"Tranh and Nowak" - A Short, Independent, French, Martial Arts, Comedy Film
Description:
"Tranh and Nowak" is an independent short-film by Godefroy Ryckewaert which he put together with the help of various friends. Quentin d'Hainault, the writer and the main male actor, and Godefroy come from the same martial art background : kungfu wushu.
Godefroy says "I just didn't know he was an actor and he didn't know I was a director".
When they realised, they put their passions together, mixing the cinema they both loved and martial arts, while still keeping a french touch to it.
They did a crowd-funding page on a European website called ULULE and earned 2,145 euros (the goal was 2000). They supplemented that by financing the rest themselves. It was shot over 7 days but took more than a year for post-production since all the work was done during their spare time.
They were very lucky and happy to get some of the best stunt players in France. They had worked on productions like Lucy, Taken, Fast and Furious, Bourne, etc.
Now they're just trying to get it seen on the web and want to present it to festivals as well.
We can't urge you enough to take a look below.
Biography:
GODEFROY RYCKEWAERT - DIRECTOR
Godefroy was born on August 24, 1986 in Lille, France. With a passion rooted in martial arts since the age of 16, he began training in various styles of Chinese kung fu, and eventually journeyed to China in 2004 to train for five years before ultimately becoming a national Wushu champion.
Ryckewaert began to experiment with directing amateur short films of his own and decided to become a full-fledged filmmaker. With this goal in mind, he hopes to further expand his body of work while aiming to become more actively involved in the film festival circuit. He plans to base his operations in the United States Of America.
He now spends most of his time behind the camera where his experience in martial arts and stunts are assets. Ryckewaert is also fluent in French, English and Mandarin Chinese.
Check out his website but it's still only in French.
and look at his demo reel
Q&A with Alexia Anastasio star and director of Little Fishes
We get an in depth view on the ins and outs of behind the scenes of an independent feature film.
Q: How did this all start?
A: It started with me being a fan of playing make believe. Oh, you mean this movie. Oh, yeah, That started with me being a fan of movies that make people think and feel. I love John Cassavetes, Lars von Trier, Yasujirō Ozu, Maya Deren, Jane Campion, Lea Pool, Sally Potter and Patricia Rozema to name a few. They all bring you into their stories and do it in a way that you are completely immersed in the characters moment. I decided to organize a Mumblecore Film Festival which I hosted 4 Q&A’s after the screenings with the directors and producers last year and that was when I got the idea and support to make my own. I now plan to tour with this film and others like it world wide. You can get updates for that here: https://www.facebook.com/mumblecore
Q: What is your favorite part about making Little Fishes?
A: Working on set is always my favorite part. Each day on set I am usually repeating out loud - oh wow - this is going to look beautiful and because I was lucky enough to work with the most talented cast and crew ever it does.
Q: Was it hard getting the actors to agree to do a daring movie?
A: I found it easy. I made sure that I told each actor before they got to set that they would be kissing another actor. I asked if they were 100% okay with that. It’s all about preparation and they appreciated it.
Q: What is it like being a director and actor in your own film?
A: I love acting and directing simultaneously. I love the creative control. I like being able to do improv on set and play with the form. I am always open to contribution and ideas from my fellow actors. I allow my actors to have voice on set and give suggestion. This technique builds mutual trust and respect on set. One contribution was my fellow actress, Brenna Gwyn Snowe, ran the bathtub with a little too much water in it and when I got in water spilled over the side and we both had a good laugh. It made the scene.
Q: How do folks find out more about your work?
A: Well you can see my last film, Adventures in Plymptoons! on many platforms like Hulu, Vimeo, Amazon by going here: http://adventuresinplymptoons.com/
You can sign up for my email list and get updates whenever I have a new project on my website: http://www.alexiaanastasio.com
And you can view the new trailers and sneak peak scenes and even give to the campaign for Little Fishes here: http://www.littlefishesmovie.com
BIO: Alexia Anastasio is an artist, actress and filmmaker. She was featured in HBO's Bored to Death, VH1 “If you like...” commercial and Vetiver "Everyday" music video. Her work on the feature documentaries includes: Editor of Vampira: The Movie; Associate Producer of The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels; Co-producer of Beyond the Noise: My Transcendental Meditation Journey; Director of Adventures in Plymptoons! documentary on Oscar nominated animator Bill Plympton; Director of documentary, Ginger Girls: The Secret Lives of Redheads and Director of narrative, Little Fishes.
