After a hiatus of about a month, The Joneses cast and crew reassembled for our final major shoot at the River Merrimac Bar & Grille in Newburyport. The end for us was truly bittersweet, and I can honestly say making this movie has been the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life. I know Stacey would agree. And I hope it has been meaningful to all our friends, old and new, who have been involved with the movie. While this isn't my final movie blog (far from it!), saying goodbye to this phase of the movie, to seeing Mitch & Suzanne one final time in a scene playing out in front of me...these characters that Stacey & I invented four years ago...well, it's all very emotional. Or, as Jim would say so eloquently, "boobies on my face."
The people at the River Merrimac were so great to us, even when we had to reschedule at the last minute, and we are so grateful to their generosity. It is a beautiful restaurant, and out of all the ones we saw when scouting, it was absolutely the best choice for a romantic dinner setting. What turned out to be a bonus was how nice the people were, and we really appreciate them for it! We also had members of the press there to do a story on us, which was a lot of fun.
Stacey and I (rewriting up until the last minute, as usual) came up with some killer changes before she and Jim rehearsed a final time on Sunday. By Tuesday night, they were rarin' to go. We had Stacey & Jim, and my friend Rob taking over the role of (Buddy the) Waiter as cast, and Mark, Rajah, Maura, Michael, Lou, and me on crew--all showing up on a late Tuesday night, because they knew how important both the scene and the shoot were. And I couldn't have asked for a better night to end on.
No extras showed up, but we worked it to our advantage--setting the stage right by the fireplace which looked beautiful. I had a lot of fun convincing Rob he had to wear the cupid hat as the waiter, and I brought everyone else in on the joke, so he was quite perplexed that we all thought it would work for the scene. Just some light hazing. As it was he did a great job in the scene, and it was good having him there.
Rajah got some really great shots throughout the night, and he even learned to love the one that showed Suzanne in the window and Mitch in the foreground--a very arty, dynamic two-shot. I was so lucky that night to have Lou, Michael, Maura & Mark on crew with me, because we've worked together so much, we've got a great shorthand and it was great to be able to share our final night of production with them.
And then there were Jim & Stacey. The dinner scene is all about performance, a culmination of their characters' entire journey, everything that is wicked and human about Mitch & Suzanne coming to a head in a date that goes very wrong. I love watching these two work and during this scene, they were as brilliant as ever. I'd say even more so. It's been so great watching the characters evolve over time, and I'm so glad we saved this scene for last because it has every ounce of oomph it needs to sell the final chapter of the story.
I had so little direction for both Jim & Stacey that night, because they just didn't need it, which is amazing considering they did the full five page scene, from start to finish, over and over again (from many different angles). It was just one of those scenes where you set up great shots, and then sit back and watch the characters burst to life, feeding off each other's energy, and playing out this verbal tennis match with crazy intensity. I just smiled from ear to ear in front of the monitor. Though I desperately did not want to wrap Mitch & Suzanne, if we were going to wrap The Joneses, I couldn't have asked for a better scene to go out on--not with a whimper but a bang. Well, actually we shot that scene on the Cape.
So, Jim & Stacey, I am so proud of the excellent work you did on this movie and you deserve to be too. Goodbye, Mitch and Suzanne. But to me, the two of you will always be a little bitchy and dicky.
This movie will be amazing because of so many elements, and because of the efforts of so many talented people giving their best work to make it great. Again, our final shoot was made so terrific because of the wonderful River Merrimac, the outstanding performances, the beautiful shots, and an awesome director, who is me.
Neil Marshall's career in the action-horror genre has been increasing along with the success of his last two films, Dog Soldiers and The Descent. But the tame box offices sales and quick release to DVD of his most recent film, Doomsday, could be seen as something of a setback. But not necessarily: these types of dystopian future punk flicks generally don't receive much immediate widespread appeal at first until they reanimated from seeming death by a rabid cult audience. Think Mad Max, Escape from New York, and The Warriors.
