Weird

Not really sure what happened, but as of Friday morning (today is Monday), there've been about 100 friend requests on "The Bet's" MySpace page. Not really sure what triggered it, but, well, just weird. Not to mention there's been a TON of hits on the videos (both the original trailer and new retail trailer posted yesterday). About 380 hits today. That's more than the original trailer had after 4 months being online. Liek I said, not really sure what happened. And it's not all those "MySpace wouldn't let me post my nude photos" kinds of profiles. There's some really talented filmmakers that are suddenly knocking on "The Bet's" door, which is just, well... Why? or, Why now?

I just thought it was weird.

FINALLY!

"The Bet" is coming to DVD November 20. Stay in touch to find out how to get your copy. Either check back here or the Official Site or MySpace page.

The Bet - on DVD 11-20-07

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Evil Dread weighs in on "The Bet"

One of the reviews I was anxiously anticipating was Evil Dread's, simply because I've been a regular of the website for some time now. So, when they posted the review I was, well, we'll say relieved. They didn't hate it. I continue to discover that short films are not as well-received by others as by me, but, whatever.

I found it twisted and at the same time simple and effective.

They gave it a 7/10 which I'm happy as shit with, so there.

Read the full review HERE.

“The Bet” on DVD 12-18-07

Rubbersquare announced today that the critically acclaimed short film “The Bet” will be released on DVD December 18th and is scheduled to include over four hours of bonus features, including six commentaries, interviews, featurettes, alternate and extending endings an much more. The DVD will retail for $12.99.

"The Bet" on DVD

Currently eyeing a late November release on DVD. Who knows what the next couple of months will bring, but, barring some sort of crazy distribution deal of some miraculous sort, I think we'll be dropping it near the end of the year in an attempt to recoup some of the money spent making it. Keep an eye/ear out or email update@rubbersquare.com to be sure to know when it's released.

Another review: "Unsettling... Brilliant"

Horror Reviews posted a short, but sweet, review of "the Bet."

This short film directed by Michael Dunn is dark in every way. The atmosphere is the perfect setting for such an unsettling story. Throughout the entire film, you are given little tidbits of information that keep you glued to the screen wanting more, which is truly brilliant. Great acting, directing and plot. The Bet is only 19 minutes long, but it is worth every second.

And that's the whole thing. Not that I'm complaining in the least. If someone's review was "Neat-o!" - that'd be good enough for me.

Funny

I mentioned in a previous post about the most "famous" Michael Dunn being a deceased dwarf actor. In City Life's article about CineVegas, they say, "Dwarfing even them, though..." Funny.

It had to be done.

Much like "The Big Lebowski - Fucking Short Version" on YouTube, where they kept only the F-bombs and edited out everything else, I went through Poltergeist and got rid of everything except people saying "Carol Anne." Why? Cos I can.

"The Bet" en Espanol

Abandomoviez has a page up for "The Bet." Nothing more than an information page (trailer, credits, etc), but it's still pretty cool to see the "sinopsis" in Spanish.

And, fueling the "I need to change my name" debate, if you click on my name, it lists that I was in TeenAlien (1978) - which I wasn't.

83 pages...

Still not done, but oh so close.

Basically plugged in as much of the climax as I knew. Still have quite a few holes and some stuff that needs serious work. In all, pretty much liking where it's going. Chris is printing it out and marking it up with notes and such (or so he said). In the meantime, trying to fill in the gaps. Hope it doesn't suck. Hope even more someone likes it enough to actually fund it.

Had some misc. thoughts as far as whom I picture in the roles. Helps to keep them clear in my head. Of course, it'd be awesome to do a full-fledged casting on this one, not just contact someone, meet them and decide from that. Doing commercials, that has been one of my favorite parts, the casting. I love finding talent.

Ahhh, to dream about actually filming a feature. Seems to unreal to even entertain the thought.

AND HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13TH!!!

Decidedly Happy

I keep checking on IMDb to see if they've added the crapload of credits I sent to them, and little by little they've been trickling in. Today when I checked, for some reason, it really kinda hit me that there, on IMDb, where I've checked so many times before for info on films and filmmakers, there, next to the "directed by" was my name. Don't know why it struck me so strongly today. But it did.

And they've also updated quite a bit. My wife is now in there (finally! stop the nagging. lol) under hair/make-up and idea by. And Francis George is there too for still photographer. A few others have popped up, including one that made the "wow, i'm an actual director" thing kinda resonate.

They've got Scott Wizell plugged in as dedicatee. For those who don't know, Scott was a really, really cool guy and someone that meant something special to me, tho I really couldn't explain why. He was just one of those guys. If there was anyone I would have run to and brag about making a film, it'd have been him and he probably would have been the most thrilled that I was finally doing it. If there was anyone I would have loved to have sitting in the theatre when it played at CineVegas, well, actually I think he might have been there. I miss him. And seeing his name on IMDb, somehow, made me miss him even more. Because of all the people that would have thought it was pretty damn cool to be on there, it would've been him.

okay. Gonna stop before I start blubbering.

