on her, and everyone else stays, Dorothy leaves her well-paid job behind. The scene begins at 29:25 on the DVD (the beginning of chapter 13) or if you begin the counter on the VCR at the FBI warning, and ends at 33:03, right after Jerry and Dorothy exit the building.
Scene Script:
(JERRY exits his office into main work area. Employees begin to pause and watch what he will do.)
- JERRY: Well, don’t worry. I’m not going to do what you all think I’m going to do, which is flip out! Let me just say as I ease out of the office I helped build. I’m sorry, but it’s a fact that there’s such a thing as manners-a way of treating people. These fish have manners. These fish have manners. In fact, I’m starting a company and the fish will come with me. You can call me sentimental; the fish are coming with me.
(He walks to the fish tank and captures one in a Ziploc bag.)
Okay, if anybody else wants to come with me, this moment will be the moment of something real and fun and inspiring in this God-forsaken business and we will do it together. Who’s coming with me? Who’s coming with me? Who’s coming with me? Who’s coming with me besides-(looks at fish)-Flipper here? (Nobody volunteers.) This is embarrassing. (Picks up his bags.) Alright. Wendy? Shall we?
WENDY: Oh, Jer, you know, I’m three months away from the pay increase.
JERRY: Okay, okay. (Begins to exit.)
DOROTHY: (Stands up.) I will go with you.
JERRY: (smiling) Dorothy Boyd, thank you. (JERRY begins to exit.)
DOROTHY: (whispering) Right now?
(JERRY nods. DOROTHY gathers her things and they join each other in the middle of the room.)
JERRY: (holding up fish) We’ll see you all again. Sleep tight. (They exit.)
In the scene, Dorothy decided that it was better to do what’s right, even when she knows it will cost her a job and even her friends. This is no easy decision. Sometimes it feels like doing what is right can feel like we’re standing out in a crowd. Right now we’re going to split up into our small groups and discuss the idea of doing what’s right and even what the cost sometimes is.
| New Movie Reviews: Elizabethtown, Into the Blue, The Greatest Game Ever Played… and new rentals like The Interpreter, Kingdom of Heaven, Kicking and Screaming, The Longest Yard, Hitchhiker’s Guide, and Crash… |
A few years ago THE SOURCE launched Jonathan’s movie review page to provide an insight about movies from the perspective of a youth worker and a parent.
Have you seen Jonathan’s new movie scoring guide?
Forget stars or numbers-films fall in one of six categories:
| Worth Buying | The best rating. So good that it’s worth buying! |
| Theatre Worthy | Second best rating. See on the big screen. |
| Rental | Decent entertainment. Worth renting at home. |
| Only if Free | Mediocre entertainment. Only worth it if free! |
| Skip it | Not worth it. Skip it, even if it’s free! |
| A Coaster | The worst rating. Use this DVD as a coaster! |
Here’s a peek at Jonathan’s Score of some new theatrical and video releases.
“CLICK” ON THE FILM TITLE FOR THE ENTIRE REVIEW
THEATRE:
Elizabethtown– RELEASED THIS COMING FRIDAY! Theatre Worthy
Into the Blue– Skip it
The Greatest Game Ever Played– Rental
TO RENT:
The Interpreter– Theatre Worthy
Kingdom of Heaven-Rental
Kicking and Screaming– Rental
The Longest Yard– Rental
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy– A Coaster
Crash– Only if it’s Free
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Jonathan McKee
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.