Q: How did this all start?
A: It started with me being a fan of playing make believe. Oh, you mean this movie. Oh, yeah, That started with me being a fan of movies that make people think and feel. I love John Cassavetes, Lars von Trier, Yasujirō Ozu, Maya Deren, Jane Campion, Lea Pool, Sally Potter and Patricia Rozema to name a few. They all bring you into their stories and do it in a way that you are completely immersed in the characters moment. I decided to organize a Mumblecore Film Festival which I hosted 4 Q&A’s after the screenings with the directors and producers last year and that was when I got the idea and support to make my own. I now plan to tour with this film and others like it world wide. You can get updates for that here: https://www.facebook.com/mumblecore
Q: What is your favorite part about making Little Fishes?
A: Working on set is always my favorite part. Each day on set I am usually repeating out loud - oh wow - this is going to look beautiful and because I was lucky enough to work with the most talented cast and crew ever it does.
Q: Was it hard getting the actors to agree to do a daring movie?
A: I found it easy. I made sure that I told each actor before they got to set that they would be kissing another actor. I asked if they were 100% okay with that. It’s all about preparation and they appreciated it.
Q: What is it like being a director and actor in your own film?
A: I love acting and directing simultaneously. I love the creative control. I like being able to do improv on set and play with the form. I am always open to contribution and ideas from my fellow actors. I allow my actors to have voice on set and give suggestion. This technique builds mutual trust and respect on set. One contribution was my fellow actress, Brenna Gwyn Snowe, ran the bathtub with a little too much water in it and when I got in water spilled over the side and we both had a good laugh. It made the scene.
A: Well you can see my last film, Adventures in Plymptoons! on many platforms like Hulu, Vimeo, Amazon by going here: http://adventuresinplymptoons.com/
You can sign up for my email list and get updates whenever I have a new project on my website: http://www.alexiaanastasio.com
And you can view the new trailers and sneak peak scenes and even give to the campaign for Little Fishes here: http://www.littlefishesmovie.com
BIO: Alexia Anastasio is an artist, actress and filmmaker. She was featured in HBO's Bored to Death, VH1 “If you like...” commercial and Vetiver "Everyday" music video. Her work on the feature documentaries includes: Editor of Vampira: The Movie; Associate Producer of The Wild World of Ted V. Mikels; Co-producer of Beyond the Noise: My Transcendental Meditation Journey; Director of Adventures in Plymptoons! documentary on Oscar nominated animator Bill Plympton; Director of documentary, Ginger Girls: The Secret Lives of Redheads and Director of narrative, Little Fishes.
"The Randomers" Indie Irish film-making at its finest.
This film was shot in Ireland in Counties Galway & Mayo using local actors, musicians and scenery - the production didn’t even have a budget for catering but the cast and crew were eager to work on this challenging project nonetheless.
THE RANDOMERS tells the story of a girl on the West coast of Ireland played by Sarah Jane Murphy who places an advertisement seeking a guy for a relationship 'without speaking' and finds exactly what she’s looking for in Joseph Lydon.
“There’s something about him she doesn’t know,” says award-winning director Graham Jones. “But he’s not going to be chatty about it. I’ve always wondered why romantic movies are so dialogue-driven. After all, not even the most talkative relationships seem deeply rooted in words…”
Unlike his previous movies such as FUDGE 44 and HOW TO CHEAT IN THE LEAVING CERTIFICATE which were released through cinemas or DVD, this Graham Jones film is freely available online for anybody to watch - just go to THERANDOMERS.COM and the film will start playing!
check out THE RANDOMERS trailer.
Love, Sex & Missed Connections
With the Grand Entertainment Group, Writer and lead Kenny Stevenson, director Eric Kissack and producer Lisa Rudin present, what is described as "the story of a guy named Neal. Neal's been trying to get over a traumatic break up with his ex-girlfriend by doing what anyone would do... tricking women on the Internet. Neal's plan is going amazingly well, until he meets Jane, who just may be as devious as he is."
