Film as Folk Art

CBoyardee's genius YouTube work

2012-01-27T01:59:00.000-08:00

CBoyardee was a Youtube user who created some animated works of absurdist greatness and, for whatever reason, recently made all his videos private. It seems he's had a small following, and several of his fans have reposted his videos back to the site. This one in particular, entitled "Dilbert 3," is the third and best of his Dilbert parodies, and features Dilbert at home watching porn on his computer, being told by his dog that he should kill himself, and then going on a final office rampage. If the point of the actual Dilbert comic is to point out the banality and absurdity of white-collar office work (I've never read enough of the comic to know if that is really accurate or not), then CBoyardee's parody takes these absurdities to their extreme conclusion. This video is hilarious, but it also exposes the sad and vacuous center of its main character's life. Brilliant and off-putting.

"I don't want my pizza burning"

2012-01-25T03:23:00.000-08:00

I don't really know what to say about this. Maybe the people at Absurdist Video Art can take a crack at it. What is there to say? It obviously has no subtext behind it, the way The Commercial Network does, for instance. I find it pretty amusing, if not quite hilarious. Many will find it cringe inducing. That's just the nature of this sort of thing, I guess. I'll never hear the Stones song again without thinking of this video, that's for sure.

Kentucker Audley's No Budge

2012-01-20T02:19:00.000-08:00

No Budge is a website run by Kentucker Audley, director of Team Picture, Open Five, and Holy Land. He's got some interesting looking films uploaded for free viewing on the site, including his own Holy Land, which I just watched and found to be his strongest yet. I have to admit, I'm a bit burnt out by the whole aimless twenty-something genre of so many independent films of the last few years, but Kentucker really does something fresh with it. It's even self reflexive at one point, something that might not have worked so well if Cole Weintraub (the film's main actor) wasn't so hilarious. I'll be checking out more of the website soon.

9@Night #2: Used (Rob Nilsson, 2007)

2012-01-19T18:14:00.000-08:00

Whereas the first film in the series seemed to deal with the fractured memories and experiences of its main character, Used finds that character dealing with his uncertain prospects for the present and future, and even finds him abandoning his past altogether. The film again introduces us to Ben Malifide, now living with the woman who befriended him in the previous film. That woman, St. Tre, is the owner of a strip club, and she's seemingly well off -- she owns a house with a great view in the hills, and she takes Malifide to her high-stakes poker games, where she loses and ends up owing Kenny, a photographer played by Nilsson, 90 grand. Thus, the smallest semblance of a plot is set in motion: Tre ends up taking Malifide's counterfeit money plates (a significant item in the last film) and making her own copy, after which Malifide suspects ill of her and ends up leaving for Nevada to find an old friend he knew in prison.

If Noise was an experimental film with a skeletal narrative, Used is very nearly a genre film, a mixture of crime drama and road movie (the slide guitar soundtrack recalls Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas). As always with Nilsson films, matters of plot don't quite matter so much as the emotional lives of the characters, and nothing is resolved, or even even left unresolved, in the way one might expect. So while film's story arc might seem weak to anyone who thinks film is primarily for telling stories, it's the emotional arcs that are the film's strength. If I mention plot (or lack thereof) often, it is because I think it is central that art film, independent film -- call it what you want -- abandons plot, the idea that a film's ultimate purpose is storytelling, in order to get down to what really matters. This is nothing new, of course. (Any of my anti-plot diatribes can probably be blamed on film school, but that's another story.)

When the film begins, Malafide is bathing outside Tre's house, proclaiming that he's on a vision quest. It's a half-serious joke, and when the time comes for him to leave, he sets out to meet up with an actual mystic, People T. It's unclear how much time has passed between this film and the last, but Malafide is nearly a different character; he has a different haircut, has grown a full beard, and at times seems psychologically unhinged, if only slightly. After leaving Tre's he tries to get rid of his bag, and even begins talking to it. It seems to have been with him quite a while, but it's clear that he would like to be rid of it and his past altogether. After having experienced some luxury for once in his life, he's trying his hand at the life of a tramp, the kind who hops trains. And he does just that, after meet Johnny, played by Edwin Johnson. It's unclear why Johnny is sleeping on railroad tracks when Ben meets him, and we're given few details about his life, but his is another recurring character in the series, and so far one of its strongest performers.

