My Best Man went A-List.

This is kinda cool.

The last thing Jen and I had heard, our friend Craig (who was my best man and is a long-time family friend) had just shot his first feature film as "A" camera (which means he was the cameraman that shot the primary footage of the movie, as opposed to "B" and even "C" cameras, which shoot location background footage, aerial views, extras scenes and pick-ups, etc.) He had shot a number of videos, small films, and action films as the Steadicam operator over the past 5 years or so, but Disney's "The Shaggy Dog" was his first "A" camera break, and he even invited us out to see him in action on the set back in '05 when they were shooting (we were sitting there right behind the director watching over his shoulder, with Tim Allen sitting 3 feet away waiting to be called to the set. It was pretty cool.) Anyway, Craig and his lovely wife Julia came down from LA so Julia could attend Jen's baby shower last Sunday, and they arrived Saturday afternoon to spend the night at our home.


(That's Craig, shooting Naomi Watts in "The Ring 2")

So, typically we hear news of Craig's latest projects, and when we don't hear much, I figure he must be keeping busy between films by working on some TV show (which was the case as it turns out - while they were here, he was taking a break from shooting "Jericho," which he's been working on as a cameraman for a while.) So they took us to Chevy's Saturday night, and Craig was asking what film I'd like to see Sunday while the women were out at the shower, and I mentioned that I might like to check out that one with the dueling magicians, you know, what's it called, oh yeah "The Prestige." And he looks at Julia and she looks at him, and they're like, wow, cool that you'd want to see that without even knowing that Craig shot it. And I was like no freakin' way! And they're like way. Craig actually shot "A" camera for auteur Christopher "Memento" Nolan. And, by the way, Craig recently wrapped work on "Bobby" too. Bobby, as in the star-studded epic that's a dark horse for best picture this year. My best man might have shot an academy-award-winning film. I can't believe it. And in January, it looks like he'll start shooting Nicole Kidman's next pic. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to leak that or not, but oh well. So it seems my old movie-watching buddy has gone A-list on me. Awesome.

Watching movies with an insider is always cool. I can't really say a lot of what we talk about, because sometimes the conversations involve personal details about some of the folks he works with, but it's fascinating to hear the comments of a true industry guy. Incidentally, we ended up seeing "Flags of our Fathers" due to the movie times, and it was a great way to wrap up Veteran's Day weekend. Really nice film, with, perhaps, a bit more subtlety than "Saving Private Ryan" (but no less grue - don't get me wrong.) I don't know - I'll have to see it again sometime. But I'd recommend it - maybe you can rent it next Memorial or Veteran's Day.

By the way, Julia's "Save the Ta-tas" brand is exploding right now. What a great sucess story, for both of them. It's cool to watch our friends have such amazing accomplishments!

In other news, if you want to see and hear the project that took up most of my October, visit "Nuptial Doom - the Haunting Tale of the Bride in the Attic." It's a story told by the woman who performs the voice of the bride in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion. She heard this story over and over when she was young from her father, who used to work with the Imagineers at Disneyland in the earliest days of the Haunted Mansion. I also interviewed her about taking the job as "The Bride," and there's a podcast of the interview on that same page.

Finally, there are a few new photos up on our Flickr page, for those who care. Slowly but surely I hope to start getting my old archives re-scanned and placed there for safekeeping. Jen likes to stick hers into scrapbooks, so if you want to see her old photos, you'll just have to come visit!