Elizabethtown

Ambrose made a posting in honor of the Elizabethtown movie coming out, and I thought I would share some amusement regarding the movie.

First of all, the Boy and I were able to witness an entire scene being shot between Kirsten Dunst & Orlando Bloom - from 3 stories above the street. He was on leave, and since I had a guaranteed parking place at City Hall, he came with me to join the crowds that wanted to be part of the movie magic. It was so funny, because from my office, you could hear the screaming pre-teen girls every time Orlando was anywhere in sight. As soon as they set up the scene, I called to see where the Boy was... and good thing I did, else he would have missed the entire thing. The "movie people" rounded all the spectators up, one block up from where the action was. I told him that if he hurried, he could make it through the blockade before filming, and come watch from the 3rd floor of City Hall. He made out like a bandit. Not only did he get to have a birds-eye view of the filming - from the comfy chair of the City Clerk's office - he also later got within 15 feet of Orlando. It was quite an exciting day for him. He and the Mayor even chatted it up a bit, remarking about how amazing this was for the City.

So, here comes a little twist of irony. This is a link to the trivia page of imdb.com's Elizabethtown page. Note the first line of trivia:

"Jane Fonda was originally set to play Hollie Baylor but dropped out when filming was delayed."

Back in May, the owner of the movie theaters in town, Ike Boutwell, made national news for refusing to show the movie Monster-in-Law. I've met Ike a few times, and am friends with his grandson. My best friend works part-time at the movie theater in town, and told me about the uproar that was going on. Ike, a Vietnam veteran, was standing up against Jane Fonda.

The News-Enterprise originally published the stories before they were picked up by other news sources. You can view the original stories via the links below. (I'm apologizing in advance that registration might be required. I'm registered, and haven't received a single bit of unsolicited mail from The N-E.)

May 17

May 19

May 22

It makes me wonder what sort of reaction the filming would have received, if Fonda had remained in the title role.