Meanwhile Tre convinces Kenny, to whom she owes the 90 grand, to go to Reno with her where perhaps her nephew will know how to turn her templates into counterfeit bills. I think that's the plan, anyway -- I've watched the movie twice and I'm still a little unclear on the details during these scenes. It's here that Used resembles a more conventinal crime drama -- Tre's nephew is even involved with some shady neo-nazi types who own the bar where he works. His plan to deliver them some free cigarettes via a freght train car fails to come through, and he crosses paths with Malafide and company at the freight station. It is here that Malafide meets an Aldo Modisco, played by David Hess, and over campfire in a homeless encampment they decide to trade identities. Malafide becomes Modisco and hands over the bag, which also contains a package addressed to the Parkway Theater in Oakland. I presume this is an important puzzle piece in the series.

In the end, no one really accomplishes what they had set out to do. Certainly Malafide hoped for something more with People T, who takes him and Johnny to his old spot in the Nevada desert, where he gives them some of his old horse riding mementos, including a chain whose purpose is unclear. Shortly thereafter, People T commits suicide by jumping off the train heading back to California -- it's this that finally pushes Malafide to give up his past for good. Tre's situation, on the other hand, concludes in a less-than-spectacular fashion, with Kenny cancelling the debt but admitting feelings for Tre, who doesn't feel the same. Malafide returns to Tre's, where they reconcile, and there's a montage of People T on his horse that gives emotional closure to Malafide's journey. A shot of the chain that locks the horses pen is a subtle and poetic touch: we recognize it as the chain he gave to Malafide.

Used concludes with us knowing that Malafide will soon be living under an assumed identity. However, the series' next film, Attitude, features Malafide as himself. As such, it is very possible that Attitude occurs within the events of Used. More on that next time.

Absurdist Video Art

2011-12-29T03:22:00.000-08:00

Via Dangerous Minds, here is a link to Absurdist Video Art, which looks to be an awesome website dedicated to "the new cinematic absurdism movement." I just discovered the site, so I haven't had time to go over it yet, but I do hope there actually is an absurdism movement out there. They're fans of Shaye Saint John, who I've posted about before (and who they designate as the "godmother of the movement"), and Ryan Trecartin, whose films I've seen via youtube, although not in their entirty -- they're a bit of an overload. I'm sure I'll be posting more about this site and these filmmakers in the future.

9@Night #1: Noise (Rob Nilsson, 2002)

2011-12-13T01:57:00.000-08:00

As I noted a few posts back, I've been planning on purchasing a set of Rob Nilsson's 9@Night film series and writing about each film individually. I'd been wanting to buy the set since late 2008, when I caught a couple of the films from the series at SF's Roxie. Well, I finally took the plunge, and my set arrived a few days ago. Here is a description of the series on Nilsson's website, and here is a pdf of the 2009 Film Comment article on the series.

The first film from the set, Noise, caught me completely off guard. Having previously seen both Need and Go Together, I knew that Nilsson's series contained moments of lyricism (one might even be inclined to use the term "magical realism") in addition to the rawness that characterizes his approach. But Noise is something else entirely, a film that blends those two elements until they're inseparable, resulting in a nearly backwards-told narrative related through the use of split-screen, text, and multiple audio tracks, sometimes all at once. It could all be such a mess, and indeed on some level it is, yet it's absolutely compelling. What's more impressive is that there was no traditional script to provide any kind of predetermined structure. In addition to the performances, the film's construction in the editing room was also improvised; we are informed at the beginning of each film that "the editor frees the genie from the bottle." Out of the five films of Nilsson's that I've seen so far, this is the most stylish, yet it still feels as grounded and tethered to the here-and-now of human experience as any of his others -- to not be would betray his sensibility. The style never overpowers the actors and their performances.

