Thursday, April 6, 2017

"I'd cut off her panties with those little children's scissors. You remember the ones?"

Sorry for the lack of posting. Brutal ongoing health issue, and yesterday lost a good friend: died in his sleep, age forty. Great guy, a Native American Gentle Giant. Sorely missed doesn't even begin to begin.

When I did the premiere of 'Uncle Bennie Is Coming Home From Prison' in February he ended up with the Blue-Ray from the theater (fitting: he used to work as a theatre projectionist). And he kept it. And watched it at home, over and over; it is still in his player. R.I.P. Morris....

Uncle Bennie Is Coming Home From Prison Limited Run Private Show. So: thinking of Morris, here it is. 

It is entered in several 'fun' Film Festivals -- hoping for the 'future Cult Classic vote -- but many of those decisions are not made until October. Don't feel like waiting that long for a Sneak Peak.

So: Independent Film. This is TRULY an Independent Film. No crew, no time, no budget (except for about $600 in props and bar tabs). Not what gets called an 'Independent Film' now, where you have half-a-million dollars from a Studio or Producer that wants a 'small film'. Closer in spirit to Seventies John Waters: just point the only camera and do it...

Flawed? Hell yeah. All kinds of decisions based on the limitations. But the important question to me is: Is It Funny?

I was very lucky to have talented friends who sacrificed their Time and Effort to make this happen. But: rather than just drink and talk about it, WE DID IT...

Is it 'obscene'? It depends. Explicit dialog, surely. But there is no nudity, and -- more Important -- there is no Meanness. So many films have the stock character you're meant to dislike, who serves to prevent the Protagonist from getting success: the standard device of the Romantic Comedy, basically. I find that trope artificial and boring, so I simply did away with it. Just follow the characters: the only things tripping themselves up is themselves...

For those who are not interested in seeing it, here are a few lines people will soon be quoting in everyday situations, just so you are in the loop:

"I'd cut off her panties with those little children's scissors. You remember the ones?"

"Yeah, I thought she was in there a long time. I just thought she had a bad case of the shits. It happens to women, too, you know."

"Does baby like the bubbles?"

"I already thought of that. That's why I shave my junk." 

"He wears the brim low to disguise the beady rapist eyes."

"I got a fucking swastika tattoo on my shoulder!"

"You want to hot-wire a car tonight, Uncle Bennie? We could shoplift beer and candy from the Seven-Eleven just like old times, then drive around and look at girls."

"You 'dry' boys NEVER get it!"

"Daddy loves the peanut butter..."

"Two limes, bro!"

"Sometimes I think we are kinda gay, we just don't sleep with each other. And we like to have sex with women. Rather than sucking men's cocks."

"I don't know: it smells a little funky to me."

"Because chicks dig candles and shit."

"Prison Sex. I want good hard Prison Sex."



Stuff like that. If that scares you off, then it is probably good to be scared off. Otherwise: that's what you're getting into...


I am Laslo.

8 comments:

  1. I copied my comments from the Althouse blog.

    Laslo,

    Why are they breaking the 4th wall?

    Is Kellar acting?
    That thing he does rubbing his fingers together is creepy.

    In one of the first scenes, there is an electronic sign saying "Money Shot". Hilarious.

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  2. I'm not sure what to think. Joe always had a camera in the mirror behind the booze bottles.

    I'll sleep on it.

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  3. "Why are they breaking the 4th wall?"

    Letting the audience know we know they are there. We are eavesdropping.

    Also: why not. Not serious business. Liked the visual punctuation.

    "Is Kellar acting? "

    Keller is Keller, in full form. He is the Id of the three.

    "Joe always had a camera in the mirror behind the booze bottles."

    Yep. Caught that after after too much filming already done on first day. No time to reshoot. No budget. I can live with it.

    "I'm not sure what to think."

    Works for me. I'm happy with people loving it, people hating it, and people going 'What the fuck?'.

    I am Laslo.

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  4. I couldn't understand the man sitting at the bar. Is this the ghost of Christmas future? Is this the guy that passes on life, and remains sitting in the bar?

    I couldn't understand why Wes would hang out with Keller. I did understand Frick's motives.

    The camera angles were funny. The lighting was all over the place. Sometimes, you captured the back of the actors head. Sometimes the actors head would dance in-n-out of the frame. The actors weren't always centered in the frame.

    The actors were wooden. I know the actors are your drinking buddies, but I also think the editing made them appear more wooden. They would state their lines, and then fall out of character. The camera was capturing just a moment too much. Using a single camera might be part of the problem as well.

    Other than that, I thought the ending tied all the threads together. We weren't left hanging with unresolved issues.

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  5. Dying to know.....did you write the script, and then find Keller?....or did you find Keller, and write the script?

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  6. "I couldn't understand the man sitting at the bar. Is this the ghost of Christmas future?"

    He is Stoic Guy, the One Man Greek Chorus.

    "I couldn't understand why Wes would hang out with Keller."

    Friends since childhood. Like brothers. Wes spends too much time in his own head; Keller is his window into an alternate world.

    "Sometimes, you captured the back of the actors head, etc"

    Filmed in three hour chunks -- had to move fast. No time to move the camera to the other side of the bar. Let it be naturalistic: we are standing behind them, listening in. Wanted things off-center -- they can't even keep themselves in the center of their own lives. Again: someone standing by, watching.

    "The actors were wooden."

    Agree to disagree. Like the awkwardness: did not want 'smooth'.

    "did you write the script, and then find Keller?....or did you find Keller, and write the script?"

    Both. Wrote it knowing who was going to play him, knew what he could do with it.

    Notice comments are mostly about the 'physical' aspects of the film. Assume that means the conversations etc weren't catching your interest. It did what I wanted it to do, a shaggy dog.

    I am Laslo.

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  7. Don't have much to say. I'll skip any stylistic comments since it was a low-budget, one camera shoot. As MadAsHell said, the Wes and Keller relationship did not seem natural. Also, quicker editing cuts would have helped pick up the pace.

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