Diggers

[rducasey]

longlashes said:

[
I just checked and Amazon.com is offering a pre-sale of the DVD now for $22.49.

Hey Lori, thanks for that info. I just preordered mine.

[Duchess of Lashes]

rducasey said:

longlashes said:

[
I just checked and Amazon.com is offering a pre-sale of the DVD now for $22.49.

Hey Lori, thanks for that info. I just preordered mine.

ME TOO!

[Katryna]

longlashes said:

rducasey said:

Hey Lori, thanks for that info. I just preordered mine.

ME TOO!

Me three! Thanks Lori!

[bjobsessed]

kathy said:

longlashes said:

ME TOO!

Me three! Thanks Lori!

Me four! And that's my birthday! Happy birthday to me!

[Duchess of Lashes]

Another Diggers review - not all bad and not all good. I do like the fact that he singles out Ron Eldard's performance, likening it to "a solid impersonation of Wooderson." (I had no idea who Wooderson was, although that sounded like a compliment to me! So, I did a little research and the only reference I can find is to a a character from a 1993 film, Dazed and Confused, described as the guy who graduated a few years before you, but never quite made it out of the high school social circles. )

I also thought the hi-lited paragraph particularly funny.

DIGGERS

2007 SXSW SPECIAL SCREENINGS FEATURE! It’s 1976, and life as a Long Island clam digger ain’t easy. Not only do four lifelong friends working the waterways have to deal with personal tragedy, family conflict, and unrequited romance, but there’s a new corporate fishery in town that’s slowly squeezing independent operators out by restricting their operations to steadily diminishing stretches of coastline that have largely been fished out.

Hunt (Paul Rudd) is dealing with more issues than usual. His father has just died and he’s having trouble deciding what to do with the ashes, his sister (Maura Tierney) is sleeping with his friend Jack (Ron Eldard, doing a solid Wooderson impersonation), and his summer fling with a vacationing Manhattanite (Lauren Ambrose) is leading him to question whether he should continue in the family business or try to bust out and make a go of being a professional photographer.

In its own meandering way, “Diggers” examines issues of loss, corporate encroachment, and the compromises we all make in order to succeed. Lozo (Ken Marino, who also wrote the script) resents the actions of South Shell as much as anyone else, but soon finds himself considering employment there just so he can feed his family. Rudd and Eldard add some nicely comedic touches to what nevertheless amounts to a rather personal story, but in the end it’s really not anything you haven’t seen many, many timed before.

Give Marino credit for taking a rather stale theme and placing it in an original setting. “Diggers,” unfortunately, treads some pretty well-worn ground: Hunt never really got close to his father before he died, and he’s an artist languishing in a blue collar environment which would seem to be his sole destiny. You can be excused for thinking all this sounds awfully familiar.

And I’m not marine wildlife expert, but maybe the reason the clam beds aren’t producing as much is because of the staggering number of cigarettes these guys lob into the bay.

"Diggers" isn't a bad film, but the underlying premise - the longing one feels to escape from a dead-end, small town life - has been so beaten to death in the movies that no amount of accurate 70s design or subtlety in the performances can hide the fact.

[rducasey]

Anita's signature.
27 days until the best birthday present and I get together. What more could you possibly want? OK so I have one other teensy little thing, but that's not coming this year. Someday....

Anita,
Your signature line.....is this the birthday present you are waiting for?.....or at least a preview of it?

us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mid=28416&mode=0&pmmsid=1877205

[Chris]

Karma for this one, Mary

rducasey said:

us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mid=28416&mode=0&pmmsid=1877205

And for my fellow Europeans; If it won't play on your computer, try changing the Time Zone to Eastern Time (US, GMT - 05:00) that did the trick for me
Modified to add: Guess that applies in Australia too

Take care and keep smiling
- Chris

[bjobsessed]

rducasey said:

Anita's signature.
27 days until the best birthday present and I get together. What more could you possibly want? OK so I have one other teensy little thing, but that's not coming this year. Someday....

Anita,
Your signature line.....is this the birthday present you are waiting for?.....or at least a preview of it?

us.video.aol.com/video.index.adp?mid=28416&mode=0&pmmsid=1877205

You are so good at riddles, Mary!

