Gregory Lamberson's Blog, page 12
October 21, 2013
DRY BONES Theatrical Screenings
We didn't exactly pack the house for any of our screenings, although all three were respectable and Saturday night was pretty full. As with any indie film/guerrilla release, it falls on people associated with the film to bring in the people (even with an excellent review in Artvoice and a nice piece in the Buffalo News), and a handful of our folks came through with flying colors. There's nothing like seeing a film you've made with a "cold" audience, and I'll go out on a limb saying that's especially true with comedies (Dry Bones is a horror comedy): making people laugh is pretty rewarding, and making people laugh while emitting "Ew's" of disgust brings bonus pleasure. On Sunday, very few - if any - of those in attendance were horror fans, and I'd say more than half of them were seniors. Sounds like a tough sell, right? Wrong! The reaction was great.
We held a Q&A after each screening, and my daughter got to stand on stage with Michael O'Hear, Paul McGinnis, Kathy Murphy, John Renna, Kim Piazza, "O'Mick Donald" and others.
Dry Bones screens this Tuesday at 7:30 pm, and has a final screening Friday at 9:30 pm. There's still plenty of time for folks who worked on the film, and area filmmakers, to come out and support. It's Halloween season!
October 18, 2013
Storm Demon, Six Fingers, Dry Bones, Carnage Road and Buffalo Dreams
Last Friday, Tim O'Hearn, the actor who played the title monster in The Legend of Six Fingers, made the drive from Batavia with his girlfriend Heather to attend our two screenings of the film at the Screening Room in Amherst. Kaelin was thrilled to have them in our house (and to see her godparents Eric and Melanie Mache, who swung by when RIT featured some of Eric's artwork). We had decent attendance at the first show and a strong turnout for the second. At Tim's suggestion, we took a page out of William Castle's playbook: halfway through each screening, when the monster becomes a presence on screen, Tim wandered through the crowd in full costume, delighting some patrons and terrifying others (including his co-star, Bill Brown!). The film played well, and Artvoice gave us a good review:
http://artvoice.com/issues/v12n41/film_reviews/legend_of_six_fingers
I was pleased to see both Sam Qualiana, the writer-director-co-star, and Andrew Elias, the nominal star, receive credit for their work. The film's success depends on the audience liking these two characters, and both fellas made that possible. Also, Tim received notice for his performance as the monster. While we shot the film, I knew he was working hard, but my attention was on transporting him, keeping him comfortable, etc. - seeing the film on screen, he really did a superb job in that costume. The Legend of Six Fingers will play one more time in Buffalo, in a non-competition slot at Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival, which I run with Chris Scioli.
Buffalo Dreams has eaten my brain over the last ten days. While it will be perceived by locals as an extension of Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival, it is in fact a new venture which replaces the old. Over the course of three years, Scioli and I built Buffalo Screams into a recognized international film festival, but there were issues behind the scenes which kept mucking up our efforts. Our solution was to scrap the existing festival in favor of a new one where we could make all the decisions on our own. We used the new venture as an opportunity to expand our scope, incorporating science fiction, fantasy, action, thriller, animation, cult and fan films. We also opened an account with Without a Box. The experiment was a success: we received 187 film submissions, watched every one of them ourselves, and spent last week narrowing down the list even as submissions came in under the wire. One feature and two shorts that came in at the last minute did make the cut, so rest assured, paying "late deadline fees" is not always throwing away your money (I wish I could say the same for myself; I paid a late fee to submit Dry Bones to a regional festival and it was rejected, and I honestly believe it was because the fest had already set their schedule). We'll be screening 85 films, divided into 29 blocks, over seven days at the Dipson Amherst Theatre. Our programming will include the US "World Sneak Preview" of Return to Nuke 'Em High Vol. 1. We don't have a guest list per se, but we do have 21 filmmakers (and counting) coming to screen their work, including Lloyd Kaufman, Roy Frumkes (executive producer of Animosity), Brett Kelly (My Fair Zombie), and Simon Pearce (Judas Ghost), all the way from the UK! There are many others, and I'll list them all in a future post. In my my opinion, the festival is already a success. It is, if you'll pardon the pun, a dream fulfilled. Check out the full schedule at www.buffalodreamsfilmfest.com.
