By Doug Moe
OUT TODAY for the first time on DVD: "Side
Effects," perhaps the best of the many independent films shot in
Madison in recent years.
Written and directed by Kathleen
Slattery-Moschkau, a 1991 UW-Madison grad, the film,
starring Katherine Heigl of "Grey's Anatomy," is a
romantic comedy with serious undertones about values and ethics in
the pharmaceutical industry.
Slattery-Moschkau, originally from Ladysmith, spent a decade as a
prescription drug seller, winging around the country on planes or in
her company car, "educating" physicians about her company's
drugs.
"That was a song and dance," Slattery-Moschkau told me in 2004,
during the editing of the film. Educating really meant using about
any means to convince doctors to use her company's drugs.
Slattery-Moschkau came to believe the industry was not long on
scruples - as does the lead character in "Side Effects."
Shooting in July and September of 2004 included scenes in the
Arboretum, Madison Club and Memorial Union Terrace.
In part because of the hot subject matter, the film received a
lot of press, much of it good.
On Monday, a day before its official release, the "Side Effects"
DVD was hovering at around No. 500 on the amazon.com sales chart -
excellent for a small independent film.
"I am almost more excited bringing out the DVD than the film
itself," Slattery-Moschkau told me Monday.
That's because the DVD is full of extras - behind the scenes
footage that Madison viewers in particular should savor. There are
deleted scenes, blooper scenes, two director's commentaries - one
devoted to the filmmaking process, the other comparing the movie to
real life in the drug industry - and a 10-minute preview of a
full-length documentary, "Money Talks: Profits Before Patient
Safety," that Slattery-Moschkau is releasing simultaneously with the
"Side Effects" DVD.
"It has been a lot of work, but we're thrilled," the director
said. ...
TONIGHT AT 10 on Wisconsin
Public Television, you can catch an encore airing of an episode of
the PBS show "Nature" titled "Crime Scene Creatures."
You'll want to catch it in part because one of the people
interviewed in the documentary is longtime Madisonian and Forest
Products Laboratory wood anatomy expert Regis
Miller.
"I'm on right after the gasoline-smelling dog," Miller was saying
Monday with a chuckle.
Dogs and even maggots and flies (collecting on a dead body) are
among nature's creatures that help cops solve crimes. Wood is also
part of nature, and scientists at Madison's Forest Products Lab have
been helping authorities solve crimes dating all the way back to the
Lindbergh baby kidnapping (they helped trace the
wood from a ladder used by the kidnapper).
Miller said a crew came to interview him in Madison, and he told
them about a homicide prosecution in the Green Bay area at which he
had testified. The murder weapon was a pool cue, and Miller was able
to link a splinter found near the body with a cue tossed in a
dumpster by the prime suspect.
Miller recently retired after some 40 years with the Forest
Products Lab, though when I reached him Monday he was back in the
office. "I come in late and leave early," he said. ...
A number of readers have asked whether Madison native
David Maraniss is making any appearances here for
his new Roberto Clemente biography, "Clemente: The
Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero," which debuted at No. 10
Sunday on the New York Times nonfiction best-seller list. The Simon
& Schuster Web site has Maraniss in Madison June 6-7 - at
Borders on University Avenue on Tuesday, June 6, at 7 p.m.; the June
7 appearance has no firm details yet. ...
Kudos to Jonathan Stafstrom of Madison, a
home-schooled 12th-grader, for his recent second place finish in the
National Philosophy Challenge, held at the National Press Club in
Washington, D.C. Stafstrom was one of four finalists who debated the
topic: "What is more powerful: hope or fear?" Jonathan, who finished
second in the competition, will attend Swarthmore College in the
fall. ...
Erik Johnson, a Madison West and UW-Madison
grad, had an op-ed cartoon in Saturday's New York Times. It had a
Mother's Day theme and the paper requested it - Johnson had done a
successful Father's Day cartoon for the paper a few years ago.
Johnson's parents are Ernest and Sally
Johnson of Madison. ...
The new dean of the business school at UCLA, Judy
Olian, got her master's and doctoral degrees from
UW-Madison. ... The story of Christopher Ochoa's
wrongful conviction, release from prison and recent
graduation from the UW Law School made the CBS Evening News with
Bob Schieffer Friday night. Ochoa was the CBS
"Person of the Week." ...
MOE KNOWS: By all reports,
a star may have been born at Sunday's UW-Madison commencement
ceremony. Adam Schlicht, senior class vice
president, addressed the gathering and was brief, funny and serious
by turns. Some of his remarks were reported in the Cap Times on
Monday. Schlicht absolutely brought the house down with the
following: "Life is a journey and the journey is not going to be
easy. So don't be afraid to sometimes stop yourself. Think. Analyze.
And ask yourself one simple question: What would Audrey
Seiler do?"
Heard something Moe should know? Call 252-6446, write PO Box
8060, Madison, WI 53708, or e-mail dmoe@madison.com.
Published:
May 16, 2006
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