Miracles - episode "The Bone Scatterer"

TheCentralScrutinizer · 03 Dec 06 :: 20:46

Oooh, the 1985 TZ series is where I discovered Scott Grimes. He's in the ep called Little Boy Lost. He was just soooooo good. And then, a few weeks later, I saw him sing "The Greatest Love" on a Bob Hope special. Such a talented kid! Been a huge fan ever since. There's also a great ep with Lukas Haas and Fred Savage. And I like the one with Shelly Duvall, The Saucer Of Loneliness. I have a bunch of these on tape. It was a really fun show.

I'd like to get started watching Miracles too, but I really wanna watch all of JoA S2 again first. Could take a while.

Deb

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 Jul 07 :: 18:06

Why does this headline make me think of our favorite Miracles ep?

Team Arrives In Michigan For Bigfoot Hunt

The weirdest thing is that the location of this hunt is... drumroll please...

Marquette, Michigan. LOL!

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2 … %2C00.html

domesticelefant · 13 Jul 07 :: 18:42

What a coincidence!

Editsound · 27 Jun 08 :: 06:53

I saw this episode yesterday, and I can see why it has so much interest here. Chris did a really nice job, and he was in dangerous territory for me. There are certain similarities between this part and some of his others(especially JOA). And he didn't fall into the trap so many actors do. He didn't play the similarities in the same way he had before. He didn't break down the way that Adam would have, he did it in a different way. He didn't walk, talk, or move like other characters he has played. That shows a seriousness about his work, which is refreshing. I have often seen very good actors go to what I call their "Bag of tricks", which is that this emotion is played this way, and that emotion is played that way. Chris could have easily played this part like Adam, and the producers would have been happy, and no one would have really thought about it. But he didn't. On a single shot guest appearance, he went to the trouble of working out how THIS character would react. In some ways, this is the most impressive performance I have seen from him. Not neccessarily his best performance, but it shows me a very serious as well as talented artist. I watch acting everyday, over and over, and believe me that is something very special.

As to the show, someone else mentioned X-files, and that is what I spent most of the show thinking. It wasn't a bad show, but I didn't feel the need to watch any of the other episodes on the dvd.

TeeJay · 27 Jun 08 :: 09:22

That's a huge compliment for Chris, Rick, and you said it beautifully. It's curious that you would compare this guest spot with JoA, but I think you were assuming he did Miracles after or while he did JoA. In fact, I'm pretty sure he did the Miracles episode before he started working on JoA.

I'm trying to think of the two most alike characters that Chris has played, and I'm having a hard time coming up with anything. Pretty much everything I've seen him do was done differently, every character had something to him that you wouldn't find in any of the other characters Chris has played. I never really thought of it that way. (Would you mind if we sent your feedback to Chris himself some time? I think he'd be really pleased to hear it.)

I guess you also have a point when you say Miracles was a little like X-Files, and you might have that impression especially when you've only seen this episode. If you watch the show from the beginning, I think you'll realize that while the premise is similar, it's still different. The show centers very much around Paul (Skeet Ulrich) and the visions and premonitions that he has, it is not simply a group of three investigating paranormal phenomena (and it's also not at all about aliens or alien/government conspiracies). It's also more connected to the religious aspect, but not in an in-your-face way. (And I'm not trying to convince you to watch the show, I just wanted to point this out.)

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 27 Jun 08 :: 15:42

Yeah, definitely well-said, Rick. And I agree with what TeeJay said too. Let me take it one step further...

Have you seen The Tic Code yet? He did that movie when he was just a kid, maybe 13 or so. He plays a piano prodigy with Tourette's Syndrome. He was absolutely amazing in that movie. It's still the one thing he's most proud of in his entire career. Well, a few years after he did that film, he was cast in a guest role on schmaltzy old Touched By An Angel, playing another kid with Tourette's --- an older kid, with young siblings who's dad was sent to prison for assaulting a man who made fun of the kid in a store.

This kid, Cody is completely different from the character in TTC, Miles. His Tourette's tics are not the same at all. It's really quite fascinating to see how Chris managed to make them so different. Like you said, he did not just reach into some actorly bag of tricks. And I also don't think it was that he simply forgot how he played Miles and so he just didn't play Cody the same way. We'd have to ask him about this, but I know in my gut that it was a conscious thing with him. He chose to playing him as differently as possible. And it was beautiful. That performance is so gutwrenching. It shreds me everytime I see it. Now, granted, part of it is the ham and cheese TBAA formula of writing scenes that are supposed to tug on your heart strings. But it's really more about the emotion Chris drags out of you in his climactic scene.

Over the course of this adventure in CM fandom, I've come to the conclusion that Chris is very much a Method actor. The way he has described his process, it's very plain to see. It might interest you to know Rick, that he is very much a fan of the maverick actors of the 1950's. If he'd been born to that era, he would've fit right in. Interestingly, in a review of The Invisible, someone compared him to Sal Mineo. That really gave me a smile.

Editsound · 27 Jun 08 :: 18:13

Teejay, feel free to sent my comments if you like, (I'd wouldn't put them here if I didn't want people to see them). I am not really critizing the show Miracles with my comments, it was probably a good show. The situation was probably that the people making the show wanted it to be the show you were telling me about, and the network probably wanted the X-Files, so they were forced to try to balance the 2.

Deb, I have now seen enough of his work (although the tic code is one I still haven't seen, it is on my netflix list), to know he doesn't just forget how he played a part. I also don't think he just makes sure he plays a part differently. He looks into his character and decides how that character would do things, and that makes his performances different. You are probably right that he is a method actor. Although my experience has been that method actors are very different now, from what we all associate with method actors. If you ask him about this stuff, I would love to hear the answer.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 27 Jun 08 :: 18:26

It may be a bit hard to catch that TBAA ep. I don't think the show's running anywhere right now. Once you see The Tic Code, you can check out that climactic TBAA scene in the Dorquette demo reel here on the site. I'd love for you to see the whole ep, but if you can't, at least you can see that much.

Editsound · 27 Jun 08 :: 18:44

I looked it up, and Hallmark Channel is showing touched by an angel 5 days a week, and they are currently in the early part of season 6, so the episode should be on in late july early aug. so, I will try to catch it then.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 27 Jun 08 :: 19:21

What time of the day is it airing?

Editsound · 27 Jun 08 :: 19:29

It's on at noon here in Los angeles, don't know if that means noon there or 3pm there.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 27 Jun 08 :: 19:44

He did another ep of the show too, a couple of years earlier than the one we've been discussing. He was an impoverished kid who was bullied. He learned to box and got to meet Muhammad Ali. Chris counts meeting The Greatest as one of the sweetest experiences of his career.

Chris Marquette Message Board

#26 03 Dec 06 :: 20:46

Re: Miracles - episode "The Bone Scatterer"

#27 13 Jul 07 :: 18:06

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#28 13 Jul 07 :: 18:42

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#29 27 Jun 08 :: 06:53

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#30 27 Jun 08 :: 09:22

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#31 27 Jun 08 :: 15:42

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#32 27 Jun 08 :: 18:13

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#33 27 Jun 08 :: 18:26

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#34 27 Jun 08 :: 18:44

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#35 27 Jun 08 :: 19:21

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#36 27 Jun 08 :: 19:29

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#37 27 Jun 08 :: 19:44

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