Brutal stuff, indeed.

But the fact that only two-thirds of the audience managed to sit through the film didn’t seem to phase Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim. In fact, they seemed to delight in the fact that they were making their viewers uncomfortable.

“We’re used to TV where there’s not a [live] audience, Wareheim said durring a post film Q&A. “To see it with a group of people who are enjoying it, or cringing and screaming, or covering their eyes the whole time, that’s kind of amazing for me.”

Great job! (EW)

After the episode, Morgan was taken away by ambulance to the Park City Medical Center, where tests confirmed no sign of drugs or alcohol in his system. This data has rocked the scientific community.

The official word from his publicist is that Morgan suffered “from a combination of exhaustion and altitude.” Exhaustion? It’s not like he actually climbed the mountain. And I doubt he was up late catching up on Downton Abbey.  (TMZ)

This horror film is drawing rave reviews which means it must have a gimmick. Shot on the cheap as one continuous take, Silent House is a horror tale told in real time. Which means the viewer is essentially front row center as the main character spends the film trying to escape while more and more terrifying mysteries are brought into light. The film was sold to Lionsgate for $2 million after building good buzz at Sundance. That may not seem like a lot of profit in movie terms but keep in mind, they didn’t need to hire an editor.

I’m also curious about the movie itself. Evan Godall wrote, directed, co-starred, co-edited and co-produced Bellflower, so I’m guessing Godall isn’t passionate about the film in the slightest. Here’s the synopsis:

Bellflower follows two friends who spend their time building flamethrowers and other weapons in the hope that a global apocalypse will occur and clear the runway for their imaginary gang, Mother Medusa, to reign supreme. While waiting for the destruction to commence, one of them meets a charismatic young woman and falls in love—hard. Quickly integrating into a new group of friends, the pair set off on a journey of betrayal, love, hate, and extreme violence more devastating than any of their apocalyptic fantasies.

Sounds promising. Although the teaser makes it seem they’re in an actual post-apocalyptic world, not just a fantasy, and that last sentence makes me think it’ll be more about the relationship than battling dudes on motorcycles. Still, Bellflower is now officially on my radar Drive, Medusa. Drive…

Some of them, however, were gone well before the end credits. In addition, enough regular audience members left early for one observer to describe it as an “exodus.”

The negative response went beyond the walkouts. One viewer’s attempt to begin applause after the lights came up drew almost no takers.

God, I’d love to see an interview with that one guy who started clapping. Maybe it was Tracy Morgan. Maybe he was shirtless.

In response to police corruption, the private detective business has become increasingly common in India. The Bengali Detective follows the life of detective Rajesh Ji, who, along with his ragtag team of assistants, investigates cases ranging from counterfeit hair products to a brutal triple murder. When Rajesh is not sleuthing, he has big dreams of competing on a televised national talent show, so he and his detective gang form a dance troupe—which must be seen to be believed—and rehearse for their big audition.

So it’s a musical documentary about a dance troupe in India who solve mysteries. That sounds really cool! I’d love to watch– oh, a remake. Well, that sounds OK too, I guess. No details yet on whether the remake is going to be another documentary (unlikely), or a fictional treatment of the same material. (SlashFilm)

“Yes, anybody can make a movie,” Smith said after the premiere. “We know that now. We know that because I’ve made ten, you know what I’m saying? That means anybody can make a f*cking movie. What we aim to prove is that anybody can release a movie now as well. It’s not enough to make it and sell it now, I’m sorry.”

I like Kevin Smith. Of his ten films, there are probably only two that I would ever sit through again. But I’ve always admired his success, even if I haven’t always admired the finished product. And I certainly hope that he’s successful in his endeavor. After all, why would anyone outside of Hollywood be upset if he found a way to beat the studios at their own game? But the idea that what Smith is trying to do is somehow applicable to small, independent filmmakers is complete nonsense.

Let’s look at Smith’s plan, or as he calls it, “Indie 2.0.” Red State cost $4 million to make. Rather than sell the film to a studio, which would then spend upwards of $20 million on marketing, Smith is going to generate publicity with a fifteen-city cross-country tour that will begin in March. Without spending any money on advertising, he will rely solely on his popular Podcast and his 1.7 million Twitter followers to get the word out. If all goes well on the tour, Smith will have recouped the initial $4 million, and everything afterward will be pure profit. He will then attempt to cut a deal directly with theater owners for a nationwide release on October 19th, the anniversary of the Clerks release.

Clearly, this could work for Smith, and I wish him the best. But how does this situation translate to an aspiring filmmaker? The simple answer is that it doesn’t.

Smith loves to say that if he can make 10 films, anyone can make one. I get the point he’s trying to make, but the fact of the matter is that it’s a lot easier to get a film made once you’ve already been successful. This is even more true of distribution. Because of his past success and his built in followers, he may be able to buck the studio system. But most aspiring filmmakers don’t have millions of twitter followers. Most aspiring filmmakers don’t have a popular Podcast. And if your average aspiring filmmaker wants to launch a nationwide tour, he better have some rich parents.

I understand his frustration with the cost of marketing. Why should a movie that costs $4 million need to make $50 million to turn a profit? But unless you’re Smith, and you have alternative methods at your disposal, what are your options? You either sell to the studios, or watch your film wallow in obscurity.

Of course, if he’s successful, Smith plans on leveraging his strategy to help other filmmakers. Getting his fans to turn out for his own films is one thing. Getting them to turn out for at unknown filmmaker is a whole different ballgame, but not impossible. Regardless, the filmmaker is still reliant on Smith’s clout. In a sense, they are simply trading the studios for Silent Bob. While that might not be a bad thing, it’s a far cry from Smith’s vision of a world where anyone can successfully self-distribute. That world will never exist.