Also, one of our sponsors is the based in Buffalo TV show Off Beat Cinema, which will be running this TV spot for the festival over the next three weekends:
http://youtu.be/jIN5UN_Vpj4
A 10 second version of the spot will also go out to 80 TV stations across the country that broadcast the show. As our local used car kingpin Tommy Fusello says, "This is huge, Buffalo." And I spent pretty much every waking hour of the last ten days working on it...
My novel Storm Demon, Book 5 in The Jake Helman Files, is out ow on most platforms and in most outlets, or will be in the next week. This book is important to me, because it's the penultimate chapter in this series: Book 6 will be the last, at least for now, which makes its scattered release (the fault of printers) somewhat frustrating, but there's nothing I can do about it. Dreadful Tales posted this rave review:
http://youtu.be/jIN5UN_Vpj4
EXCERPTS:
Storm Demon is one of the best examples of a balls-to-the-wall action/horror and how it’s done right.
Not only is Lamberson on the top of his game with Storm Demon, but he delivers one of the best “YOU’RE FUCKING KIDDING ME!?” moments of recent memory, with a twist even I wasn’t expecting. And that’s saying a lot, given the years I’ve invested in this series.
The author’s depiction of Lillith is also one of most brutal and sexy depictions set to paper that I have ever read. I would love to be in the company of this woman, but am also aware that I wouldn’t last a moment. Hell, nobody would, really. She’s a storm. A force to be reckoned with, in the truest sense of the phrase.
Lamberson outdoes himself with every installment of the Helman files, leaving this reader exhausted, yet begging for more with the end of every book. Storm Demon is no exception.
END OF EXCERPTS
My efforts to complete The Frenzy Wolves were waylaid by Buffalo Dreams, but I'm on the case. In the middle of juggling all these balls, a TV show called The Walking Dead started it fourth season with tremendous ratings. This is good for me, because Craig Sheffer and I have been developing my novella Carnage Road as a TV series. We wrote a pilot script and a series bible outlining 13 proposed episodes, and as soon as those ratings for TWD were announced, his manager sent out our package. Stay tuned.
Which brings us to the present, which feels like it will never be the past...
Tonight, Dry Bones, which I wrote solo and mostly directed and co-produced, has begins a five day run at the Screening Room.
Myself and assorted cast and crew will do Q&A sessions after each show. Hopefully Michael O'Hear, who stars in the film and is credited as co-director, will be able to attend as well: he's been in poor health since we started the project. Hopefully he's taking solace from this excellent review in Artvoice:
http://artvoice.com/issues/v12n42/film_reviews/dry_bones
EXCERPTS:
If you have fond memories of the horror films of the 1980s, you’re the target market for Dry Bones, a suburban monster movie with a large dose of humor.
If you’ve ever seen any locally made movie, you’ve probably seen Michael O’Hear, who seems to have had a role in just about every movie shot here in the past decade. Dry Bones was scripted for him by resident horrormeister Gregory Lamberson, who also signed on as producer and director. The role of a put-upon middle-aged milquetoast is perfect for O’Hear, who has the deceptively bland malleability of a classic Hollywood supporting player.
Lamberson has also assembled a capable cast and crew from other local productions, who keep the story running smoothly until it gets to its gleefully over-the-top finale featuring inexhaustible scream queen Debbie Rochon as the succubus.
END OF EXCERPTS
I'm looking forward to seeing this film, which consumed so much of my time and energy, on a screen with an audience. Hopefully the Artvoice review and the article in The Buffalo News will bring out some people.
Back to the werewolves.
October 14, 2013
BUFFALO DREAMS FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES SLATE OF 85 FILMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival has announced an ambitious slate of 85 films which will screen between Friday, November 8th and Thursday, November 14th at the Dipson Amherst Theatre in Buffalo, New York. Several distinguished genre filmmakers are scheduled to attend: Lloyd Kaufman, who will receive the Dedication to Filmmaking Excellence award, is screening Return to Nuke ‘Em High Vol. 1, billed as a Sneak Preview, as a fundraiser for the Niagara Arts & Culture Center (NACC) in Niagara Falls; Roy Frumkes will screen Animosity, which he executive produced for writer-director Brendan Steere; and Brett Kelly will screen the horror comedy musical My Fair Zombie. Albert Pyunn receives the Indie Genre Spirit Award in absentia; Road to Hell, his homage to Walter Hill’s Streets of Fire, will screen.
Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival will show 26 features and 59 short films over seven days. According to festival co-director Chris Scioli, 45 of those films were produced in the United States, including 13 filmed in Western New York; 13 were submitted by Canadian filmmakers; and 27 entries are international or international/US co-productions.
“We wanted to create an international film festival unlike any other in Buffalo or Western New York,” says festival co-founder Gregory Lamberson. “Part of that plan involved expanding the scope of our programming to include science fiction, fantasy, horror, action, thrillers, animation, cult and fan films. I’m happy to say we’ll be screening quality films in every one of those categories from all over the world. Chris and I are thrilled by how many filmmakers from outside Buffalo – outside the country! - will be joining us.”
The awards ceremony will be held in the theater on Sunday, November 10th. Advance tickets will go on sale at Dipson Theatres’ website this week.
Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival is sponsored by Off Beat Cinema, Alternative Cinema, Seeley and Kane’s Books and Comics, and Western New York Grip & Electric. The Festival will be preceded by Buffalo Film Expo, a one day event comprised of film discussion panels, to be held on Sunday, November 3rd, at Holiday Inn Buffalo Airport.
2013 Film Selections:
Non-Competition Features
Return to Nuke ‘Em High Vol. 1 (USA/Western New York)
Blood Marsh Krackoon (USA)
Dry Bones (Western New York)
The Legend of Six Fingers (Western New York)
Official Feature Film Selections
Atlantis: The Last Days of Kaptara (USA)
Animosity (USA)
Buffalo Boys (Western New York)
Constant Angel (Western New York)
Dust of War (USA)
Echo Dr. (USA)
Empire Gypsy (USA)
Found in Time (USA)
Imago (USA)
Motivational Growth (USA)
My Fair Zombie (Canada)
Nightmare Box (USA/UK)
Pinup Dolls on Ice (Canada)
Project London (USA)
Road to Hell (USA)
Sick: Survive the Night (Canada)
Squid Man (USA)
Official International Feature Film Selections
Judas Ghost (UK)
The Squad (“Zveno,” Federation of Russia)
On Air (Germany)
The Tiger Mask (Japan)
Wrath of the Crows (Italy)
Official Short Film Selections
Agophobia (Canada)
Attack of the Killer Bees (USA)
Ave Maria (USA)
Bloody Mary – A Tale of Revenge (Canada)
Broken Wings (Western New York)
Brothers in Arms (USA)
Burn Brightly (USA)
Depths (USA)
Desert Road Kill (USA)
The El Chupugcabra (USA)
The Family Business (USA)
The Final Five (USA)
Five Points (USA)
Follow the Leader (USA)
The Girl in the Road (Canada)
He’s Not Looking So Great (USA)
His Name is Clown Face (Western New York)
The Horizon Project (Canada)
Kin (Canada)
Kiva (Western New York)
The Liberator (USA)
Little Man of Steel (USA)
Merinthophobia: Fear of Being Bound or Tied Up (USA)
Mirror Lake (Western New York)
Motel Charlie (Canada)
One More for the Road (Canada)
The Outlaw 3: Vengeance is Mine (Western New York)
Retention (USA)
Rhythm (Western New York)
Somnium (Canada)
The Summoners (USA)
Tasha and Friends (Canada)
The Trouble I Got (Canada)
Ugliest Man in Cartoons (USA)
Undead Playground (Western New York)
Wormchild 2: Fresh Flesh (Western New York)
Wunderland (USA)
Official International Short Film Selections
The Adventures of Sheriff Kid McLain (USA/Brazil)
Apartment 15 (Italy)
Belly of the Wolf (UK)
The Birth of a Family (South Korea)
The Blow-Ins (Ireland)
Division Azul (Spain)
Environmental Pressure and Species Adaptation (South Korea)
Eugenia (Israel)
Heat (South Korea)
In(B)etween (Spain)
Kendrick: A Grim Tale of Hatred and Revenge (Austria)
Lapsus (France)
The Last Piper (Norway)
Maid of Horror (Australia)
Memory Sculptor (Japan/USA)
Micro-Time (Israel)
Model 15 (New Zealand)
One Night at the Aristo (UK)
Refugio 115 (Spain)
Tokyo Halloween Night (Japan)
Ugry Night (South Korea)
The Wild Diaries (France/USA)
Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival: www.buffalodreamsfilmfest.com
October 9, 2013
Buffalo Dreams Launches Buffalo Film Expo (BFO)
The first Buffalo Film Expo will be held on Sunday, November 3rd at the Holiday Inn Buffalo Airport, 4600 Genesee Street in Cheektowaga, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. The event, which will feature a vendors’ room and panel discussions by local film professionals, is a joint effort between Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival and local promoter Stellar Shows. Admission is only $5.00.
