March 02, 2013

Happiness Is A State Of Mind

Happiness Is A State Of Mind
By John R. Greenwood

"Happiness is a state of mind."
At least that's what the t-shirt said.

My wife and I were fortunate enough to be present at the premier of the movie Small Apartments this evening. The book and the screenplay were both written by Saratoga's own Chris Millis. The venue of tonight's showing was the  Saratoga Music Hall which is on the third floor of Saratoga's historic City Hall. The location was the crown jewel of the night. Chris is a  graduate of Saratoga High and the room was packed with classmates, teachers, family, and friends. It could not have been a more intimate setting to showcase such a celebratory event.

Now about the movie...


If you watch the trailer before 
you see the movie you will automatically establish some preconceived notions about it. 



My advice to anyone reading this piece is to watch and read all the trailers, clips, 
interviews, and reviews you want, but don't pass judgement before buying your popcorn. Open your mind as wide as the trunk of 70's Pinto and go see this movie. Put your big glasses on, dial in on the characters, open your ears, and pay attention. There are a lot of big things in Small Apartments. It swells with emotion, ideas, dreams, sadness, and pain. In the end they all seem to come together just like the lovely evening did for my wife and I. 







The characters, dialog, and colorful grossness of this movie will sometimes have you muttering, "Aw Geez", but when the dust settled I found the underlying theme of the movie to be just what the doctor ordered. I savored the end result as much as any movie I've seen. The difference here was, Small Apartments was shade or two darker.


I won't go into more detail about the movie, I will leave that for the critics and reporters. My piece is more about sharing a special night. Experiencing life's simple pleasures, like attending a $7.00 movie premier with your lovely wife in a vintage setting surrounded by hundreds of people all cheering for the success of one of their own. I do want to thank Bob Millis, Chris's uncle. Had Bob not sent me an invitation I probably would have missed the opportunity to walk out of Small Apartments smiling and with one of the two signed movie posters raffled off at the end of the movie. 

Yes, today was a good day. 
After all, "Happiness Is A State Of Mind." 








5 comments:

  1. Sometimes I want to move to that STATE.

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    1. My wife and I said the same thing when we visited Cape Neddick Lighthouse last year! We didn't quite make to Portland, but we will...

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  2. It's a long way to Switzerland...

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  3. Love movies and recommendations -- will look for this one thanks -- barbara

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  4. Happened upon this move last night and watched it. It quite possibly is the single movie that had the most emotional effect on me. A hidden gem, one that didn't get much fanfare. But those are often the best kind. I then found your review of the evening here, as a result of my following up on it today with some searches. Small world: I happen to know that Uncle you mentioned.

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