The central conceit being that Neal's reprobate friends, in order to cheer him up, hatch a plan to get him laid. This involves having him reply to 'Missed connection' posts on a Craigslist-like site, showing up, observing the woman in question waiting for her mystery man and when he, obviously, doesn't show up, swooping in to seal the deal. Remarkably it works until he finds Jane, the woman with the blue shoes, out there gaming the system and the two become drawn together.
It's a strong enough set up on which to hang a series of hilarious interactions between Neal and his friends, Neal and the women, Neal and his family and Neal and his Ex. The film survives on the strength of the script and the likeability of the performers.
Everyone involved in the production has a history in comedy from the Director editing Role Models and the Producer working with Bill Maher and Sasha Baron Cohen to almost everyone in the cast being in one comedy theatre group or other, mainly the Groundlings, and this is my main reason for wanting you to see this film. It's really funny. I know this sounds like a stupid and even offensive point to make but they even bother to make the women funny. Most Rom-Coms the Women are victims of supposed male charm, looks or apparent superiority, slaves to their emotions and, surprisingly, either dull or, worse, cutesy. This is even true when the film is written by a woman!
Not so with Love, Sex & Missed Connections, despite what, on the surface, may start out as a fairly misogynistic premise, the main two women in the film, played by, the wife of the lead, Dorien Davies and Sami Klein are written and performed as interesting, funny, complex and different. It's refreshing.
While there's nothing particularly new about the male roles in the film, again think Office Space or The Hangover, they are still well observed and played by charismatic, funny actors (Shane Elliot, Alex Enriquez, Abe Smith and Scott Beehner) who you enjoy spending time with.
Also, the film doesn't say a whole lot of anything new about relationships or the battle of the sexes, anymore than the next Tom Cruise movie will say anything new about being an upright, respectable, everyman, super spy with a ready quip and neat fighting abilities but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be watched and enjoyed. The central premise is one you haven't heard of before and there are some wonderful little, subtle moments in the film that really make it something different. The observation that, when depressed, the character makes the life changing move of walking everywhere, certainly in LA, feels like a novel little detail in the movie.
Funny, charming, well put together and worth a watch! It's the Office Space for the Internet dating generation
The film has won two handfuls of awards from various film festivals FIND OUT MORE HERE
and is available on DVD from Amazon
The film will be available to Pre-Order on iTunes: 11/01/2013
AND Available on the following platforms: 11/12/2013
Amazon Instant Video
Google Play
YouTube Movies
iTunes
PlayStation
and VUDU
Profile of a Killer
While it still has some of the welcomed cliches of the serial killer and police procedural drama genres, it also does its best to dispense of them and try something different. The main one being that we, the audience, discover the identity of the killer fairly early on and from that moment the film jumps between FBI agent Rachel Cade (Emily Fradenburgh) trying to track him down and the killer, David (Joey Pollari) instigating a battle of wits with his kidnapped profiler (Gabriele Angieri).
It was apparently intended as a studio project but when financing fell through Tredwell-Owen relocated to Minnesota, got a fantastic, local cast together and a fairly extensive crew, for an indie production, and they all took the project on themselves.
The gamble appears to have paid off as a solid script, some excellent performances, beautifully real cinematography and strong production values has propelled this taught drama onto the big screen across America and onto DVD using a word of mouth, grass roots campaign that continues today with humble blogs like mine receiving screeners and doing reviews.
I am happy to report that this film was well worth the watch. I was impressed by its visual flair. The snowy farm land and freeways of Minnesota, while, of course, conjuring up some favourable comparisons to the Coen Brother's Fargo, also remained feeling very fresh, different and unique to this film. The set dressing and art direction of the farm house, where the majority of the action takes place, is pleasingly run down and filled with texture. It's also lit and shot in an evocative and vibrant way, creating depth and shadow, as well as a sense of unease. You can feel the bone chilling cold and the rough harsh surfaces of this unforgiving building.