The film begins and ends with a spinning, box-like object which contains seemingly thousands of black-and-white images, the audio and visuals all playing against each other and creating a near white noise as a percussive beat plays on the soundtrack. Most of the time I'm at a loss to tag a meaning on this sort of thing, but about two or three ideas ran through my head: perhaps it's a visual representation of the film's title, or the world its characters inhabit (or both). Or maybe it's a visual way of representing the stories of the series as a whole, jumbled together, playing all at once, like some sort of cosmic hologram. I may be going overboard here, but knowing that the series does share characters and intertwines in various ways, it doesn't seem so much of a stretch.

Ben Malafide, the film's main character, has just been released from prison and makes his way into San Francisco via the ferry. He's introduced to the confusion and cacophony of the modern information age, and it becomes apparent that the film's style is also a reflection of his psyche's response to this new world. In addition to that, it is as though the film's narrative, which takes place out of order, is Ben's memories of these events, his attempt to make sense out of them. It's a memory haunted by the past: at various points we're shown an ethereal image of Ben with a woman, someone he presumably once knew. We know he carries guilt over someone named Julie. It makes for a more interesting film (and character) that we never learn why. The film ends with Ben seeming to have a brief epiphany -- if nowhere else, he finds meaning in a moment shared by him and a dancing panhandler.

Nilsson's work is as DIY as it gets, and yet he is so far ahead of most of the current generation of no-budget filmmakers, who would do well to take a look these films. Whereas the current generation is often accused of self-absorption and narcissism, Nilsson humanizes his characters, the types of figures that are most often marginalized, on screen and off. Noise is pretty masterful, as far as I'm concerned, and sets the bar high. I'm hoping the rest of the series is at least almost as good.

Balancing Script and Improvisation

2011-12-01T00:20:00.000-08:00

I've recently discovered that the Filmmaker Magazine blog features a regular column called The Microbudget Conversation. I just read this piece written back in August by guest writer Nicole Elmer about the limitations of scripting micro-budget films and the avenues opened up by using improvisation:

It was a creative choice as much as a budgeting choice. Because of the specificity involved, a script would have required the costly fabrication I mentioned earlier. Instead, the writer created a very basic outline that was broken down into scenes. Locations were replaceable and everything could be moved as needed, as long as the general symbol of the moment was still expressed. A script would have also forced us to shove dialogue in the actors’ mouths. Instead, we gave the actors their goals, they developed their characters WITH the writer, and we gave them responsibility for their dialogue, a creative choice normally made by a screenwriter.

Of course, many filmmakers from Mike Leigh to Rob Nilsson to Terrence Malick work by balancing structure and improvisation. Elmer says that it was a creative and budgetary choice, but I know if one were to ask any of the filmmakers listed above, they would reply that their choice was purely aesthetic. Nilsson even has a brief manifesto on his website ("Create a poetic cinema based not on writing but on observing. Mistrust your ideas and trust your experiences. Discover, don’t prescribe"). Personally, I think films made in such a fashion are, at their best, some of the most profound in cinema. They show life happening and us happening back, to paraphrase Nilsson's manifesto.

It all goes back to what I said about meaning in my last post. And this is not to say that I reject scriptwriting out of hand, of course. All of this is too much for a brief post, and I've been planning an essay-length post on it all sometime in the near future. And also, if that Nilsson manifesto is too brief, there's always The Path of the Artist by Ray Carney. I suppose I might as well admit that, yes, I drank the Carney Kool-Aid long ago, and have never been the same since.

