First off….go vote tomorrow. Now on to my log:

Saturday night was the big night…the Amends to My Life midnight movie premiere (my first ever attendance at a premiere [possibly the last?]). Kevin and I were invited to this private, “formal” affair after developing the Amends to My Life website about a month ago. A few quick facts about the movie/movie premiere:

• Title: Amends to My Life
• Runtime: 102 minutes
• Screenplay by: Ben Solenberger and Jaymes Camery
• Theater: Carmike Cinemas – Apple Blossom Six
• Attendance: 175+ (according to the official ATML blog)

Film Synopsis:

Can a friendship survive anything?

Two high school seniors go through their last few months of school by having fun and living every day for laughs. As the school year comes to an end these guys must decide. College or work? If they part ways will the friendship survive time, women, careers, school, and just plain life? This is a film that shows the evolution of change in friends. All relationships can be broken. By what?

Everybody has a purpose and that’s what these guys must figure out for themselves.

So this heterosexuals first problem was what to wear…the event was “formal” but I also heard a rumor that at least one person who was pretty involved with the whole shindig would be wearing some sort of full body costume (guess he chickened out). I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to bust out the tuxedo t-shirt! Katie and I searched for it but it turned up one day too late. Instead I went with khakis / shirt / tie…and I convinced Kevin (pictured right curtsying) not to wear his suit jacket so he wouldn’t out-shine me. It turns out we were about the median when it came to formal dress. Some people were in jeans and t-shirts, others full suits and red-carpet-ready dresses.

As we arrived we saw the marquee with “Amends to My Life Premier” all lit up. Both Jaymes and Ben spoke to the audience about the movie, thanking everyone involved (which was almost everyone in attendance). Ben informed the audience that this was indeed an independent, ultra low budget movie (funded almost entirely by Ben as I understand it)…and with that in mind we might notice a few flubs here and there, especially with the audio (which turned out to be my biggest criticism with the movie). The last thing Ben said was “Now, there is a bit a vulgar language in the film, so please don’t be offended”. This film is not rated, but it would certainly be rated R just for the language (there was no violence, and sadly no nudity either).

The movie started about 12:30am. I recognized a couple of Winchester hot spots used for filming including Cork Street Tavern and the very movie theater we were sitting in. While Ben was the driving force behind the physical comedy aspect of the film, Lauren Schacher (a.k.a Lauren Perkins) was central in many of the more serious scenes and I thought she did a great job. I did laugh out loud (LOLOLOL!!!) quite a few times during the movie, some jokes seemed forced and some went over well. I wish that Adam Breslaw (who played Ben’s hardware store coworker Carl) had a larger role in the movie…he really gave a great performance even though he only had one scene.

By the end of the movie I had a pounding headache (mostly due to the fact that I am still getting over a nasty cold)…but this made me notice the audio levels a bit(which I said before was my main gripe) – some parts I was straining to hear the dialogue and then something in the background would be painfully overpowering. I’m sure this was less of an issue for everyone who didn’t have a cold inducing headache.  Another big issue for me was the difference between high school Ben and James, and old Ben and James, there was as section of the movie with flashback scenes between the old and the young characters, and I had a hard time differentiating between them.
Overall, for what it was (an ultra low budget, independent movie) I think it turned out good. It was funny, and a bit thought provoking. After the credits rolled (Kevin and I were credited) we picked up our copy of the DVD, and headed to the most obvious place 2:30am hangout: Waffle House!