Thumbing a ride to Hollywood

Friday, November 25, 2005
JEFF BAKER

Years ago, Walter Kirn studied with Gordon Lish, a legendary writing teacher known for pushing his students out of their comfort zone.

"He told us to think of the most embarrassing thing about ourselves and write about it, that the rest was (garbage)," Kirn said. "I didn't take him up on it, but later I was casting about for something to write about and I realized that the most embarrassing thing about myself was that I helplessly, publicly sucked my thumb until I was 20. It really dominated my life because I lived in fear of doing it automatically in front of the wrong person. It was bizarre. Little did I know it would turn out to be a good metaphor."

Kirn's second novel, "Thumbsucker," is full of good metaphors for modern life. Published as a paperback original in 1999, it became a word-of-mouth success (pardon the pun) that was made into a movie, much to Kirn's surprise. He had nothing but praise for the way director Mike Mills retained the spirit of his novel while eliminating large sections of it, and had fond memories of visiting the set in Oregon.

"We wanted some moody, typically overcast Portland weather, and what we got was blue skies and blazing sunshine," said Kirn, who had a cameo as a debate judge. "It was a heat wave."

Mills told the online magazine Salon that during a low point in his attempt to get the movie made, Kirn told him "none of us really knows what we're doing. We're all just guessing. That's all it means to be human." Mills was so inspired he wrote Kirn's speech into the movie as dialogue between Keanu Reeves and Lou Pucci. When Kirn heard the story, he laughed and said, "Well, I did say that."

One element of the novel eliminated from the movie was the family's conversion to Mormonism. Kirn's family converted when he was 12, and questions of religion and faith inform much of his work, including his new novel "Mission to America" (Doubleday, $23.95, 271 pages). Kirn said he moved to Montana in 1990, two weeks after local cult leader Elizabeth Clare Prophet predicted the world would come to an end.

"When you think the world's coming to an end, it changes your outlook on lots of things," Kirn said. "You can charge your credit cards to the max because you'll never have to pay the bill."

On a more serious note, Kirn said that "because I was a Mormon, I was more aware of the way people use faith to create separate realities. Right now, America is a patchwork of separate realities. Where I live, we've got people who cut wood and pump gas, and people who fly in for a weekend in a private jet and don't have any contact with anyone else. Or look at New Orleans: Those people were living in a way that people who go to Bourbon Street have no idea even exists."

Besides writing novels, Kirn is a critic who regularly reviews books for The New York Times. His pleasant experience with "Thumbsucker" notwithstanding, he is unhappy with "the way movies have made a science out of storytelling. I can't write that way. I don't write with any premeditation."

Jeff Baker: 503-221-8165; jbaker@news.oregonian.com

PATH OF NEO ADDED TO PRIZE POOL

Posted: 11/22/2005

The Matrix: The Path of Neo PS2 game has been added to the GiN Prize pool. Every week one lucky GiN reader is chosen to receive a prize of their choice from the list.

Atari, Inc.(Nasdaq: ATAR) and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced the highly-anticipated video game The Matrix: The Path of Neo is now available in stores nationwide for the PlayStation2 Computer Entertainment System, for the Xbox video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and for Windows. The follow-up to the multi-million-unit selling Enter the Matrix, The Matrix: The Path of Neo marks the second collaboration between Atari and its Shiny Entertainment development studio; the Wachowski Brothers, creators of The Matrix trilogy; Joel Silver, producer of the trilogy; and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

The Matrix: The Path of Neo is the first and only Matrix game that lets gamers take on the role of Neo and become "The One" by reliving his most important and memorable scenarios from the blockbuster motion picture trilogy of The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions from Warner Bros. Pictures. The Matrix: The Path of Neo is rated 'T' for Teen and is also available for purchase at www.thematrixpathofneo.com.

"The Matrix: The Path of Neo delivers the interactive Matrix experience fans have been waiting for ・now they can confront the challenges Neo faced and control their own gaming outcome with new, never-before-seen story responses and a completely new Matrix ending written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers," said Marc Metis, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Atari, Inc. "The 'bullet time' special effects, martial arts combat and Hollywood-style action sequences re-created in The Matrix: The Path of Neo are sure to delight long-time franchise fans and appeal to new consumers."

" The Matrix: The Path of Neo gives gamers the ultimate interactive Matrix experience ・they are able to play as Neo and live out the action sequences from the phenomenal film trilogy," said Jonathan Eubanks, Director of Production for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "As a creative extension of the film experience, players can meet familiar characters and take advantage of advanced gameplay in The Matrix: The Path of Neo and make their own paths as 'The One'."

Set in the Matrix universe, The Matrix: The Path of Neo will allow gamers to play as the central character "Neo," and relive the most important and memorable scenes from the complete film trilogy. The likenesses of all of the films' key actors including Keanu Reeves (Neo), Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus), Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity) and Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith) are featured in the game, which also incorporates footage from The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions as well as The Animatrix.

Publisher of Gameindustry.com Nate Wooley said, "We are happy to add this new and exciting game to the prize pool for our readers. The folks at Atari really know how to make a great game, and this one is a special effects ride that we are sure our readers will enjoy!」