The "M" Word, and Meaning in Independent Film

2011-11-29T00:19:00.000-08:00

Here's an article from the film journal Cine Action on the "mumblecore" movement of the last few years. I'm glad the author is in support of DIY cinema, but it's always frustrating to me that these types of articles always stay within the confines of what has been deemed as "mumblecore" and all but ignore the larger independent, digital, no-budget movement out there. The title of this particular article is, after all "Micro-Budgeting, Micro-Drama, and the 'Mumblecore' Movement," The "m" word being only one of those three terms. Perhaps I'm being too harsh. One can only write about so much in the space of an article, of course. I guess I just wish American independent film was a little more unified and a certain section of it not fenced off and given a funny name. And although the author does not do it here, the part is often mistaken for the whole.

Also to her credit, the author does try to fit the movement within a larger context she dubs "slow film." I'm not quite sure it works. It's much too broad a descriptor, but it touches upon what I think is central to independent film, which is how these films create meaning, and how much richer, more complex they often are in that regard than middle-minded masterpieces. In other words, termite art versus white-elephant art, to paraphrase Manny Farber. And to paraphrase Ray Carney, whom I regard as the authority par excellence on this subject, these films take away the aboutness of experience and force the viewer to undergo the experience. That's why independent film (and indeed all "art film") is important. Film should nourish the soul. Anything less is a diversion.

Trailer for Frank V. Ross's Tiger Tail in Blue

2011-11-18T03:34:00.000-08:00

Via David Lowery and the film's own Facebook page, here's the trailer for Frank V. Ross's new film Tiger Tail in Blue. I recently purchased Frank's four previous films from him directly, and each one is an uncommonly nuanced, emotionally simple yet complex slice of daily American life the likes of which is rarely achieved in contemporary independent film. Maybe I'm exaggerating a little; all I know is that I loved them. Anyway:

Trailer for Sam Neave's Almost in Love

2011-10-24T02:08:00.000-07:00

Here's the trailer for Sam Neave's newest, which is featured on the film's page for the Abu Dhabi Film Festival.

Cry Funny Happy (Sam Neave, 2003)

2011-10-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

I recently rewatched Sam Neave's 2003 film Cry Funny Happy, which I first saw a few years ago. That initial viewing pretty much floored me -- I wasn't expecting the film to come anywhere close to the emotional terrain it ended up in. The film focuses on several friends, one of whom, Wes, is turning 30 and has decided to throw a party at his and his girlfriend's apartment. Several of Wes's friends have made the trip to New York City to attend his party. We are introduced to them in a series of intercutted scenes, and eventually it all converges at Wes's apartment, where the party gets underway.

Up until this point, the film is very well acted, and I would add very well written, but I learned via the DVD's commentary that it was almost totally improvised, which isn't surprising, except that it feels written with perhaps the characters given the freedom to ad lib as needed. The whole film has the feel of Cassavetes Husbands, or a Mike Leigh film, where the improvisation was done beforehand, and then "locked down" with a script. In other words, very little from the performances feels extraneous. This is due to another fact revealed in the commentary: the actors were given time to work on their characters and relationships to each other before shooting began, and as a result the film feels both spontaneous and focused.

My initial impression was that Neave was simply going to show us some interesting characters, give them a party to attend during which some skeletons might be revealed, and then send them on their way. Instead, almost on a dime, Wes has a breakdown and the party derails. It is here that the focus I mentioned above becomes more apparent (especially during a second viewing). Wes's character is harboring some sort of pain that up until this point is hinted at through his humor and his passive-aggressive arguments with his girlfriend. We are never given a concrete reason as to why he feels this way or why he loses it during his party. Neave says in the commentary that there were some deleted scenes having to do with Wes gambling, perhaps losing some money or something. I think it was wise to leave these scenes out. Not being able to pin Wes's behavior on any specific event forces us to not only observe Wes more acutely, but perhaps realize that these feelings and behaviors aren't quite so foreign to our own lives, either. When all is said and done, it's pretty much a tour de force of independent filmmaking. I've seen very little in the no-budget movement from the last decade that matches its sharp observations and intensity.

