Jim Mayzik SJ Blog

Short narrative film.  Existential crisis via the microwave.

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There’s just no accounting for happiness,
or the way it turns up like a prodigal
who comes back to the dust at your feet
having squandered a fortune far away...

Short narrative film. A voiceover actor, trying to nail the right tone for a pair of indecisive ad creatives selling a fictitious children’s ice cream brand. Or is it a short tragedy about a pair of ad creatives trying to coax the right tone out of a distracted voiceover actor?

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I’m tempted to ask
what you see in him.
Although you probably
see the good that I see
I wonder if you realize
how much he is my handiwork,
or which of the qualities
you daydream about in class
are the ones that I take pride in,
his cordiality, for example,
or love of silliness...

I have a friend who is a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan, and he is mighty disappointed that he is not going to be watching his team compete today in the Super Bowl. When they were in the final four, he was convinced that they would prevail over the Falcons and the Packers to face the mighty Patriots and their star Tom Brady. If you spent just a little time with my friend, maybe a ½ hour, you would hear about the Steelers, and he would convince you that they would win the Super Bowl, guaranteed. 

The Pope reminds us that in our world, there are a lot of people who live weighed down, in situations of poverty. They are refugees or are at the margins of society. With Pope Francis, we pray for them so they encounter in our communities the welcome and support they need.

Short documentary film. For 53 years, Justo Gallego has been building a cathedral by hand on the outskirts of Madrid almost entirely by himself. Gallego has no formal architecture or construction training, but that hasn't stopped him from toiling on this herculean task. At 90 years old, Gallego knows that he will not be able to finish the project in his lifetime. But he keeps at it anyway, day after day, driven by his faith.

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In the usual iconography of the temple or the local Wok
you would never see him doing such a thing,
tossing the dry snow over a mountain
of his bare, round shoulder,
his hair tied in a knot,
a model of concentration...

I just came back from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, a few miles from Salt Lake City.  As a filmmaker, I really enjoy the chance to see some awesome movies which will be in theaters in the next year, and to network with other filmmakers.  And there’s the added advantage of literally bumping into movie stars like Robert Redford, Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe, Madmen’s Jon Hamm, Jack Black, Shirley McLaine, Lisa Kudrow from Friends, and Kevin Bacon. There is a lot of fame and glamour at Sundance, limos and expensive cars, elegantly dressed somebodies, and industry powerbrokers.  But to tell you the truth I was more interested in the fact that we had several great snowstorms, and I love snow!

Short narrative film. New York invasion by 8-bits creatures !

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I had a small, nonspeaking part
In a bloody epic. I was one of the
Bombed and fleeing humanity.
In the distance our great leader
Crowed like a rooster from a balcony,
Or was it a great actor
Impersonating our great leader?...

Short narrative film. In a world where a single chameleon has no natural enemies, this one of a kind creature is destined to hunt for prey.

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Who knew that the sweetest pleasure of my fifty-eighth year
would turn out to be my friendship with the dog?

That his trembling, bowlegged bliss at seeing me stand there with the leash
would give me a feeling I had sought throughout my life?...

I’ve been to the movie theaters several times now to see La La Land. What can I say? It has captured my heart, certainly because it is (in part) about the art of filmmaking--which I love and have been involved with for over 30 years.  I’ve worked on dozens of films over that time, and I have taught hundreds of students how to use the medium to express—with creativity and emotion---the joy, the pain and the hope that lives within their souls.  

But La La Land is about much more than the movie business. It’s about the human yearning to dream of impossibly wonderful things in your life. The two main characters in the movie dream of using their gifts in music and acting to touch the world.  And the story is about how difficult it can be to achieve the dream, and the costs it demands of both of them.