Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Zooey, Tin Man, and the 66th Emmys


Hands down, the "Darling of Synchromysticism" is Zooey Deschanel.


In the middle of the Boston Marathon Bombing, what person's name was incorrectly posted by a Texas television station as being a suspect? Zooey Deschanel. Some hacker having "fun"? Weird.


I've read postings from several online individuals who have written about Zooey Deschanel. Often these synchromystic authors seem downright obsessed with this young woman. (See here, here, here, here, here, and here, for examples.) Jake Kotze, the man who coined the term "synchromysticism," is not shy about his interest in Zooey Deschanel.


It thus follows that I should pay attention to the sync quotient for Ms. Deschanel too. My own synchronicity moments have even occurred, down this yellow brick road.

So, I settled down to watch the 66th Emmys on the evening of August 25, 2014. Initially, my objective was to note various sync moments wihin the Robin Williams memorial. I began viewing, mildly interested in what kind of tribute Williams was going to get from Billy Crystal. Williams had done last year's honors for the memory of his mentor Jonathan Winters, so there appeared to be a new tradition beginning. Williams was more a friend than mentor to Crystal, so no one said anything about a curse associated with this pattern.


With Williams on my mind, who then stepped on stage? It was Zooey Deschanel. She was paired with another presenter who was announced as a new Peter Pan (i.e., Girls star Allison Williams). Zooey/Oz wonder (as in Tin Man) meets Peter Pan? Really. My synchrometer went off.


Allison Williams, daughter of NBC News' Brian Williams, was cast last month in the lead role of NBC’s forthcoming live musical, Peter Pan Live. She recently announced she is dedicating her role to the late Robin Williams, who was Peter Pan in Hook. Peter Pan alarms go off in my head. Readers of the Twilight Language know Peter Pan is deeply ingrained in the name game discussed here.


Allison Williams, in press releases, noted she has wanted to play the role of Peter Pan professionally since she was a child. This is a photo of her way back when, being Peter Pan.

Back to Zooey Deschanel's brief appearance....

Zooey Deschanel seemingly had a "new" look. Much was made by the fashionistas that her well-known bangs were to the side, and her eyebrows were showing. That was actually the look she assumed for several scenes in Tin Man.


Deschanel was seen on the Emmys' red carpet, with her new boyfriend, Jacob Pechenik, whom she met on the set of director Barry Levinson's 2015 comedy, Rock the Kasbah.

Zooey Claire Deschanel (born January 17, 1980) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as Anita Miller in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous.

Other notable roles have been Elf (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Bridge to Terabithia (2007), and Yes Man (2008).


Zooey is the daughter of Academy Award–nominated cinematographer and director Caleb Deschanel and actress Mary Jo Deschanel (née Weir). She was named after Zooey Glass, the male protagonist of J. D. Salinger's 1961 novella Franny and Zooey. Her older sister, Emily Deschanel, is also an actress and stars in the TV series Bones.

Deschanel is a common southeastern French surname, probably for D'Eschanel, a variation of eschamel, "stepladder," or for Des Chanels "from the channels" or "from the little jugs."

Zooey is from the Greek, with Zoe being derived from zōē ("life").

My Deschanel synchronicity consisted of the following moments.

Last fall, I was in Hollywood, being filmed for an interview possibly appearing in Tracy Torme's and James Fox's forthcoming film, 701

While staying there, I was invited by my friend, director Peyton Reed to a screening of a remastered Shane for Academy members and guests. I gladly accepted and attended. While we were waiting in the lobby, who do we run into ("by chance") and talk to for some time? Caleb and Mary Jo Deschanel. 

Peyton Reed, of course, directed Zooey Deschanel in Yes Man, and knows Caleb well. It was a magical moment for me, as I am a big fan of Caleb's movies, on their own account. Caleb Deschanel is a cinematography genius. 


Take a look at Caleb Deschanel's IMDb listings, and note how synchocinematic his works are, e.g. Twin Peaks (episodes director), Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (actor + cinematographer), The Right Stuff (director of photography), Being There (cinematographer), The Patroit (director of photography), Passion of the Christ (director of photography), and National Treasure (director of photography).

