the groundhog day project

The heart of Swingers is Mike, especially what I've been calling that scene . If you're with this somewhat depressed guy and can make it through that scene--my daughter was in the room the other day when that scene was on, and her "Oh, sweetie, no," was exactly the kind of response we should have--you're rooting for him, rooting for his life to get better. And, that's easy. Mike is not a jerk like Trent or Sue. He's not there to pad the rat pack esque group at the center of this movie, like Charles--though his "this place is dead, anyway" is amazing--or Rob--whose useful advice about life for Mike could have come from Trent and maybe worked a little better dramatically, structurally. Instead of the latter, we're barely offered up much that is positive about Trent. Sure, he's trying to get Mike out of his apartment but it's hard most of the time to really see Trent doing that for Mike, rather he's taking advantage--or so it seems...

(Starting the blog entry a while before the movie today. Sitting in a hotel room in Florida, brought my Fire Stick on the trip to have access on the room's TV to Hulu, Amazon, HBO and Netflix. The modern Western world--am I right? Anyway, long day, with a little sleep on the plane and a bit of a nap here at the hotel before dinner. About to judge some practice rounds with our students, give them some last minute notes for this weekend's competition. In the meantime...) Swingers is all about that scene, the answering machine sequence. Like the Groundhog Day Project is all about sharing and nitpicking and being who you gotta be... No, being who you want to be. Like our speech competitions are all about finding the piece that fits you, and you it, and figuring out how to put it to the audience in the best way you can. And, all that may sound a little generic, a little obvious, but I suppose that's on purpose. As I've stated before , the thesis of this blog, if there...

Flashback to the mid-90s, when big bands and swing music seemed to be making a comeback... They never quite managed, right? (Had swing dancing been a thing beyond Porto-hipster levels, I would have had a head start, actually, because we learned dancing, including swing, at the private school I attended.) But, while they were there, we got a movie like Swingers . Gotta love the answering machine telling Mike (Jon Favreau) to put his life in perspective.           Picture me, sitting on the floor as usual, a few hours early as I'm heading to Florida later, but I'm forgetting what I meant to write about this movie for its day one because it has been a good while since I've watched it and I'm just amused as hell. "I just get, like, this thing where I want to be be a gentleman and I want to show respect." Love that Mike calls that a "thing" like it's not what he's supposed to do. Of course, that is what Trent (Vince Vaughn) is trying to ...