So much to talk about and so little time. But here’s the gist of it:

FUTURE FILM MAKERS UPDATES
We’ve been doing a LOT of hard work. Quite a few projects underway, including the previously mentioned Jasper Conroy: Salisbury Bounty Hunter, the recently completely Gullman: Defender of Salisbury (yes, there is a theme here), and the running of our amazingly soon-to-be-mega-successful FILM FESTIVAL!

We currently have about 3 feature length and 15 short entries, totaling at over FIVE HOURS of footage. Here’s a brief idea of what we’ve got:

FILM FESTIVAL SPRING 08
Starting at 3 PM we’ll be showing:
7even Days by Jay Szech (75 Minutes)
Panel with Jay (10- 15 minutes)
Short Break (5 minutes)
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Robert Cogdell’s Films (10 minutes total)
Short Panel with Rob Cogdell (5 minutes)
Hudson Harrison by David M. Demerest (7 minutes)
Conflict Now by Dylan Hintz (8 minutes)
War: A Documentary by Thomas England (20 Minutes)
Short Break (5 minutes)
Scott’s Worst Day by Scott Dotterwich (6 minutes)
Playing Games in Purgatory by Ryan Henry (45 minutes)
Short Discussion (5 minutes)
The L Files by David M. Demerest (8 Minutes)
Piano Man: A Documentary by Marc Gast (20 minutes)
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WAC Zombies (6 minutes)
Mean Boy and Bum by Ed Lauler (5 minutes)
I Don’t Live Today by Ed Lauler (15 minutes)
Man of Action by The Future Film Makers Club (3 minutes)
Gull Man by The Future Film Makers Club (4 minutes)
Hit and Run by Alexis Morrel and Lauren Depaul (60 minutes)
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Post show Previews:
Jasper Conroy by the Future Film Makers Club
An Old Hope and Option Ingredients by Dan Gvozden
Line of Sight and Clarity by Dylan Hintz
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This event will be ending around 10 or 11 PM

Other than that, good news: THE GALLERIES ARE BACK UP! Check out the new pictures here

New videos will becoming up soon, with Gull Man and Jasper Conroy, plus footage from the set of An Old Hope trip that I took last month.

I’m incredibly busy with this festival, as you can see, but hopefully it’ll all pay off! We’ve got a lot of entries and we’re making a big name not just for the club, but for film making in general through this amazing festival!

The FUTURE FILM MAKERS club went and saw this movie about a week ago. In Be Kind Rewind, Jack Black and Mos Def star as two New Jersey nobodies attempting to save their VHS-only video store through the action of remaking old films. Their only resources are their nostalgic memories of the films themselves and whatever random items they can find in their slum community. Its a great premise, highly inspiring in this age of do-it-yourself digital film making and distribution, and got us future film makers all really excited to see what Michael Gondry could come up with.

Unfortunately the film itself is somewhat forgettable. That’s a sad thing to admit considering its one of the more creative movies to come out of America in the last couple years, but the fact of the matter is that the pacing, the narrative, and the fun factor of a movie such as this was just way too…I dunno, WONKY to really recommend. Now I like strange things and I love outrageous cinema, but this one just really didn’t do it for me or my friends in terms of “laugh factor.” The conversations the characters have come off as disconnected, as if all the characters have rabid cases of ADD. While it isn’t unusual for a bunch of zero-budget film makers to behave in such a way, it doesn’t work for a narrative as deeply themed and potentially rich as this. The humor is also smart, but sometimes pretentiously so, that the only jokes the whole audience will tend to laugh at at once involve Jack Black’s physical comedy (i.e watching him be beaten and violated by the environment around him).

As the plot thickens and the community pulls together to help the aging and dying video store (And associated format, VHS), the story begins to congeal into something far more palatable and upbeat. One cameo by Sigourney Weaver takes a tad of a depressing turn, however, and the predictability of the film becomes apparent.

The ending is really marvelous though, and if you truly appreciate the art form of cinema then you probably should watch this film. This is one of the best displays of how film making has become the prominent art form of this generation and why it brings people together as it does. If the entire last third of the picture was used as a thesis for Film’s Power in Sociology, it’d probably get an A+. Somehow, sadly, I don’t think most viewers will get it. Hopefully you will.

If you are a mainstream viewer then a rental will be good for you. Its really hard for me to say whether or not I liked this movie, as I am sure my readers can tell by the indecisivenesses of this review, but heck, that’s why we’re allowed to have our own opinions, isn’t it? One thing is for certain- the movie was full of great performances and a couple of really truly memorable moments.

However, I think what this movie will be most remembered for is it’s impact on the internet film community. Filmmaking Frenzy did a contest based off of the “sweding” of films (Custom-to-order-film-renting-on-less-than-zero-budget) that takes place in the movie. Here’s one of the favorites I’ve seen on the internet, TERMINATOR 2:

Short and sweet, this video is funny as hell. David Lynch is the somewhat-well known cult director of such bizarre art thriller films as Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, so let’s just be clear that this is a guy that thinks really deeply about really important subjects, such as the viewing of feature films on portable video accessories such as iPod and their infamous iPhone. Here’s his take on it, keep the volume down if at work:

This was just too funny to pass up:

Starring Kevin Sorbo…at least I know that much…you know what’s weird is that I can’t find the info on IMDB. I found this video on Rotten Tomatos, linked it from Youtube.

Anyways, enjoy the only interesting parody I’ve seen in a while.

Better late than never I suppose.

This is a clip from the episode of Don Singleton’s “Nexus”- at public access television show I help with on a weekly basis. They skewer all things that most media outlets find “newsworthy” such as the diabolically long and atrociously handled Anna Nicole Smith fiasco. The show’s producer, Don Singleton, and his co-host, Tom Luffman, work together to crack the question: Why are the major media outlets paying attention to such garbage stories when there’s more important news on the table?

Well, after the Oscars this year, I made a guest appearance as a guest, giving my insight on the movie world- the only politics I really know. I attended as a spokesperson and President for the club I run, which by the way has been changed to Future FilmMakers- there will be a page for it up eventually, I promise.

Here’s the video- sorta long, sorta old news, but good insight all around.