With documentary-like simplicity, Wendy and Lucy paints a quiet portrait of being without resources in America. Anyone who has ever owned a dog will be deeply touched by the bond between Lucy and Wendy.
The film is admirable in its honesty and lack of judgement. We do not know why Wendy has made the choices that bring her to where she is — only the impact that comes from being so close to the edge. Poignant and heart-rending to watch.
These are actual quotes, which I used to collect in a journal, from my brief days in the 90s working in the corporate sector:
“Let’s get away from the notion of a highly-functional organization”
Larry English
President, CIGNA HealthCare
1. Follow any guidelines established by the Division.
2. If there are no guidelines, the department may wish to establish some.
CIGNA Corporate Policy Manual 5/1/92
A friend I once shared these with recently brought them back to my attention.
Ah…. those were the days 
No disrespect meant to the many fine people at CIGNA HealthCare.
An interesting, if somewhat out of focus little film. Filled with signature quirkiness of the Sundance-Indy-Juno school of filmmaking — it is buoyed by a wonderfully unexpected and subtle performance by Maya Rudolph who anchors the film and keeps it from drifting away.
With its loose, road-trip format, it is an elusively touching film about being out-of-touch or at least out-of-synch with the world around you. While it tends to play most of its characters rather broadly, Rudolph subtly displays the uneasiness that comes with making choices about love, home, and family.
While not a romantic film – it is an interesting depiction of love in a realistic vein. It just somehow is a little too broad in its satire and vague in its heart to resonate very deeply. Nonetheless — watching the long lines of people elsewhere in the theatre waiting to see robots transform into killer cars, I was happy I’d seen it!
I remember being very keen on the nail-biting original of this film, with Robert Shaw as the ingenious, serious-minded criminal who takes over a New York City subway train and holds the passengers hostage for a million dollars and Walter Matthau as the ordinary but smart transit guy who happens to be on the radio when it happens. I haven’t seen it it since it it was released in 1974 (when it was called “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” by the way) – so I can’t compare it side-by-side with Tony Scott’s remake 35 years later where the stakes go up to $10 million and the number of edits and camera tricks are at least that inflated, so let me just say this:
The new film ramps up the action, with lots of high-speed, state-of-the-art car crashes, whiplash editing, and appropriate updates to the story to bring it into the world of cell phones, Internet and attack media. This time John Travolta plays the somewhat more psychotic villain and Denzel Washington is the transit guy on the other end. The timing of the remake makes sense, given our terrorist-enhanced anxieties, and it still delivers plenty of edge-of-the-seat suspense — at least during its first hour, where things proceed mostly in real time. Where the movie, uh, derails, is in its final third where plausibility is chucked out the window and Denzel Washington moves from ordinary guy to extraordinary guy, abandons his character, starts using a gun, and races through NYC traffic and in front of trains. I don’t recall that Walter Matthau needed all that in the original which I’ll wager, sight unseen, is still the better film. Nonetheless — the remake is still good thrilling fun and will keep your pulse racing and your whips lashing if you park your suspension of disbelief at the door.
Hope to visit with many of you at this year’s National Conference on Volunteering & Service! I’ll be available for individual consults for HandsOn Tech users or others interesting in volunteering matching technologies in the HandsOn Action Center Lounge – Moscone Center West – Room 3B1 from June 21 – June 24.
Conference is promising to be very exciting with lots of big news about the rapidly expanding volunteer movement and the technology that supports it. (Hmmm, that sounds just a little grandiose doesn’t it?
Email hothelp@handsonnetwork.org to request an appointment time. Schedule to follow. Conference news via twitter tag #NCVS. Tweets to HOT Help with technology news, syndication and other volunteer tech topics welcome @troutco.
If you don’t need help or have questions – just drop by and say Hi anyway!
As you may have guessed, I’ve now got one of those new facebook URLs. Ready class? www.facebook.com/troutco.
Got to hand it to facebook though — simultaneously updating a zillion user names all at once must have required the smartest server scheme ever. Went very smooth and easy for me? How about you?
L.A. Works Day 2009
L.A.’s Largest Day of Corporate & Volunteer Service
On Saturday, June 13th L.A. Works will once again pull together all of our resources — community service partners, corporate sponsors, community members and volunteers — to revitalize Thomas Edison Middle School with murals and green spaces, energize the school community of students, parents and staff, and inspire a new generation of leaders through service and volunteering.
Sign-up Now! Online pre-registration closes Tuesday, June 9 at 5 p.m.
Thanks to the nearly 900 volunteers who worked that day! Click here to see photos.
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