It's not cable

Whether the rumored Friday Night Knitting Club project ever gets off the ground, there's the potential for another knitting-related movie to be made. OK, make that TV movie. HBO has optioned The Knitting Circle with Katherine Heigl in mind as the lead.

I've not read either of the knitting novels, nor does Heigl's attachment to the project bother me. (At least in film circles online, the actress seems to be quite disliked.) Frankly, HBO's involvement should invite more hope than if this were another theatrical romantic comedy. Heigl's cinematic efforts have been mostly been ill-fitting and unpleasant affairs.

So, what do you think?

Integral to the role

Friday's meager blog post mentioned that the actresses in Meek's Cutoff are knitting in one scene. It turns out that Michelle Williams has weighed in on how she felt about having to knit for the role. (For what it's worth, the headline and the quotation don't match up. Way to distort things, editor.)

Old timey

During the last film on my last day at the film festival, I came across a scene that features all three of the actresses knitting. In Meek's Cutoff, coming soon but not necessarily to a theater near you, Michelle Williams, Zoe Kazan, and Shirley Henderson are all seen knitting while their wagon train has stopped for the time being. All are wrapping the yarn with their right hand, which is the more American method, correct?

Yes, this is what I was really thinking about during that part in the film.

Scraps

I'm not in love with expanding on any of these ideas, so here's a mishmash of topics:

-I've recovered from whatever bug I came down with a week ago, but the vestiges of it continue to wear me down. I'm talking about the cough, especially at bedtime. In the past week there's only been one or two times that I've fallen asleep before 3 a.m. I think that's been worse than anything else.

-The high today was around 70. In late November. With the way the temperature has been rising and falling the last month, it's no wonder I got sick. Just get around to typical seasonal temperatures, please.

-I was hesitant to sign up for Twitter--I'm not on Facebook--but I've now been using it for close to two years. As I checked it during intermissions at the hockey game I attended tonight, it occurred to me how much I enjoy the service and how big of an impact it makes on a day-to-day basis. (File this under a potentially expanded idea of how radically things have changed in the last ten years.)

-It's not a major point of emphasis, but two characters are seen knitting in the new Disney animated film Tangled.

-I'm not pleased with the latest changes the TSA is implementing at airports, but I've been pleasantly surprised by the traction that objections to the backscatter and "enhanced patdowns" are getting. Just hurry up and affect some change by the time I hop on a plane a month from now.

It really ties his ensemble together

As usual I'm finishing up last minute preparations for traveling, so here's a story about the knit cardigan The Dude wears in The Big Lebowski.

I'll check in next from New York.

Commitment to the cause

So it's no secret that I haven't had much time for knitting in recent months...or haven't made much time for it. Today I did something about it.

For whatever reason the current WIP, a hat pattern I've knit plenty of times, has me jazzed about working on it. I knew I was going to be out and about for most of the day but would have a decent amount of time in between a couple things.

First off was seat selection for the Blue Jackets. I arrived early so I could promptly check in and improve the odds of securing an aisle seat for my ten-game plan. Earliness was a virtue as I didn't have to wait until my appointed time. With my seat chosen and registered before the time I was scheduled to look for it, I had about an hour and a half to burn before my next destination. So to the coffee shop for breakfast and knitting it would be.

Perhaps the reason why I've responded so well to knitting this hat is because I made no mistakes casting on, joining in the round, or knitting the early rows. In other words, there was no miscounting of cast on stitches or twisting of them. Progress equals enthusiasm.

This was the first occasion in some time that I've knit in public on my own, and it was nice to slip back into the bubble. With the iPod earbuds in, I honestly couldn't tell you if I was drawing stares or comments. I worked on the project at hand and let the rest around me fade. This was a four movie day for me, so I also had time between two of them to wile away. Having utilized all this spare time for knitting, I'm already a good way through the slower part of the hat.

For what it's worth, knitting and crocheting made cameo appearances in two of the films I saw. A tiresome grandmother is glimpsed knitting in Grown Ups. (Typically I'm not fond of Adam Sandler films, and this one was certainly no exception to the rule.) In the 1948 classic The Red Shoes, a woman is crocheting in an early scene on the stage. Perhaps she's making a piece of a costume for a ballerina.

I feel bad for writing only about an inconsequential moment for what is truly one of the great films, so let me mention that the lengthy ballet sequence in the middle of The Red Shoes is one of the most beautiful and astounding parts of any movie I've seen. Check it out in two parts. (Watching it on a computer doesn't do justice to it like the gorgeous 35mm print I saw does, but it should still play.)

More tidbits

Keeping busy...

-I've had my car for about three and a half months. Tonight I accidentally discovered a storage compartment in it. Observant, this one.

-Knitting in films alert: the main character in the Japanese film Air Doll is seen with knitting needles and (likely) a sock in progress, although she's never actually seen knitting. The film was shown at an event in which the audience doesn't know what it's seeing until the title is seen (or can otherwise identify it). I was thrilled since it's from one of my favorite directors, but I would not recommend this fairly strange movie as a place to start with his work.

-The times I hear my dad when I talk can make me cringe. I hear it especially when conversing with store clerks and waiters/waitresses, for some reason.