The other half of the film is focussed on the FBI and local police's attempts to track them both down, lead by Emily Fradenburgh's dedicated and dead pan agent Cade. She is the determined centre of this story and it can be a thankless task because while Fradenburgh's performance is pleasingly assured, serious and earnest, she can, sometimes, lack an emotional core. There are a couple of scenes in the film, a throwaway plot strand about her father and the death of someone close, that maybe could've used some beefing up, so that she could show the wearing affect of her steadfast dedication to the job but those are small complaints overall.
The cast of characters she is surrounded by or interviews are also resoundingly great and you're never thrown from the film because of some unfortunate dialogue delivery that can, sadly, derail even the most well intentioned low budget film.
The writing is strong and the dialogue authentic. The procedural elements of the police work felt real and without the usual over-the-top flashes that TV so often employs. The same can be said for the back and forth dialogue in the farm house. The questions, the actions and the reactions were different from what you'd expect as, usually, they would be ramped up and accompanied by an overly dramatic score but here they play out naturally. This makes these scenes disconcerting as you can't second guess what will happen next, which adds to the tension. The script is definitely clever and never overly stylised.
The film makes excellent use of the budget and it feels like every penny is on screen in the right place. There are authentic police cars, a helicopter, a delivery van and a variety of locations. There are also some nice, gruesome effects and while it's not exactly excessively gory or exploitative, the deaths are uniquely twisted and macabre.
I have to admit that the overly serious tone, pacing and length of the film are not usually my cup of tea. I also found some of the dialogue and drama during the mid section of the film to be a little confusing as I'm not sure I bought strongly into the mental cat and mouse as much as I would've liked. The ending was good though and the ultimate irony well thought out and haunting.
This is definitely a film to track down on-demand or for rent as it really has a lot to offer and projects like this need to be supported.
Purchase on DVD or RENT online
BUY YOUR COPY TODAY!
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Butcher's Hill
We are big fans of independent film over here in the Diner and we are always on the look out for vibrant, interesting new productions.
In a career spanning over 40 years, Brian W. Cook has worked as a Producer and Assistant Director with some of cinema’s most respected talents, including five films with Michael Camino, three films with Stanley Kubrick and two with Sean Penn. His producing credits include ‘Colour Me Kubrick’, ‘The Pledge’ and ‘Eyes Wide Shut’.
Additionally, Award winning Special make-up effects studio Ill Willed Productions (The Amazing Spider Man, Piranhaconda) will provide effects for Butchers Hill. IWP Founder Tate Steinsiek quickly became a horror fan favorite on SYFY’s special effects competition, FACE OFF and has been featured in Fangoria, Rue Morgue, The New York Times, and Variety.
Award winning Composer Adam Balazs (The Butterfly Effect 3,The Secret of Moonacre) has also signed on to Butchers Hill.
“Butcher’s Hill is an homage to all the great Brothers Grimm tales of our child hood. We wanted to create an unflinching look into the world of dark tales in all its gruesome glory,” explains Kindersley. “And after the economic collapse we struggled like most indie filmmakers to find support but now we’re ready to go with new and exciting momentum to get Butcher’s Hill killing again.”
The production has launched the facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/butchershillthemovie, which will track the development of the film with regular updates from Jason and Rory. It will feature videos of the films progress, including behind the scenes casting, production meetings, and interviews with key production staff.
Fans and supporters will also be able to connect to the Butcher’s Hill KickStarter campaign, (launching on July 1st 2013) which will enable them to to contribute towards crowd-funding in exchange for Butcher’s Hill themed gifts, such as credits and special edition DVD’s, and even participation in the films production.
Butcher’s Hill is scheduled to shoot in the fall of 2014. For more information on Butcher’s Hill visit https://www.facebook.com/butchershillthemovie.
Occasionally one such feature, short or web series falls into our inbox and intrigues us enough that not only do we, of course, take a look but then immediately after watching it we feel compelled to share it with everyone else and sing its praises.
In this case that short film is called Butcher's Hill and it's a wonderfully macabre and beautifully designed take on the Hansel and Gretel fairytale.
