In the Orchard a Film, new independent film on Amazon (IMDb)

In the Orchard

In the Orchard (★ ★ ★ ★+): Winner for Best Feature Film at the 2018 Sonoma International Film Festival, the 2018 Culver City FF and the 2019 Beaufort Int FF. A grief stricken woman befriends a Marine veteran with PTSD, and their relationship leads them towards potentially tragic consequences. Available on Amazon Prime. 

I love blogging. It has offered me some amazing unexpected experiences. Connecting with film makers Dana White and her husband, Christ Knoblock, was one of those rare things that doesn't happen in my world everyday. I don't remember where we connected. Dana may have gone through blogs and emailed me or I may have seen her on a crowd sourced website. Getting to know Hollywood film people as we would in say our simple eastern Oregon way was just fun. That was several years ago.

At that time Dana and Chris were working on a film Dana wrote. It was called The Red Suitcase. I donated to their efforts so I was very interested. (I still wear the pearl bracelet with a small red suitcase attached that I received as a gift.)

The Red Suitcase was a story based loosely on Dana's mother's life. I watched as they updated me often. It was so fascinating to see the process they went through in order to get funding. The Red Suitcase remains unfinished. 

Now Chris and Dana have a new independent film called In the Orchard for sale or rent on Amazon Prime. I was so excited when I saw that I could share such a beautiful movie with people. Oh, I forgot to mention, I did get to see the movie before they had even shown it at film festivals. That was wonderful. 

In the Orchard gives the viewer a story about a veteran with PTSD and a woman that had suffered a great loss and perhaps suffered from PTSD too. Issues of trust and emotional connection, denial and reality hit just the right cord. The chance meeting and the subsequent connection they formed led them down a path that was very dangerous.

I might add that the directing by Knoblock and the cinematograph just blew me away. The simplicity of the story coupled with the complication of life lived with grief and shock was extraordinary. 

You can rent the film for $3.99 and then view it at your leisure. I am going to do that. I will be talking about it with friends and people in the grocery store. (Yes I do that kind of thing!)

I was told by Dana that The Red Suitcase is next on their list of endeavors. I want to see that story from beginning to end in the worst way.

So I am asking you to take a chance and support an independent film maker. You will not regret it!

b+

Movies: The Red Suitcase Goes Global with Indiegogo.com

There are movies that need to be made. I think The Red Suitcase is one. The story of older women living a real life is not something we see all that often at the movies. I am one of those (older women) and I think we are very interesting...thank you. But, in the case of The Red Suitcase, we have not only the life of an interesting character but also a compelling mother-daughter story. And it is about a road trip....you know how I love those.

I did one of those Google searches this morning using the words movies about older people and every movie that came up starred men like Clint Eastwood. Surprisingly, when I added the word women the search engine came up with older women/younger man relationship movies...all those icky cougar stories. Then I tried movies about retirement and hit the motherload.  Evidently the movie industry is all about that subject and always has been.  But movies about older mothers in trouble and a daughter finding a way to move on with their lives? Probably not many. 

So now WE have a chance to help a movie get produced. This one is worth our attention. 

I have written about this project several time.  The most recent post was called Reinvention: The Red Suticase Movie Project...Taking the Past With You. When I interviewed the movie maker this is what she told me:

Screen Shot of Post

      The Red Suitcase is a film that is being made by young filmmaker, Dana White, and her husband. She is the writer, producer and star. Her mother is the story. 

      The idea for the film came after White and her mother had taken the road trip from her mother's home in the East to White's home in California. White had to convince her mother that she needed to leave the past behind and come to live with her.  

It really doesn't take much... every small donation makes a huge difference. Your name will appear on the wall of donors, there are gifts given and you are a part of the project. I hope you can find a way to join me. We can become a part of the IndieRedSuitcaseGroupies!

b+

Tweets by @Indiegogo
Tweets by @RedSuitcaseFilm
Facebook @The Red Suitcase
Website: The Red Suitcase
Indiegogo:

Indiegogo Verified account

@Indiegogo

The largest global crowdfunding platform. We empower people to fund what matters to them. support@indiegogo.com

San Francisco · indiegogo.com

• 12,121TWEETS
• 4,782FOLLOWING
• 92,303FOLLOWERS

PS: When you go to the website look for RetireInStyleBlog in the quotes!

Related articles

• The Red Suitcase Film

Reinvention #2: The Red Suitcase the Movie project...taking the past with you!