[mlm828]

There is now information about Diggers on the Landmark Theaters web site. There is a list of cities where they have theaters on the left side of the page, and you can click on a city name to see if the theater there will be showing Diggers. It is coming to New York, Washington, and San Diego -- among other cities.

[bjobsessed]

Here's another review. This one is really good. Came as a google alert this afternoon.

"Diggers" is a heartening journey of loss and growth

By Brian Orndorf

(AXcess News) Hollywood - For a film about lonesome, working-class drudgeries, "Diggers" is abnormally claustrophobic. It's a picture that should require a 10 minute break in the middle just to get some fresh air back into your lungs. That said, the film may be dreary, but it's far from unpleasant.

Off the shores of Long Island in 1976, a group of local clam diggers are facing tough times. A fishing corporation is draining the ocean of profit, leaving a digger like Hunt (Paul Rudd) at a crossroads in his life he's not ready for. With his digger father recently passed away, a sister (Maura Tierney) who doesn't need his protection anymore, childhood friends (Ron Eldard, Ken Marino, and Josh Hamilton) who are coping in destructive ways, and a romance with a rich girl (Lauren Ambrose) that won't make it past summer, Hunt is forced to make some serious choices about his future and plot a new course for his life.

I respect anyone known for one genre who desires to make a change, but "Diggers" made me hesitate a little because it comes from writer Ken Marino and producer David Wain, better known as members of the sketch comedy group, "The State." Going from brilliantly diseased minds that gave the world "Wet Hot American Summer" to this period drama is a strange course of action, but the transition is smoother than it sounds and the execution couldn't be better.

"Diggers" is an evocative look at a time and place where tradition is being smothered by the steamroller called progress. The film takes an intimate look at lives caught in the inertia of routine, unable to process that their glory years have ended. Marino might not have the fancy budget to paint a bigger portrait of an economy being swept away by big business, but his rendering of these lives newly aware of their own stagnancy is decidedly compelling screenwriting. "Diggers" is harsh around the edges, confronting the inevitability of change and other swallowing circumstances that make up the anger and shame of poverty; yet, Marino is writing from his heart, sympathizing with the diggers as much as he's confronting their bad habits and the inbred fallibility of their communication.

Director Katherine Dieckmann has it just as bad as Marino when it comes to budgetary scope, but her sure hand with this unusual location lends the story a certainly oppressive, but oddly comforting life. Through haircuts, music, and the handmade lay of the land, the director convinces the viewer that it's 1976. With dynamic performances, especially searing lead work by Rudd (who has really come into his own as a performer), Dieckmann brings the film down to a touchingly authentic level than any viewer could relate to. You don't have to dig for clams to understand the heartbreak of outgrowing a comfortable life and leaving behind close friends.

Risking cliche with Hunt's photographic pursuits (the grizzled worker who takes time out of his day to snap found art), Marino's script combats a rising feeling of formula with sharp, detailed writing that pushes "Diggers" to an area of sincerity that's unexpected and welcome. It's a heartening journey of loss and growth, and even if it feels like a plastic bag suddenly wrapped over your face at times, contains a dramatic soul, muddied indie-film ease, and pure intention that completely wins you over by the last frame. I rate this film "A-".

[Katryna]

Here's an excerpt from an article about the Diggers DVD:

Diggers debuts simultaneously on DVD, HDNet Movies and in theatres. The Diggers DVD will include the documentary "Baymen," an insightful film about Long Island clam diggers, Outtakes/Deleted scenes, HDNet’s Higher Definition: Diggers Episode, and audio commentary with Director Katherine Dieckmann and Writer/Actor Ken Marino

[Dreamfire]

From a review of Diggers:

Jack (Eldard, resembling a young Robert Redford with his blond hair and sideburns),

;D

[inuvik]

IMDB is listing it as opening Friday in limited release.

[Chris]

I got a message today that my Diggers dvd is in the mail and that I will have it within 3 to 6 days.
That means that if I am really lucky I might have it on Saturday or Monday, even before it is officially released ;D

Chris - Sorry, I had to brag a little

[Deleted]

I'll be there tomorrow night; I'll let you know about it, if you want, unless you care to wait.