At the movies

I went to the premiere last night of The Weather Man and it was very cool. I'm on screen longer than the little clip on the website -- a good, I don't know, 4-5 seconds or something -- and it was a really interesting feeling. Hard to describe. Kind of a rush -- funny, embarassing, weird.

What was even more interesting was seeing how they turned that long, grueling day into a really funny, effective scene. And then how that fit into the larger film, which is really, really good. A nicely written, offbeat script and beautifully shot. The producers were talking about how good Chicago looks in the movie, about the city being one of the stars of the film, and they're right. I don't recall another movie that showcases Chicago as beautifully as this one does. It was written by a Chicagoan, so it kinda figures, but Gore Verbinski did such an amazing job of evoking a mood with the camera shots and the pacing and the color palette and the music. Definitely a movie worth seeing.

And, of course, I fully recognize that any monkey can be cast as an extra. The woman up there playing my wife isn't even an actor. But I like to think it takes a particularly attractive monkey to be picked for some key background scenes with the stars of the film.

Merde! As the credits were rolling last night I realized I've been spelling Nicolas Cage's name wrong. No "h!" Oops.