“Our goal is to bring as many local filmmakers and film enthusiasts from the Buffalo-Niagara-Rochester area together under one roof as possible,” says Gregory Lamberson, who co-directs Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival with Chris Scioli. “We have a large community of professional crew members, semi-pro feature filmmakers, aspiring filmmakers, craftsmen, actors and film students in Buffalo, which is one of the reasons we started Buffalo Dreams in the first place. As hard as it is to believe, we’re spread out and disconnected, except maybe for the Buffalo Niagara Film Professionals page on Facebook. With Buffalo Film Expo, we want to provide an educational forum and networking base for filmmakers of all levels of experience. We’ve made the admission low so anyone can attend.”
The first component of the expo is the vendor room, where local production companies, actors and filmmakers can represent themselves to the community, and dealers can sell DVDs, comic books and other merchandise. The second component is the panel discussions by area professionals who will take questions from the audience. Panelists and discussions scheduled so far include: Buffalo Niagara Film Commissioner Tim Clark and Operations Manager Rich Wall on working with the film commission; cinematographers Chris Santucci, Matthew Nardone and Clint Byrne on shooting for film and television; Frank Rossi and Bryan Patrick Stoyle on the business side of acting and casting; and Joel Reisnikoff on art direction and production design. All guests are contingent upon availability, and more will be added.
Interested vendors should contact buffalofilmexpo@gmail.com. Buffalo Film Expo precedes Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival, which runs Friday, November 8th – Thursday, November 14th at the Dipson Amherst Theater.
Buffalo Film Expo on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BuffaloFilmExpo
Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival:
www.buffalodreamsfilmfest.com
Buffalo Niagara Film Office:
http://www.filmbuffaloniagara.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/136028613143115/
October 1, 2013
STORM DEMON Is Out....Sort Of
http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Demon-Helman-Files-ebook/dp/B00EXC1EUG/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_kin?ie=UTF8&qid=1380633416&sr=8-1&keywords=storm+demon+lamberson
The trade paperback has an October 31st listing, but if you order it from Amazon today, you'll have it by Wednesday. As I write this, the TPB is only $8.97, a mere buck more than the e-book.
http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Demon-Jake-Helman-Files/dp/1605427462/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1380633508&sr=8-1&keywords=storm+demon+lamberson
If you use a Nook reader, for some reason B&N will not have the e-book until October 31st...
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/storm-demon-gregory-lamberson/1114986811?ean=9781605427492
It's an unfortunate mess, and I apologize to my readers, but it's neither my fault nor Medallion Press' fault; there were two separate issues with two different printers, so the date for the TPB got pushed back to Oct. 31st. Why B&N pushed the Nook edition back, I don't know. And why Amazon has print editions now (a friend of mine received his), I also don't know, All I can say is, do your best to find the book, I worked hard on it and I'm proud of it. Instead of pulling my hair out, I'm working hard on The Frenzy Wolves.