Neave's new film, Almost in Love, is just beginning to be shown at film festivals, and I'll being seeing it for sure when it makes its way to the Bay Area.

Two Box Sets: Swanberg's Collected Films 2011 and Nilsson's 9@Night series

2011-09-23T01:18:00.000-07:00

So, Joe Swanberg is releasing his last four films as a box set, via Factory 25 and employing a unique distribution plan by releasing each film quarterly along with extras. I have to admit, I haven't seen a Swanberg film since Hannah Takes the Stairs, but not because I didn't like his films. I thought his film before that, LOL, was very good. I saw it in a packed theater in San Francisco's Mission district, and the crowd loved it. Since then he's seemed to garner a lot of critical derision. I can recall an audience member being quoted after attending of his more recent films as saying something like, "These films are the product of a culture with nothing left to say." (I can't find the article that contained the quote.)

I find I'm often attracted to polarizing artists. Sometimes, they're misunderstood or unfairly maligned, and sometimes, well, the work just happens to suck. I'd like to take a look at these films, and I am intrigued by the distribution method. But at one hundred dollars, the price is a bit steep, especially if I end up not liking the films. Here's a post at cinemaspragus that makes one of the films in the set, Silver Bullets, look interesting -- certainly a departure from anything I've seen by Swanberg in the past.

On a somewhat related note, there is a box set I've been meaning to buy for a long time now -- Rob Nilsson's 9@Night series, and before I even consider buying Swanberg's set, I'm definitely getting Nilsson's first. I saw two of the films in the series when they played at the San Francisco Roxie in 2008, and was pretty blown away by how good they were. A filmmaker friend once told me Nilsson's movie's were sloppy, and I could see what he meant by that; Rob didn't seem to care much for aesthetics, at least not in a superficial sense. I got the feeling he didn't sweat the details because he was reaching for something higher. Most of the time, he got there. I thought it was everything independent film should be. I plan on getting the set soon, and writing about each film in length.

Microcinema

2011-09-16T02:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a recent article about microcinemas in New York City, and here's another, better article about microcinemas across the country that appeared in Cineaste a couple years ago. I attended an open screening at SF's own ATA once. I liked some of the films -- I remember an abstract, computer generated one in particular that was pretty great -- but the volume was turned up so high during every film that it hurt my ears (remember: these are small, DIY films and don't have the best sound mixes to begin with), and they played a Hendrix live album loudly during the intermissions which made it hard to socialize. It was such an alienating experience that I never went back. I suppose I'll suck it up one day and attend another screening, or maybe check out Craig Baldwin's Other Cinema, mentioned in the Cineaste article. I don't mean to sound like I'm complaining; I love the idea of microcinemas, of course. I just hope they don't all need to have the atmosphere of a dive bar to bring in an audience.

Squaw Hootnanny

2011-09-06T03:33:00.000-07:00

"In 1987, my sis and her best friend Brandy formed a two-girl rock band in our backyard. It lasted about a week and spawned one album. 'Squaw Hootnanny' was the title track and my brother was recruited to provide pot-and-pan percussion."

Shaye Saint John

2011-09-01T01:33:00.000-07:00

Shaye Saint John was a character/art project created by Eric Fournier, who posted videos of himself as his creation on Youtube and his own website about four or five years ago. I missed them the first time around, and Fournier is now unfortunately deceased, but his videos are still up on Youtube, and a DVD compilation he released is still for sale on Amazon. It's difficult to explain this sort of humor to anyone that doesn't immediately get it, and I don't even really laugh at the video above -- it elicits more a silent admiration. Note the music and how it changes back and forth from shot to shot -- the video wouldn't work quite as well without it. For an example of something that does make me laugh until I cry: "Stumpwater Salad" and "TWENTY4SEVEN REDUX." I'm actually a little envious that someone could come up with something so weird and original and implement it in such a simple way (i.e., using a DV camera with an on-board mic). Inspired and inspiring stuff.

