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

Well, satisfied my curiosity about Flakes by watching it; $5.99 & a couple of hours were not horribly wasted. Flakes is a well made movie, but I didn't really enjoy it, but then again watching it was not a painful experience. There are some interesting details in it, I think maybe people who really liked Reality Bites would enjoy Flakes. Flakes is like Reality Bites, except a lot less interesting, but I still think Bites fans might enjoy Flakes. - Sujewa

Looks like f-i-n-a-l-l-y the InDigEnt flick Flakes is available to see (or is coming very soon, can't tell), from IFC First Take . Flakes is playing at the IFC Center in NYC until tomorrow (last day 12/25). Read about the indie cereal store comedy at The House Next Door (not a flattering review, but am gonna watch that thing anyway :), 'cause i likes me some indigent moovies, & it was directed by Michael Lehman, the dude who directed Heathers) Here is a synopsis of Flakes from the InDigEnt site : " FLAKES Directed by: Michael Lehmann Written by: Chris Poche, Karey Kirkpatrick Produced by: Mark Ross, Gary Winick, Jake Abraham, Karey Kirkpatrick Starring: Aaron Stanford, Zooey Deschanel, Keir O'Donnell, Ryan Donowho, Frank Wood, Izabella Miko and Christopher Lloyd FLAKES centers on the mercurial relationship of aspiring rock musician Neal Downs (Stanford), who manages the cereal bar, and Miss Pussy Katz (Deschanel), creator of radically-themed art clothing that s

Using video for shooting feature films was looked down on & laughed at by many in the industry & many dreaming of getting into the industry for decades, & then Dogme 95 came along in the late 1990's & changed that paradigm. Self-distribution was, for a long time, the refuge of the "unworthy" in the film world, and then a whole lot of self-distribution activity in the 2005 - 2007 period, undertaken by real indie, indiewood, & Hollywood filmmakers, with the help of some indiewood companies in some cases, made self-distribution cool & in some cases the preferred route for theatrical exhibition. As far as I recall, day & date type release programs from Landmark & IFC were received not-too-enthusiastically at first by many sectors of the US film industry. About a year and some months later, many experts & professional observers are openly praising the value of such release strategies for certain titles. And I think I read somewhere that IFC

Little Dissolves The final version of Date Number One has been done for a while, but I am still iffy about the many jump cuts. I like the jump cuts, do not want to replace them with traditional/match cuts, but maybe the weirdness can be smoothed over (without totally losing the weirdness) a tiny bit by turning the jump cuts into little, fast dissolves, will have to try it out tonight. :: "Bears" (working title) 1. I think bears are funny. The actual animal and many ideas related to the animal. 2. I want to try to shoot a new feature in January '08. 3. I don't want to spend a lot of money on this feature because that would mean more debt. Debt is bad. 4. I think I can keep the budget under $1K (meaning as close to $0 as possible) & still create a very entertaining & loopy comedy with beautiful videography & sound. 5. Nothing more on "Bears" until the movie is done. Also no more on Date Number One until the DVD is ready for sale. Happy Ne

Over at his blog Amir sayz : "So, the film known as “ whale ” is officially cut. Just finished picture lock (although, you never really know). It is now in sound design. I am pleased. It is what i always wanted it it become. A trailer should be up very shortly. Whats the film about? Let me see real. OK… ” An Iranian American writer quickly approaching 30 returns back to his mothers house in the suburbs of Irvine California, unexpectedly, with a broken heart, a never ending manuscript and a few telephone numbers from his old life.” " Read more here . Congrats on the progress Mr. Amir. Looking forward to checking out the new movies. - Sujewa

I haven't visited David Lowery's blog in a while, so I just discovered that one of the latest news items over there is that David will be attending the upcoming Slamdance film fest with his short A Catalog Of Anticipations. Congrats Mr. Lowery, have fun in Utah. Read more about it here . - Sujewa

