The Suicide Game

Cashiers du Cinemart contributor Andrew Rausch has a new book out. It's his first swag at fiction. I had the pleasure of reading a copy of this back in February and it blew me away! It's a riveting tale of seedy characters that rivals Elmore Leonard. Pick up a copy today!

Mario - The Independent Film

Cashiers du Cinemart 16

Let 2011 be known as The Revenge of Print, an effort began in Baltimroe to put an end to the rumors that print is dead. Scores of zinesters have answered the call, putting out a new issue of zines long since put down -- just like Cashiers du Cinemart. After four years, there's a fresh CdC in town.

100 pages
ISBN: 978-1-60543-584-8
Cover Art: Stephen Blickenstaff

There are two versions of Cashiers du Cinemart #16 available -- an old school photocopied version and a print-on-demand high-gloss version. Order one or the other (or both) today.

Polished:

Old School:

 

Author	Article
Skizz Cyzyk	Film Festival X is a Scam A warning to the naive filmmaker
Mike Malloy	These Massacres Could Have Been Avoided A study of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise
Andrew Rausch	The Sound of Thunder An interview with Heywood Gould about Rolling Thunder
Kyle Barrowman	Identity & Arnie A response to Pat Bishow's piece in Cashiers du Cinemart 13
Ralph Elawani	Maple Syrup Porn Dirty movies from the Great White North
Mike Sullivan	Like Watching a Laurel & Hardy Short Seen Through a Fog of Deep Depression An interview with Adam Resnick (Cabin Boy, Death to Smoochy, etc.)
Rich Osmond	Rural Mayhem: Georgia Peaches A review of the classic TV movie
Chris Cummins	Breaking Glass: The Experience is Shattering A review of the punk rock classic
David MacGregor	Thank the Pig An appreciation of Babe 2: Pig in the City
Dion Conflict	Heaven or Vegas: A Sin City Sleeper A review of Gregory C. Haynes's film
Jef Burnham	The Monster in the Gelatin A look at Reindeer Games
Karen Lillis	Downtown 2001: A review essay of Downtown 81 Life in NYC in the early 2000s
Mike White	Death on the Highway: Killer Cars Driving down the highway to hell
Mike White	Love Not Given Lightly The cinema of domination and the domination of cinema
Mike White	Documenting the Scene BDSM in the movies
Joshua Gravel & Mike White	Video Reviews A bunch of movie reviews
Mike White	Book Reviews Yes, books still matter

Polished:

Old School:

 

Guest on Cinemafantastique Podcast

I was invited to be a guest on the Cinemafantastique podcast this week. The price I had to pay was watching Final Destination V. Okay, it wasn't that bad of a movie... but I'll let you listen to the podcast and hear what Dan Persons and I had to say.

Listen to the episode here.

Get Down to it, Boppers!

One of my favorite magazines, Paracinema needs your help:

In the summer of 2007 the idea for Paracinema Magazine blossomed and was fostered by a naive “let’s just do it” attitude. By that fall it was a reality; our first issue was printed. It wasn’t perfect and it wasn’t exactly how we envisioned it, but it was ours and we loved it. Over the years our incredibly loyal readers enabled us to learn from our mistakes and keep printing new issues, each one better than the last. If you count yourself as one of those readers (new or old) allow us to thank you. Without your support there wouldn’t be a Paracinema Magazine. If you’re not yet a reader of Paracinema we hope you’ll give us a try in the future. Each issue is a labor of love, every article featured is written by someone with an immense passion for movies. If you share even a fraction of that passion and you’re not reading Paracinema, you’re seriously missing out.

Recently we’ve been given the opportunity to expand; of course it’s not as simple as it sounds. Being a labor of love (read: usually in the red) our budget is quite tight. So we’re proposing a bit of a fundraiser. Think of it as a donation, but instead of a tote bag you get a sweet Warriors shirt out of the deal. We know times are tough (believe me) so if you can’t afford the shirt, please, please, please help us spread the word by sharing the link everywhere you can. We want to sell all of the shirts, which shouldn’t be too difficult given the amount we have. Thank you in advance!

Visit http://paracinema.net/help/

My Year with Gunnar Björnstrand

My first film class at school had me studying under Professor Herbert Cohen. We covered the basics (Kane, Potemkin, etc), yes, but we also watched a whole heck of a lot of Ingmar Bergman films -- especially those with Gunnar Björnstrand.

I'm not sure when I realized it, but Cohen was writing a book about Bergman (Ingmar Bergman: The Art of Confession) and using our class as a bit of an excuse to re-watch/study a number of Bergman's films, focusing quite a bit on movies with Gunnar Björnstrand, one of Bergman's stock players.