Image: Kathleen Chalfant
Justice for Lynn Steward

The Red Suitcase is a film that is being made by young filmmaker, Dana White, and her husband. She is the writer, producer and star. Her mother is the story. 

The idea for the film came after White and her mother had taken the road trip from her mother's home in the East to White's home in California. White had to convince her mother that she needed to leave the past behind and come to live with her.  

The movie will star Broadway stage actress, Kathleen Chalfant and White who has also worked on Broadway.

Sometime during the month of October, White and her husband will be starting a crowdsourcing campaign with Indiegogo to raise funds for completion of the film. I was given an opportunity to talk with White a few days ago. 

The Red Suitcase...the perfect symbol

Have you ever thought about the perfect symbolic container for your past? What size would it be? What would you fill it with? If you left the suitcase behind, could you move into the future easier? Those questions were the ones that came to mind when I first discovered The Red Suitcase project. 

The storyline is about a 66 year old woman named Ruth. She is alone, in financial trouble and still devastated over the abandonment of her husband six years earlier. Her daughter, Liz, comes to her mother begging her to come to California so they could share a life. The story begins...

Ruth agrees, but not without reluctance, as she tacitly carries with her a red suitcase full of her estranged husband’s clothes. In a beat-up station wagon filled to the brim, Ruth and Liz begin an odyssey across America. 

Full of humorous adventures, colorful characters and dramatic revelations, the trip continually tests Ruth’s wavering resolve to start a new life.  

Through this journey, and the complex and unbreakable bond with her daughter, Ruth finds the strength to let go of the past and face the future, proving it is never too late.

When I received an email...
I was surprised by the email from White telling me that she and her husband had decided to crowdsource the film and would be going full tilt before long.I could only imagine how exciting it would be to actually see the story come alive. In fact, I had been thinking about it just a few days earlier. It was almost magic to hear from her.

White told me in the email that we could visit over the phone, an offer I accepted immediately. I had been following the progress of her project for a long time. Not only was I curious; I was also flattered that she would take the time to talk with me.

We chatted about her life and the fact that she was returning to college with a grant so she could get her MFA in Creative Writing at UC Riverside. We also touched on her life in a community of creative people in Pasadena, CA. But the burning question that was in my mind was What did her mother think about a film based on her life? Wasn't that something that her mother would somehow find a little frightening?

What did her mother think?
White told me that she had asked for her mother's permission to make the movie. 

"That is fine Dana" her mother said, "but I don't think we are very interesting." 

She was reassured when White told her that it would be loosely based on her life. 

"Trust me" White answered, "I will make us very interesting."

I have seen the trailer for this film and was even allowed to see a private YouTube clip of a reading of the script for a group of possible supporters. This is not going to be boring...trust me. Dana White has written a beautiful, funny and compelling story.

So why does this interest me so much? 

The fact is, I have known women that have gone through this very thing. Some have moved on, some have followed a child to make a life with them and some have simply fallen through the cracks. Many times success or failure was not related to making the right decisions. Life has a way of doing that to women left alone late in life.

Movies about our aging population are becoming more and more mainstream these days so I think this one has a very good chance of succeeding. I like that and I find it fascinating. As I understand it, donors will be giving a symbolic gift in appreciation for their support. I want to be a part of this...and I thought the idea for the token gift was a stroke of genius. 

Stay tuned. I will keep you posted. Be sure to visit the website link for the movie I gave you at the top of the article. When the Indiegogo project comes to life, you will be the first to hear about it...here.

Oh, and if you aren't a follower, add your name to the list at the right. Tweet, Facebook or Google me. It all helps!

Be well.

Barbara

Related post:

• Reinvention: Making a movie called "The Red Suitcase"  This is a blog post about the connection between The Red Suitcase, The Movie and The Best Marigold Hotel Project.
• How Do We "Picture" Aging, by guest blogger Karen Austin
• Golfing in Arizona and the Movies (just because I think this is interesting)

Hollywood: How do we "picture" aging? by Karen Austin

Guest Blogger Bio: Karen D. Austin is a gerontologist who spend her time as an adjunct, blogger, and volunteer with older adults in a variety of venues. She lives in Wichita, Kansas with her husband and two children. Her approach to aging is part science, part performance art. She blogs at The Generation above Me. Follow her on Twitter @TheGenAboveMe

About five years ago, I started to maintain a list of films that feature people from late midlife on.  I was still teaching college English at the time and well versed in the concerns of those 18 to 25. I spent three decades supporting the intellectual development of young adults. Sometimes I offered them a little emotional support, too. 

