Few things can briefly make you forget that a major pandemic is occurring worldwide. Having been quarantined in a household with seven other people (6 kids, 1 beautiful/wonderful/awesome wife) since the week of March 16th, video games and movies don’t have the same effect as they used to on trying to get your mind off of what is going on outside.
On a daily basis, my mind wanders to where it should be, before I have to pull it back. We should have all been prepping to wrap up spring and head towards summer, where our summer vacations wait for us. Most of us have worked our asses off and gone through 2019 pining for vacation relief. We should be excited about the Kentucky Derby in May, where we get to see ridiculous hats, idiots who don’t know anything about Kentucky, and obnoxious family members claiming they know horse racing. Heck, we should be chatting away about E3 and if Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo is going to bring some eye-popping things.
These are things that people think about and have expected to see happen in the summer months. But we’re not there now. We are here now. Stuck. And that is okay and, more importantly, it is necessary. If we don’t stay in, we don’t get closer to normalcy again — IT’S JUST THAT SIMPLE. And as some idiots have rejected that fact, and are putting all our lives in danger again, I’m willing to accept it and do it. If it means we’re going to be back in the world again come May/June, I will stay perfectly in my house with my kids and cats all day.
Having said that, while I love my family to death, my brain is yelling for more things. It needs to see the outside world with the outside world’s population doing what the outside world does on a day-to-day basis. It needs this very badly. It wants to be around different people, hear differing opinions on things, and just be stimulated. It needs this badly.
I had no idea how badly I personally needed the above until I tuned into Tommy Boy on CYA.Live with a whole bunch of moviegoers, as well as Peter Segal, and breathed a bit of fresh air. I got to laugh with my wife on comments, gain insight from other human beings quarantined all over the country, and enjoy a beautifully crafted simple comedy starring the late Chris Farley and David Spade.
It was a night that certainly made Saturday feel like Saturday again.
CYA.Live
I’m a huge tech guy. I have worked in UX for about five years now. I have seen what works with technology, I have seen good intentions from technology, and I have seen disastrous results from technology that was not properly prototyped or thought through. I have done this on an academic level using theories, such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM — a very scrutinized theory). I have always gone into technology with some skepticism, as I did with CYA.Live last night. This isn’t anything more than a glorified Zoom window from afar, right? No.
A $1.99 will get people into this platform to watch a movie (or some other event) with other fans. This platform will also allow for the possibility of commentary from creators or other fans. It’s a platform that is divided into three main windows:
1. The feature window (middle) — where your main feature will be shown, including last night’s Tommy Boy.
2. The chat window (right) — where you can chat it up with your fellow fans in real-time.
3. The ‘Stage’ window (bottom) — where hosts/guests/fans can appear to discuss the feature.
Side note: You can turn down commentary at any point during the feature.
Last night we had director Peter Segal sit in with fans and discuss Tommy Boy as it went on. He answered questions from the chat, video chatted on the stage, and just provided wonderful insight to a film everyone paid $1.99 to see online. It was a neat experience, and one I have definitely bookmarked for future performances.
The joy of this type of platform right now is that you’re in the room with people who genuinely care about what they’re watching. It was a great social relief to see others and to hear what others had to say. It was a wonderful break from feeling quarantined and, as mentioned above, was something that I didn’t know I personally needed until it was set in motion. It was neat seeing people talk to a director, to ask questions and receive answers that most don’t have access to on a day-to-day basis, and it was just warm/fuzzy seeing a community of fans come together in one place. Essentially, it was like watching a film from your home with friends.
Why wouldn’t you want that?
In short, CYA.Live actually did what it advertised it could do. It made a different movie-going experience for those watching and provided some fun along the way. It was unique, well-organized, and well-executed.
Paramount said they would be holding special screenings with special guests in the next 8-weeks, so it will certainly be worth checking out. We all have time.
Tommy Boy
The tragedy of Tommy Boy is that 25 years ago this movie was a springboard for Chris Farley’s career. He had mostly been known as the ‘butt of the joke’ in SNL skits but had brief flashes of brilliance from time-to-time (the El Nino skit was the best — although, the man living in a van down by the river was also up there). When Tommy Boy was released, and he got to do a comedy with David Spade, a close friend, there was something special about it. The film seemed like a sincere look at Farley’s own life, where he was struggling to make it, had a chance to step up, did so, and took off.
If you aren’t familiar with the film, he plays a ‘barely graduated’ college student that comes home to work for his dad (Brian Dennehy), but ends up taking over his family’s business after his dad passes suddenly. The comedic journey has Tommy and Richard (David Spade) on the road trying to make his father’s last wish for his company, a successful brake pad division, come true, while at the same time saving the small town of Sandusky, Ohio, which had seen its fair share of business closures.
It’s a fun journey along the way, as Tommy and Richard gradually go through several iterations of idiotic moments that aren’t just there for comedic purposes, but also to cleverly build up what would be a successful Tommy by the end of the film. I think that’s what separates this type of comedy from others in the same vein, as director Peter Segal and writers Bonnie/Terry Turner made sure to develop our hero in the midst of comedy and staying conscious that they shouldn’t waste a moment to make this guy great.
Of course, the journey isn’t complete without villainous creatures along the way, specifically Bo Derek’s Beverly, and Rob Lowe’s skeezy Paul. Both do enough to keep the adventure interesting, as they act like angry Gods out of a Greek play, trying to prevent Tommy from completing his quest and coming home through a series of road bumps and obstacles. While the story itself is a typical formula you’ve seen before, it all works because of the carefully crafted scenes from the Turners and the vision of Peter Segal.
The movie, while not even remotely perfect, is enjoyable. It’s one of the few comedies from not only Farley, but also from the 90s that has survived the test of time. Tommy Boy is still funny after 20+ years of being out in the film world. To put this in perspective, this movie debuted on VHS — that’s how old it is, and yet the comedy still holds up as if Farley was still a fresh young talent, and if Spade was a perfect sidekick.
It was a joy to revisit this comedy and pine a bit for simpler times, as well as think about what could have been with Chris Farley had he survived his own career.
Overall — it is wholesome and good.
