I want my Ten Inch Hero...
Ok - the title is a little risque'... but it has a meaning. And a good one too. I went to the Florida ART Film Festival up in Gainesville this weekend. My primary purpose was to see the movie, Ten Inch Hero. (see the trailer below). I went because I had heard about this movie that Jensen Ackles and Sean Patrick Flanery was going to be in and I'm a big fan of both. Also, this movie does not yet have a distributor - therefore, it won't be shown in theaters or be distributed on DVD until a company decides to do that. It had only been shown in Vancouver and in Los Angeles, so I thought - what an opportunity to be able to see a film like that... just in case it didn't come to theaters or DVD. Plus... I just *had* to see Jensen in a kilt. LOL!
So I drove up to Gainesville and really just didn't know how things were going to be. I didn't know if there were going to be tons of people there, or if I would be one of like 10 giddy fan-girls watching this movie. Well, we went to Gator Cinemas - a regular theater - and it was probably about 60% full. Yes - the giddy fan girls were there... they were down near the front. =D
So the movie started and I was just enamoured from start to finish... well... ok, there was a part in there that just didn't need to be there... and I fear it may cause issues with distribution - but maybe it can be edited into a Director's Cut and a PG-13 version. But other than that - I just LOVED this movie. I won't go into the story-line - I don't want to ruin it... but it was fantastic. I will definitely be buying it as soon as it comes out (and I have faith that it will).
The director and producer were there and had a Q&A session afterwards - which was just so cool. I'm so fascinated with the behind the scenes stuff... they were talking about where the scenes were filmed, how they did this or that, the artist that was used for the murals, the musicians... funny stuff that happened on set... and the challenges of Priestly's hair. =D
Here's the trailer:
Did you like it? Do you want to see that in the theaters? Go here and sign this petition: http://www.youchoose.net/campaign/ten_inch_hero
I didn't stay to talk to anyone that night... but ended up going to see the films on Saturday. That was a little bit of an adventure. I went to the late showing (since I'm on this third shift thing) and got there about 15 minutes early (was hard to find) and noticed there were about 3 people standing outside. About 10 minutes before the show started, I headed in. They said, sit near the left side. So I went into the theater and, I have to admit that its about the oldest theater in Gainesville!! LOL! The chairs were pretty rickety and it was very small.
(that was IT... oh, and the four rows of 4 seats in the section where I was)
So I'm sitting there and the usher (Casey) comes in and says, there's a couple of people coming from far away and they're running late - do you mind if we hold off on showing the film until they get here? What could I say? I was the only one there! So I said sure, no problem! So they arrived and, in total, we had about 7 people for the first 3 films (there were 4 total). The first film was a short one - about 15-20 minutes long, and was basically a home video documenting some protests on the war in Iraq. It was horribly edited. They would fade in way too slow - we'd barely catch what the people were saying (they have microphones that work with home video cameras, people!) and then fade out just as we were getting what they were saying. I have no idea what side they were on... or if they were just making a point that the protests were out there. They would flash keywords from the conversations people were having - but again, I was lost on their point. The second film was about a man documenting his father's life... it was cute and well put together. The third film was more professional looking - was sponsored by Costa Del Mar - and was about whether or not there were still wild areas of Florida. The guys spent 30 days driving all over Florida looking... they spent a lot of time fishing with some of the people featured on TV and even headed over to the Dry Tortugas. It was great scenery and I'd actually see that one again. Only one flaw - they had blank spots in between each segment - those needed to be shorter or cut out altogether. Other than that, it was really great.
So here I am, sitting there (this was now 2 hours into it - 7 pm - the showing was supposed to last until 10 pm) and I was thinking, wow - each time the film got better and better. So this last film should be GREAT! We had an intermission and during that time, I got to talking to the girls in front of me. One of them had driven in from Tampa to see TIH and was a huge Supernatural fan. We had a great conversation and it was nice to talk to someone who was a fan of the show as much as I was! She was actually at a convention (I think the one in Chicago?) and told me her thoughts about that. She is going to the EyeCon one in Orlando in April but really didn't want to. We exchanged information (myspace pages and emails) and the next movie started.
The premise of the main film was a documentary about the making of this play - a play that started to be written Sept 12, 2001 - immediately after 9/11. And I will tell you - those people were STRANGE. They were just ODD. And I know Gainesville is full of people that think like that - free spirits and all - but wow. To really see just a glimpse into their minds was scary. I won't even go into all they talked about (I'll just say that we had everything from people playing Satan and God, to people talking about bodily functions) and we finally (painfully) got to the point of the story (at least, what I thought was the point). The play was confusing... I *think* they were protesting the war... but they were hired to play at a patriotic rally on Sept 11, 2002. Right smack dab in the middle of bag pipers, videos celebrating the heroes (firefighters) and the Dave Matthews Band. So, after an hour of them ranting and doing stuff like - yeah, BURNING THE FLAG - people finally were fed up with it. They started yelling at the actors - the actors started yelling back. It really started to get a little crazy... and the actors were escorted off the stage. The point of the movie? That censorship is alive in America. It was unbelievable. I'm still trying to figure it all out. Uggh. Left a bad taste in my mouth.