I am interested in human growth and development, but because I spent so much time in a university setting with undergraduates, I was woefully inattentive about life challenges and opportunities for those 50 plus.

Watching these films peaked my curiosity.  I won’t claim that watching movies was the only catalyst for my career change. However, five years and 100 films later, I have quit teaching college English. I recently finished a master’s in Aging Studies. And I’m preparing to teach a class about films that depict aging issues.  My students will be both traditional and nontraditional, providing for multiple perspectives.

Now it seems that Hollywood is making films that star seasoned actors faster than I can view them.  Or is this just because I’m hyperaware? 

I remember when I bought a VW, it seemed everyone had a VW. When I was pregnant, the number of pregnant women crossing my path seemed to grow exponentially. And now that I’m interested in active aging, it seems there is more information about managing the aging process than I can consume.

The more I observe the aging process, the more I discover its complexities.  People in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond are a diverse group. I can see this complexity in the films I’m watching, even though they at times exaggerate the human experience.  But such exaggerations make it easier to see things that real life might obscure through subtlety.

These themes have emerged: films about sex and love, films about managing male power, films about artists, films about athletes, films about family drama, films about generational conflict, films about road trips, films about communal living, films about meeting the challenges of illness, films about how to cope with loss. In other words, films featuring an infinite number of life experiences.  

By taking a closer look at aging through films, I found that people in midlife and late life do pretty much the same things that young adults do. Love, laugh, live.  Earn, yearn, spurn.  Each age group just strives for the same things—self-expression, intimacy, creativity, self-determination, community, etc.--with their own spin.  

Here is a short list of films that I found that taught me that the concerns of people 50 plus defy the stereotype that people in the second half of life are boring, inflexible, and stagnant. Not true. Like all people, midlife adults and older adults are interesting, dynamic and developing.  

• Age of Champions (2001). This documentary profiles a handful of athletes as they prepare for and compete at The National Senior Games.
• Boynton Beach Club (2005). This film mixes comedy and drama as it shows six older singles adjusting to single life and the dating scene after decades of marriage. 
• Jiro Dreams of Sushi (2011).  A master sushi chef is still perfecting his craft and mentoring others at age 85.
• On a Clear Day (2005). When the lead character is laid off at midlife, he must find a new purpose. His friends, wife and son all respond differently to his decision to take up long-distance swimming.
• Quartet (2012). Having a long-history sharing work lives and social lives makes living in the same retirement community more complex than living in a college dorm, but it also makes life more rich.
• Trouble with the Curve (2012). Despite having to manage age-related challenges, an experienced baseball scout shows that he still maintains a lot of skill and strength when co-workers challenge him.

Interested in more titles? See a bigger list that I maintain and update regularly. Recommend a film in the comments below.

Other guest post written for various blog by Karen Austin can be found here.

I wish I had a penny....books and more!

If I could go back and collect a penny for every book I wanted to read or movie I wanted to see or even places I wanted to go, I would have a lot of pennies.  If the age old adage ...wishes were fishes, the lake would be full! were true, my lake would be very, very full!

I received a my monthly newsletter from Simon and Schuster this morning and another penny went into my jar.  After Visiting Friends by Michael Hainey topped their list of Indie Books this month. I want this book a lot.

The book is a story of a man, mysteriously dead at a young age, as told by the son left behind at the age of six.  Hainey is a newspaperman like his father before him and evidently a very talented writer. He was haunted by what he did not know and no one was willing to share.  He finally began searching for answers when he became the age that his father was when he died. 

Then there was the email from a promoter of travel in Scotland. He wanted to post promotions for a travel website from that country.  I blew him off and now I regret at least not getting to know him.  My jar is getting fuller every day.  It is become very evident to me that I want to go to that country one day before I die. I may be watching too much Netflix and have fallen in love with Monarch of the Glen BBC series.

One of my friends here in the park has been to Cuba a number of times.  He is from Canada and goes into the country through Mexico.  I am not sure if we can do that but I want to and have put a penny in my jar so I will remember.

Then there are all those movies I want to see but can't seem to make myself leave the house to go see them.  Les Miserables, the latest Jame Bond are two that come to mind today.

I suppose my point here is what am I waiting for anyway? The pennies are not worth enough to collect but doing what I do now could be very important. Tic-toc! I have told you before that I am through waiting. I even wrote my whole camera off on taxes this year as a blog related expense. Who knows what next year will bring...why wait!

b+

And I thought I was behind the times: Mississippi Ratified the 13th Amendment

I quote a website called Above the Law:

Amazon link:
Team of Rivals: 
The Political Genius of 
Abraham Lincoln

Today the big story (at least in liberal circles) is that Mississippi finally officially ratified the Thirteenth Amendment, after two Ole Miss employees saw the movie Lincoln and decided to look into why their state hadn’t officially ratified the amendment. You can’t make that up: Mississippi needed a Spielberg movie to remind them to ratify the amendment banning slavery....