No annoying CGI monsters taken down by a crossbow wielding Hawkeye against a green screen here, oh no, just good old fashioned, atmospheric film making that is like a wonderful breath of fresh air.
Details:
Year made: 2008
DIRECTED BY: JASON NOTO & RORY KINDERSLEY
STARRING: TIMOTHY CHALAMET, JACKIE RHOADS and TATE STEINSIEK "You won’t believe where filmmakers Jason Noto and Rory Kindersley take you in this bloody twist on the Hansel and Gretel story that will leave you stunned. Left to fend for themselves, a brother and sister venture into a remote cabin where a bounty of treats costs more than expected"
The filmmakers are attempting to expand this to a full feature in 2014 and have a Kickstarter campaign starting July 2013, the press release and details of are below but we would urge anyone who watched the short and was inspired, surprised and excited by the talent and creativity on display to support the feature.
We here at The After Movie Diner wish them the best of luck.
PRESS RELEASE
APRIL 29 New York, New York (Monday April 29, 2013)
– From the Award winning writer and directors Jason Noto and Rory Kindersley, BUTCHER’S HILL, their short fantastical film, celebrates its online premiere today Monday April 29 2013 on FEAR.net. TV to over 40 million homes nationwide.
The infamous short film swept the genre festival circuit with its brutal decapitation scene in 2008 garnering wide acclaim from critics and bloggers internationally. Now for the first time ever it reaches its bloody hands across the nation in all its HD glory. And furthermore, the team has decided to re- launch their efforts to develop the short film into a heart pumping, blood curdling, feature film in 2014 with the support of London based content innovation studio, Fablemaze.
Fablemaze is a brand and content experience studio specializing in forward thinking interactive ideas and distribution platforms for today’s marketplace. Launched in 2007 and helmed by Toby Cook and Matt Cook, Fablemaze brings together the vision and excitement of filmmaking with the innovation of interactive design to make unique experiences for brands, agencies and entertainment. Also on board, esteemed producer Brian W. Cook has joined the team as Executive Producer. Details:
Year made: 2008
DIRECTED BY: JASON NOTO & RORY KINDERSLEY
STARRING: TIMOTHY CHALAMET, JACKIE RHOADS and TATE STEINSIEK "You won’t believe where filmmakers Jason Noto and Rory Kindersley take you in this bloody twist on the Hansel and Gretel story that will leave you stunned. Left to fend for themselves, a brother and sister venture into a remote cabin where a bounty of treats costs more than expected"
The most striking thing about the short is the detail and design. So rich, so creative, so tactile almost that from the smoke in the trees, to the crumbs of the cakes, to the rough wooden floor boards of the house, you are completely immersed in this familiar yet stunningly strange and foreboding world. There are welcome overshadows of Terry Gilliam here and the better of Tim Burton's films, a tough thing to pull off but done with a wonderfully restrained elegance to the filmmaking.
As the tension builds and the short moves into its final moments there is a delicious sense of dark humour that I reveled in.
Lastly the performances of the two children in the production is fantastically unselfconscious, just the right side of playful and never annoying.
We'd be interested to know what you think, so please, watch for yourself.
FEATURING an Exclusive Introduction by Filmmaker Jason Noto
VIDEO is available at Fear.net
FEATURING an Exclusive Introduction by Filmmaker Jason Noto
VIDEO is available at Fear.net
The filmmakers are attempting to expand this to a full feature in 2014 and have a Kickstarter campaign starting July 2013, the press release and details of are below but we would urge anyone who watched the short and was inspired, surprised and excited by the talent and creativity on display to support the feature.
We here at The After Movie Diner wish them the best of luck.
PRESS RELEASE
APRIL 29 New York, New York (Monday April 29, 2013)
– From the Award winning writer and directors Jason Noto and Rory Kindersley, BUTCHER’S HILL, their short fantastical film, celebrates its online premiere today Monday April 29 2013 on FEAR.net. TV to over 40 million homes nationwide.