September 29, 2013
DRY BONES and THE LEGEND OF SIX FINGERS Double Feature World Premiere Reaction
Both films looked, sounded, and played well on a big screen, even though I now realize MAFAC has inferior projection to the Amherst, where we premiered Snow Shark: Ancient Snow Beast last year. I premiered Slime City Massacre at MAFAC, and the theater was half full due to a snowstorm. We ran Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival there last year with great expectations, and in fact the location doomed us. On the night of this premiere, the auditorium was only one third full. I don't take it personally, it's Buffalo. We could have gone to the Amherst, where we're holding Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival this year, but it's more expensive, and we could have gone to the Screening Room, which would have been cheaper, but the Screening Room seats fewer people. Decisions, decisions.
In any case, the audience reaction to both films was excellent. People laughed, people screamed, people may have even cried (we have tearful scenes in each film). I'm grateful to the people who showed up, because this is where the release for each film began. As the primary director of Dry Bones, I was pleased that every performance in the film was well received, and the music and all of the technical components came together beautifully. I'm thrilled for those people who worked on the film and showed up that they got to see the film for the first time with an appreciative audience.
As the producer of The legend of Six Fingers, I took the greatest personal satisfaction in the area where I contributed the most, which was to the monster itself. I never doubted Craig Lindbergh's monster face appliance would work, but Sam and I were left on our own to come up with a costume for Sam's "swamp gorilla," and there was serious question as to how our suit would look on a big screen. It looked GREAT, and Tim O'Hearn, who endured the appliance, gloves, body suit, and over-suit in August heat did a fantastic job bringing the monster to life. Sam delivered the perfect finishing touch, which was the monster's growl.
I hereby publicly congratulate Sam and Michael, and everyone who contributed to each film, on jobs well done.
On Friday, October 11th, Dry Bones plays at 6:00 pm at PollyGrind film festival in Las Vegas, and The Legend of Six Fingers plays at the Screening Room at 9:30 pm. Six Fingers will play at the Screening Room on Saturday, October 12th as well. We are investigating the possible of a unique promotion that should make these screenings a lot of fun, and cast and crew will be on hand for a Q&A after the shows.
Dry Bones plays at the Screening Room the following dates/times:
Friday, Oct. 18th at 9:00 pm
Saturday, Oct. 19th at 9:00 pm
Sunday, Oct, 20th at 5:00 pm
Tuesday, Oct. 22nd at 7:00 pm
Friday, Oct. 25th at 9:00 pm
Likewise, cast and crew will be on hand after each show to answer questions from the audience.
We are working on an additional double feature screening of both films to follow these theatrical dates, and it's possible they'll each screen at Buffalo Dreams if the schedule permits (we've received a staggering number of excellent films this year, and I believe Buffalo Dreams is poised to become the leading international film festival in the city).
If you do such things, please like Dry Bones on Facebook here -
https://www.facebook.com/drybonesmovie
- and The Legend of Six Fingers here -
https://www.facebook.com/SixFingersMovie
You can also help spread the word about Dry Bones Screening Room showings here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/631601776874081/
- and The Legend of Six Fingers' screenings here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1405146223046787/?ref=br_tf
Finally, Arick Szymecki has designed a great Dry Bones T-shirt, which can be yours for a mere $22 plus tax right here:
http://society6.com/BernhardtMorgue/Dry-Bones-debut-shirt-design_T-shirt?fb_action_ids=10202147142104932&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582#11=49&4=135
STAY DRY!
September 27, 2013
TV Finales
Back in the day of traditional sitcoms, westerns and cop shows, TV series did not have finales. The point of television was to reassure viewers that everything was hunky dory at the end of thirty or sixty minutes. HOGAN'S HEROES never went home, Gilligan stayed on his island, and Captain Kirk never completed his five year mission. Of course, these shows were cut down by ruthless network execs who had not come to fear the wrath of viewers who viewed their preferred shows as an important part of their lives. Even season ending cliffhanging hadn't come into vogue. Finales were frowned upon because they were thought to be harmful to syndication deals. THAT GIRL came close - in its last episode, after four years, Don proposed to Ann Marie. Presumably, the next season would have begun with The Wedding. At least viewers knew Ann Marie would finally get to wear a gown.
THE FUGITIVE delivered the first great series finale. After four dramatic, existential years, Dr. RIchard Kimble finally caught up to that one-armed man, who was shot and killed by Lieutenant Gerard. It was a terrific two-parter, suspenseful and thrilling, and it was the highest rated TV episode up to that time.