Malick and Molina at the Destruction Derby

2010-08-15T02:08:00.000-07:00

I'm preparing a decently sized post for tomorrow night (at least two paragraphs, maybe even three!), but until I finish that, I thought I'd post this footage I came across on YouTube a while back. I thought the song and the slow motion footage of a destruction derby at dusk melded together perfectly -- it gave the scene an emotional subtext. Perhaps, had David Gordon Green made a no-budget micro indie that took place in the Midwest, this would serve as a cathartic final scene to his film. Or perhaps the filmmaker responsible for this footage could create a whole film in order to end it with this scene, assuming that obtaining the song rights wasn't the bigger obstacle. It is, at the least, very nice work.

Country Matters

2010-07-17T02:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I contributed a few bucks toward Lucas McNelly's new project Up Country, which is being funded via Kickstarter. If he didn't reach the goal of $4,000 by midnight on June 16th, his project would not get funding, and at $500 to go, it looked like it might not happen, but in the last few hours the money came in. With this good news, and the new redesign, I think I've gotten some more enthusiasm toward getting this blog off the ground. I'll be keeping an eye on Up Country's progress, at any rate.

Possibly film-related links

2010-05-30T00:25:00.000-07:00

I might start attending this monthly, this particular show featuring musical artists Portraits, Danny Paul Grody, Barn Owl and Daniel Higgs:

Also, it's hardly "Film as Folk Art," but this is my most anticipated film realease ever:

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/126160-the-calm-before-the-tree-of-life

I wish underground independent films were as easily accessible and as abundant as underground music is. I'd post more.

Putty Hill website

2010-02-03T01:14:00.000-08:00

A few days ago, Matt Porterfield linked to his new and elegantly designed website for Putty Hill. After taking a look at the beautiful artwork and photographs, along with the director's and producer's statements about the film, I've gone from being marginally interested (mostly because I know it may be a long time before I actually see the film) to somewhat enthusiastic. I'll keep my eye out. I have a way of missing films as they come through these parts, especially if it's a one-time screening.

Update: Here's some behind-the-scenes footage from another filmmaker, Isaac Diebboll, that was shot during the production:

Kentucker Audley's Holy Land and Open Five

2010-02-02T00:11:00.000-08:00

I'm a little behind on this, as always, but Kentucker Audley has posted a trailer for Holy Land on his youtube page:

And also some footage from Open Five (more footage on his page):

The above video has a single comment that reads: "great. more mumblecore....." And, to be honest, I'm pretty tired of this style of filmmaking myself, at least in theory -- I would always give an ind. filmmaker the benefit of the doubt before watching their film, whether or not it was associated with this label. Not all films featuring twenty-somethings and their relationship problems qualify as "mumblecore," even if they are shot cheaply on DV, nor do I think films that scream "mumblecore!" are necessarily bad films. At any rate, I thought Audley's Team Picture was a very good film, and although, yes, it was shot on mini-DV and featured inarticulate slacker twenty-somethings, there was something about it that set it apart from the whole scene. It felt less of-the-moment than some of its peers. Had it been shot on film, it might have felt a bit anachronistic, like Frownland. And it wouldn't have felt like a "mumblecore" film.

Sundance

2010-01-26T02:01:00.000-08:00

I never keep up with Sundance as it is happening each year. I find paying attention to most news as it rolls in to be dreadfully boring, and then there are the old cliches about Sundance being too commercial, no longer about true independent filmmaking, etc. But I just came across this New York Times article, about how this year's Sundance has a new director, John Cooper, who is apparently focusing more on independent, less commercial filmmaking. Should I be paying attention this year?

Whatever the case, I do know that Eric Mendelsohn's 3 Backyards looks interesting, and the Duplass Brothers' new film, Cyrus, stars John C. Reilly!

