By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com
The End of Boredom: Mark Cuban Bubbles
Maverickpreneur Mark Cuban daydreams about “the end of boredom” and Blackberries all about it: “Portable media devices… iPods… phones with all their features… have solved what has been a generations-old nuisance for all of us, boredom. We have our little devices and now we are never bored. We don’t find ourselves staring off into space unoccupied, wondering what to do.
“We don’t find ourselves muttering about how bored we are sitting on the train, or on a plane, trying to do anything to make the time go by more quickly. Our little mobile devices are so popular because they are the ultimate, continuous distraction. They are the easiest cure for boredom…. When we leave the house now, it’s keys, wallet, phone/pda/iPod, lock the door.� The minute we have nothing better to do, or our mind starts to wander, regardless of where we are, meetings, events, elevator, exercise bike, walking down the street, out it comes…. We are going to become increasingly dependent on these devices not because we think they are amazing or wonderful, but because they are there. They do their job. They distract us…Portable video will be successful not because it will siphon off viewing from traditional tv. Portable video sells and will sell in increasing numbers because its a better cure for boredom… Daydreaming and zoning out aren’t dead and gone, but they now have a soundtrack and� a video.”
IN OTHER 2929/HDNET/CUBAN/WAGNER/MAGNOLIA/LANDMARKING, The Parkersburg, WV News and Sentinel’s Evan Bevins comprehensively anticipates the first pop of Steven Soderbergh‘s locally-produced Bubble and its Thursday night premiere at the historic Smoot Theatre. “We can only accommodate a certain number of people to the premiere,” said Felice Jorgeson, executive director of the Smoot. “This will be good for the other people.” Regal Cinemas, the company that owns the movie theaters in Vienna and Marietta, will not show the film because it is being released concurrently in theaters, on DVD and on cable [network] HDNet… “It was fantastic,” said Debbie Doebereiner, a 47-year-old Watertown resident who makes her acting debut in Bubble in the role of Martha. “Steven is brilliant and he’s very, very understanding… He made our job really easy, because there was no tension or pressure whatsoever when we were making the film. He would give us points to start with, points to hit on and where to end, and how we got there” was up to the actors… Doebereiner, who had worked at the KFC in Parkersburg’s Traffic Circle for 24 years, was approached by the film’s casting director at the restaurant’s drive-thru window. “It was the most wonderful five weeks of my life…They cater to you; you feel like a princess. I pinched myself every day, because I just couldn’t believe I was doing this.” … To add another layer of realism to the movie, the actors were trained in the jobs their characters would have at the Lee Middleton Original Dolls Factory in Belpre… A limited edition doll, April Memories, was produced during the filming. There were only 250 made and Doebereiner purchased one of them.” [More WV lore at the link; the Bubble trailer is here.]