DARK SHADOWS suffered an abrupt cancellation, and ended with a narrator telling us what happened to all of its characters.
THE ODD COUPLE presented a hilarious finale in which Felix Unger finally won back the heart of his beloved ex-wife Gloria and re-married her in the same half hour. It was an excellent episode, presented in its regular format, before networks realized they could expand a finale and make a lot more money on commercials.
THE MARY TYLER MOOR SHOW raised the bar with its classic finale, in which everyone at MTM was fired except Ted Baxter, and the cast shared a teared filled goodbye hug. Expert writing emphasized irony any comedy over schmaltz.
ALL IN THE FAMILY had a fantastic three-part episode in which Meathead and Little Goyle moved to California, leaving A. Bunker and Dingbat alone. Fantastic writing, direction and acting, the perfect ending. Then CBS decided to bring AIF back for one more season, using the TV cliche of adding a child to the cast. ALL IN THE FAMILY's second finale featured an Archie and Edith episode foreshadowing Edith's death, and ended with an iris closing, just like silent movies did. It was sweet. And then CBS launched the spinoff, ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE, which ended its four year run with an episode in which Archie's second niece debated whether or not to renew her romance with Garry Rabinowitz, a lawyer with the firm of Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz, Rabinowitz and...what was that other name? Talk about a lion going out with a whimper.
MAUDE ended with Maude Findley winning a political office in Washington, D.C., presumably to "pilot" a new direction for the series. Not quite a finale, more like a last gasp.
BARNEY MILLER had a great three-part ending: the Twelfth Precinct closed, Barney earned the promotion he long wanted, Harris decided to quit and become a full time author (Don't do it, Harris!) and Wojo Howitz was assigned to...the K-9 Corps (a fate I borrowed for my character Tony Mace in The Frenzy War.
After four seasons, M*A*S*H delivered the goods with "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen," a powerful two and a half hour finale that eliminated the show's laugh track for good and put each of its character's through hell. This was probably the first finale to do too much. The producers preceded it with an abbreviated season in which nothing happened; maybe they should have developed some of their arcs over several episodes instead of jamming them into one finale. A noble and satisfying effort that broke ratings records.
ST. ELSEWHERE's finale was the game changer: a three-part storyline in which characters died, returned and ultimately proved to be figments of an autistic boy's imagination. Almost three decades later, this is sort of the gold standard of TV show finales. Compare it to the weak ending of HILL STREET BLUES, which most people don't even remember, let alone discuss (the precinct house burns down, but it's business as usual).
WISEGUY had an interesting format involving case arcs which lasted several episodes' today it would have been perfect as a cable TV series with 13 episode seasons. The finale for the first arc - or half season - with Ray Sharky was as good as any series finale that followed. The actual finale, at the end of its third season, wrapped up an uneven storyline in which undercover agent Vinnie Terranova finally went crazy. And then they brought it back with Steven Bauer; his finale didn't even air.
CRIME STORY ended its two year run with a three episode arc set in a fictional banana republic, with 90% of the regulars in an airplane crash. Apparently they all died.
QUANTUM LEAP ended with a one hour episode in which Samuel Becket learned he was one of several time travelers hand chosen by fate, and that he was never going home. Downer.
CHINA BEACH went for the gold: its entire third season served as a finale, set in the aftermath of the Vietnam war but intercut with storylines still set in Vietnam. Sheer genius.
TWIN PEAKS never gave us a finale, but two maddening season ending cliffhangers designed to coerce the network into renewing the show,. It worked one year, failed the next.
NEWHART feature a finale almost as revolutionary as ST. ELSEWHERE's, in which innkeeper Bob Newhart awoke from a dream in the bedroom and persona of Dr. Hartley, his character from THE BOB NEWHART SHOW, with Suzanne Pleshette in her most memorable scene. The gauntlet was thrown...bitch!
THE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF MOLLY DODD is a somewhat forgotten, yet groundbreaking in its own way, "dramady" that had a satisfying conclusion; among other things, we learned that Molly's verbose doorman was Superman.
THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW ended with the title show going off the air. It was perfect.
Most of the STAR TREK sequels had finales: Picard learned to play cards with his subordinates and we got some flash forwards to the future; Sisko learned his destiny as a spiritual being; Janeway got her crew home. I have no idea what Archer did, I gave up on ENTERPRISE after three episodes.
THE X FILES delivered the worst finale I've ever seen, wrapping up a horrible season that followed a bad season that followed a mediocre season. Fuck Chris Carter.
Not so long ago, the BATTLESTAR GALACTICA remake ended with Galactica finding home and the Galacticans sending their ragtag fleet into the sun. I loved it.
I saw the finale of BABYLON 5 but not the series, so I'm ill equipped to comment. They brought it back as several TV movies anyway.
HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET reached its climax in its eighth season, with the climax of the Kellerman storyline that tore apart the Homicide unit and marked the departures of Reid Diamond and Andre Braugher. It continued for a season with Giancarlo Esposito filling in for Braugher, and ended with an episode in which Bayliss (Kyle Secor) murdered a suspect off screen and left the unit It ended with characters repeating dialogue from the pilot. In a rare move, NBC brought the show back as a TV movie that served as a true finale: all of the characters from the show's run returned, Bayliss turned himself in to Pembleton, and Giardano died. An excellent ending to a great show.
THE WIRE gave us the perfect finale at the end of its first season. Then it was renewed. And renewed. And renewed. And renewed. Each season had a strong ending, but with the exception of season four - which followed four kids in the hood on a heartbreaking journey - none of them matched the perfection of the original.
SEINFELD's finale, in which Jerry and the gang go to prison for being mean, is sort of universally hated. I liked it.
THE SOPRANOS and LOST gave audiences the most anticipated finales, and both disappointed millions of people around the world. I liked them both, but loved neither. THE SOPRANOS was true to its characters, it jsut didn't have a climax; whether or not it featured resolution is up to the viewer. I don't mind that kind of ambiguity. I didn't hate the schmaltzy approach LOST took, but it made clear that the writers were making it up as they went along, and didn't know what they were doing - they used "the journey is the thing" as an excuse, and that's a cop out, but hey, they're all together in an afterlife!
ROME got the pink slip early in its second season, and the creators combined plans for seasons two and three and gave us a great payoff.
DEADWOOD spent its third season building to a climax that never came, and then it was cancelled. Bad on them.
THE SHIELD got it right: the climax of its penultimate season led into a season long descent into conflict and murder with its last, a heartbreaking ride for one character and a fitting end for monster cop Vic Mackey. Respect!
I haven't watched the last three seasons of DEXTER, I just read weekly episode recaps. The writing went downhill after season four (it's all about the writing, people), and the recent finale will go down as one of the worst.
And now we're upon BREAKING BAD, which reached its emotional climax in the fifth of eight episodes. This last season has been brilliant, with all of the characters coming into conflict with each other and every relationship having a payoff. The violence has been emotional as well as physical. Will Vince Gillagan and his writing team top THE SHIELD or go the way of LOST? If you can't tell this show is racing toward a tragic end game you haven't been paying attention. Take a look at the bad guy, cuz you ain't never gonna see another one like him again.
September 13, 2013
DRY BONES Trailer and Screening Dates
I think the trailer is a good representation of the uncomfortable mixture of horror and comedy in the film, which has a real Indie flavor. I busted my hump on this one and have worked on it pretty tirelessly since we wrapped production, even while producing THE LEGEND OF SIX FINGERS, planning Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival, and writing The Frenzy Wolves, the final book in my werewolf trilogy The Frenzy Cycle.
Here is the first released photo of Lilim, the succubus in the film: makeup and costume took seven hours each day.
The invitational premiere for DRY BONES and THE LEGEND OF SIX FINGERS will be held at the Market Arcade Film and Arts Center in downtown Buffalo on Thursday, September 26th. DRY BONES will have its film festival premiere at PollyGrind film festival in Las Vegas on Friday, Oct. 11th. THE LEGEND OF SIX FINGERS will have two theatrical screenings at the Screening Room Cinema Cafe in Buffalo on Friday, Oct. 11th and Saturday, October 12th at 9:30 pm. DRY BONES will have a one week engagement at the Screening Room Friday, Oct. 18th - Friday, Oct. 26th. Independent films, independent releases!
