Visual Review - Visual Hollywood

Visual ReviewEverything you need toknow aboutBECAUSE I SAID SO.…and how it relates to youand the world around you.Includes info on theactors, director, with news,reviews, and photos.visual review bydavid brucevisualhollywood.com

SHORT SYNOPSISMOVIES CONTAIN THEESSENCE OF BEING HUMANDaphne Wilder is a mother whose love knows no bounds or boundaries. Asa single parent, she has raised three fantastic girls—klutzy, adorable Millystable psychologist Maggie and sexy and irreverent Mae to become the kindof women any mom would die to have. The only problem is…they’re justabout ready to strangle her...

KEY ACTORSCINEMATIC ART HASTRANSFORMING POWERDIANE KEATON(Daphne) Keatonmade her film debut inthe comedy Loversand Other Strangersand rose to fameinThe Godfather.MANDY MOORE (Milly)A multitalent who ispoised to have a banneryear in 2007 with a newalbum and three featurefilms set for release.GABRIEL MACHT(Johnny) marks hisfilm debut in WhyWould I Lie? (1980). Herecently appeared inThe Good Shepherd.

KEY TALENTOUR ARTISTS AREOUR LIBERATORSMICHAEL LEHMANN(Director)He has directed ninefeature films,including Airheads,The Truth About Cats& Dogs, 40 Days and40.KAREN LEIGHHOPKINS(Writter/AssociateProducer)Her credits includeSearching for David’sHeart, which won aHumanitas prize in 2005JESSIE NELSON(Writter/Producer)wrote, directed andproduced the I Am Sam.Nelson is currentlyproducing Fred Claus.,based on her originalstory.

ARTIST HIGHLIGHTLAUREN GRAHAM(Maggie)In 2000, Lauren Graham beganplaying Lorelai Gilmore onGilmore Girls, , the program thatwould launch her to stardom. Shewas nominated for a Best Actress(Drama) Award at the 2001 GoldenGlobes.Her motion picture roles includingseveral NYU student films andmultiple major studio releases,including Bad Santa, The Pacifierand Sweet November.In the movie Evan Almighty, sheplays the role of Evan's wife.ACTORS ARELIBERATORS INMASQUERADE

ARTIST HIGHLIGHTActors help us: laugh, be happy,cry, get angry, and even think.Can there be any better gifts?PIPER PERABO (Mae)Piper has been working non-stop since her big-screen splash in JerryBruckheimer’s Coyote Ugly. . Some of her more recent films include Cheaperby the Dozen 2; the romantic comedy Imagine Me & You, , She was mostrecently seen in Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, , with Hugh Jackman,Christian Bale and Scarlett Johansson. She also stars in First Snow, , a filmdirected by Mark Fergus that co-stars Guy Pearce and Adam Scott.

ARTIST HIGHLIGHTMICHAEL LEHMANN(Director)FILMMAKERS AREREVOLUTIONARIES POSINGAS ENTERTAINERSLehmann attended Columbia University. Hisfirst job in the film industry was answeringphones at Francis Ford Coppola's AmericanZoetrope film company. Later he supervisedcameras on films that included 1983's TheOutsiders. Lehmann attended film school atUSC and graduated in 1985. While at USC hemade a student film, Beaver Gets a Boner, thetitle of which he believes helped get theattention of film executives who would laterhire him.Lehmann is probably most noted for directingthe black comedy Heathers. He also directed 40Days and 40 Nights, The Truth About Cats andDogs, Hudson Hawk and Airheads.His recent films include Your Word AgainstMine, and Mary Warner, which reunite Lehmannwith Heathers actress Winona Ryder.

EXTENDED SYNOPSISSTORIES ARETRANSFORMINGDaphne Wilder (DIANE KEATON) is a mother whose love knows nobounds or boundaries. As a single parent, she has raised three fantasticgirls—klutzy, adorable Milly (MANDY MOORE), stable psychologistMaggie (LAUREN GRAHAM) and sexy and irreverent Mae (PIPERPERABO)—to become the kind of women any mom would die to have.

EXTENDED SYNOPSISALL KIDS ARE BORN ARTISTS.WHAT IS NATURAL IS ESSENTIAL.The only problem is…they’re just about ready to strangle her.In a comedy that explores when it’s finally time to cut the apron strings.In order to prevent her youngest, Milly, from making the same romanticmistakes she did, Daphne decides to set her up with the perfect man. Theone thing Daphne decides not to tell Milly, however, is that she placed anad in the online personals to find him.

EXTENDED SYNOPSISSTORIES EMBODY THEESSENCE BEING HUMANTOM EVERETT SCOTTas one of Milly's loveinterests, the stablearchitect JasonGABRIEL MACHT as oneof Milly's love interests,the carefree musicianJohnnyIs the man of Daphne’s (erm, Milly’s) dreams the responsible architect Jason(TOM EVERETT SCOTT), or is he the free-spirited rocker Johnny (GABRIELMACHT)? Daphne will continue to push, cajole, suggest and nudge her wayinto Milly’s smallest of decisions until she rights the wrongs of her own lifechoices or drives her girls nuts.

EXTENDED SYNOPSISCINEMATIC STORYTELLING IS A PROFOUNDLYHUMANIZING ENDEAVORBut once Johnny’s own father, Joe (STEPHEN COLLINS), catches a buriedspark within Daphne, things really start to heat up for the Wilder matriarch.Finally letting herself begin to fall, Daphne begins to wonder if she is justpushing her girls as a way of ignoring her own issues.

