Not being from Jersey, it turns out, is a great way to ensure that you coin an absolutely legendary Jersey term.
I’m sure Memorial Day Weekend and Labor Day Weekend are well-celebrated across the US, but frankly, it just hits different here. We have an entire economy predicated on this ephemeral handful of months. Summer’s so cherished that it starts a whole month early: scalloped awnings unfurl in ice cream pastels, long-shuttered boardwalks creak to life, lit up in staccato merriment, hot with funnel cake and carousel grease.
It’s likely that no one knows the power of a Jersey summer better than this guy—
—who knows deeply the bittersweet cooling of September nights, and a tearful goodbye to his stormy Seaside wildling… but not before one last salt air ride down Route 35, complete with key change.
We drive down Beach Ave and I play Doc Thunder Road and Born to Run and my personal favorite (though who can truly say), Spirit in the Night.
“You know he’s from Jersey because all these songs are about the summer ending,” Doc says.
“Like The Boss is waning.”
The Waning is a beautiful time—toasting leaves, bathwater lapping at quiet beaches, soft and fleeting sunlight.
But The Waxing… oh, The Waxing.
Air thick with charcoal and candy floss, oldies stations doling out extra helpings of Huey Lewis, Hall & Oates, and—of course—our sainted Bon Jovi. Towels and a beat-to-hell boogie board taking up residence in your car, and (if you’re me) SPF 50 for babies, invariably clogged with sand, nestled in the drink-holders. You can chase the day down to darkness, cryptids of the Pines hot on your heels.
It takes a lot to rip me from my homelands during The Waxing. So imagine my surprise and delight when I learned the premiere of my new movie, Resentment, would premiere at our very own Lighthouse International Film Festival on LBI.
“In an artist’s life, every workday ends with a reckoning—with purpose, hope, failure, frustration—add alcohol, and it curdles into resentment. This full palette of emotion—false hopes, grudges, victimhood—is poured out on and around a bar table in Noah Millman’s brilliant, sarcastic, and brutally honest film, echoing the spirit of Mike Nichols’ classic "Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf". A witty chamber dramedy, it follows a filmmaker (Patch Darragh, "Succession") confronting his artistic failures and painful compromises. As the night stretches on, a drunken blame game spirals out of control, entangling friends, lovers, and the artist himself in a sharp exchange of truths no one wants to hear. What begins as a casual conversation devolves into a war of words, fueled by ego, regret, and bottomless drinks. With Lawrence Gilliard Jr. ("The Wire") and Jen Ponton.”
–- Amir Bogen
If you’ve never been to LBI, this is just the cherry on top of a pristine, narrow strip of barrier island with Barnegat Lighthouse as its North Star. Come play hooky and hang ten at the original Ron Jon Surf Shop, climb to the top of Barnegat Light, dip your toes in the serene bay or stroll through the oceanside waves, and sample some to-die-for seafood before making your way to the film (with a pocketful of salt water taffy).
Let the summer wax on, friends.
Resentment’s world premiere will be at Long Beach Island Foundation at 6:30pm, Friday June 6th.
xx Jen
PS - How dare I pull you away from the magic of an NYC summer?
Don’t worry city-bound friends, we’ll be screening downtown, too!