Just Don't Shoot One About a Banana Scanner
There is a Yahoo! Group associated with Ellen Simonetti (Queen of Sky). One of the members, tuckerooni, has posted the following:
For those of you who haven't heard of it yet, "The Aviary" is a new
flight attendant movie that was written and produced by a flight
attendant. After seeing it (and really loving it) I wanted to pass
the information along. I hope you all enjoy it. You can read about
the FA who made it and watch the trailer on the site (the only place
to buy the film).
www.theaviarymovie.com
http://theaviarymovie.com/mainpage.htm
I watched the trailer for this film (DVD available). Other than noting that I kept on thinking I was watching a Client video, it's fair to say that the movie apparently follows the life and love, and the ups and downs, of a female flight attendant. Here's the story:
Here's are excerpts from the review that tuckerooni posted at imdb:
I just watched The Aviary and think this movie definitely rocks! It gets better with each viewing....[M]ost movies about flight attendants are pretty crappy. They generally show us nothing more than one-dimensional, stereotyped characters saying and doing dumb things, with no clue about either the job or the life being a flight attendant. Not the Aviary. Silver Tree's thoughtful and touching script, together with director Abe Levy's creative and engaging style make this 88 minute film a real treasure....
However, Richard Brunton wasn't as impressed:
...First up I have to say I'm not a Flight Attendant and never have been, and I think that has disadvantaged the movie straight away for me. To be quite fair I think this is a movie that appeals directly to those involved in the industry, and without that interest and involvement you're immediately missing out on a large part of what the movie is about....
There are some good touches in the movie, the travelling sequences using the camera at ankle height following the walking legs of the characters to the places they stop over and the airports they pass through was an clever way to portray the constant travelling. The constant placing of the three items of the main character, Summer Pozzi, on the bedside table to remind her of home no matter what hotel room she is in. The repeated taxi trips are an interesting way of reflecting the shallowness of the job, in that the Taxi driver is in a similar role and despite taking Pozzi on many journeys he still doesn't remember her, and once she makes a real human connection with him is when he acknowledges her for who she is....
However I couldn't associate with any of the characters, particularly that of Pozzi. I just found it so hard to find anything nice about her, she basically left her partner because he wasn't wanting to be a Pilot and then proceeded to sleep her way through a bunch of other Flight staff to get to another big plane Pilot. The way she treated people and especially her Mother was just not something that I could connect with in any way other than distaste.
Of her flatmates Rachel Luttrell as Portia was such an over the top actress it was hard to stomach her scenes, except those moments when she backed down a few steps and showed her talent. Perhaps her character was meant to be this way, but she grated heavily.
For me, the real star of this piece, and the only character that you begin to feel something for and some association with, is Kate played by Claire Rankin. She begins as a thoroughly hateful character, which is good because it does have you feeling something. As the movie progresses though you do begin to see her relax and open up to the other characters, and it's at this point you see the actress and her ability come through....
Some other tidbits about the movie:
- The budget for the movie was an estimated $50,000.
- In addition to working as a flight attendant, Silver Tree (her listed name) has also worked as a script supervisor.
- Lara Phillips, who plays the title role, has a list of movie and TV credits going back to 1998, including an appearance in an Early Edition episode called "Up Chuck."
- Abe Levy has a producing and directing spanning several years. He has worked with Silver Tree on several previous productions, but Silver Tree was not present for the 2001 production What to Do with Your Dead Hooker.
Also see The Movie Blog for another copy of Richard Brunton's review. And also see a guestbook that has been created.
Another mention of Silver Tree and Abe Levy:
The entire Lone Wolf production crew was such a pleasure to work with. In addition to Mr. Collins, we'd like to thank the following people for including us in such a wonderful and rewarding process....Assistant Director/B Camera Abe Levy (local boy from Tomales makes it in L.A.)...and Script Supervisor Silver Tree, who also jumps in and rounds out the cast when necessary (local girl from Tomales makes it in L.A.)....
(Regarding the title of this entry.)
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