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Monday, September 01, 2008
It's Sunday morning and I'm just mulling over the shenanigans of the last 24 hours and I don't think I would have been able to make it up. After a morning of room service and light browsing at Shnucks...
... to procure illegal (in the UK) teeth whitening products to take back home - and fighting my way through the graduation ceremonies, wedding parties and John McCain security and the Straight talk express.
Stewart contemplates the McCain campaign
John McCain is staying in this very hotel right now. No sign of him but the shifty security, complete with ear pieces are very much in evidence. i doubt I'll see him as he's all over the news pushing his lady running mate. I just can't help thinking he's the living embodiment of Elmer Fudd, and can't bear the idea of this elderly fellow leading this country.
Mike picked me up and after a short trip to the car wash - very much an American institution, all automated foam jets and buffers - we met up with Stewart and were all set for the road-trip to Columbia, about 100 miles down the road.
Rag Tag Cinema were going to be showing a double feature of Teenland, the film I made for BBC4 a couple of years a go, followed by a sneak preview of Goth Cruise.
After about 2 hours we made it to Columbia, a lovely looking town straight out of an Americana picture book and ambled over to the Rag Tag with about 45 mins to spare. As we locked up the car i had and awful nagging feeling and checked my bag. To my horror I found 6 copies of Teenland which was the first film in the double bill , I had dv cam subtitled, ntsc dvd, pal no subtitles but NO copies of Goth cruise, anywhere, at all. After convincing Mike that I wasn't tricking him in a rush of "British" humour and in fact joking, Stewart and he swiftly got on the phone to find someone who could bring a copy of the film down to Columbia. in the mean time I met with the projectionist at the Rag Tag to set up Teenland.
It's a beautiful cinema of mis-matched vintage chairs and sofas, with a very laid back feel. That laid back approach was frustrating in the lack of urgency to sort out the screening, but also deflected what could have been a very stressful situation. The film eventually started after negotiating the differences between pal and ntsc dvds and Teenland was rolling. I've not seen the film in over a year so it was actually good to see it again after all this time, it felt satisfyingly claustrophobic. I left after the first 15 minutes to go and grab a drink and check on the Goth Cruise progress.
With the clock ticking and the screening in about 2 and a half hours (with St Louis at least 2 hours drive) Stewart had somehow managed to track down his good friend Cody who dropped everything and hit the road to deliver the film - what a star.
Drink over, I thought I'd check to see the last 10 minutes of Teenland, only to see the house lights up and the projectionist wandering out of the cinema. The audience were then asking me - "is that really the ending? Really". I couldn't believe that anything else could be going wrong but It turns out that the film had cut out 45 minutes in and the projectionist had assumed that it was the end. We ended up swapping the disks and re-assumed the screening after a 8 minute break. Rubbish! The audience, to their credit were wonderful, stayed throughout all the nonsense.
After an engaging Q and A and a breathe of fresh air, Cody arrived with about 2 minutes to spare, completely saving the day. After all the dramas, the disk went in and without any tweaks looked and sounded great. The relief was amazing but i couldn't help feeling that it was a HUGE effort all round for a missed opportunity really - a very small (but beautifully formed none the less) audience. Q and A over with hysteria levels cranked up, we hit the road back to good old St Louis with Mike and Stewart dissolving into gradually more and more incoherent banter to my British ears. Hysteria was passed long ago and we rolled in at 3am. In spite of all the dramas, maybe because of all the dramas I love hanging out with these charming boys. It wouldn't be quite so much fun if it all went to plan.
posted by Jeanie Monday, September 01, 2008
Comments:
Hello, I thought I would look up your blog, see how you are and wish you a Merry Christmas.
I just read the entry about showing Teenland in an American Cinema- its such a strange feeling to think that people over there had been sitting there listening to me talking! weird!
Hope you have a great one,
Love Vikki
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I just read the entry about showing Teenland in an American Cinema- its such a strange feeling to think that people over there had been sitting there listening to me talking! weird!
Hope you have a great one,
Love Vikki
