Posts Tagged ‘feel-good movie’

heart-wrenching emotion

Projects from personal experience connect us, move us, touch us universally. Destin Daniel Cretton’s Short Term 12 has all of the components of an unforgettable film – it makes you laugh, cry, feel and remember – long after the final credits.

The acting is so natural, it feels more like a documentary. It’s like we can read Brie Larson’s complicated mind as she struggles to maintain her reputation as “Grace All Mighty.” John Gallagher Jr.’s “Mason” (I knew I recognized him from somewhere – he’s Jim Harper in The Newsroom!) exudes a vulnerable warmth that’s rarely seen onscreen.

Bring Tissues!

If someone were to tell me that all of the teens in the Home are actually At-Risk Kids who’ve experienced OCD, depression, abandonment, abuse, you-name-it, I’d believe it. We feel their pain, share their triumphs, ache for them, root for them, keep thinking about them…keep thinking about them…keep thinking about them…

It’s obvious Destin Daniel Cretton has lived this experience in some way — his film is pure and from the heart. You’ll want to check out SHORT TERM 12 as soon as possible. Even sooner if possible! It’s A.MAZ.ING! Read the rest of this entry »

Hollywood vs.The Hospital

Okay, so if BuzzFeed writer Jack Moore can get staffed on the Fox show US & THEM simply by pitching modern day Seinfeld stories via his @seinfeldtoday, maybe I can star in my own life story about the characters who surround me…

Evie Stewart Meets @ERtoday

What If…

• Abby Lockhart’s mom goes off her meds and lands in the ER, but escapes with Evie to Barneys to binge shop before Abby cancels the credit card? Read the rest of this entry »

help!

OMG! I’m the one who needs to be resuscitated!

I get to my late afternoon shift and things are already outta control! Sunday Night Special! Patients wall-to-wall. No available beds. Missing wheelchairs, codes blasting on the PA, screamie-meemies, chest pains.  Anthony Chan’s being a bigger-than-normal pain in the ass —

VOLUNTEER, what part of “limping” do you not understand? Get my patient a wheelchair, stat!

I check the hallways, L & D, parking lots – nada, nowhere, now what?

I’ve gotta return with wheels pronto, so I head into unfamiliar territory, open a daunting door with a “Staff Only” sign and step into a brightly lit waiting area, where I discover:

Two Empty Wheelchairs!  Voila! Yay! Perfect!

Uhm… WAIT!  What’s that abandoned patient doing lying on that gurney? Read the rest of this entry »

Prescription for a Happy Face

Health isn’t the only thing that needs to get better in Hospitals. Customer dissatisfaction is more contagious than the Flu!  Think about it. Pre-internet when a customer was dissatisfied he’d maybe tell ten people, but in the current social media world complaints broadcast to thousands… maybe millions if your YouTube hits big.

Patient Satisfaction Overhaul (Finally!)

Did you see that L.A. Times article over the weekend about how federal payments to hospitals are being tied to customer satisfaction? That’s a major topic at the hospital where I volunteer. Everyone’s suddenly scrambling to figure out ways to make sure customer surveys are filled out positively — OR ELSE!

At my hospital they hire more people to act as Liasons between the Patient’s family and the Hospital.  I guess it helps everyone navigate the system, but we could do more. Much more. A great example of Hospital know-WOW comes from Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital.

Caped Cleaners

It’s a bird, It’s a plane…

I mean how cool would it be for anyone entering the hospital to look up and see Super Hero Window Washers? Read the rest of this entry »

Be nice, or else…

On my ER shift, a Little Kid’s freaking out about having to get stitches, so I ask him if he can keep a secret? Uh-huh.

Wanna know our  SECRET CODE WORD ?

Yeah!…
…so I whisper: “Owww!”

Minutes later when  Dr. A dabs numbing cream on his wound, the kid yells, “Owww!” So I SHUSH! him about giving away the CODE WORD and he actually giggles — PLUS I get a “trying-not-to-smile-but-I-can’t-help-it” from Dr. A! So it’s a win/WIN of epic proportions! (My Mom would be so proud!)

Then in Triage, ANTHONY shouts at me for taking too many visitors back to see their Mom (c’mon Chan!) which is sooo frustrating! As I’ve said before — working in the ER is a LOVE|HATE situation!

ER Ambivalence —
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WHATEVER! Read the rest of this entry »

what drives you?

What do you thrive on?
What’s the air that you breathe?
What needs to be part of the mix, to keep you interested?

In ACTING we figure out our character’s “Motivation.” Have you ever tried that exercise in real life with the people you know? Have you ever tried it with yourself?

APPRECIATION
Mira, my good-karma gal-pal at the ER, will do anything and everything, as long as it’s appreciated.  She thrives on smiles, “thank you,” and people who say, “you’re an angel” (even when she’s not wearing wings). But take her for granted, and she’s instantly over it – ready to move on— done, NEXT!

LOVE
There’s an Actress in one of my Acting Classes (I can’t name-drop) who is always falling in love. Se throws herself completely into each and every new relationship. Sometimes her love connections last two years, sometimes two weeks. But no matter what, she’s never discouraged in her search for a soul mate. She’s certain he’s out there. She’s so totally open to “romantic possibility” and baggage-free, I envy her. Read the rest of this entry »

if only…

Call it what you want – “SOULMATE”, “OTHER HALF”, “PERFECT PERSON” – we’re all looking, but we’re not all finding. Or — maybe we have found… WAIT! How do you know if the One is THE ONE? 

Like a certain Doctor who keeps messing with my mind…

Is he what I’m looking for? Am I that for him? Am I the yin to his yang? The vice to his versa? The Tiffany to his Pat?

(On another ER Break )
Conversing in the Cafeteria —

He gives me A LOOK after I taste his yummy muffin and spill a few crumbs — Read the rest of this entry »