This is the picture that was used in "The Bet" that Scott shot. It's the one that I've always loved, from the moment I saw it. Before he died, this image, to me, was something that showed his inspiration from Joel-Peter Witkin, very similar to "Leo," and after he died, it was something that made me think it wasn't just a picture of a chair, it was a picture of a person not there.

So, onto something else...

Since I shut down the forum (see previous post) it'd be cool to get some talk and such, if you've seen the film, which the subset of folks who've seen and who read this blog is, um, probably just me, well, it's kinda moot. But, what the hey. You can discuss it HERE in lieu of the forum.

Damn You, JJ Abrams

I'll blame him for the slowdown on getting the script for Detox written. I gotta blame someone. Ever since I saw the trailer for 1-18-08, I've been sucked into what could be an ARG (which I wasn't even aware they existed until now) trying to figure out what the heck the film's about. Looks good, but damn him for consuming so much of my time. Though it does make me think about a project I have cooking for some point in the far future once I actually can make a film with a budget.

"The Bet" trailer highlighted on Pulp Movies

Pulp Movies has linked to the trailer on their website (and their MySpace). They requested a screener to review. Still waiting for some other reviews to come back. Hoping the delay is due to their being busy and not because they hated it. Har.

70 pages and counting

Getting close to finishing Detox. Was hoping to be done this weekend, but life got in the way.

Wrote a pretty dramatic scene where I wasn't sure if it was crap or awesome, but Chris said he was digging it, so I guess it wasn't crap. These characters are quite verbose, which I hadn't anticipated, but, whatever. That's what the next draft is for. Clean up and tighten all the rambling.

Just a few more scenes to plug in and then the climax - which I have no idea what's gonna happen. I mean, I know what leads up to it, the scene that starts it off, and some of the specifics to get it in motion, but I don't know what will really transpire. I guess I'll let the characters just do what they do and write it down as it happens.

Pretty damn excited to see how it turns out. Yes, I know that sounds odd that I don't know what's going to happen, but that's the beauty of writing relatively without an outline. Give the characters a place to interact and let them go at it.

Hopefully this week (or weekend) will see the completion of the first draft.

The Angel Heart Connection

Yesterday at lunch we got on the subject of movies and Angel Heart was mentioned. Mat Planet and I dreamily recalled the various Lisa Bonet scenes before he mentioned "the greatest image in the whole film." He goes on to explain, since Sal hadn't seen the film, that towards the end when Harry regains his memory and remembers all the things he's done, that there was a moment when he smokes a cigarette while holding a bloody straight razor.

I didn't know that visual had resonated with anyone else and I mentioned that the publicity still from "The Bet" where Walt is holding the knife while smoking was ripped directly from that image. So, for posterity, here's the shot from both Angel Heart and 'The Bet."

It's called a SINGLE OPEN QUOTE

OK. maybe i am crazy. some people have the craziest pet peeves. i'm not here to judge. cos mine is just as crazy. i HATE - absolutely HATE - when people use a single open quote instead of an apostrophe.

i can understand how it happens. if you are typing, say in word, indesign, whatever and you type the phrase "shoot 'em up," the program, if set for smart quotes, will think that you wanted a single open quote before em; it doesn't know that it's actually supposed to be an apostrophe to replace the T and H that are missing from the word THEM. So you have to manually go in there and force it to be an apostrophe.

easy enough.

then how the hell does it keep happening. i can forgive (well, at least ignore) the various crap newsletters or other non-professional pubs that do it. but, come on. check out the poster to the left. that's paul gimatti. he's not exactly "low rent" - nor are the other stars with their own posters. clive owen? no. monica belluci? well. but at any rate, why the fuck is there a SOQ where there should be an apostrophe? why?! WHY!?!?!

I grow tired of asking this, so this is the last time: "When will people pay attention?!?!" Ok. I'm over-dramatic. But it's really, really annyoing. It's like when "40-year-old Virgin" was "40 year-old virgin."

well, it's the fourth of july

i got 53 pages (that's 53 minutes) written on the new script. some of it is actually quite fuckin' good. about another 40 to go and we'll pronounce it a first draft. huzzah!

got a call from the chiller! thriller! film fest. they got their screener copies of "the bet" and really want to watch them, but they can't cos they're broken in half. nice. i'll be at the post office in the morning.

really, really loving the music of download (no that's not some weird yoda-esque phrase - download is a band). think it really meshes with the vibe/tone/whatever i had in my head for detox. somewhere in there is some awesome credits begging to happen.

had a nice two hours in the pool today. got some sun. some colour. some frustration with the kids and my wife cut her finger looking for birth certificates. there's still a smudge on the wall of the office where she grabbed to get up. i'm gonna leave it there as inspiration.

impatient for august and festival notifications.

impatient to get the new script done.

i'm a race car in the red and i haven't even left the garage.

gonna set off a shitload of fireworks and get drunk.