The infamous short film swept the genre festival circuit with its brutal decapitation scene in 2008 garnering wide acclaim from critics and bloggers internationally. Now for the first time ever it reaches its bloody hands across the nation in all its HD glory. And furthermore, the team has decided to re- launch their efforts to develop the short film into a heart pumping, blood curdling, feature film in 2014 with the support of London based content innovation studio, Fablemaze.
In a career spanning over 40 years, Brian W. Cook has worked as a Producer and Assistant Director with some of cinema’s most respected talents, including five films with Michael Camino, three films with Stanley Kubrick and two with Sean Penn. His producing credits include ‘Colour Me Kubrick’, ‘The Pledge’ and ‘Eyes Wide Shut’.
Additionally, Award winning Special make-up effects studio Ill Willed Productions (The Amazing Spider Man, Piranhaconda) will provide effects for Butchers Hill. IWP Founder Tate Steinsiek quickly became a horror fan favorite on SYFY’s special effects competition, FACE OFF and has been featured in Fangoria, Rue Morgue, The New York Times, and Variety.
Award winning Composer Adam Balazs (The Butterfly Effect 3,The Secret of Moonacre) has also signed on to Butchers Hill.
“Butcher’s Hill is an homage to all the great Brothers Grimm tales of our child hood. We wanted to create an unflinching look into the world of dark tales in all its gruesome glory,” explains Kindersley. “And after the economic collapse we struggled like most indie filmmakers to find support but now we’re ready to go with new and exciting momentum to get Butcher’s Hill killing again.”
The production has launched the facebook fan page https://www.facebook.com/butchershillthemovie, which will track the development of the film with regular updates from Jason and Rory. It will feature videos of the films progress, including behind the scenes casting, production meetings, and interviews with key production staff.
Fans and supporters will also be able to connect to the Butcher’s Hill KickStarter campaign, (launching on July 1st 2013) which will enable them to to contribute towards crowd-funding in exchange for Butcher’s Hill themed gifts, such as credits and special edition DVD’s, and even participation in the films production.
Butcher’s Hill is scheduled to shoot in the fall of 2014. For more information on Butcher’s Hill visit https://www.facebook.com/butchershillthemovie.
John Dies At The End - The NYC Premiere Jan 7th 2013
The Director himself and star Paul Giamatti were on hand afterwards to answer questions and even, graciously, shook people's hands, signed people's stuff and even pose for photographs.
It was a fantastic night.
I intend to cover the film in a little more depth over on the podcast and I have some exclusive content from the Q&A that I will be sharing very soon as well but I just wanted to get down my initial impression of the film here on the blog.
Let me begin by saying I am a big fan of Coscarelli's work, you can read my Phantasm and Bubba Ho-Tep reviews elsewhere on this site but I really dig his style and sensibility behind the camera. So couple that with the always reliable and likable Giamatti and a plot that promised some absolutely bonkers stuff and me wanting to see this film, from the moment it was first mentioned, became a no-brainer.
Having seen the film the first thing that came to my mind was 'I need to see that again'. It has a very definite vibe, a particular disjointed mindset and I am not just referring to the weird plot, I mean in the way it was written, shot and performed. If I am honest. I am not sure tonight I was always in the groove with it, maybe it was having spent the day at work in my mind-numbing 9 to 5 surrounded by beige and grey tedious indifference or maybe it was the fact that usually on a Monday I am operating on hardly any sleep but sometimes I connected with it and other times I didn't. Hence I need to see it again and soon. Clear headed, awake and ready to go anywhere with it.
I am not even going to bother to try and explain the plot in depth, as it would do the film a disservice, but it has something to do with a drug called soy sauce that makes you see into the past and the future, travelling to other dimensions, monsters, friendship, zombies, exorcisms and a magic dog. Anyway, this thing is different and I urge everyone to see it.
It's the mutant love child of Naked Lunch, Twin Peaks, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Phantasm and contains references to a dozen more cult genre favs.
In fact an ever so slight criticism of the film is that, while it clearly marches to the beat of its own drum, as much as it can, the script does, on occasion, have the distinct whiff of a fan boy's giggly, immature paws all over it but never to the annoyingly grating and smug extent of someone like a Tarantino (who has all the subtlety, where homages are concerned, of a 15 Ton, Monty Python, style weight).