Based on that, I didn't return for the showings on Sunday. I'm already over on my mileage on my car and it's a 35 min drive up and 35 min back... just didn't feel it was worth it.
Being my first Independent Film Festival, it was a good experience. Will I do it again - sure! But I sure hope they have better entries next time!
So I drove up to Gainesville and really just didn't know how things were going to be. I didn't know if there were going to be tons of people there, or if I would be one of like 10 giddy fan-girls watching this movie. Well, we went to Gator Cinemas - a regular theater - and it was probably about 60% full. Yes - the giddy fan girls were there... they were down near the front. =D
So the movie started and I was just enamoured from start to finish... well... ok, there was a part in there that just didn't need to be there... and I fear it may cause issues with distribution - but maybe it can be edited into a Director's Cut and a PG-13 version. But other than that - I just LOVED this movie. I won't go into the story-line - I don't want to ruin it... but it was fantastic. I will definitely be buying it as soon as it comes out (and I have faith that it will).
The director and producer were there and had a Q&A session afterwards - which was just so cool. I'm so fascinated with the behind the scenes stuff... they were talking about where the scenes were filmed, how they did this or that, the artist that was used for the murals, the musicians... funny stuff that happened on set... and the challenges of Priestly's hair. =D
Here's the trailer:
Click to viewDid you like it? Do you want to see that in the theaters? Go here and sign this petition: http://www.youchoose.net/campaign/ten_inch_hero
I didn't stay to talk to anyone that night... but ended up going to see the films on Saturday. That was a little bit of an adventure. I went to the late showing (since I'm on this third shift thing) and got there about 15 minutes early (was hard to find) and noticed there were about 3 people standing outside. About 10 minutes before the show started, I headed in. They said, sit near the left side. So I went into the theater and, I have to admit that its about the oldest theater in Gainesville!! LOL! The chairs were pretty rickety and it was very small.
(that was IT... oh, and the four rows of 4 seats in the section where I was)
So I'm sitting there and the usher (Casey) comes in and says, there's a couple of people coming from far away and they're running late - do you mind if we hold off on showing the film until they get here? What could I say? I was the only one there! So I said sure, no problem! So they arrived and, in total, we had about 7 people for the first 3 films (there were 4 total). The first film was a short one - about 15-20 minutes long, and was basically a home video documenting some protests on the war in Iraq. It was horribly edited. They would fade in way too slow - we'd barely catch what the people were saying (they have microphones that work with home video cameras, people!) and then fade out just as we were getting what they were saying. I have no idea what side they were on... or if they were just making a point that the protests were out there. They would flash keywords from the conversations people were having - but again, I was lost on their point. The second film was about a man documenting his father's life... it was cute and well put together. The third film was more professional looking - was sponsored by Costa Del Mar - and was about whether or not there were still wild areas of Florida. The guys spent 30 days driving all over Florida looking... they spent a lot of time fishing with some of the people featured on TV and even headed over to the Dry Tortugas. It was great scenery and I'd actually see that one again. Only one flaw - they had blank spots in between each segment - those needed to be shorter or cut out altogether. Other than that, it was really great.
So here I am, sitting there (this was now 2 hours into it - 7 pm - the showing was supposed to last until 10 pm) and I was thinking, wow - each time the film got better and better. So this last film should be GREAT! We had an intermission and during that time, I got to talking to the girls in front of me. One of them had driven in from Tampa to see TIH and was a huge Supernatural fan. We had a great conversation and it was nice to talk to someone who was a fan of the show as much as I was! She was actually at a convention (I think the one in Chicago?) and told me her thoughts about that. She is going to the EyeCon one in Orlando in April but really didn't want to. We exchanged information (myspace pages and emails) and the next movie started.
The premise of the main film was a documentary about the making of this play - a play that started to be written Sept 12, 2001 - immediately after 9/11. And I will tell you - those people were STRANGE. They were just ODD. And I know Gainesville is full of people that think like that - free spirits and all - but wow. To really see just a glimpse into their minds was scary. I won't even go into all they talked about (I'll just say that we had everything from people playing Satan and God, to people talking about bodily functions) and we finally (painfully) got to the point of the story (at least, what I thought was the point). The play was confusing... I *think* they were protesting the war... but they were hired to play at a patriotic rally on Sept 11, 2002. Right smack dab in the middle of bag pipers, videos celebrating the heroes (firefighters) and the Dave Matthews Band. So, after an hour of them ranting and doing stuff like - yeah, BURNING THE FLAG - people finally were fed up with it. They started yelling at the actors - the actors started yelling back. It really started to get a little crazy... and the actors were escorted off the stage. The point of the movie? That censorship is alive in America. It was unbelievable. I'm still trying to figure it all out. Uggh. Left a bad taste in my mouth.
Based on that, I didn't return for the showings on Sunday. I'm already over on my mileage on my car and it's a 35 min drive up and 35 min back... just didn't feel it was worth it.
Being my first Independent Film Festival, it was a good experience. Will I do it again - sure! But I sure hope they have better entries next time!