ARTHOUSE FILM NEWS - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene at Facets, Chicago 11/29/23

Just saw another recent Ed Burns movie - The Groomsmen. It is very good. Rent it or buy the DVD. A comedy-drama about getting married. It's late & I am sleepy, will write more about the flick tomorrow. TG is probably the best looking Burns film I've seen, and I've seen almost all of them. - Sujewa

Check out these Jonas Mekas DVDs available for purchase. Why not, right? If paintings can go for thousands of dollars I guess a DVD by certain filmmakers can go for a thousand dollars. Anyone who has bought one & wants to be interviewed about that experience on this blog, let me know. - Sujewa

Earlier this month I was worried about blogging too much & not making more movies. But I am no way ready to quit blogging & in '07 my main film project will be Date Number One distribution so I do not know how many new features I will be able to complete in '07; so, perhaps combining blogging & editing & shooting video & keeping a journal may be the way to go for me. So, I am going to try to post 365 video blog posts in '07. Each post will be a few seconds to 5 minutes long - they'll be everything from diary entry type posts to short films. Perhaps they will be posted on YouTube & also in this blog. I got the idea from Jonas Mekas - he will be posting 365 short films in '07. I've got a bunch of stuff to figure out - I have not posted a single video blog entry yet. But it should be fun. Making & releasing a feature takes a long time - short video blog posts will keep me involved with filmmaking on a daily basis - actual writing, shooti

It's got a Hollywood star (Nick Nolte) & is not a self-distributed D.I.Y. movie, but still low budget perhaps, but most importantly, it looks like a good movie (regardless of where it falls in the indie index) - at least the trailer does. Check out the trailer here , will have more info. on this movie soon. Here is the MySpace page for the movie, with all the release info. And of course the blog . I believe it is being written by the director. Also, Off the Black was selected for Sundance 06 & it is a debut feature (as far as I know, again, will have more soon). - Sujewa

Read an interesting Time magazine story (thanks to ex-housemate Allison's subscription :) while doing some late night eatin' & writin' at IHOP Wheaton (seems well lit cheap diner/old timey eatery like places i can relax & write it, i can't imagine writing at a Starbucks or even at Tryst in Adams-Morgan); a story about an aging (42) indie rocker (from Mr. T Experience) writing a book with a teen protagonist at the urging of a fan in the publishing biz & then Will Ferrell & co. buying the rights to make the movie. The book is called King Dork, & the main character in it "rails against "the cult of Catcher in the Rye" ", so I read in Time, sounds interesting - here is the link. - Sujewa

Here's the link to an interview I did last year with filmmaker Amir Motlagh. It's about Date Number One & self-distribution. Not much has changed in how I do things from then to now, except perhaps for the film fest thing - at that point I was planning on submitting to fests & then later on I re-thought that approach, since relying on fests would get in the way of my DIY distro magic. Anyway, possibly a good read for DIY minded filmmakers; check it out here . - Sujewa

Read all about it here , with photos. Great blog entry Mike Tully. - Sujewa