1. feeling so tired after west side story he almost didn't do pinball vs feeling so tired after challengers he almost didn't do the bikeriders 2. playing roger sharpe in pinball who interviewed the founding fathers of the game vs playing danny lyon in the bikeriders who interviewed kathy and the vandals 3. staying with roger to learn about pinball before filming pinball vs staying with danny to learn about photography before filming the bikeriders 4. roger playing with his pencil in pinball vs danny playing with his pencil in the bikeriders 5. having to wear fake facial hair as roger in pinball vs having to wear fake facial hair as danny in the bikeriders

Austin: The only improv we did have was between Mike and Connor at the adult bookstore. Meredith: Connor Ratliff is honestly one of the most gifted improvisers working today, and Mike was excited to have him on set. We structured the day so we could give ourselves a little bit of improv time, just to see what happened. You never know when something like that’s going to occur. Austin: We didn’t have enough. Meredith: We didn’t have enough time but we got about twenty minutes. Austin: We got something. Meredith: We did get something so we got to use it. It was that, “Don’t write that in your thing,” line. That was Connor and Mike just sort of having fun at the end of the day.

Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game (Austin & Meredith Bragg, 2022).

directed by The Bragg Brothers, 2022

Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game

This is one of those movies that may not actually be perfect BUT it's perfect for me. What a beautiful and fun film! I don't know the last time I watched a film (especially this new of a film) that just said let's have fun and never in the same way that this film did! And part of the fun is learning about something I knew nothing about! Woven into this story is queer resistance, the fight for civil rights, the effects of the great depression and innovation, industrialization, law, and themes of xenophobia. What got me the most during this movie was the metaphor of life being a game of pinball. I've been on the path of navigating endometriosis, so maybe it's that, but I was just deeply touched by Roger's need for something grounding and the way he articulated it. His testimony in court made me cry-imagine, me crying at a movie about pinball! Also the way this movie tilts (see what I did there (sorry)) the genre of biopic and documentary and reenactment was so so funny and entertaining. Plus Mike Faist absolutely killed it. Like most people who saw West Side Story, I've been anticipating what he'd do after that and I loved this. Just little moments of his physicality were beautiful and so unique. I always find it a little weird when something feels so digital and is supposed to be in the film-centric era of the 70's and I do wish the soundtrack had a bigger budget, but I digress. I think I first found out about this movie via some letterboxd list, but then my pal Traynor discussed it on his podcast, The Cinema Arcade: twitter.com/TheCinemaArcade/status/1659588789067567105?s=20 and then this weekend I saw that as a kickoff of a Kickstarter campaign (link to come here) for a VT based cardboard pinball company: pinbox3000.com/ to launch some new designs they'd be showing it for free! I had to go and I'm so glad I did. The crowd was awesome and I'm being convinced that people who are really into pinball may just be some of the best people in the world. SO I do hope their Kickstarter will spread and be funded! Really I just love a love-letter to something so specific and mundane and whimsical and life-affirming as pinball.

The Mojave Desert

Fun fact about Pinball: The Man Who Saved the Game, Roger Sharpe actually played the Pinball scenes in Mike's stead—except, the winning shot of the film. Mike Faist pulled the plunger and got it on the first take (and then never again afterwards). That take was the one they used for the film.