Dinner In America

-A night at the Frida Theatre

Lainey at the Frida theatre

"High Standards" top-from Garage, hoodie from Uniqlo, and Denim Jacket from Levis.

On November 09,24 I had the opportunity to attend a theatrical release of Dinner in America with a Q&A with Director Adam Rehmeier and special guests Emily Skeggs, Ross Putnam, and David Hunter.

Much like any other film fanatic I found Dinner in America by word of mouth on tiktok with 'watermelon' rising to fame paired with the many, many, many edits of Simon and Patty's unconventional love story and of course I had to see it.

I had to renew my subscription on Hulu just to see this movie, and for the pirates manning the keyboard, no I did not want to go that route-if only to show full support that Dinner In America is a movie I want to see on streaming platforms. weather or not that actually made an impact escapes me.

I typically end a shit week with a movie, I would usually have a film in mind I've heard, saw edits of or saw memes of and I don't ever know if they're good or bad but Dinner In America was good. So good. Half-way through it as Simon looked up at Patty with that awe-struck adoration written all over his face I thought to myself, "I wish I was in a theatre right now." There is nothing in this world that feels as great as sitting in a room full of people laughing, crying, and getting pissed off about the same thing at the same time.

to me, the main reason so many people on tiktok was compelled to watch this movie is this one edit of Simon and Patty when they were making the song with Patty saying "I can't believe that only took 20 minutes" and it was because Simon has had that melody stuck in his head for so long he already knew what instrument to play, what the words were, and how it should sound. Hearing Emily Skegg sing it in a theatre made me cry just as much if not more than I did the first time I saw it. Because that was the first time we saw Patty. Not the way people saw her on a surface level. He saw her, not downplaying her talents or judging her for for being 'weird'

As a weird girl myself, I have never felt so seen by a movie in a way that Patty has made me feel and to hear that Emily Skeggs just portrayed the character without holding back her facial expressions made me feel so happy because that was my favorite part about the movie, how much I saw myself in Patty. During the interview

Q&A with Dir. Adam Rehmeier and special guests Emily Skeggs (Patty),Producers; Ross Putnam, and David Hunter.

Moderated by Molly Henery- disclaimer, Q&A transcript is not verbatim. I was living in the moment and taking notes more than videos

Annotation: Lainey notes and babbles

A notable scene is the this bus passenger, who was snatched and casted on the day of filming where a PA found this woman infront of the-Y. She said she had always wanted to be in a movie but she had swimming lessons and a hair appointment.

Filming had to wait until she had been done with her swimming lessons and we can see from the close-up frame that this was such a satisfying side-quest for her, and her hair looks phenomenal. This was a clip that wasn't too impactful for the plot but it served as good comedic relief for the film and personally the film wouldn't be the same without it.

M.H: Was it more challenging to cast for this film knowing that you needed to find someone who can sing?

Answer (Ross?): We knew pretty early on that we wanted Kyle Gallner, we contacted his management but never heard back we gave them the script only to find out that he never got it (at the time of the Q&A Kyle had already parted with them bc that sucks of them) In the end I think Ross mentioned that Kyle got the script on-set from someone the producers knew at the time. They continued to hold auditions for Simon but none of them really fit his character. For Emily and Kyle's casting they pretty much didn't really see anyone better who could do Patty and Simon justice.

The making of watermelon:

Adam and Emily worked on watermelon way before the movie was even filmed and it wasn't even written into the script, Adam said it was basically just "Patty screams shit and it's fkn awesome" which of course it was.

Filming

The film is set in the 90's with technology not being in the forefront of every day life, Patty sending letters to John Q is a pretty integral part of the film. Most of the filmmakers were from Michigan, and wanted to capture the incredible series of texture and color palette that it offers as well as capturing the burnt out middle class America. Casting background actors on location was easier, Ross noting that "you get more real-looking people there- as opposed to casting from say, LA where you'll get more gorgeous conventional looking people.''

photo credit to @mollyhenery on instagram

From left to right, Molly Henery, Adam Rehmeier, Emily Skeggs, Ross Putnam, and David Hunter.

The Punk Scene

The filmmakers joined Punk facebook groups in Michigan and basically asked if they wanted to watch a Punk show and get paid, Kyle Gallner also wanted to play a PSYOPS show just as a band, and not a fictional one to make sure that they were making good music that the punk scene appreciated.

What do you hope for people to take from the movie?

Adam R: For people to realize their worth, that's the stuff of dreams

Emily S: Believe in yourself, you're fucking awesome

Ross : I hope people seek out more like Simon and Patty's unconventional romance.

Notable comments from the panel:

Chombi is a name Adam came up with, there is no deep meaning behind it. Official Psyops music will soon be available in streaming platforms in collaboration with the same producers of watermelon.

Pick up where Simon left off like Patty, Stay Punk!

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