If you were one of the people that went to a theater and watched Spielberg's Lincoln, you know that the movie was about as good as it gets. I loved that it made enough of an impact to clean up an unresolved legal oversight. You go Mississippi...you may get it right yet!   

Go see the movie and maybe even read the book that the movie was based on...it is called Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln and is written by Doris Kearns Goodwin. I, for one, am going to read it very soon.

b+

Retirement Travel: 3 Best Beginners Lessons

Sapa Vietnam(Photo credit: Always at Home)

Travel is a passion and I love to talk about it, write about it and listen or read or watch movies about it. I once wrote in a journal about the need to travel.  It was in 2004. (I was 62...which proves it is never to late or early to be a beginner.) I said:

If I were not traveling I think I would die from itching feet. My feet may bleed from the coarse sand and ill fitting shoes but at least they do not itch and I do not die.  I grow callouses that make me strong and even taller.  I seem to become smarter from the bottom up.

This entry was written while my husband and I were traveling in Thailand with our son, his wife and our 16 month old granddaughter. The granddaughter is 9 now and we have been to the far east several times since that time. But the memories from our first trip are still alive. What I remember more than anything else was the feeling of being a beginning traveler. The first time in the Orient was wonderful and hard at the same time. I continue to learn about traveling abroad.

If you are a beginning traveler, I think you can benefit from several things I have learned. I cannot give you the smells or the emotional experience, not in person.  But what I think you can learn from books and movies will help you a lot.

Lesson # 1: Different is a GOOD THING!
The latest and greatest destinations are usually third world countries. There are still deal to be had and the people have not learned to dislike tourist...yet. I read on a travel site the other day about the two sides of places we will visit. There is the resort experience...the one where we go to a country like Thailand, stay in a resort, and leave with a sun tan but no knowledge about the country itself. Or we can stay in a hotel, wander out for lunch or dinner and experience the people of the country. It is our choice.

The thing is, if you go out into the country you will not find what you have at home. If you have never been in a third world country where a small percentage of the citizens are very rich and the rest are not, it is a shock. 

The experience of seeing people living at or below what you consider the poverty level may make you uneasy. The reason you will feel that way is because you are basing your judgement on your countries standards. I have learned that material possessions are not even possible for a lot of people in the world. They do not miss what they do not know. They live very frugally and are happy. I envy them that life. 

Here is what I suggest you do. Rent a movie! Of all the videos I have ever seen, the one that hit the perfect balance was The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Pilot). The Book Series written by Alexander McCall are wonderful to read but the HBO series based on the books give the viewer a feel for the joy and simplicity of life in a place that is not all about Internet service and TV. The experience is about the people and their dress, culture, and music. After watching the series and reading several of the books, I want to visit Botswana. I think I would like it.

The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is a television series, produced by the BBC in conjunction with HBO, and based on the novels of the same name by Alexander McCall Smith. The novels focus on the story of a detective agency opened by Mma Ramotswe and her courtship with the mechanic Mr. JLB Matekoni. The series was filmed on location in Botswana and was seen as one of the first major film or television productions to be undertaken in Botswana. (The Gods Must Be Crazy, a 1980 film set in Botswana was filmed mainly in South Africa. (Wikipedia)

Even if you are traveling in the United States you will find "third world" conditions or cultures you do not understand. Be respectful and listen. You may just learn something.

Less # 2: Find the Place that Calls Your Name
The world is your oyster...the whole big wide world. Oh my gosh what will I do first? When we retired, the "oyster" was like a big giant elephant demanding to be eaten NOW! I know we both had to take a big deep breath and step back. Remember, you eat an elephant one-bite-at-a-time. I think a list is good. Keep in mind expenses, time and dreams. In other words do what you dream of on what you can afford and the time you can stand to be away from home. It is as simple as that.

Lonely Planet suggested several movies that are available no.  They give you glimpses of various regions in China. The article called Silver screen China: a movie buff’s travel guide refers to movies shot in locations throughout China. Because I travel in China I was very interested in this article. Getting a visual picture of the places even helps me make my choices.