Smith is promising early screenings in multiple cities, along with his trademark Q & A sessions to follow. He’s also promised to brin Red State star Michael Parks along as well, and has hinted at some vague “cool shit” in addition. But, it’s going to cost you. Smith has said that the tickets will cost somewhere in the ballpark of “probably 6, 7, maybe 10 times” the price of a regular movie admission. Let’s hope that “cool shit” includes an iPad, or a Pruis.

Kevin Smith‘s “Red State USA Tour” Dates:

March 5th – Radio City Music Hall
March 6th – Wilbur Theater in Boston
March 8th – Harris Theater in Chicago
March 9th – State Theater in Minneapolis
March 10th – Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor
March 11th – Indianapolis, IN
March 12th - Midland Theater, Kansas City
March 14th – Springfield, OH
March 22nd – Paramount Theater, Denver
March 26th - McCalister theater, New Orleans
March 28th – Paramount Theater, Austin
March 29th – Cobb Energy Center, Atlanta

April 4th – McCaw Hall in Seattle

(Slashfilm)

Based on the Warren Zevon song, Hit Somebody (The Hockey Song), the story is about an insanely passionate hockey player named Buddy who gets his chance play professional hockey for the World Hockey Association, but as an enforcer. The movie tells the story of a hockey enforcer who strives to score just one goal in a hockey game. The film adaptation will be set in the late 1970s right before the World Hockey Association was absorbed into the NHL, “during the last gasp of the goon era of hockey when it was all about fighting.”

It reminds me of this hilarious joke that I just made up: “I was watching a fight and out of nowhere a hockey game broke out!” Ha! Anyway, on Twitter, Kevin Smith revealed that Michael Parks and John Goodman will be playing Buddy’s coaches at various points in his hockey career. He said some other stuff too but as usual I can’t tell what the hell he’s talking about. (via SlashFilm)

Anyway, this clip is from Michael Barnett’s Sundance documentary Superheroes. It’s in an exploration into the culture of real-life vigilantes and real-life people who want to make a difference by dressing up as Slipknot. I can understand wanting to move out of Detroit, but if your real goal is to fight crime it seems like that’s the place to be. Sure, your bike might get stolen in Brooklyn, but they’ll steal the eyeballs right out of your head in Detroit. And that’s just the police I’m talking about.

“Umm, I just wanted to fight crime so I came to Brooklyn because I, umm, figured, like, there would be some there.” Quick question, did this guy name himself ‘Lucid’ ironically? Because we already have enough ironic people in Brooklyn thanks much. (MTV)

It looks like TimeCrimes will get an English-language redux, three years after the Spanish film grabbed a cult following at Sundance. It now appears that Dreamworks will revive a script written under the supervision of Stephen Zaillian, who had been on as producer during an earlier iteration of the English-language version. But the backstory doesn’t stop there, folks.

The befallen United Artists had originally commissioned the remake, but after going by the wayside, Dreamworks has stepped in with many of the old pieces intact, namely, Zaillian and the script. In fact, Zaillian will be handling the rewrite. Cue the end of the boring part of this story.

The story of TimeCrime is essentially: A man finds a girl in the woods. He follows her to a place where he gets zapped back in time one hour. A bunch of stuff then happens, but none of it is suitable to tell, because it’s all part of the surprise, or at least so says the internet, which I always believe. While the concept sounds gimmicky, Spanish cinema has proven to be quite adept at spinning convoluted stories into something great, so let’s go ahead and get cautiously optimistic. With an emphasis on “cautiously,” as no one is attached and no timeline for development is given. At the very least, they’re working with a title that’s pretty fun to say. (/Film)

Reitman will be joined by critic Todd McCarthy, Kimberly Pierce, cinematographer Tim Orr, and Ugly Betty will oversee the U.S. Dramatic Jury. Groening is on the U.S. Documentary Jury with directors Jeffrey Blitz and Laura Poitras, producer Jess Search and editor Sloane Klevin. The Host direct Bong Joon-ho, Susanne Bier, and MOMA curator Rajendra Roy make up the World Dramatic Jury.

So, if your film is in competition at Sundance, you now know who to buy shots for. (Sundance)

The feature length film — cut from over 4,500 hours of footage sent in by participants from 192 countries — will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27. It will be concurrently be live-streamed on youtube.com/lifeinaday at 6 p.m. MT.

Among the film’s numerous subjects are a Russian freerunner touring Moscow on foot and a Korean man who has been riding a bicycle around the world for nine years. Personally, I’d love to see a rundown of footage rejected by the filmmakers, which I’m assuming includes hours upon hours of such beloved YouTube fare as crippling nutshots, awe-inspiring face plants, and obese people running into things on Segways. (/Film)

What’cha, what’cha, what’cha want, Elijah Wood, Danny McBride, Will Ferrell, and Jack Black? Oh, to star in a short film based on the Beastie Boys‘ 1987 music video (You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party). Adam Yauch, Beastie/movie producer, will write and direct the film entitled Fight For Your Right Revisited. The aforementioned comedy crew, in addition to John C. Reilly, will play the dicks who crash the righteous party.

According to JoBlo, the short film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January and the synopsis posted on the festival’s official website describes the film thusly: “After the boys leave the party…” Ooooo, how cryptic. It’s almost as if anything could happen, though foul language and shouting is almost a certainty. I don’t think Danny McBride signs on to projects unless he can use several synonyms for the word “penis.”