Ferris Bueller's Day Off

From the brilliant workings of John Hughes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a hilarious, and fun movie about a high school wise guy determined to have a day off from school, despite what the principal thinks of that.

The film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), who skips school and spends the day in downtown Chicago. Accompanied by his girlfriend Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) and his best friend Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), he creatively avoids his school's principal Edward Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), his resentful sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey), and his parents. During the film, Bueller regularly breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the camera to explain to the audience his thoughts and techniques. I think that this was very useful in a coming of age film like this, teens and the audience really felt like they were connected and that they were Ferris' friend. 

Hughes wrote the screenplay in less than a week and shot the film—on a budget of $5.8 million—over three months in 1985. Featuring many famous Chicago landmarks including the then Sears Tower and the Art Institute of Chicago, the film was Hughes' love letter to the city: "I really wanted to capture as much of Chicago as I could. Not just in the architecture and landscape, but the spirit." I think Hughes accomplished this with another winning feel good film. 

 
Released by Paramount Pictures on June 11, 1986, Ferris Bueller's Day Off became one of the top grossing films of the year and was enthusiastically received by critics and audiences alike. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry as per being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." It captures what kids think the American way of high school life is, or at least what they dream it to be.

 Here are 9 cool facts about Ferris Bueller's Day Off that you probably didn't know:

1) June, 5, 1985 was probably Ferris' real day off.
2) Mr. and Mrs. Bueller were a real-life couple.
3) Though they played sparring brother and sister in the film, Matthew Broderick was actually engaged to his on-screen sister, Jennifer Grey.
4) Though Ferris and company were portraying high-schoolers, only Mia Sara -- who played Ferris' girlfriend Sloane Peterson -- was a teenager at the time of filming.
5) Painter George Seurat's famous work, "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte," is the work that Cameron appears to be so mesmerized by.
6) Cameron's father's smokin' red Ferrari California Spyder was actually a fake.
7) Charlie Sheen really wasn't 'on' anything during his scene in the film.
8) Though the film took place in the greater Chicago area, the Bueller residence was actually a house in Long Beach, California.
9) Look closely and you'll discover every license plate in the movie has a meaning.

The Second City

Last night, I attended a comedy show by this troupe called The Second City at James Madison University. I really didn't know much about them before going to the show, but it turned out to be a lot of fun and they were hilarious. Apparently quite a few comedians and actors today have gone through the ranks of this troupe such as Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Chris Farley, Stephen Colbert, and Mike Myers. It has been a starting point for many actors and comedians in the show business and its alumni have gone on to many different things such as SNL, Wayne's World, The Daily Show, 30 Rock, and Conan.  Second City is an improvisational comedy group from Chicago. Since starting in the late fifties, they have been touring all over the country performing at a wide variety of locations, including colleges and universities. 

Their skits ranged from awkward dinner dates to political debates and many forms of standup comedy. They also did a lot of audience participation which I thought was funny because they had to come up with stories and jokes on the spot and think fast about it. Even after just hearing something, they were always able to come up with elaborate stories and jokes to make everything in the audience laugh. In fact, I think some people never stopped laughing through the 90 minutes of the show. 

If anyone has the opportunity to see them perform live anywhere I would highly recommend it. Tickets were only $5 so it was a steal to see that much talent perform for so cheap.

Revolution on NBC

I would also like to talk about Revolution this week. I started watching it about a week ago and I am not caught up with all 4 episodes thus far, and I have to say that I am enjoying it. The Pilot episode felt a bit rushed but it got a lot better from there. The Pilot wasn't bad, it was just they dove in head first with all of this information and and background info and what happened and why it happened (the power going out) and how everyone came to be. As someone who is into VFX, the one thing I was disappointed in was the plane crash in the beginning, it just looked odd, I feel like that is not how a plane would crash. Besides that, all of the matte painting and set extensions look incredible and they really made it feel as though you are in post apocalyptic America.

Another thing that I had a problem with was the look of some of the characters. Some of them look as though they just had a haircut and just put makeup on and have no cuts or blemishes whatsoever. I mean, it is after all 15 years after the power went out so they may have figured something out. But that does not take away from the story and what is happening so I can overlook that pretty easily.

Something that I really did like was the action sequences and the build up for a lot of them. I think they made the audience feel suspenseful during many parts and had enough action to entertain anyone and still have a good story.

It was recently picked up for a full first season of 22 episodes so obviously it is getting some good reviews considering that most TV shows don't even make it past their first season. I am going to try to watch every episode of the season and see how it turns out. Who knows, maybe it will become the next big thing.

Dominick Tavella

So I went to the Dominick Tavella presentation in Park last night. It was awesome. Mr. Tavella is a professional re-recording mixer. He is the last person the audio gets sent to and he completes the final mix. He has worked on huge films including the Black Swan and he won an academy award for his mixing in Chicago. Basically he was really awesome and he shared with us some insight into the world of mixing and the professional business. It was super interesting.