ONE - ARTHOUSE FILM NEWS - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene at Film Noir Cinema, NYC starting 7/12/24

Since Mike Tully is wandering around the web declaring what legitimate filmmaking is & what legitimate film writing is (something he has done in defending his work at Hammer to Nail - a site that I actually like - so, for the moment, we'll leave that one alone) - let's take a look at a review of Tully's first & only fiction feature thus far - Cocaine Angel (don't worry Mike, if nothing else, this negative attention might sell a couple of DVDs of CA, since all press is good press right?) - from Slant : "Piling miscalculation atop intolerable cruelty, this first feature by Michael Tully aims for Half Nelson 's salient understanding of the strange, almost seductive allure of drug addiction. It's easy to see where the film goes wrong, beginning with the poetic strain of the title and ending with the main character's idiotic emotional unloading on a girl who looks like she might have been raped on her prom night. Somewhere between the opening title s...

Looks interesting: YOU WONT MISS ME trailer from Ry Russo-Young on Vimeo .

Mike Tully (presently inactive filmmaker who is not a fan of shooting on DV, who is now running things - as far as I know - at the review site Hammer to Nail, who also blogs at indieWIRE, & who wrote a brief & positive review of Date Number One in '06, & a fellow Marylander who generally seems like a cool dude) attended the World Premiere of Indie Film Blogger Road Trip and wrote a review of the doc . There are several items in that review that I'd like to comment on. So here we go: "At its best, Sujewa Ekanayake’s Indie Film Blogger Road Trip is certain to go down as one of the more bizarre time capsules of life on early-21st Century Earth." Cool - life on Earth in early 21st century - right now - is pretty bizarre, so a film dealing with a new, early-21st Century thing like film blogging/a film blogging community, should reflect that reality. The doc, however, is very simple & conventional in its form & content (shots of people talking). It is i...

Interesting (& somewhat amusing - in a very positive way) to observe Chuck's attempts to deal with & come to a final conclusion about a doc (Indie Film Blogger Road Trip) in which he is a subject. A good post to check out for people active in the media world - 'cause there are often several competing professional & social interests at play when we deal with movies, other media makers & institutions, & we ultimately have to try to navigate & find (hopefully) the best (beneficial to society at large or various communities that we are a part of & also self) route to get through the opportunities/demands that we face. So, check out Chuck working through such a situation here . From the post, the latest 2 updates: "Update 2: After a private conversation with a friend, I want to re-reconsider some of these comments. I still think the film needs work, and my understanding is that Sujewa is working on a stronger cut of the film (one that would addre...

Two people who I consider to be the type of people who are a part of the target audience for IFBRT were at the flick's premiere last night : Princeton Holt - filmmaker/blogger, & Ryan Balas - also another filmmaker/blogger. The two are also very interested in DIY media making & distribution (& not just interested-but-waiting-around-for-a-Hollywood-payday as some inactive filmmakers/active bloggers I know, but in the middle of making & distributing several features & figuring out better ways to get the work done & out, create publicity, etc.). Here are some of their reactions to the event & the film itself, from One Way Community blog : "The film overall was informative, and I found myself literally taking notes of some of the film bloggers names who from their interviews, sounded like good people to read and to possibly send copies of our films to for review. An interview can be considered a successful one, if the viewer or listener takes notes fr...

Spout blog's Christopher Campbell has a long review of Indie Film Blogger Road Trip , and the review poses many questions about the doc, & also presents a few items that I'd like to offer my opinion on, so, here goes: "Only a handful of people were in attendance for last night’s world premiere of blogger/filmmaker Sujewa Ekanayake’s new documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip at NYC’s Anthology Film Archives." There were about 20 people in attendance. Most I talked to found the doc to be interesting for various reasons (some will be writing about their takes on the doc soon, will post links here). It would of course have been nice to have more people at the show, but, the doc is a special interest project & thus the turnout was not a surprise & I am always glad to have even just 1 audience member at a screening (& have them enjoy the film - in the case of last night's IFBRT screening, most did - so, a successful event). "Because really, what...

Just got a couple of out-of-town guests on their way (they came up for IFBRT premiere last night), & after I take a nap will post pics from the event last night at Anthology. Great show, great venue & staff, & thanks a lot to everyone who came out for the event (yes, including Mike Tully, check out his hilariously negative review of the flick here ), stayed for the Q & A. A March or April screening of IFBRT in NYC is in the works, will have details in a week or so. At this point there are also Maryland/DC, Massachusetts, & quite possibly Atlanta, GA screenings of the doc in the works for '09. More details as I get them. Anyway, AM nap time, be back. - Sujewa

Indie Film Blogger Road Trip World Premiere Tuesday, February 17, 2009 8 PM Anthology Film Archives 32 Second Avenue (@ 2nd Ave & 2nd Street) New York, NY 10003 ( map/directions , Subway directions: F & V trains to 2nd Avenue, walk two blocks North on 2nd Avenue to 2nd Street. #6 to Bleecker St., walk one block North on Lafayette, two blocks East on Bond St. (turns into 2nd St.) to 2nd Avenue. Bus directions: M15 to 3rd Street ) * For event info. contact Sujewa Ekanayake at wilddiner@aol.com or 240-354-3394 , and get updates regarding the event at: http://indiefilmbloggersmovie.blogspot.com/ $9 ($6 for Anthology members ) * Indie Film Blogger Road Trip description: In the feature length documentary Indie Film Blogger Road Trip independent filmmaker & blogger Sujewa Ekanayake ( Date Number One , DIY Filmmaker Sujewa blog ) travels to several U.S. East Coast cities in the Summer of 2008 and discusses the thriving world of indie film journalism on the web, related In...

View Larger Map I've been to Moonstruck diner on 2nd Ave in East Village half a dozen times now, very happy with the place. Specially since it is open 24 hours & is very close to Anthology Film Archives. Having hung out a lot at Tastee Diner in Silver Spring in my youth, I am a big fan of diners. So, if you've got any recommendations for NYC diners, post 'em in comments, will check 'em out. - Sujewa

BEFORE DURING AFTER Photos Copyright 2009 Sujewa Ekanayake For more on the event, check out this post . - Sujewa