Marley and Me
Friday, May 16, 2008
Shooting Moves to Pennsylvania
Since early March, Fox 2000 Pictures has been filming Marley & Me the movie in and around Miami. This past week shooting moved to my home state of Pennsylvania. On Thursday, Jenny and I spent the day back in my old newsroom at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where I worked as a columnist from 2002 to February 2007. The scene being shot there that day had Owen Wilson, who is playing me, settling in for his first day on the job. Actor Clarke Peters, who played Detective Lester Freamon on 'The Wire,' plays my editor at the Inquirer. Way cooler than my real editor, but then again, Owen's way cooler than me, too.
It was a fun day.
During a break, the Inquirer's Michael Klein interviewed both director David Frankel and me on video for the Inquirer's website. I really liked what David had to say about the Marley story and why he was attracted to it.
In part, he said: "It's a story of a family and their dog, which makes it sound much simpler than it really is. It's really a story of growing up and maturing and coming to terms with all the obligations and burdens and joys of life and confronting your own mortality. It's the story of a marriage as seen through the prism of life with a family dog." He added: "It's the mundane parts of life that make up most of the hours of the day, and what the book is about is savoring the everydayness of life, appreciating the present."
I like that description.
Here are the links to both our video interviews:
David: http://www.philly.com/philly/video/080515_in_frankel.html
John: http://www.philly.com/philly/video/080515_in_grogan.html
One warning: you'll have to sit through 15 seconds or so of obnoxious car-dealership advertising before the clips begin.
posted by John Grogan at 7:57 PM
2 comments
 
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
A Major League Upset
Filming continues in Miami of the Marley & Me movie, and director David Frankel (Devil Wears Prada) is making the most of the colorful locale. The latest was a Florida Marlins game last week. This item ran in the Miami Herald. Check out the YouTube clip of Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston with a hard-to-control Marley clone!
HAVING A BALL
Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson were in the stands at Dolphin Stadium during the Marlins vs. San Diego Padres game Friday night shooting a scene for Marley & Me.
In one scene, Aniston ran down the steps chasing the lovable lab who ''plays'' Marley. In another -- during an inning break -- he ran onto the field.
He wasn't the only dog in the bleachers; the annual Bark in the Park brought out more than 700 pooches, said Sean Flynn, VP of marketing for the Marlins. ''It kind of worked perfectly,'' Flynn said. ``They blended in.''
The celebs brought the fish some luck -- they beat the Padres 6-4. The clip's at www.youtube.com/watch?v=SD3D3_aE_G0
-- Miami Herald
===========
And this report from MLB.com:
MIAMI -- An otherwise regular Major League baseball game will eventually make its way to Hollywood.
A backdrop to the Marlins beating the Padres, 6-4, on Friday night was the shooting of a scene for the upcoming movie "Marley & Me," starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson.
Friday was a "Bark at the Park" night for the Marlins, a promotion through which fans can bring their dogs to the stadium. And as it happened, a dog running on the field is part of a scene in the movie, which is set to be released on Christmas Day.
Aniston and Wilson were at the ballpark, filming a few scenes. The first took place in the stands, with a dog racing down the aisles, Wilson and then Aniston in pursuit.
And after Hanley Ramirez of the Marlins was thrown out trying to steal third base, ending the eighth inning, Wilson and Aniston surfaced again, chasing after a dog in left field.
Players were leaving and entering the field but momentarily stopped as the two actors finally grabbed the dog and were whisked away. The segment lasted about a minute and didn't interrupt the game.
"It's kind of weird to see a movie going on," said Marlins left fielder Luis Gonzalez, formerly with the Dodgers and someone who has met his share of A-list stars.
Trying to push the entertainment aspect of the game, the Marlins this season have featured a disc jockey in right field during weekend games, plus a heavy-set male dance team called the Manatees.
"We have big guys on the field, a disc jockey in right field, we've got all kind of stuff going on here," Gonzalez laughed. "This is Marlins baseball.
"I didn't really know it was going to happen then. If I did, I probably would have run out there a little faster and jumped in front of Owen Wilson, and handed it off to her. That would have made me a real hero, right? I should have messed that whole scene up. What were they going to do, kick me off the field? I belonged there more than they did."
Initially, the scene was set to be shot at Dolphin Stadium on April 18, when the Marlins were playing the Nationals, but the filming was postponed because the crew was shooting late in South Beach.
Joe Frisaro is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
posted by John Grogan at 8:25 PM
32 comments
Monday, April 21, 2008
Dave Barry Does Marley (or should I rephrase that?)
I've always been a huge fan of Dave Barry, the wildly popular syndicated humor columnist. He was writing his column for the Miami Herald during the same time I was writing mine an hour up the coast at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. But it would be wrong of me to leave the impression that Dave and I were on anything resembling an equal plane. Dave was THE columnist in South Florida (and through syndication across the continent); the rest of us worked in his large shadow, trying desperately to capture a sliver of his effortless wit while working equally desperately to not look like copycat wannabes.
At last our paths have crossed. Dave landed a role on the set of Marley & Me as an extra in the scene capturing my fortieth surprise birthday party. In real life, Marley crashed the party by diving onto a tray of appetizers, and wolfing down mozzarella and basil on toast squares, but I have to admit the birthday cake makes for much better visuals.
At any rate, Dave Barry being Dave Barry, he wrote a very funny column about the experience. And from my few days on the set earlier this month, I'd say very accurate, too. If you think being a movie extra is glamorous, try it for a day and see how you feel by the twelfth hour and twenty-seventh take.
Dave writes, in part:
There is a definite hierarchy on a movie set. At the top are the director and the stars. Below them are the lesser actors and crew members. Below them are the support people who provide food, transportation, security, etc. Below them are the stunt birthday cakes. And at the bottom are the extras. We are there strictly as background. In fact, the crew people actually call us ''background'' when they herd us around.
''All right, background!'' they say. ``I need you all to stand over here!''
As an extra, you do a lot of standing around. First you stand around waiting for the set to be prepared. Then you stand around on the set while they rehearse the scene. Then you stand around being the background while they shoot the scene. Then you stand around waiting while they look at the scene to see if anything went wrong, which something always does. Then you stand around while they shoot the scene again. It goes on for hours and hours, the standing. But it's worth it, because the money is huge.
I am, of course, kidding. For a day's work -- and it can be a long day's work -- they pay you $100, or what one of the extras, Joyce Newman of Miami, described as ``one-third of a good pair of shoes.''
You can read the piece in full at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/283/story/500874.html
And Dave, I'll look for the back of your head on the big screen. It's going to kill!
posted by John Grogan at 7:53 PM
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