Anyway, back to the Emmys....

So, after Zooey Deschanel's appearance, I thought anything was possible.


Then during the memorial reel comes the following, for Robert Halmi, Sr. Humm. Halmi Sr. executive produced over 200 programs and movies. Why would these two choices be picked, by the Emmys' producer, for this tribute slide?

There it was again, the Tin Man synch.


Halmi Sr. was an active promoter of Tin Man, as evidenced by his involvement in the press tour.






















Tin Man cast and crew (L-R) director Nick Willing, actors Zooey Deschanel, Neal McDonough, Kathleen Robertson, and Raoul Trujillo, executive producers/writers Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W. Van Sickle, and executive producer Robert Halmi, Sr. speak during the 2007 Summer Television Critics Association Press Tour for NBC held at the Beverly Hilton hotel on July 17, 2007 in Beverly Hills, California.






















The Memorial reel at the 66th Emmys seemed short. The picks for who would be in it seemed, sometimes, bizarre.

But then, along comes the In Search Of...'s Alan Landsburg visual. He is a man I met in Orlando, when I was the senior series consultant of the 2002 revival of In Search Of.... See my tribute to Landsburg here.

For me, the evening ended on a mysterious note when I saw my attempt to take a photograph from my television set of Alan Landsburg, instead, captured a screen image that reads In Search Of Philip Seymour Hoffman.




We really are in Oz during these award shows.

Oh yes, the Robin Williams tribute by Billy Crystal? That was anti-climatic. Not worth talking about, compared to Zooey Deschanel. 



Instead, you may wish to re-read my updated, "Robin Williams, Former Trident Busboy, Dies By The Sea."

6 comments:

  1. Zooey Claire Deschanel.
    Robin Wiliams hanged himself on the feast of St. Claire resp. Santa Clara of Assissi.

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  2. Great post, Loren. Zooey's mother, Mary Jo Deschanel, is a great actress and has a subtle-yet-striking appearance. She appears in two sync faves of mine - she plays Dave Bowman's widow in "2010: The Year We Make Contact" (the 1984 film which triggered a lot of sync stuff for me)and as the wheelchair-bound mother of Donna Hayward on "Twin Peaks." Curiously, Zooey talked to Jimmy Kimmel in 2012 about being a child on the set of "Twin Peaks" saying she wasn't supposed to watch the show but was "completely terrified by BOB, but also completely fascinated with him." This syncs for me because I just posted a "Simpsons" image of "BOB" on my FB page. Interestingly, Zooey voices a character - "Mary Wrestlemania Spuckler" - in the odd, animal-rights-friendly 2008 Simpsons episode "Apocalypse Cow" http://welcometotwinpeaks.com/actors/zooey-deschanel-twin-peaks-set/

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  3. Red Dirt Report's comment regarding the Simpson's and the screen shot used in the post made me look a little further.

    Larry Doyle, was a producer for the Simpson's from 1997 to 2001. After his tenure he wrote Looney Tunes: Back in Action and a few other short stories involving the cast of characters. One of which was titled "The Whizzard of Ow".

    Larry's first novel was released in 2007 titled "I Love You, Beth Cooper". In 2009 this novel was made into a cinematic film that was titled the same and directed by Chris Columbus.

    Chris Columbus directed and or produced quite a few of Robin William's films. Most notably today "Bicentennial Man", a movie about a robot that gains human emotion over time. Most people say that Robin Williams in the robot costume had a remarkable resemblance to who else but The Tin Man.

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  4. Lol Lauren – I can’t work out if you were being ironic or not with that last Zooey photo…You were looking for Robin Williams and instead ‘Everyone is Zooey Deschanel’…

    http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/robin-williams-family-guy-episode-about-a-suicide-attempt-aired-on-bbc-three-as-news-of-actors-death-broke-9664290.html

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  5. Oops - Sorry *Loren*. I was so obsessed with spelling *Deschanel* correctly it's all I could see...

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  6. Here is an article on 5 reasons why Peter Pan might be a monster: http://www.unboundworlds.com/2017/06/5-reasons-peter-pan-probably-monster/

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