Reference

Two days, fourteen films, but just one knitting reference. It came in about the last film I would have expected one to pop up.

In No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson, someone mentions that rather than letting Nike fly the high school basketball player to an all-star tournament during his trial, he should have done nothing more than stay home and knit.

Something tells me that never was (and never will be) The Answer's style.

I'll be getting back to the hotel at a halfway reasonable hour on Sunday, so hopefully I'll have a more effort-intensive entry then.

Knitertainment

Every now and then I document even the most mundane instances of knitting in films when I come across them. If you're in search of examples, doing an Internet Movie Database search with the keyword "knitting" produces an interesting list of the best knitting titles.

I reckon that "best" means highest rated with knitting listed as a keyword, not best knitting content. For instance, the top entry is for a Newsradio episode. Even as a big fan of the show, I don't recall a lot of knitting action, but sure enough, there's Maura Tierney knitting (or faking it) in the last forty seconds of the "Daydream" episode.

The second entry is for a 2005 short The Knitting Machine. Yep, it's another art installation piece, this time with two backhoes wielding utility pole "needles" to knit an American flag.

So, if you're in need of entertainment with at least a modicum of knitting in it, there are 92 other titles in the list for your perusal.

On the boardwalk

Continuing to find instances of knitting in films...

The 1947 film Brighton Rock was co-written by Graham Greene, but of interest in this space is the fact that a woman is knitting while sitting on the Brighton boardwalk.

As for modern films, will The Friday Night Knitting Club movie ever get out of development? Considering that the IMDB info page doesn't even list a cast or director--I think it used to have some names attached--I'm wondering if this might be stuck.

More knitting in films

Four films in two days and some metaphorical fire extinguishing going on at work has me more than occupied, so today's entry is another in an ongoing series of documenting knitting in films.

In Did You Hear About the Morgans? Mary Steenburgen is seen knitting a sock, probably to indicate how down to earth she is. Later on Sarah Jessica Parker is seen knitting too, which likely means that this New York woman is taking to life in small town America.

Preview

Here with a perfectly worthless report of knitting glimpsed in upcoming films...

-The mother of Matt Damon's character in Invictus is seen knitting in an early scene.

-In The Lovely Bones Rachel Weisz's character gives her eldest daughter a hat she knit and briefly talks about knitting.

Now you know.

Cinema knits

Anymore Fridays (or weekends) are when I play catch-up on films I need to see. I caught two today. Both had knitting. As usual the knitting has no real significance; it's just become one of those things I document.

Paranormal Activity features the female lead knitting a garter stitch scarf while her boyfriend talks to her. The needles and yarn can also be seen on the nightstand later on. In this case I wouldn't be surprised if the actress, Katie Featherston, is a crafter as she is also seen doing beadwork. (Due to the cinéma vérité technique, it would be sensible that she's staying busy on camera doing something familiar to her.)

The Invention of Lying shows an old woman in a retirement home knitting in the foreground. That's pretty much all the knit content there.

Stitch it

On the movie beat and pointing out instances of knitting in films...

The roller derby movie Whip It briefly shows a grandmother type knitting on a bus while seated next to the protagonist. Considering the film's feminist nature and embrace of a subculture, I'm a little surprised that director Drew Barrymore didn't tie in the crafter movement in some respect. (Think of the punk attitude underlying Stitch 'N Bitch.)

For what it's worth, the movie is on the sitcom-y side but is mostly well-acted--Jimmy Fallon, I'm looking at you as an exception--and has its heart in the right place.

More knit flicks

From time to time I'll point out knitting in films. Here are a couple more...

Earlier this year I wrote about Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles and the knitting and yarn-related moments in it . This week the hard-to-see film was released on DVD. I'll issue again the warning I put in my earlier entry about the film: most of you are likely to find this serious art film extremely boring (which is, in one sense, the point). For more adventurous moviegoers only.

Speaking of which, apparently Pedro Almodóvar's first film, which I've never seen (and which probably hasn't been commercially available in the U.S.), has a knitting-related scene fitting of the unrestrained director. This solid piece about Almodóvar describes the outrageous scene thusly:

It became an after-hours cult hit at local cinemas, not least for an impromptu golden-shower scene that takes place in the middle of a knitting lesson.

How about something that maybe you've heard of or seen? In the classic Hollywood noir Double Indemnity Barbara Stanwyck's femme fatale mentions being a knitter. (We might see her knit briefly, but I don't remember as it's been more than a week since I watched it.)

Chicken and vegetables

I'm here at my parents' place in Indiana and just sort of wiped out, even if I'm not sure why I'm tired. Vacation must be hard work.

After all the driving I've done, it's been nice not to venture far from my temporary base. Yesterday was more active than I expected. Visiting the College Football Hall of Fame and attending a minor league baseball game in South Bend took up the better part of the day.

Today wasn't as busy. Having not seen any movies in nearly two weeks, I played a small bit of catch-up by seeing Julie & Julia with my mom. (Obligatory movie knitting spotting: an older lady can be briefly seen knitting.) Otherwise it's been relatively slow going, but ready to conk out early regardless.