September 4, 2013
DRY BONES: Succubus Score and Poster Child
The final strokes are being added to the film, which was just accepted as an Official Selection of PollyGrind film Festival in Las Vegas (where Slime CIty Massacre won Best Film and Kealan Patrick Burke won Best Actor). I've seen the film with a complete score, and it's truly frightening.
The music is a particularly interesting aspect of this production. When Michael O'Hear hired me to write the script, I asked him if he had a title in mind. "Dem Dry Bones" is a public domain song, and he liked the sound of "Dry Bones." I latched onto that right away and made the song part of the story. That means we needed a rendition of it for the film, so I went where everyone goes for everything these days - Facebook. But I wanted something from a local musician. Artvoice film critic and supporter of the arts M. Faust put me in touch with his wife, vocalist Kelly Schutrum Faust, who put me in touch with David McCreery. Before I knew it - even while we were still shooting - I had demos for two different versions of "Dem Dry Bones" - a bouncy, traditional version for the Opening Titles, and a darker, languid version befitting a David Lynch film. Kelly performed the lead vocals on both tracks.
After listening to the dark version several times, I asked David if I could have an instrumental version; he offered to do the entire score. BAM! Showbiz works in unexpected ways. I provided David with a rough cut of the film so he could develop some themes, and as soon as I had a fine cut I pulled the trigger. I basically gave him a month to do the score, and after a week of email discussions he dove in head first. David and Kelly belong to a group called Sealcats, and he and his wife Sakura Paterniti composed the score. The files went to our editor, Phil Gallo, and I was startled to learn how quickly it was delivered. I had to wait a few days to receive a version of the film with the music.
Holy moly! The score is terrific - and terrifying. It adds a level of creepiness throughout the film I didn't expect, and really added tension to the ending. I couldn't be happier. There are certain elements to it I don't wish to spoil, but it's an impressive and original work. I've watched the film three times, and am about to watch it again.
There are some other songs in the film as well: two - "(Just Another) Just Another Cliche" and "Home" - are from one of my favorite bands, Ookla the Mok - and two - "Ordinary Man: and "Sorry Marry" - are from Giasone Italiano. "Sorry Mary" was co-created by Marcy Italiano, and is from the Johnny Gruesome rock CD. I;m thrilled to have all four songs.
Musicians from Sealcats include:
Kelly Faust – Vocals
Allan Uthman – Bass and Slide Guitar
Sakura Paternitit – Guitar and Clarinet
David McCreery – Guitar, Vocals and Keys
Musicians from Ookla the Mok are Rand Bellavia and Adam English.
September 2, 2013
Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival Update
Scioli and I made several changes when we launched this new festival: to expand the scope of programming to include science fiction, fantasy, action, thriller, animation, cult and fan films; to run for an entire week; and to use the service Without a Box for the first time, even though we needed to borrow money to pay the necessary fees. So far, every change we've made, including some others behind the scenes, is paying off. We've already received almost double the submissions we did in the past, and five weeks still remain before we close for submissions.
The regular deadline has passed, and the Late Deadline is on September 21st, just under three weeks away. After that, the WAB Extended Deadline is October 7th, but I encourage anyone who intends to submit to do so by Sept. 21, as WAB increases the fees with each deadline.
I'm thrilled with the films I've seen so far - so many! - and I know expanding our scope was the correct choice. The goal of the festival is to bring the best independent films from around the world to Buffalo, and to shine a spotlight on local filmmakers. We've received some stunning films in all genres, and some of these international films will blow attendees away. I'm also pleased by the number of animated and "family friendly" films we've received, and by the number of films from local filmmakers I don't know. I can't wait to see these on a big screen.
Visit Buffalo Dreams Fantastic Film Festival at:
http://www.binaryzero.com/buffalodreams/
Submit your film via Without a Box:
https://www.withoutabox.com/03film/03t_fin/03t_fin_fest_01over.php?festival_id=12559
