Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Opening Night At The Roxie!

I am all about supporting the 48 Hour Film Project community, so I make every effort to come to all the screenings. It Donned On Me won't be premiering "Sur Mesure: Journeys In Transpersonal Haberdashery" until Wednesday night, but I did ventured out to The Roxie for the first screening. For those who are interested in attending these screenings, I highly recommend that you get your tickets online. Luckily, I ordered my ticket earlier in the afternoon, because had I not, I would have had to stand in the rush line. It did not look like the theater sold out on opening night, but at least I was able to get a decent seat.

As I stood in line, a familiar face approached me. It was Jeff Crispi, our leading man from "Doggie Style." Jeff is looking pretty good. He shaved off 25 pounds and he's gunning for another 75. Jeff worked with Atlantis Entertainment on the film de femme film "Held At Bay." Unfortunately, the film was not turned in on time, so it won't be eligible for the major awards. However, the producers did finish it, and it did get turned in, so it was screened first. I sat with the "Held At Bay" team.

A few films stood out for me. I really enjoyed Straight To DVD's superhero flick "Will Power." This action/comedy/musical/fantasy/call it what you want to call it film made me laugh out loud. I wonder if Straight To DVD really wanted to pull the musical genre but didn't, but made one any way. It wasn't a full on musical, but it definitely had elements of one. What made this film work was its quirkiness and comic book cheeziness. I definitely give "Will Power" two thumbs up.

"Getting Weird" by How Now Brown Scary Cow also gets my vote because I really felt like I was high watching it! If we could have 3-D films, why can't we have a smell-o-vision feature where Mary Jane puffs through the screen and her MJ funes just permeate through the theater for all to enjoy? How Now Brown Cow nailed this one. They didn't just make a stoner film, it looked like they were actually stoned making it!

"Midday Serenade" by The East/West Connection also impressed me. This romantic comedy didn't have anything extravagant like special effects or crazy costumes, but it was quirky enough to keep my interest. I often find myself going off on tangents when reading a good book, so I really related to the progatonist.

The film that really stood out for me was CurlyHairedPeople's "The Greatest Holiday Story Ever Made." I was excited to come to this screening to see this team because I absolutely loved their Barbie meets The Italian Job detective/cop flick from last year. I am a big fan of CurlyHairedPeople, and they certainly did not disappoint. Their making of a holiday film had enough gags to keep me laughing throughout the whole film. Kudos to CurlyHairedPeople!

Below are the three films I voted for. As for the audience award, I must choose CurlyHairedPeople's holiday film.



“Held At Bay” - Atlantis Entertainment

Genre: Film De Femme


“Heaven Is A Place on Earth” - Proper Thought Studios

Genre: Sci Fi


“Will Power” – Straight To DVD

Genre: Superhero


“Two” – The Compost Heap

Genre: Thriller/Suspense


“Midday Serenade” – The East/West Connection

Genre: Romance


“Mataha Bar” – Zero Hour SF

Genre: Horror


“The Telegram” – Tico

Genre: Mockumentary


“Custom Framing” – No My Day Job Productions

Genre: Detective/Cop


“Getting Weird” – How Now Brown Scary Cow

Genre: Stoner Film


“Movements” – 1 Blue Spore

Genre: Drama


“Changing Tempos” – Asian Mainstream Productions

Genre: Musical


“Thunderfingers” – The Pants Production

Genre: Buddy Film


“The Greatest Holiday Story Ever Made” – CurlyHairedPeople

Genre: Holiday Film


“Night Session” – Pillybooka

Genre: Fantasy

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