Dancing Towards A Better Life at 3:45 AM

Alee recently took a trip to Colombia where she discovered a school called El Colegio Del Cuerpo. It's an organization that is doing some really beautiful work in the city of Cartegena, Colombia. Their basic goal is to teach the art of dance to kids of all socioeconomic backgrounds. Rich kids are allowed. Poor kids are allowed. All kids are allowed.

It's an intense school too. They don't have mediocre dance classes to give the kids something to do when they're bored. The school wants their students to be the best in the world. The dancers that leave this school compete on a global level.

I can't help but smile when I hear about organizations like this. Schools like El Colegio del Cuerpo help the world realize that it doesn't always matter how much money you have. People don't respect the students of this school because the students are super rich and powerful. They are respected because they are really good at what they do.

It's also great because it gives underprivileged kids a way out of their poverty. It gives them a skill. It gives them confidence. It gives them an opportunity to contribute beauty to a broken world.

I just discovered a very similar school in Atlanta that is also helping underprivileged kids by teaching them dance.

You gotta give 'em hope... at 11:06 AM

I've recently had an...um...change of heart...

For the past 5 years my favorite movie has undoubtedly been Cinema Paradiso. If you know anything about me and you know anything about this movie, then you know exactly why it held the number one spot in my heart.

If you haven't seen it, it's basically about a broken hearted filmmaker.

It's quite a depressing movie with little hope presented to the audience. Either way I identified with the main character more than any other character I'd ever seen in a movie. That's why I loved it so much.

However, I showed it to my fiancee, Alee, over Christmas break and the movie didn't feel the same. Whatever it was about the movie that made me love it so much for the past 5 years wasn't there upon this viewing. I didn't identify with Toto (the main character) anymore. It didn't make me feel the way it used to. The magic was gone.

I was scared to admit it at first, but I think I have to say that Cinema Paradiso isn't number one anymore. That doesn't mean I still don't think it's a great movie. I'm still convinced it's one of the greatest movies I've ever seen, but best does not always equal favorite.

So what has taken its spot on my list?

I think I'm in a place where I don't have one favorite movie. I have several. Here are my current top 5 in no specific order:

Casablanca.

Good Will Hunting.

The Untouchables.

The Best Years of Our Lives.

...and Slumdog Millionaire.

Yes, Slumdog Millionaire has replaced Cinema Paradiso.

I guess some might say that the explanation for this change is an easy one. I don't identify with a brokenhearted filmmaker anymore, because I'm no longer as brokenhearted as I once felt yaddah yaddah yaddah...but I think the explanation is deeper than that.

I think the change has something to do with what kind of movies I want to make in my life.

Like I said, Cinema Paradiso offers very little hope to its viewer. The viewer leaves the film feeling regret, sadness, and confusion. I don't want people feeling this way while leaving a movie with Nathan Willis' name on it.

When movies first came out they were a means of escape for people. People would go to the movies to forget their problems and laugh. Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin reminded people that there was still good in the world, and that there was still stuff worth smiling about.

This optimism in movies seems to have disappeared. All of the critically acclaimed movies don't make us laugh like they once did, they make us want to throw back the Prozac and eat the barrel of a gun.

For the past few years the movies that have taken the Best Picture statue home from the Academy Awards leave the audience feeling pessimistic about the world we live in.

Slumdog Millionaire is a much needed change of pace.

When I make a film I want people to realize that, yeah, life really does suck sometimes, but there is hope. You don't have to live in regret and self pity.

A girl broke your heart? There is hope.

Your mom died? There is hope.

You're poor? There is hope.

I think Slumdog Millionaire embodies this idea perfectly.

I don't want to watch/make movies where people look behind them to a past filled with heartache and remorse. I want people to look ahead to a future filled with hope and optimism.

That's the reason I fell in love with movies in the first place.