On the plus side it has phenomenal, pleasing performances from almost the entire cast, it's directed and edited with Coscarelli's usual charm, flourish and delight in the downright weird or darkly comic and the script throws endless curveballs at you both clever, comedic and also sometimes just for curveballs sake. I am not someone who usually likes a film that tries to be all smug, clever and different for difference sake and I am pleased to report that John Dies At The End does narrowly avoid sliding into that territory.
There's also some great Bob Kurtzman practical effects and also some not so great B-Movie CGI but, to be honest, that they did it at all for the low budget, it's incredible.
I haven't read the book and from comments made in the Q&A I understand that a vast passage of it would be unfilmable, no matter how much money you had, but I can say that the film version could have, to please more pallets, attempted some level of coherence in it's third act. What it lacks in pleasing structure, however, it more than makes up for in vivid, intriguing and artful images.
Now is it ever going to be as successful or as much of a fan favourite as the Phantasm series? probably not and will it ever match up against the understated perfection of Bubba Ho-Tep? definitely not but that's not to discount it, when you have a resume as sparse but as cult and fan friendly as Coscarelli's, winning out over past glories becomes a fools errand and, with John Dies At The End, he, thankfully, doesn't try to. There is, however, plenty here that fans of his previous work will eat up with a spoon.
It has been 10 years since Bubba and 7 years since his Masters of Horror episode and in that time mostly all we've heard about was the ill-fated Bubba sequel. I, for one, am glad that John Dies was, eventually, the film Coscarelli made and not Bubba Nosferatu, while he will no doubt get a lot of idiot critics desperately trying to compare this film to the nuanced brilliance of Bubba Ho-tep, imagine how much harsher it would be if he had gone ahead with the planned, Campbell-less, sequel instead.
As much as I believe this film will divide his fans and have as many embracers as detractors, I am going to go ahead and say we NEED films like this and we NEED film-makers like Don Coscarelli. At the Q&A Paul Giamatti said that it's films like this that America should be embracing, he is clearly a passionate genre fan, and I couldn't agree more. Love it or hate it we just don't get enough films like this being made and so when one comes along I think we owe it to ourselves, as passionate genre fans also, to do what we can to make sure it's not the last time a film like this sees the inside of a cinema.
Me with director Don Coscarelli
Other photos from the Q&A
Independant Film-Makers! We want to hear from YOU!
SOON The After Movie Diner will be delving back into the world of Independent film making with 3 movies from some truly great folk in the Baltimore, Maryland area:
The Lee Doll films 'The Fixer' and 'Little Bit of Love'
and
ROULETTE: a film by Erik Kristopher Myers
We've also got an interview with a gentleman about to set out to make his first film in New Zealand!
This got us thinking about a regular independent film-maker spotlight on the show. We could chat about the film, review the film and even offer our listeners the chance to win a copy of your film, putting your creative hard work into the hands of an awesome film fan!
SO we want to hear from all independent film-makers!
If you're doing something different, creative, independently minded and if you've got a film that you're anxious to talk about or get in people's hands then drop us a line at aftermoviediner@gmail.comWe accept any and all applications from features to short films and web series but we reserve the right to only cover the films we choose. The After Movie Diner strongly supports independent content and we recognise the hard work, effort and energy that goes into producing anything but will not be able to cover everything so a space on the show will be at producers discretion.
THANK YOU and we can't wait to see what you've come up with!
The After Movie Diner on the COMIC BOOKED Podcast Episode 16
I was very honoured recently to be asked for an interview by John and Lucas for their podcast as part of the Comic Booked website
We covered a multitude of topics such as:
Our recent nomination in the TLA Cult Awards
Our Independents and Alternative oscar shows
The Godfather
Evil Dead
Bruce Campbell
CHUD
Fright Night
Sam Raimi
Drive
Clash of the Titans
Kevin Smith
and yes, of course, Billy Zane
It was a fantastic little chat, utterly surprised me to get the request but I was very happy to oblige. Please check out this, all their other podcasts and the whole website over at http://www.comicbooked.com/
You can hear and download the show here:
or on iTunes
Thanks again guys!