I'm going to take a page from Cohen's book. Not the one about Bergmen but I'm going to do the same thing in the coming months/weeks. I've been asked to come aboard as a writer at DailyGrindhouse.com and I'm going to be reviewing some movies that I've been wanting to write about in a larger context:

• The films of Alfred Sole
• The films of Oldrich Lipsky
• The films of Jean-Pierre Melville
• Elliot Gould/Donald Sutherland '70s films
• The films of Greydon Clark
• Films related to the above
• Stuff I've been wanting to write about

I'm also going to be delving into some horror spoofs from the early '80s. Wish me luck.

More than anything, I'm hoping this kicks my butt into gear with some writing I've been wanting to do outside of Cashiers du Cinemart #16. I'm off to the races.

Big Week on The Projection Booth

This week we've got two new episodes of The Projection Booth podcast.

On the weekly show we discuss Tapeheads and feature interviews with producer Peter McCarthy and director Bill Fishman. We're joined by special guest Skizz Cyzyk -- a true video ace.

Our special edition speaks to Captain America -- the 2011 Joe Johnston release as well as the 1990 Albert Pyun film. We've even got an interview with Pyun about the film. We're joined by fellow Jackalope jockey Josh Hadley.

The episodes are available now via iTunes, Stitcher, or our website - http://www.projection-booth.com

Paul Williams in Ape Makeup on Carson

Years ago Leon Chase asked the world for a glimpse of Paul Williams in his ape make-up on The Tonight Show in his story All the Good Guys and the Bad Guys that I've Been.

Williams, for his part as Virgil, the amiable orangutan companion, manages to look eerily like himself behind the makeup, and does a decent job of walking awkwardly and saying wise things at appropriate moments. He doesn't break any ground dramatically; then again, the Apes movies aren't exactly known for their understatement. More intriguing than the movie itself is the fact that, after one particularly long day of shooting, Paul was scheduled to make one of his many appearances on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show." Not wanting to miss it, and always up for a good laugh, Paul arranged to sing a surprise, romantically lit version of one of Johnny's favorite songs... in full ape makeup.

Here you go, Leon.

Blue Water Film Festival announces the finalists for the 3rd annual film festival.

Port Huron, Mich., July 31, 2011 - The Blue Water Film Festival (BWFF) has announced the official selections of the 2011 festival.

The festival asks for film submissions each year and they are received from all over the state of Michigan and the Sarnia-Lambton area.

The Blue Water Film Festival will highlight short films, full length features and documentaries.

The 2011 Official Selections of the Blue Water Film Festival (In Alphabetical Order)

• Always Elsewhere...Zachary Blosser...Ypsilanti
• Awake...Alex Grossfeld...Berkley
• Being From Another Planet...Joseph Parcell...Okemos (Shot in Marine City & Richmond)
• The Bicyclist...Oren Goldberg...Detroit
• Bullies on Vacation...Michael Zago...East Grand Rapids
• Certain Essential Elements...Jennifer Atanasovski & Jeffery T. Schultz...Detroit
• Clean Break...Ryan Lieske...Byron Center
• The Dancer...Seth Stark...Troy
• Defying Deletion...Andre N. Anton...West Bloomfield
• Melody...Devin Polaski...St. Clair
• My Friend Peter...Steve Kopera...Ann Arbor
• Protangeline...Scott A. Galeski...Wyandotte
• Pink Lines...Mike Madigan...Troy
• Regional Roots...Carrie LeZotte...Detroit
• Scents & Nonsense...Benjamin Dell...Ann Arbor
• Strong From Detroit...Jeremy Olstyn...Berkley
• World Of Art...Mike Allore...Oakland Township (Portions shot in Port Huron)

Kelly Kennedy, the Film Selection Committee's Chairperson for the Blue Water Film Festival states, ""As the Blue Water Film Festival enters its third annual year, we continue to be amazed at the unbelievable talent emerging from our State's independent filmmakers." She continues "We are thrilled and very proud to present a compelling program that gives these gifted filmmakers an opportunity to feature their outstanding films. We look forward to providing our community and the entire State of Michigan with the chance to see everything from comedies and dramas to documentaries and even a couple of puppets!"

Dave Coulier, star of televisions "Full House" will kick off the Blue Water Film Festival with a Stand Up comedy show on Thursday, October 6, 2011.

The Official Selections of the Blue Water Film Festival will play on Saturday, October 8, 2011.

Executive Director Jeremy Stemen proclaims that Friday nights event "will be something that will certainly impress all residents of the city of Port Huron, the Blue Water Area, the state, and beyond."

The annual The Blue Water Film Festival strives to bring movies, movie stars and movie makers to Port Huron. The movies shown at the festival are diverse and enjoyable to people of all ages. For one week a year our community has the opportunity to see the stars of tomorrow in Port Huron today.