But then again, it's impossible to watch Doomsday and not think of those films.
A viral outbreak has left Scotland quarantined and its inhabitants left to become a savage mix of tribal society and future technology. Thirty years since confinement, an elite group must go back into the heart of this wasteland to retrieve a cure for the disease before it spreads to the general population. Everything from mohawked marauders to a bit of anachronistic medieval knights inhabit this no-man's land. Of course, there is plenty of car chases and gratuitous gore delivered along the way.
The way that this movie often portrays itself as a heavy handed homage to these very genre films seems to have initially stunted the appeal of its release as an unimaginative draw back, though it doesn't need to be. Fans of these types of films will get a real kick out of spotting these (very intentional, as the audio commentary explains) references to the classics of the genre. And it does a mighty fine job at this, never seeming to parody itself, yet not taking itself too seriously.
Less exciting is the feeling of the movie being a retread through more recent British viral apocalypse films, such as 28 Days Later or Children of Men. Seen as an update of a classic genre, Doomsday works; seen as cash-in on a recent trend, the film does little that's new.
Either way, the movie is fun to watch if you're willing to let these issues of originality take a back seat. The DVD release comes with several features that give a little behind the scenes insight into how they achieved such a level of gore and explosive violence within a relatively limited budget.
Utterly confusing is the DVD's claim to feature “2 movies in 1” since it runs both the theatrical version and the unrated version. This is only true if you consider a 4 minute difference in running time to be a different film. I'm as big of a fan of additional risque gore scenes as anybody, but these extra minutes don't deliver that either, but instead add a bit of character development.
And while Doomsday may not significantly add to Neil Marshall's overall career development, if he manages to establish himself as a widely respected action-horror director with his future releases, then maybe Doomsday will get the proper revisits that it deserves. It's a fun, action packed genre film, which is exactly what it wants to be.
Stygified finally got to do a live cybercast ,Friday August 1st on The Streets of Portland.After 2 cancellations from water damage we managed to crank out a well paced set of original hard rock/metal.Conrad Lausier{drums},Tom MacDonald{guitar},Arthur Baker{bass} and myself Phil Lambert{guitar/vocals} felt that this gig was the best way to show the world where we are at. It was a blast!!!!!! We would like to thank Chris and Walter @ SOP for all the help.They did a great job.The show will be streaming on http://www.msplinks.com/MDFodHRwOi8vd3d3LnNvcG1lZGlhLm5ldC8= for the next week.Please feel free to watch it 24/7.
Experienced actress sought for lead role of "Danielle" in one-act play Millies: Playing With A Movie -- the story of a troubled group of millgirls who return from 1912 to convince a bankrupt, thirtysomething millowner (Danielle) that *her* future is affecting *their* past. This brief play is a simple stage adaptation of scenes from the writer-director's feature film MILLIES being shot in 2009, and is a unique opportunity to work with the film's writer/director for two special events.
Actress MUST look 30-40 age range and be available for all September performances in Lawrence MA: 3 shows at Bread & Roses Festival on Labor Day (9/01/08) and 8 shows throughout Trails & Sails Weekend (9/26/08-9/28/08). Excellent opportunity to showcase your talents and experience to both live and potential online audiences via promotional avenues through the film production's numerous marketing resources.
Please visit www.MilliesMovie.com for more backstory, and send headshot/resume ASAP to Lorre Fritchy, Director, MILLIES, film@milliesmovie.com.
I have done my best to have a sense of humor about this site.....
To make fun of the factthat after my very first blog..... Lindsay BLACKLISTED ME!
I truly, honestly, wanted to believe that SHE was joking, having fun, etc.....
But the simple fact that after 31 Blogs..... over 21,000 views.....
I DON'T EVEN RATE AS A SELECTED BLOGGER..... Those in charge here REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE ME!
I did everything that I could to be entertaining.... Funny... Informative... & talk about the Hollywood & the New england film community.