Update: Karina Longworth's review of Cyrus. This paragraph stood out:

"If it's somewhat surreal to sit down to a Duplass Brothers film and have it preceded by the Fox Searchlight logo and trumpet-and-drumbeat theme, the opening scene following that corporate stamp offers a sensation that could only be described as uncanny. A beautiful woman encounters a scruffy manboy, and they proceed to have an argument about his inability to meet her expectations. It all looks and feels familiarly low fi--almost like a sequel to The Puffy Chair, catching up on that film's couple long after they've broken up and have managed to stay friends twenty years later. Except for the fact that the woman is played by Catherine Keener, and the man is played by John C. Reilly, and even though neither is a massive star outside of Indiewood, within this context their faces feel so larger-than-life that the classic Duplass anticipatory zooms take on a whole new quality of invasive creepiness."

In other words, their style remains the same, but with more expensive cameras and bigger name actors. Sounds fine to me; I love John C. Reilly, and I like the idea of their bare aesthetic in the service of a "bigger" film. Which is not to say that it's the first film of its kind with such an aesthetic, of course. Karina's review isn't without its caveats, but I'm still excited.

At long last, a new post

2010-01-24T02:37:00.000-08:00

I'd love to start posting more consistently. There are reasons why I don't: I feel as though I am regurgitating news about certain films, and unless I have something to add, I don't feel there's a point. People reading most indie film news sites are going to know these things already. Of course, if they're really small films, they need all the blog mentions they can get, so perhaps I'm being a little too down on myself. Another reason is that news on a lot of films is scarce, particularly of what is going on in the underground. And, many of these films are hard to come by. I've been mentioning Matt Porterfield's films since I began this blog, but I have yet to see anything except the videos he's linked to on his website (although I've just discovered that Hamilton is now available on Netflix and Amazon; I'll be getting on that ASAP). And I've been busy with a job I'd rather not be doing. But the final and perhaps biggest reason is that my interests extend far beyond simply film, and for this reason I may start posting about things that may have nothing to do with this blog's main subject, just to give me some momentum.

I do have some interesting news: Mattew Porterfield's film Putty Hill, which was apparently made before Metal Gods, is premiering at the Berlinale International Film Festival. You can find a teaser trailer here. And here's a separate site for Metal Gods.

Also, Tom and Mary Russell are two underground independents who have made a couple of films in the past few years, and they're offering them for $15 each on Amazon until the 31st of this month. I've not seen either of their films, but I do read their blog occasionally, and I think I'll be buying their soon-to-be-unavailable DVDs to see what they're all about.

Links, Frownland on DVD

2009-09-27T02:43:00.000-07:00

I got an email a few days ago from Rob Nilsson's Citizen Cinema announcing his new film, titled Imbued, that will be premiering at the Mill Valley Film Festival. The main character is played by Stacy Keach. Back in my hometown, I knew a cousin of Stacy's, Ray Keach. So, you know, six degrees and all that. If I can make it to this screening, I'll report back.

Also, it looks like Matthew Porterfield has finished production on Metal Gods.

Here's an article from a Memphis website on Kentucker Audley's Open Five. It also mentions that he has finished his prior film Holy Land.

And finally, but certainly not least importantly: Ronnie Bronstein's Frownland is coming to DVD this Tuesday, the 29th.

Two films in pre-production

2009-07-24T02:18:00.000-07:00

Matthew Porterfield's Metal Gods seems to be going rather well. In a new blog post, he says the production company Vox3 Films is taking on the project. The test footage here, shot on a RED camera, looks very promising.

Kentucker Audley is shooting a new feature, titled Open Five, and he's raising money exclusively through donations. Scrolling down, I noticed that this is actually his third feature, and his second feature, Holy Land, is currently in post-production.

Beginning

2009-07-08T02:01:00.000-07:00

"It is a tremendous act of violence to begin anything. I am not able to begin. I simply skip what should be the beginning." -Rilke

I this promising? I'll do some research and post about it later. If Ted Hope is involved, chances are it is promising.

David Hudson is moving on from The Daily and on to something else.