EXTENDED SYNOPSIS(L to R)Daphne Wilder (DIANE KEATON)Milly (MANDY MOORE),Maggie (LAUREN GRAHAM) Mae(PIPER PERABOIn a battle of strong wills, the mother-daughter dynamic is tested in all itsfierce, wacky complexity. Now, the girls will try their best to help Daphnefinally discover the truths and impossibilities of motherly love…all whiletrying to answer the questions: where does it begin and where should itend?

LIFE CONNECTIONSART AS A LIBERATING FORCEI've never struck a woman in my life, not even my own mother.--W. C. Fields (1880 - 1946)THE SUBJECT IS MOTHERS!The movie asks: “Is there any ‘good’ time to detach yourself from yourmom, cut the apron strings.”There are problems with overprotective mothers as Betty Friedanaccurately notes: “Strange new problems are being reported in thegrowing generations of children whose mothers were always there, drivingthem around, helping them with their homework - an inability to endurepain or discipline or pursue any self-sustained goal of any sort, adevastating boredom with life.”It goes the other way too. Children bring their share of pain to a mother’sheart as Mark Twain famously noted: “My mother had a great deal oftrouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.”An excellent bottom line comes from the late writer and Nobel Prizewinner, Pearl Buck: “Some are kissing mothers and some are scoldingmothers, but it is love just the same.” Indeed, despite the quality ofrelationship, loving “mom” is basic even in all of her faults –which we allhave!

CRITICAL OPINIONTHE FREE SPEECH DISCUSSION OF THEARTS IS THE MARK OF A FREE SOCIETY“Innocuous, self-centered and disconnectedfrom any parcel of meaningful humanexperience.”Kevin N. LaforestMontreal Film Journal“Because I Said So gets a 'C’”Emanuel Levyemanuellevy.com“The film's gift for laying contrivance atopinsult is as uncanny as it is inhuman.”Ed Gonzalezslant magazine“THE BOTTOM LINE: Movies like this arewidely suspected to cause simultaneousovulation.”Premiere MagazineSara Brady

VISUAL HOLLYWOOD REVIEW:‘IN BECAUSE I SAID SO’by david bruceART IS THE LANGUAGEOF LIBERATIONThis film has not been received very well.Too bad, because its topic of ‘Mothers’connects with all of us. The other focushere is ‘how not to parent.’The idea for this film project began with aroutine dentist appointment. Co-screenwriter Karen Leigh Hopkins waspassing time in the waiting room when sheoverheard the story of a mother who wasproud of setting up her daughter on dateswith men she believed to be quite eligible.Oh by gosh! Too much parenting is nevergood and, of course, too little is not enough.Here is a tremendous theme, and with sucha great cast, it is too bad that the finalproduction was not as inspired as theoriginal idea.

FINDING TRUTH ‘IN BECAUSE I SAID SO’Insight from Karen Leigh Hopkins(Co-screenwriter):Society is only as free as itsarts. Art is the voice ofhuman freedom.“Everybody has a mother, and though all mother/childrelationships are unique, I have no doubt every mom inthe world wants to see her kids healthy, happy,successful and in love with the right person. Themeddling mother comic possibilities are endless, andall could be based upon real truths. Everyone canrelate, which is why the project took on greatmomentum once we started moving forward.”“This is a movie about very flawed characters wholearn and grow and step on each other’s toes alongthe way. But at the end of the day, they love oneanother fiercely. There’s a certain hilarity within familydynamics. If you peel back the layers of any familyunit, there’s going to be black comedy there. This isabout, at the end of the day, how insane love is—motherly love, sisterly love, romantic love. It’s messyand impossible, but that’s what makes it soincredible.”

TRIVIA AND NEWS: ‘IN BECAUSE I SAID SO’HAIR IN THE NUDE? In 1968, Diane Keaton became anunderstudy on the original Broadway production of Hair.She gained some notoriety for her refusal to disrobe in theportions of the musical when the entire cast performednude, even though nudity in the production was optionalfor actors. (Those who performed nude received a $50bonus)THE TRUTH ABOUT ANNIE HALL. Diane Keaton was bornDiane Hall. In 1977, Keaton starred with Woody Allen in theromantic comedy Annie Hall, in which she played one ofher most famous roles. "Annie" is a nickname of hers, and"Hall" is her original surname.MOORE’S SPECIAL FEDEX DELIVERY. Mandy Moore'sinterest in singing grew after seeing the musicalOklahoma!; she was also encouraged to perform by hermaternal grandmother, who was her inspiration. After shesang the national anthem at several athletic events, a FedExemployee spotted her and sent her demo to Epic Records,where she was subsequently signed to a record deal.

WHY MOVIES ARE SO IMPORTANT"The meaning of life is the most urgent ofquestions" --Albert Camus (Existentialist thinker).To restrict creativity is torestrict the very natureof the CreatorIn “Movies and the Meaning of Life” author KimberlyBlessing points out that movies can help us reflecton five of life’s most important questions:1) What is reality and how can I know it?2) How can I find my true identity?3) What the significance of my interactions withothers?4) What’s the point of my life?5) How ought I to live my life?The idea behind Visual Hollywood is that Movies canand must play an essential role helping us explorethe meaning of our existence and our life together.No other quest is more necessary or important.Movies are powerful. Movies bring personalmeaning, and can contribute to a peaceful world.Cinematic story telling can be a transforming event.Visual Hollywood takesan existential approachto life. We celebratewith human freedom.We use movies and thearts as a means ofunderstanding thehuman condition andour collective relation tothe world around us.Our basic quest is:1. To know what itmeans to be human inthe world.2. The pursuit of humanfreedom.

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