Tomorrow I'm off to visit two of my brothers near Fort Wayne, Indiana for a couple days, and then I will be returning home after twelve nights out of town. I'm not necessarily ready to go home, but I may need to be there just to slow down a bit.

Since I don't have much excitement to share, I thought I'd include a few photos from the area. My dad got some sweet corn and apples from a stand in the front yard of someone's farmhouse, and I was pleased with how the pictures turned out, which is why I'm including them.

My parents live in a town and aren't that far from the city, but essentially they live out in the country. Being here is certainly a change from everywhere I'd previously been on this trip.

The ballgame was fun. It had the added terror of a bat accidentally helicoptering into the stands and the bonus featuring of the San Diego Chicken and post-game fireworks.

I'm pretty certain I've seen the Famous Chicken before, but seeing him at a small ballpark put me close enough to discover that he talks. I had no idea. Of course, it isn't central to his shtick, but it was a little jarring nonetheless. Although I doubted it is still the same guy in the suit, the website seems to suggest that it is. The things I've learned this vacation...

Needles and spools

Knitting on view in films unspooling now or soon at a theater near you...

Only in the knitting world would I even think to consider this a spoiler, but in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (KNITTING REFERENCE SPOILER) Dumbledore asks if he can keep a magazine of knitting patterns that he finds in a muggle household.

As evidence that Katherine Heigl must be a frumpy stick in the mud--you know, because she totally looks the part--Gerard Butler discovers the knitting in her home in The Ugly Truth. (For those who care, she is not actually seen knitting. The presence of needles and yarn is shorthand for her dowdiness.)

Background artist

I can feel sickness coming on at the back of my throat, so it's another quick entry for today.

One of these days I'll check my tags and collect the examples, but until then, here's yet another observance of knitting in films: the mother of Nicolas Cage's character in Knowing can be seen knitting in the background while her husband speaks on the phone. Chance of anyone else in the theater taking note of this: zero.

Weapon of choice

I'm working on an entry for my other blog in which I take a look at the ancestors of today's horror and slasher movies. Assuming that what I see continues to play out as it has so far, the idea is to talk about how these late 70s/early 80s movies, which were considered disreputable or objectionable then, have evolved into much crueler enterprises. (In essence, we've gone from audience identification with the victims to cheering for the killers.)

I'm seeing many of these films for the first time, so it's been quite surprising to see how quaint they look now, especially in comparison to the slaughterhouses that these films are now. But that's not really what I intend to write about here.

No, I just wanted to point out that I watched the original Halloween and discovered that Jamie Lee Curtis' goody-two-shoes character knits while babysitting on that fateful evening.

The needles come into play in a way that's of greater interest to non-knitters too, but it seemed so strange to me to see the character engaging in the craft. Her needles look more like those seen today than the ones I've spotted in two other 70s films. Good thing. Hers have more stabbing power.

Women's work

Blogging about the 1975 film Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles seems better suited to another place I write, but here it is nonetheless.

I'm guessing most of you haven't heard of it, let alone seen it. There are good reasons for that. From what I've read, it's never been distributed on home video in the United States. Also, it's 201 minutes of long takes of a widowed mother of one doing domestic work, often in real time (or long enough for it to seem as such). One other thing...she also brings one john into her home each afternoon.

It's a highly regarded film, particularly among feminist academics, and it's easy to understand why. Essentially Jeanne Dielman documents the mundane life of the housewife and the affect it has on her. The soul-crushing length and tedium is the point. For example, when Jeanne rises in the morning, we see a lengthy, unbroken shot of her making the coffee, getting the table ready for her son's breakfast, and shining his shoes. However long it took to do it as how long the static camera stares at Delphine Seyrig, the actress whose terrific performance is critical to the film.

Anyway, this was not a place where I expected to see knitting, but there's some quality knitting time in this art film. On the first day Jeanne gets out the sweater she's making for her son and knits awhile. If only she spent as much time knitting in the film as she devotes to some of the other household chores. (She knits briefly again on the second night.) Of course, knitting makes sense as something to have her doing because practically everything the character does could be marginalized as women's work.

Jeanne's needles fascinated me because they looked like those I commented on when writing about that B-movie with an extended sequence of knitting. The straight needles appeared to have metal tips kind of like Knit Picks Options, but the rest of each needle looked like flimsy plastic or something that gained a curve with use. Were these de rigueur in the '70s?

There's one other knitting-related scene. As a knitter I say the scene is too brief, which is not a complaint I imagine gets leveled at a slowly paced film nearly three and half hours long. You see, there's one scene where she goes to a yarn shop to find the right yarn that she needs to finish the sweater. (She is probably visiting a craft store as it looks like bolts of fabric are in the background, but that's close enough.) I'm embarrassed to say that this scene passed for some serious excitement for me. Then again, this is a movie in which tension is found in a scene of Jeanne peeling potatoes.

If I sound dismissive of the film, I'm not. I liked it, perhaps more than I expected considering the imposing running time. It works as intended and lives up to its reputation. Nevertheless, I'm well aware that most of you would consider it to be pretty boring, but then again, it's unlikely you'll run across it anyway.