film

Live near Seattle? Want to see a movie?

Standard

Back in 2004, I wrote a screenplay designed to be made on an ultra-low budget. In 2005, my friend Dan Moore shot it. Now, in 2010, it’s ready for release.

On May 20th, at NW Film Forum, the indie film I wrote will have its world premiere. It’s called THE DEAD FEED, and here’s a 21-second preview:

The Dead Feed Teaser from Blaine Street Productions on Vimeo.

Facebook users, that’s an embedded video. You’ll have to click through to the blog to see it. Did I mention 21 seconds?

Will the movie be awesome? I hope so! I haven’t been involved in post-production at all, and haven’t even seen a rough cut in the last couple of years. I will be there with a camera in hand to record the responses of the audience members. After, I will post them, even if their faces are full of boredom or scorn! If folks love the movie, I will bask in the accomplishment. If they hate it, I will flush with shame.

Have I mentioned that making this movie is what drove me to write novels? Seriously. I’d long planned to go into movie-making and once I realized I was going to be a Seattle resident long-term, I teamed up with Dan to take control of our careers and make our own. (Never wait!)

But I was terrible at it. Making a movie is a real pain in the ass and I discovered I didn’t have the skill set or the temperament for it. Immediately after production wrapped, I started work on Child of Fire. Novels FTW!

But Dan never walked away. He’s been struggling with that film for 5 years, and in that time he lost his job and became homeless. All sorts of rough shit happened to him, but he stuck with it and now he’s sending it off to film festivals.

The evening of May 20th. (I’ll post more details when I confirm them.) Want to join me there?

Update: Jeez, I forgot to say what the movie is about! Quick description: a group of friends begin receiving a mysterious video feed showing one of them being murdered… before it happens. (dum dum DUMMM!)

Randomness for 4/14

Standard

1) Hoarding TV shows cured my hoarding.

2) Old comic book Hostess and Twinkie ads repurposed for the KFC Double Down.

3) An old Randomness entry revisited: House made of Lego blocks destroyed.

4) Propaganda posters for 80’s arcade games.

5) 3D without the glasses. Not for folks who are drunk, hungover, or slightly queasy.

6) Ta Nahisi-Coates on “The Lost Cause.”

7) Electro’s secret identity revealed!

Randomness for 4/11

Standard

1) Want Star Trek gear? A warehouse full of ST: The Experience props and costumes is up for auction.

2) Nicolas Cage’s Ugly Mansion. Eight pictures, each worse than the last. No, actually number four is the worst. This living room is a disaster, though.

3) These aren’t new, but maybe some folks haven’t seen them before: Recut move trailers that make kids movies seem like horror films, and horror films seem like domestic dramas. SCARY MARY is my favorite.

4) Businessinsider.com offers 15 charts about wealth and income inequality in America. Some of the charts have small text, but there’s a link beneath that’ll take you to a larger version. Also: Wow. via Ezra Klein.

5) One unfortunate way to express displeasure over medical advice.

6) “Who put these unpeeled grapes in my fruit bowl!” In which John Scalzi lives a blessed life–one he’s totally earned–and that’s a beautiful thing.

7) How to cook amazing mashed potatoes.

This is amazing (video: PIXELS)

Standard

Post edited: This video has been deleted

Randomness for 4/5

Standard

1) The Science of Newton’s Cradle. That’s NEWTON’S CRADLE the hard sf independent movie, not the actual toy.

2) How ten movies would be different if they came from Nicholas Sparks novels. via alg.

3) Opening a hotel room door by going under. Be sure to watch the video.

4) Leonardo DiCaprio as Travis McGee? I have to admit that I’m dubious, but maybe he can pull it off. The real question is why Hollywood continues to make crime/detective movies. Are the budgets low enough to balance low box office? Is it the DVD sales?

5) A Suvudu death match between a GRRM character from A Song of Ice and Fire and a Patrick Rothfuss character inspires this hilarious comment.

6) A Victorian-era sex scholar, and her research.

7) Students recreate “Starry Night” on large scale… in cereal. I wish I was this interesting.

This is just amazing

Standard

My son found it and I have to share it with you. It’s a bit long (16 minutes) but there isn’t a boring moment. In fact, it’s a beautiful piece of animated storytelling, and the sound design is simply amazing.

Randomness for 4/2

Standard

1) Quentin Tarantino is playing a smurf? Um, okay, I gues.

2) Protecting IP the stand-up comic way. One of my friends was (unfairly) accused of joke-stealing. It was painful to see him (voluntarily) ditch a ten-minute routine about sitting at the big table over Thanksgiving because someone else had a single joke about it. This probably deserves its own post, but I’m not the one to write it.

3) I liked Speed Racer, too. However, I don’t have to call it an “art film” to justify that. It was definitely inventive and non-realistic, and it had a powerful emotional affect on me. I’ve been meaning to rewatch the ending to examine that a little more.

4) Insectophobes, do not click! That sucker is two and a half feet long. If you drown in deep waters and your corpse sinks to the bottom, that thing will be one of the creatures feasting on you.

5) Batman goes to jail for stalking L&O actress. Fate of his two daughters, Harleyquinn and Batgirl, undecided. (More seriously, if you’re a famous person, you get stalkers–freaky, creepy ones–and the only way they hit the news is if they’re colorful in some way or it’s a slow news day.)

6) Beautiful new library in Battery Park.

7) Big house vs short commute time: Which will make us happier? It’s interesting how this just assumes people will be in cars. I wonder what variables public transit adds in? Personally, I like my bus time; it’s pretty much the only dedicated reading time I have left.

Randomness for 3/31

Standard

1) Non-Adventures of Wonderella is awesome.

2) This one is NSFW: Forehead Tittaes. via SmartBitches

3) A horror film that calls YOU!

4) Somehow I think this is not an official traffic law.

5) This made me laugh myself sick. via barbarienne

6) “He thought if he could save one chubby girl, he’s done his job,” Lutz said. Pft. That’s what every guy going crazy with a hunting knife thinks.

7) You know what? This shouldn’t have been a TV show in the first place, let alone a damn movie. Did you know that box office poison smells like almonds? It’s true.

Two things for today

Standard

First, if you run an independent book store, please, take five minutes every week to look over the new movie releases coming in, say, a month from now, and find out if it was adapted from a book. A new movie release is fantastic publicity for the book version, and you wouldn’t have to do more than stock a few by the counter to make a few impulse buys.

Second, I’m about to log off and work on Key/Egg/Remark. This being spring break for schoolkids, I find myself in the strange position of not having my homeschooled child in the apartment. His best bud from across the alley is off school this week and attending a week-long day camp–therefore, my son wants to be there with him. It’s like a week-long day play date!

So dinner is simmering in the oven, coffee is ready to brew, and I’m going to try for another 1500 words on the WIP. If I make 2000, maybe I’ll play a Wii game or something as a reward.

Have a great day, everyone.

How about that

Standard

There’s no DVD release of CAST A DEADLY SPELL, the Lovecraftian private eye movie with Fred Ward and Julianne Moore, but it is on YouTube.

It’s better than I remember, but still disappointing in some of the choices.