I seriously believe that quite a few people ENJOYED READING MY WHACKY BLOGS about life in Hollywood and the difficulty of breaking into show biz here, on the east coast.... But I will never know.
ONLY THOSE SPECIAL FEW...... THAT FIT INTO "The Beanywood Plan" seem to be Hi-lighted here on Beanywood.
This very EXCLUSIONARY ATTITUDE... AND PETTY POWER PLAYS IS EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO WARN PEOPLE ABOUT HERE FROM DAY ONE...
Beanywood (and the many people I have tried to contact about film work out here) seem to be mimicking ALL THE VERY WORST TRAITS OF WHAT'S WRONG WITH HOLLYWOOD!
This is why I left Hollywood after 12 long, hard, soul sucking, heart wrenching years and gave up and came home a COMPLETE BROKEN LOSER OF A MAN!
EGO'S... ATTITUDES... BIG MOUTHS... RAMPANT MEDIOCRITY... PETTINESS... JEALOUSY... FEAR... PHONINESS... HATRED... All abound here on the east coast and in the Film making community. It saddens me and truly Breaks my heart to see this happening here.
I have valuable information and real life stories... DIRECTLY FROM HOLLYWOOD... and I was just trying to pass this information on to THE GOOD, TALENTED AND DECENT PEOPLE OUT HERE ON THE EAST COAST.....
But it seems like it's all been in Vain and I can't even get started again in show business out here because of so many peoples PRETENTIOUS ATTITUDES AND HATRED TOWARDS MYSELF!
I truly believe that I haven't been able to make a dent in Production work out here and meet decent filmmakers because so many people out here... are just PLAIN JEALOUS OF ME AND THE FACT THAT I AM ONE OF THE RARE FEW PEOPLE THAT HAS ACTUALLY LIVED AND WORKED IN HOLLYWOOD!
And to make matters even worse..... now every time I log on to Beanywood.......
ITS FULL OF RACIST CRAP THAT HAS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO DO WITH NEW ENGLAND FILM MAKING!!
What the hell is going on here people?????
WHY HAS THIS BECOME A PERSONAL FORUM ON RACISM IN AMERICA?????
WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT IS MENTIONING THIS???
AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT FEELS THIS WAY?
AM I THE ONLY ONE THAT CARES ENOUGH TO GO OUT ON A LIMB AND SPEAK MY MIND OPENLY AND HONESTLY ABOUT THESE DISTURBING THINGS???
HAVE I GONE CRAZY OR IS THIS DUDE POSTING THE WRONG BLOG ON THE WRONG SITE????
HELL YA.... THIS COUNTRY IS A RACIST COUNTRY...... THE POWERS THAT BE DESIGNED IT THIS WAY SO THAT WHILE "WE THE PEOPLE" ALL ARGUE AND BICKER AND HATE EACH OTHER FOR ALL THE STUPID, WRONG, PETTY REASONS..... THOSE IN CHARGE CAN ROB US ALL BLIND AND RAPE THIS COUNTRY OF EVERY LAST GOOD THING THAT USED TO EXIST HERE.........
ITS SAD..... BUT TRUE......... AND MAKES ME SO SAD...... BUT THIS AINT THE DAMN PLACE TO BE POSTING ALL THIS CRAP!!!!
HOW IRONIC AM I?????... I SHOULDN'T BE POSTING THIS CRAP EITHER!
I'M AN IDIOT!
BUT AT LEAST I UNDERSTAND THAT I'M AN IDIOT AND SHOULDN'T BE POSTING THIS CRAP HERE!
I hope some of you decent, creative people out there are living your dreams and enjoying your lives!
Rock on........ Bon Scott says Hello.
From your Deranged..... and yet, amazingly still happy and friendly X-Hollywood Reject..... Craig Amabello
PS: Don't forget to check out my INSANE VLOGS ON YOUTUBE!
