Campus bar hits big the screen
■ Rennie’s Landing, the legeni
students, lands the lead role ir
University graduate and forme
By Rebecca Newell
Oregon Daily Emerald
Michael Garrity is similar to
anyone else when reminiscing
about a favorite job, as he tells sto
ries about his experiences during
his college years as a bartender at
Rennie’s Landing.
The difference is, Garrity’s sto
ry is coming to the big screen.
What started out as an idea
while bartending in the early 90s
became a reality for the University
graduate, who after three years of
long work of “Rennie’s Landing,”
i ( / would hope [the
movie] is well-received
critically and that it's
picked up by a distribu
tor and shown in the
aters...
Michael Garrity
‘Rennie’s Landing’
screenwriter ^
wrapped up filming Friday in Eu
gene. Garrity’s brainchild was bol
stered by the knowledge and sup
port of cinema greats Steven
Spielberg and Mimi Leder.
After his graduation in 1994,
Garrity moved to Los Angeles and
secured a job with Spielberg as a
personal assistant and then pro
duction assistant, working on the
movies “The Lost World” and
“Amistad.” When Spielberg set
out for Europe to film “Saving Pri
vate Ryan,” Garrity switched jobs
and began working for director
Leder.
After four years as a production
* assistant, Garrity decided to try
his hand at directing “Rennie’s
Landing,” with help from Marc
4, Fusco, another Spielberg assis
tant. The duo utilized the contacts
they made working for Spielberg
and were able to access equip
ment and space at a fraction of the
cost.
“Getting the financing for the
film was the toughest part,” Garri
ty said. “We found private in
vestors — actually they kind of
found us — but it took the longest
time. It’s always tough. You’re al
ways putting out fires left and
right. But it went surprisingly
jary stomping ground for
a new movie written by a
ir bartender
well.”
Fusco and Garrity teamed up
with producer Mike Gabrawy,
who worked as a production as
sistant on “Independence Day”
and has worked on his own inde
pendent films.
“I met Mike and Mark two
years ago [and] we started devel
oping the project,” Gabrawy said.
Though the primary shooting of
the bar’s interior was done in Los
Angeles, shots of the original Ren
nie’s, as well as of the campus,
will be included in the movie. Al
ready, Rennie’s is beginning to see
the slight effect of the movie’s
publicity with increased on-line
T-shirt sales.
“Initially, of course, I thought
there was a slim chance of it ever
happening,” Rennie’s owner Jon
LaBranch said. “I’ve had dozens
of people kidding me about who
will play me in the movie.”
LaBranch described Garrity as a
personable guy, the one “who got
by on guile late at night” while
working as a bartender.
For Garrity, being back close to
family and his old stomping
grounds was only enhanced by
the great weather the crew experi
enced while wrapping up filming
at the bar and on campus.
“The UO was great about letting
us shoot,” Garrity said. “We got
some great shots that will only
make the movie look better.
Garrity said the best part of the
movie was “just getting it done,
seeing cut scenes, which is very
exciting. Just the fact we’re to the
point we are now is great, because
it rarely happens. We’re lucky.”
With filming behind them, the
crew will now concentrate on
preparing a first cut of the movie,
with a target date of the Sundance
Film Festival’s October deadline.
Sundance, the nation’s largest ex
hibition of independent films,
could greatly effect the opportuni
ty for “Rennie’s Landing” to be
picked up by a distributor.
“We hope to get into some festi
vals and into theaters,” Garrity
said. “We want everyone to see
the story we have to tell.”
Gabrawy echoed Garrity’s
hopes, and reiterated the message
he feels is such an instrumental
part of the film.
“I would hope [the movie] is
well-received critically and that
Cowboys
continued from page 5
training to be the first Americans
in outer space. NASA replaces
them with a chimpanzee and the
pilots are forgotten.
Forty years later, there’s a sys
tem failure in a Russian satellite,
and the only people who can fix
it are Eastwood and his gang of
geezers, who designed the guid
ance system code used by the
satellite.
But that’s not really the point.
The interactivity between Frank
Corvin (Eastwood), Hawk
Hawkins (Tommy Lee Jones, 53),
Jerry O’Neil (Sutherland, 66) and
Tank Sullivan (James Gamer, 70)
is what makes the movie some
what worthwhile.
The foursome play off each
other well in a “Grumpy Old
Men" way, and while the movie
tries to build things up to the dra
matic conclusion in the sky, the
jabs while on the ground prove to
be the highlight.
You have Tank, the Baptist
minister, Hawk, the crazy crop
duster who gives teenage kids
thrill rides, and Jerry, the skirt
chasing roller coaster designer
who never turns down an oppor
tunity to flirt. For example, when
the guys are getting introduced to
a NASA engineer played by Mar
cia Gay Harden, Harden asks Jer
ry what his nickname is. Jerry
holds her hand, kisses it and
says, “You can call me ... any
time.”
Sure, the laughs aren’t of the
deep-chortle variety, but it does
the trick. If only the movie would
have focused on four old men
training to go to space, and not
about the actual mission, it
would have been fine.
And while you’re not going to
find any dazzling special effects
such as an invisible man, or a
group of hot babes dancing on a
slippery bar, you do get the
privilege of seeing four saggy,
old bare asses.
Hey, it sure beats spending
your time watching another
group of (donkey) asses down
there at the Democratic Conven
tion in Los Angeles.
it’s picked up bv a distributor and
shown ia theaters [and that] it
touches people as a smart Gener
ation-X film about the purpose of
life,” he said.
With goals of having the movie
in theaters sometime next year,
Gabrawy stressed that the movie
would appeal to audiences be
cause of its “universal theme.”
“It’s a story about empower
ment,” Gabrawy said. “It’s about
four friends trying to find their
place in this world.
“It’s a study of taking control of
your life.”
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