Thursday, September 11, 2008

"Henry Poole is Here"


Well it must be that time of year when all your friends' movies come out at the same time (see "Choke" below). Last weekend, we saw Henry Poole is Here which was directed by Mark Pellington. We've known Mark since before we even started our company, back in the day when he worked as a producer/director at MTV. Mark's film delves into the life of Henry Poole (played by Luke Wilson) who gets a terminal diagnosis from his doctor, and is on the slide down, down, down until a strange supernatural occurrence happens on the wall of his stucco house. The take-away for us was a positive message of hope and redemption. Some critics have been tough on this film, which is unfair. There's enough cynicism in the world, so we agree with Mark that there needs to be a lot more hope infused into the world. Henry is a great step towards moving all of our moods into a positive direction. The movie was inspired by Mark's own tragic loss of his wonderful wife, Jennifer. Go see the film, and ignore the naysayers.



Here's a little interview with Mark and Adriana Barraza (who is really really really good in the film) about Henry.




Mark is an incredibly brave soul by tackling the hard issues of death and spirituality, head-on. If there is any doubt about his personal strength, just watch the video below that he did for the band Keane called "Everybody's Changing" which features folks like Mark himself whose loved ones have died, and are left behind, alone and sad. Mark is now raising his beautiful daughter Isabella on his own, and he's s doing a fantastic job of it. We got a chance to play with her on the beach in Venice Beach, California back in April, and she is one special little girl.



And as if all that is not enough, Mark somehow found the time to direct the film "U2 3D." Rock on Brother Mark - we love ya.

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