Movies on appliedthinking

Ok...this post is mostly a test of a new service offered by Spout...which is pretty cool (but I'm a bit biased). Ever want to participate blogging in a social networking site but not interested in changing your current blogging platform? Sign up on Spout, and go into your filmblog settings. There you can register your existing blog with Spout. Every time you create a post on your blog about a film, just create a link that film on Spout...like this: Little Miss Sunshine. Spout then pulls from your feed AND makes an association to the film you mentioned...effectively getting you added to the conversation on Spout...AND it sends a trackback link making the final connection. Pretty cool. Check out my Spout filmblog here to see what this post looks like on Spout.

Link: Friends With Money (2006) - Spout.

I saw this film for the second time this weekend as part of the Spirit Awards. Friends With Money has been nominated under the category of Best Screenplay for Nicole Holofcener's work as writer/director.

I gotta say, I enjoyed this film a lot more the second time around. Maybe it's because I didn't have to stay as focused to the plot and could pay lots of attention to the dialogue. Maybe it's the company I kept during this screening.

The first time around, I saw this film at its premiere at Sundance 2006 with a group of 20-somethings. This time around I saw it with my wife. Although I won't divulge the age spread there, suffice to say that I think a more mature audience will appreciate Ms. Holofcener's work...our at least people who have been in a relationship for a while...years. What is portrayed in this film are subtleties. Quite often the most important things to be said aren't spoken.

Although I'm not a huge fan of Jennifer Aniston, the cast of Frinds With Money includes: Francis McDormand, Joan Cusack, Catherine Keener, and Jason Isaacs (who I met on the streets of Park City one VERY cold evening). How can't you enjoy a film with that list?

Final analysis: Friends With Money is not a revelation in either film making or how it depicts marriage and friendship. It is more of a comfortable recognition of what you know or already suspect about relationships - a second coming of age exists somewhere between 35 and 45...and we all ask the same questions (regardless of class).

I've started to pay attention to photography again. Not like I ever paid any really close attention in the past...although I did fancy myself sort of an Amateur Photographer. Yeah, like a title...not simply "haven't been paid for the work" amateur, but a little more than that. August 2005 I purchase a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT before a trip to France with my wife Tamara. I took a bunch of pictures. Had fun with it. Then I got busy with work and put the camera down.

So, this past week I was recommended by my boss (imakeimages.com) and a colleague to use Adobe's latest digital photography workflow tool - Lighroom. Although it is currently in its beta phase (and free), it is sleek...and beautiful...and displays crisp images on MacBook Pro's glossy screen. (By the way, right about the time I bought the Rebel I also bought a PowerBook G4. Even though it took a hard crash on me once...causing me to loose the entirety of my unbacked-up hard-drive...pictures and all...I am committed again to Apple).

So for the time being, I'm hooked on photography again. Keep track of what I'm taking on this site or through my flickr account.

Morning commute in Grand Rapids, Mi.