Lonely Planet forum has conversations about The Da Vinci Code and how that movie prompted people to take a trip to the movie scene locations. I even wrote an article about the movies that had been filmed in Tucson, AZ. For those of you that are a Lord of the Rings fans, the images of New Zealand may even lead you to visit that country. Incidentally, I see that New Zealand has restored the movie set for tourist that visit from around the world.

Lesson #3: Review the Etiquette of Travel
Here is the deal. You need to remember that the movies can give you images of a country but people are people. I don't know about you but learning about people is why I travel. So you really, really must read The Accidental Tourist by Ann Tyler. If you are one of those people that think that all those people out there that do not look like you or eat like you or worship like you are evil, you need to get over that. The Accidental Tourist is about a man that writes how-to books for people that travel but don't want to ever taste or smell the country. It might help stop you from being an "ugly American". Even Mark Twain wrote about the traveler that would not give up the idea of superiority when they traveled. The Innocents Abroad is a wonderful book and still is valid even after all this time.

Conclusion
I remember the first time I had ever been in Washington, DC.  The sights were so familiar and it was a amazing that I actually felt very at home in a place so unlike anything I had ever experienced before. The reason?  Our nation's capital is in the news every night. The images were ones I had seen hundreds of time. I had read history and novels placed in the capital. It was like home because I knew and understood it even though I had never been there. That is what movies and books can do for you.

So that is what was on my mind today.  Send me an email if you have a question or leave a comment.  I would love to hear your thoughts!

b

Related articles

• Lonely Planet: "No, I'm not a 'twitcher'!" (retireinstyleblog.com)
• Travel: Things I Wish I'd Brought When I Got There (retireinstyleblog.com)
• A look back: Why we travel Hopefully and Fearlessly!!! (retireinstyleblog.com)
• Travel Book Idea (retireinstyleblog.com)

TV Commercials: Who are those people anyway?

I would go see Rodolph Valentine

See, I never do this. I am not a person that wishes for the old days or even thinks about them.  But I want the old movie posters back. I have begun to notice that I don't know what name belongs to what famous people. I used to know everyone. Now I remember the face but have not name to go with it.  Has that happened to you?  Remember when the poster for a new movie appeared in theaters, the names of the stars and co-stars were featured at the top. Starring Jimmy Stewart and Sophia Loren it would way. I liked that...I decided to see the movie or not based on the star power of the people on the poster because I knew who they were.  Now, I cannot even figure out who is in the movie and suspect that the company releasing the film is hiding something.  I guess I am just suspicious.   Please, just tell me their name, preferably in large print.

Being of an age (70 years old) that young people would call old is bad enough.  But now I don't know who that guy is in the McDonald's commercial...the one standing behind the young man telling him to buy the nugget basket to share with the pretty girl across the room.   If I were getting the right information I would know who everyone was.   It could be that I should be focusing on the young man and the girl and the chicken nuggets but all I can think about is the older guy giving the advice.  Is he famous?  Do I know him?

Really, people, I do realize that face recognition is important but should it be a test?  Please don't make me guess about who is who and why I should know them. Make them wear name tags or something.

While we're on it, if you are going to play a beautiful song with a commercial, one I recognize but cannot name, tell me that too.  It is getting so I need to do an internet search to even watch car commercials.

So there you have it...let me recap:

• List the stars in movies on the advertising in large print.
• Tell me who the famous people are in the commercials...I missed the memo and need to know.
• Put the name of the song and the person performing it in small large print at the bottom of the commercial.

Have a wonderful day.

b

Why won't these Antz take the hint and just leave?

Z: I've got to believe there's something out there better than this. Otherwise I'll just curl up into a larval position and weep. Quote from Antz

My husband shares his house with me, a cat named RV and a million tiny black sugar ants.  He will let the cat and I stay but the ants...I think not. I just want them to go away and not cost us a lot of money.  Am I asking too much?

As ants go, these are not the worst I have every lived with.  We had big black wood ants in our last house...the kind that eat walls and trees.  At least these are small, black and can hide fast.  We hardly even notice they are there unless they are crawling on our skin.  Which brings me to the important question of the day...how do you get rid of these little creepy crawly little critters?  We have cleaned counters, under the counter and places that have never been cleaned.  We have spread anti-ant crystals around the outside of the house and I vacuum more than is really necessary.  We set ant traps on important surfaces.

But they just continue to invade our space.  I am really not very excited about spraying most surfaces in the house but maybe that is what we are going to have to do. My last choice will be an exterminator. It is kind of sad because  I am even talking about the ants like they are friendly aliens and only visiting for a while.  If they would just go away we would not have to murder them.  Darn!

b