I was at Silver Spring Borders today trying to spend a gift certificate on Criterion's recent release of Godard's Breathless (no luck there, sold out), & I happened to look at the latest issue of Giant Robot magazine (the one with the drawing of a girl on the cover), & in it found an article about indie/DIY filmmaker Jon Moritsugu 's recent encounter with a 300 lb. deer. Find the magazine & check it out if you are a Moritsugu fan, might be fun. I don't see a link to the story on the GR site , so maybe it is not on line. & of course Merry Christmas & Happy Holiday to all! - Sujewa

[ Warning: do not read this post if you have not seen I Am Legend yet. Gives away the ending & major story points. ] A beautiful thing about Hollywood craftsmanship is that it can do a pretty good job of hiding several not-very-compatible ideas inside one movie and making it feel almost natural. I just watched almost all of I Am Legend (came in right before the main title, when the Neville character is hunting dear with his car), of course I need to watch the entire movie again, but so far I think the story might have been better if Anna & her son characters were not introduced, and Neville survives his nighttime run in with the vampire creatures at the docks, and then goes on to discover the cure while the vampires are attacking him in the lab, then uses the cure to save the infected New Yorkers and of course everyone else on the planet. Was it necessary for Smith's character to kill himself when he did? I don't think so. Being an experienced military man who has f

Read all about The Hub at this Filmmaker mag blog post . And here's a welcome note from The Hub : " Welcome to the beta of the Hub for human rights media and action! The Hub is a place for you to find and upload human rights-related media, and to take action on what you see. Anytime you need further assistance, just visit our Help Center . We hope you'll take the time to explore the Hub - and we welcome your feedback, via the website or via our blog ." More here . - Sujewa

I guess I missed this one when it first came out in September. Here's the interview . And here's a segment: " (FT) What’s the best negative reaction or opinion to your film work you ever provoked? (RC) During the late 80’s in Berlin, a Feminist group took over the small cinema that was screening “Fingered,” robbed the patrons and poured paint on the projectors as a protest against the films. These idiots obviously had never seen the film cause the film they destroyed was not mine but the co-bill. In another German college town the school shut down the screening. We moved it to a secret location but again hooded feminist showed up and threw paint at the screen. This was in the early 90’s. “Fingered” was selected for the Berlin film festival in 86 or 87. When I went up to introduce the film, I got booed. I introduced the film this way: “This film was made as a response to people like you – FUCK YOU!” while giving the audience the finger. This stunt got the film on the fron

It's a book and a website . The website has supplemental material or in some cases brief introductions to the topics, and it's free. The book is $19.95 and can be purchased here . Made by people from MICA . - Sujewa

Article at Popular Mechanics . - Sujewa

(yeah, even though I said I was done with the blogging for '07, this item just had to be blogged) Thinking about building your own video projector? (they are however pretty cheap now, usually $500 or so on the low end, though i did see one for $290 recently) If so, check out the DIY Projector Company website . All manner of instructions, supplies and also theory there. - Sujewa

We've got about 10 days left to go on this year, and there is a lot of holiday stuff coming up, so I think I'll make this my final post for '07. '07 was an interesting year; did a one week run of Date Number One , & got a lot of blogging done. I did more, film wise, in '06, so perhaps in '08 I can be more productive than in '07 - more distribution & filmmaking work. As far as noteworthy moments in the greater indie/DIY film world, I think this year was kind of not that eventful, certainly not as much as '06. Yes, we had more press for that "indie film movement*" or bloggers & film fest people & small distribs promoting films by their friends featuring their friends (although, the IFC center fest featuring those films was impressive for the amount of press it was able to get, and it was a fun event to attend - met some interesting people), but overall '07 did not feel very impressive when it came to Great Achievements In Rea

From the P.O.V. interview w/ Jay Rosenblatt re: his movie "I Used to be a Filmmaker": "P.O.V.: What is this film about? Jay Rosenblatt: "I Used to be a Filmmaker" tracks the development of my daughter from birth, from 10 minutes old to approximately 18 months, and it also shows the development of our father-daughter relationship. It's about parental love, about my heart opening and about how a relationship develops with a new being. What separates it from just a home movie is that each segment is preceded by a filmmaking term, often used ironically." Read the rest here , sounds interesting. - Sujewa