Posts from — November 2007

Yes, I am one of those people.

Not only do I question Thanksgiving based on historical principles, but what about now?

Let’s talk giving thanks in terms of equality and opportunity in this country.

Today, someone will give thanks for their one-hundred-million dollar home, their garage full of antique, never-driven cars, their tennis courts, Olympic-size swimming pool, nine-hole golf course, and in-home Starbucks.

Today, someone else will give thanks for the meal at the soup kitchen, the bed at the shelter, the strength of their children to stay healthy in less than ideal circumstances, and the fact that they are somehow all surviving the lay-off, the repossession of their home, and their sudden fall into the realities of American poverty.

And before you go thinking, “Well, maybe they deserve their situation,” think about this.

Does Paris Hilton deserve her situation?

Holidays mean holiday shopping. That’s where we really get to see holiday un-cheer. What is un-cheer? Is that even a word? It is now!

Holiday un-cheer is when people cut in line in front of you. When they rush to a rack of clothing you are looking at in the off chance that it’s something they want too, that you are both looking for the same size, and that they have a chance at getting to it first. When they do the “body block” to keep you from getting to a rack, shelf, or other type of display that they want to raid.

It seems holiday cheer comes in small quantities. Holiday un-cheer, on the other hand, abounds.

The holidays are on their way. I know, let’s everyone be nice to each other at the same time for roughly a one month period. Let’s give to charity. Let’s give to each other. Let’s say kind things and hold our tongues when we want to say unkind things. Let’s smile. Let’s have faith. Let’s be optimistic about the change we can make in the world.

Then, on January 2nd, let’s go back to the shit pile.
 

Surprisingly, not as controversial as one might expect, Wristcutters: A Love Story is starting its journey through national distribution. Of course, national distribution for an indie movie like this one means one or two showings in one theater in each city of a million or more people, but still, it’s more than a lot of independents get.
 
This movie has all of the elements of a cult film in the making.  It has an intriguing, non-mainstream friendly, central plot about people stuck in an after-life just for people who have committed suicide. (I’m surprised that the fact that post-suicide life in the film is just like real life isn’t causing a stir.) It has jaded twenty-something main characters. It has recurring indie music.
 
I can’t wait to monitor its explosion once it hits the DVD circuit.

HorrorFest is one of the coolest ideas in the film industry. Instead of letting a bunch of fairly quality films linger in non-distributed limbo, After Dark Films gathers together a few worthy morsels and includes them in an interesting type of distribution. Simultaneously, in over three hundred and fifty willing theaters nationwide, the films are played for one week only, giving people a chance to see on the big screen movies that would otherwise be sent directly to DVD, or, worse, never see any kind of distribution to the public.

Crazy Eights, Lake Dead, The Deaths of Ian Stone, Nightmare Man, Mulberry Street, Unearthed, Borderland, and Tooth & Nail are the 2007 selections. HorrorFest runs November 9-18th. Check it out at Horror Fest Online.